Gathering

Squirrels do every fall. They gather nuts to see them through the winter when food would otherwise be scarce. Knitters gather yarn for a variety of reasons, each personal to that particular knitter. Quilters gather fabric for much of the same reasons as knitters. Friends gather to enjoy each other's company. 2020 has made all of this more difficult. Except for maybe the squirrels. They appear to be unaffected by the events of the year. If the activity in my backyard is any indication. Although a few of them have become a bit more bold, having learned to climb the one bird feeder pole previously thought to be squirrel free. 

Why am I going on about squirrels and gathering? In 2014 eight knitters came together from various parts of the country, meeting for the first time in St. Louis. We spent a wonderful weekend getting to know each other and decided to make our gatherings an annual event. Although we work very hard on finding a common date, life happens and occasionally we have not seen everyone, every year.

This year however, no one felt comfortable making the trip to gather. Instead we opted for a very lengthy Zoom option. Typically when we gather, I bring each of my friends a handmade coaster. Since we were gathering virtually, I sent them each a kit that we would work on during our virtual chat.

As you can see, each one is as different as each of my friends. I cherish the friendships I have with these ladies. We stay in touch through our daily group chat. Some days it is light with only a few posts. Other days there can be over a hundred as we get going on one topic or another. We are each other's support, our cheerleader's, our sounding boards. I am thankful everyday for that weekend back in 2014 when I took a chance and meet up with a group of people I only knew over the Internet.  For reasons I do not remember, we call ourselves the Tipsy Squirrels. 

We all need friends to gather with.