Two New Experiences in a Day -- Not Too Shabby!
Saturday was an interesting day. I joined a Meet-up Group a month or so ago but hadn't been able to make it to any of their events before then. The plan was to meet at the local Cracker Barrel, so at 9:20 a.m. I pulled into the parking lot, checked my lip gloss, squared my shoulders, and got out of the car to meet 5 other ladies for an outing to the Missouri Botanical Gardens in downtown St. Louis.
First of all, I have to admit that I'm not much of a "group" person (someday I'll share a list of all the types of people I'm not), and I'm not much of a "plant" person, either. In the past, when faced with a flower garden to be planted, I've consulted my trusty perennial guide, bought a bunch of perennials for as cheaply as possible and put them out all at once. I figured that once they were planted and firmly established, my work was done. So far, since I've moved within 5 years of planting both gardens, that's proven to be true.
Anyway, with both my lack of excitement about plants and about groups of people combined into one outing, I had no trouble not building up high expectations for the morning. That said, I had a nice time. Not a great time nor a particularly "comfortable" time, but a nice time.
Quite honestly, I'm okay with that. I ventured out of my comfort zone (I also am not a "psycho-babble" person, but I couldn't think of a better term) in two ways and wasn't miserable or even slightly unhappy, and that's a good thing. I don't know if this group is a good fit for me, but I'm going to go to a few more events and see how it works out.
After I left the Botanical Gardens, I drove over to the Soulard Market, a famous farmer's market in downtown St. Louis. By the time I got there it was near its Saturday closing time, but there were still lots of people shopping, eating, drinking a nice cold beverage (adult and otherwise), and buying various fresh fruits and veggies, spices, seafood and meat, etc. I picked out some locally-grown sweet potatoes and several really nice-looking, huge baking potatoes for far less than they would have cost in the grocery store, and I browsed around and people-watched for awhile.
Other than a few short shopping trips to area malls, I hadn't ventured out to do something by myself before last Saturday. And as nice a time as I had at the market, I just didn't like going by myself. I've always enjoyed my "alone" time, but I've equally enjoyed doing special things -- outings, vacations, etc -- with other people, especially my husband.
Obviously, I'm going to be many more things on my own. Like 99.9% of the things that come with being a widow, I don't like that idea much at all. But like it or not, that's my new reality. Hopefully, doing things solo will get easier with time. We'll see . . . or I guess I should say . . . I'll see.
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