Day 73: Some few of you may know me well enough to know that I have been a loner most of my life. Perhaps that comes as a surprise to others of you, but it's true. As a child, I was known by my peers from an early point as "the Professor," and the nickname was not meant kindly. I developed only one close friendship with anyone, and that friendship endures even today. Marilyn was almost as geeky as I was, but her social skills were greater (which is to say she had some, which I did not). Even as an adult, I did not fit in, and was quite content to remain apart. It wasn't until I started working in the Park for the second time that I began to form relationships with other people, quite possibly because we were meeting on a literal "common ground." A little further down the line, I started Morris dancing, and that brought a whole new assortment of friends and acquaintances. Okay, rangers and Morris dancers are both a bit peculiar, but at least I felt I'd found places where I wasn't a complete outsider. Still, the recent outpouring of help and support from members of both groups came as a complete surprise to me. Suddenly, I found myself surrounded by a family of unrelated people, adding a new definition to a word which had previously applied only to the feathered or furred critters who have been my companions over the years. If I now appear to be at a loss for words, it's because I am. I simply don't know how to express how much it means to have friends. You've had them for years; it's "old hat" to you. For me, it is a novel and humbling experience, coming as it does in this late stage of my life. Thank you for the best Christmas gift of all.
