Visiting a chum - Taking time

A standard visit to a friend's place for me would involve arriving at some late hour on a Friday after work, fatigued from a 9-5 week or in the evening after a busy saturday, probably still buzzing from getting a quick hour in on the turbo trainer. I'd have some drinks in a 'wired' state, after the rush to get there as soon as poss and then we'd move to a drinking establishment to see away many hours. I'd finish the night in an alcoholic haze in the early hours and rush off in the morning of the next day as soon as waking up to 'make the most of the day' - half alive because of lack of sleep and hang over.

Possibility to spend quality time with good friends = zero.

This problem with trying to fit too much in has come up before and was in fact the subject of a philosophical discussion between my brother and I on a cycling trip to the Alps in the summer of 2011. (See posts if interested) It was almost the holiday 'theme' i.e. Do we appreciate things if we do not take time to actually experience and appreciate, are we just doing?

So this weekend, being in a very thoughtful place right now, I was happy to make the decision and actively try to spend some quality time with a good friend, one that is often referenced here as a writer of thought provoking posts. Actually appreciate the friendship rather than just doing the friendship. He happens to be an animal and a good one at that! I was actually able to spend some time talking to the guy about meaningful subjects which was superb and a much better use of time than the usual visits. Catch 22 because you realise that the more you talk the more there is to talk about.

Here is one of his more recent posts about throwing stones at gandalf  (me) - Despite the seeming self interest here and despite my blog title's support of this, if I can give anyone an excuse to be introduced to this guys writing and thoughts, then I feel I have done them a service!

We threw some stones [not at me].It was fun! We also climbed trees and walked. This was also fun! We had fun!