Haukahay, pilgrim

About 4:00 I fired up the barbecue (and, in my case, this is not always a great idea... http://darthweasel.blogspot.com/2005/04/home-cooking-and-thundering-bbqs.html )
We set out a few condiments, I made sure the court was clear, pulled the ping-pong table parts off and started shooting a little pool. Probably a half hour later people start arriving. At first we mill around the living room shooting pool and shooting off our mouths. Lot of bad jokes. Maybe a few good ones, although that is more doubtful considering the sources.
When quite a few people had arrived we drifted out and played some volleyball. It was an unfortunate fact that the team on the "low" side of the net lost every game regardless of who was on that team, so height is clearly an advantage. Could not tell you who won how many or who lost.
Later some of us went upstairs for a quick foosball tournament. That one I can tell you who won. Man I loved foosball. Still later we played some ping pong, played some cards, had some hot dogs and hamburgers and, since I was doing the cueing, probably a LOT of catsup, a substance I personally never touch.
At some point someone had to go and not long after that the day was over. There was no special occasion we were marking, no specific reason for the gathering, just friends getting together and having fun. Nobody had to get hurt, nobody had to suffer, and nobody was obnoxious to a neighbor or anything like that. The world was a great place.
Someday I hope to be back in one of those places where groups of friends just hang out having fun being with each other. That is a perfect day.