The Unexpected Pen Pal

As we approach our pruning day in the orchard I was delighted to see a posting by a high school buddy of mine.  I have not seen Mitchell since high school but like many, we connected on Facebook.  The funny thing about Facebook is that you can spend a lot of time looking for people you would like to get in touch with only to figure out there’s not a lot to talk about.  Oh it’s nice to catch up, see postings and photos of their activities, and political views seem to get a lot of play, but direct dialog is often fleeting.  But there is the occasional gem.  I would liken it to finding that old pen pal you never knew you had.

Mitch is one of those finds.  We didn’t “hang out” in high school but we knew each other.  And if it wasn’t for this seemingly frivolous and globally engrossing concoction called FB, our paths probably would have never crossed again.  But they did.  Mitch has turned out to be a wonderfully talented writer who has been working very hard (as all artists do) to get his work noticed.  And he has a crazy warped sense of humor that I connect to in ways I don’t fully understand, other than I thoroughly enjoy our dialog and reading his work.  So while many dismiss Facebook as a waste of time because of it’s obvious lack of intellectual content (I’m speaking in ratios here), I’m convinced that it’s all worth it if you can stumble into friendships that surprise you with an unexplained depth.

So back to the orchard.  I am including a link to a blog posting by Mitchell that paints a nice portrait of a grandpa and a grand daughter in the orchard, pruning on a cold winter day.  I hope you find it as touching as I did.  Nice job Mitch.  Keep ’em coming.

http://www.buzzchomp.com/grandpa/