Like millions of people, I am rediscovering the joys of meeting with friends one-on-one. Yes, I have visited with a few neighbors over the last year, but not with any frequency and certainly not in a close contact situation. But I have been fully vaccinated since May and, just like everyone else, am anxiously anticipating a return to “normal.” My recent encounter was the start of this return.
I met Martin and Zoe in September of 2020 through a mutual contact. Martin is a documentarian who was exploring the possibility of a documentary on Slovak diaspora. After exchanging a few emails, we agreed to meet in person. He brought his charming Taiwanese wife, Zoe, who is an artist in her own right. While we spent only a few hours together, we established a positive connection and a friendship was born.
The couple traveled soon afterwards to Taiwan, as Zoe had a project there. But then they could not return to Slovakia due to the pandemic. For seven months, our friendship continued in the form of emails and photographs.
I was delighted to learn that they had both been vaccinated and were now planning to return home, and I anticipated a visit after such a long absence. Finally, a date was set.
To celebrate our reunion, I had planned to prepare a luncheon for them, but my automobile required servicing and I was afraid to drive it a long distance to the store. Also, since my anosmia has not yet been conquered six months later, I remain somewhat unsure of my cooking abilities. So, I made another plan.
Upon their arrival, I announced that we would be going to a restaurant. After already a nearly three-hour drive, I required them to drive another twenty minutes to Ždiar, through which they had just passed. But they didn’t complain. I left Poochini in the house and we were off.
We arrived at the restaurant Ždiarsky Dom and seated ourselves on the terrace overlooking the Belianske Tatras. This was the first time I had gone to a restaurant in over a year. Food and drink with friends in public! This simple act of dining with friends was now a moment I cherished. Sometimes, it is the simple things that are the most satisfying.
The weather was lovely; the food was good; the company even better. Over a leisurely two-hour lunch, we spent time catching up on all that had happened since our last meeting. Martin and Zoe certainly had much more to share of their adventures in Taiwan than had I in my tiny village. But I had a great time just being with people I both liked and admired.
During the conversation on my novella The Golden Apple, I was surprised that Martin had fallen for my ruse about authorship. But it proved to me that the literary vehicle I invoked had performed flawlessly!
We returned to my house to find Poochini outside on the terrace. But how? I had left him locked in the house. What a devious little dog I had raised!
After a brief review of the situation, I discovered what had occured. I had left my bedroom window wide open and, although I obviously didn't anticipated it, he apparently managed to jump from the bed out the window, and then began looking for me. I would later learn that he had traveled at least as far as to Štefánia’s house in search of his dad.
Poochini was excited that we returned home. He plied us kisses, thankful that we had returned.
Martin and I then discussed the direction of one of my projects, and Zoe shared with me how she had chosen Martin’s Chinese name (complicated!) and showed me how to text in Mandarin on the telephone (fascinating). The four of us then relaxed on my tiny terrace on a beautiful sunny afternoon.
All good things must come to an end, and that includes visits from friends. So we took some photographs to remember the occasion and said our goodbyes. I was sorry to see them leave, but glad for the time we had had together that day.
This, I thought, is what life is all about.
