the stones become fast together

so one of my favorite toasts ever is the one about the temple which is societal life. I learned it in Armenia on a hike in the Caucuses in 2000, and the speaker was one of those people that loved to draw people in with a toast (and Vodka, during a lunch in the middle of a hike). The story was told in the shadow of an old chapel (7th-10th century as I remember, and long abandoned, but still used for some local activities - there were the remanants of a sacraficed chicken there on the hilltop).

It went like this; and I do it no justice by being short about it:

The people in our lives are stones. Those people we have know for a long time are foundational stones in the temple that is our life. The new friends we meet build the temple higher and strengthen the bonds between the stones upon which they are built.

Well, this weekend I spent some time with some old stones (and a new one in Brian, who is good peeps for sure) and I must say, wow - we are a great bunch. I laughed harder than I have in a long time (maybe since the last time we were together) and mostly just enjoyed that we've all been together for so long and turned into great adults from the great kids we were in high school.

I feel very lucky to count Bill, Luke, Jason and Paul among my friends and am happy to shoot coffee or beer out of my nose to prove it.

To prove that I actually did more than just drink beer. Here are some pics:

forthcoming after ftp problems are cleaned up