Party, Party

I wake up to bird song. It's too early to get up. When I do I check the sauna but it's a few hours off hot. I check on Sharyn. She needs more time. I sift back to the kitchen for breakfast and company. The sauna when I get there warms and wakes me up. Takes a little longer for Sharyn. In the meantime the gang is telling stories. I chip in with my story about Queen's Birthday weekend 2018, two weeks before Lionel's 98th birthday when he went out for his afternoon drive and got lost in the fog. The search was on and I liaised with the police thinking he was a goner. About 9:30 a police woman phoned with the news a trucker had seen a slow car driving along the side of the road from Ranfurly to Palmerston. It was Lionel. He had got confused in the fog and was driving away from Alex, but keeping going. With my endorsement the police confiscated Lionel's licence. Although there was an electric scooter charging in the garage, Lionel refused to ride it and never drove again. 

The stories at Journey's End revolve around cars and driving. Something we obviously have in common. I've volunteered to organise games but am reticent to interrupt the flow and it's John who kicks off with a balloon game. One game follows another: we sit on each others' knees, disentangle our hands to form a circle, play a hoop game, and throw eggs to each other. Some drop so many times there is suspicion they are hard boiled. There's a lot we don't know about the mysterious properties of eggs. 

We finish with a scavenger hunt. My partner and I cheat- Evelyn lies down to simulate standing on her head, but we're nearly last anyway. More people arrive, quite a few Convergees. We dress for dinner and Kevin offers Sharyn and I a drive of his Chevrolet. Sharyn's in charge when we go down the hill. I nearly bail. Before we eat we form a circle and name an absent friend, explaining our connection with them. Many have passed on, they remain in our hearts. Finally, food and frivolity. Sixty's just a number...yeah, yeah, yea

John story telling