. A few weeks ago, out of the blue, I got an email from another SA blogger here. She told me she was going to a wedding in Massachusetts this weekend,and wondered if she could stop by for a visit on her way home, elsewhere in the Northeast.
Of course, I wanted to meet her. You get started blogging realizing that chances are, you won't ever meet the vast majority of people you meet online. It feels a little strange at times because you do form friendships with people.
So today was the day "Dido" and I met. She writes a blog here called Fiscal Fitness. I told her to meet me at the commuter parking lot just off the exit ramp in my hometown; I figured that would be easy for her to find. I gave her my number so she could call me when she was a few exits ahead of mine; that way, I could just jump in my car and meet her at the commuter parking lot in time.
So this morning, Dido called, right on schedule. I hopped in the car and drove down there, only to see that there was no commuter parking lot there! I must've been thinking of some other exit!
LUCKILY, I instantly spotted what I thought was Dido's car (she had told me the color and make) waiting at the traffic light just off the exit. I rolled down my window and waved as the car approached, but she kept on driving and I didn't get a look at the driver to see if it was, in fact, Dido. I did a quick u-turn and followed the car. There were maybe four cars between us. Luckily again, she must've seen my flashing my lights, because after a few miles, she turned in on a side street and pulled over.
It was Dido. Another close call that my lack of a cell phone could have easily avoided!
As it turned out, the street she turned in on was the street where I wanted to take her for a walk, to help her stretch her legs and break up the driving. So we continued down there and did about a 40-minute walk on a nice, paved trail that goes through woods and meadow.
It gave us a chance to talk and get to know each other. Neither of us has been working steadily for quite some time, so I had asked Dido earlier if she wanted to eat lunch out somewhere or maybe just grab sandwiches somewhere and eat at the park, to save money. She left it up to me, so I just decided to have her over my place. I made a chickpea salad with feta cheese, homegrown cherry tomatoes and chopped cucumbers (with a little red onion, too) for our lunch. We munched on sliced carrots and hummus and I gave her a brief tour of my downstairs.
After eating, I took her on a little guided tour around town and showed her a few highlights, including the town hall movie theater ($2 a movie) with its colorful murals of town buildings painted by a local artist in the stairwells.
I also pointed out the famous flagpole in the middle of the road and our historic Main Street.
Along with the little brick historic building where I used to work.
And two little parks in the center of town:
And another historic building I used to work at, when i was senior editor at a small publishing company. The building was once a factory used to make fabric fire hoses but has since been renovated into offices for small businesses. It's really quite lovely, and there's a nearby dam and river.
Dido treated me to a pumpkin cheesecake ice cream cream at the dairy farm ice cream stand, where they make ice cream from their cows on the premises!
So I must say it was fun to meet a fellow blogger face to face, and certainly a nice break from my usual weekday routine. She is, as I write, headed home.
My meet-up with a fellow SA blogger
September 26th, 2011 at 09:01 pm
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What a nice "tour" you took her on Thanks for sharing the pictures - Beautiful.
September 26th, 2011 at 11:56 pm 1317081407
In any case, it was lovely to finally meet Patient Saver in person! We had occasion a year or so ago to have exchanged several emails and had one longish phone call when she interviewed me for an article she wrote, plus of course I have followed her blog during the time I've been on this site, so I had a good idea about what to expect, in terms of what both she and her house would be like, from what she's posted on her blog here in the past.
Our walk was nice, and a much appreciated break from driving home from the Boston area, about a six-hour drive for me. Patient Saver's home and gardens were lovely, as I knew they would be, and I was impressed with her industriousness at DIY activities, something to which my values make me aspire, but my fear of doing damage and a lack of intrinsic interest in working with my hands make me lag in actually doing.
I enjoyed my tour of the town and our chance to talk and get to know each other a bit better in person. Patient Saver is the seventh person I have met F2F whom I originally got to know online (the other six are members of a health and fitness site that I have frequented for a decade). In no case has such a meeting been a surprise, and in every case, it has been an enjoyable chance to extend an acquaintance. If any of you ever have a chance to meet a fellow blogger in person, I'd encourage it!
Thanks again for the wonderful lunch and tour, Patient Saver!
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