Saoi

Rainy season is definitely here. Everything around me seems washed in grey watercolors. Driving in this weather, when the rain is pleasantly light and steady, has its charms. It brings you to mind, how you would listen quietly and patiently to my concerns and inquiries on all sorts of matters. As I am driving now, it seems to have a calming influence on me to remember those times. It is interesting how memories that appear of minor importance at first impression, prove to be valuable and persistent. These particular memories translated, over time, into a gentle presence that smooths its fair number of ruffled feathers in all sorts of challenges. I smile at the thought. Friendship that survives the test of time and separation is a wonderful gift. That is how your presence feels, in spite of it being a non-physical presence. It feels real, relevant, soothing, like a favorite tune you can go back to in melancholy times. You had this big seventies American car, and riding in your car all those years ago, now adds an element of support to all those times I have been driving around in my car alone the last six years, driving back and forth to the high school the first four years, to bring my son home, and after that, to pick up my son and bring him home from the community college each noon for two years, before taking him to work, and then later returning once more to bring him home.Often, I would bring him home for lunch, if time allowed it, between classes and his job hours, and drive him to work after lunch, and then once more return to bring him home from work. It added up to more than two and a half hours each day, driving back and forth. Now that my son is a junior at ESC, I drive him still to the college, either for his classes there, or his job there at the computer lab. I have become fond of Idir's music and today I was listening to a very rhythmic song, called "Saoi", which has a very upbeat melody, with flutes and drums in it. I like it very much, and try to keep tune with the song as I hum along to its exotic beat. Solitude is an acquired taste and I have had a fair amount of time to practice its finer points. I just wanted you to know that you appear on more than one occasion to keep my memories company. It is nice to realize that some things never change, physical or otherwise, regardless of the passage of time.

To my friend, on the other side of the world, with a name as memorable as his character. To Driss O.