Week 38 Review: I like you. Do you want to be my friend?

“If a man does not make new acquaintance as he advances through life, he will soon find himself alone. A man, Sir, should keep his friendship in constant repair.”
— Samuel Johnson

Thursday night, I went to yoga class at my gym. I arrived about ten minutes early and the class before was still going on. I set my mat and my purse on a shelf next to where another woman was standing. I knew she was there for the yoga class because she had a rolled mat tucked under her arm. She appeared young—maybe mid-20’s. (Odd that mid-20’s now seems “young” to me.) She had curly, light-brown hair pulled tightly back into a short ponytail/bun-type thing.

For some minutes we stood side by side watching the class finishing up.

“Have you ever done this?” I asked her, gesturing towards the class.

“Zumba?” she asked. She pronounced the “U” like in the word “push.” I always pronounce it like in “umbrella.” “No,” she said, answering my question with a laugh and a little shake of her head. “Have you?”

“No,” I said. “I think I’d be too embarrassed. But I always think I ought to give  it a try.”

“I’d be so embarrassed,” she explained, “I’d want to stay in the back, where I wouldn’t be able to see well and wouldn’t be able to follow the instructor.”

We went on to talk about how much we missed the Monday night step class with Karl. Karl’s cuing was so good. She’d tried the class that had replaced it, but I hadn’t.

“Do you ski?” she asked. I must have looked puzzled, because she clarified: “I saw your jacket and I thought…”

I laughed. I was wearing a Snowbird jacket.

“No,” I said. “I don’t ski. I got this jacket at Thrift Town. I liked the way it fit and it was warm.” We both laughed at this and talked about the pros and cons of downhill and cross-country skiing (thanks to Explore Month and my friend Heidi, I actually had some experience with cross-country skiing to draw from).

We chatted a few moments longer (about where we grew up) as the sweaty Zumba participants shuffled out of the now humid and warm exercise room. In the room, we set up our mats near one another. After class, we exchanged names and suggested that we might see one another the following Thursday.

On my way home, I had two thoughts:

1) I’d met a potential new friend!

2) How does one progress a met-at-the-gym friendship without seeming like a total weirdo?

I guess next week I could ask her if she wanted to go across the street to the new Whole Foods and grab a tea or draft kombucha or something. Would that be totally odd given our five minutes of acquaintance thus far? This is fairly new ground for me because unless I’m in a party situation, I don’t really talk to strangers. I’m not sure what usually comes after the pleasantries.

The other friend things I’ve done this week include a surprise party for a friend’s 30th birthday. The hostess made allergen-free peppermint patties (Oh, baby!). I also signed, sealed, and addressed a card for another friend’s birthday later this week.

Then there was my screen-free, car-free Earth Day. That turned out to be quite fun. I checked e-mail in the afternoon because my daughter was preparing for a flute performance Saturday, and I wanted to make sure nothing had come up. Glad I did because I had a message from the accompanist I needed to address. I checked e-mail again once after the kids were in bed.

Aside from that, though, no screens all day! My husband probably could have talked me into watching more episodes of “Firefly” with him had he not fallen asleep putting the baby to bed. As it was, I read my book and drank a decaf faux pep mo and then turned in early (ish).

Car-wise, I ran—or rather, walked—all of my errands on foot! I walked to my totally awesome massage and back, then after lunch the kids and I walked to the store to refill our spray bottles with eco-friendly all-purpose cleaner and play with the cool toys they have there. It was a great way to get some exercise and some sun on a lovely (if chilly) day. (And I walked a total of about six miles.)