Small, Small World Take 2

Saturday we went to a concert in the park in Newburyport put on by 92.5 The River. The bands I hadn't heard of and were OK but probably not worth paying to see. But we were outside, laying in the grass under the shade of a tree on a perfect day, listening to free music, so I couldn't have asked for a better, more relaxing Saturday. We got there an hour and a half before the music was to start, but the park was covered in blankets, most of them empty - from people that had dropped by early to claim a spot. We found a perfect perch though close to the stage under a tree, with a great view. We laid there for over 5 hours and loved every minute of it. I fell asleep a couple of different times. We walked around barefoot to go find water or restrooms, and I felt so at ease with the world. I commented to Laura how good it felt to walk around barefoot. Something I rarely do (I'm a wuss- my feet are very sensitive. The tiniest pebble and I'm screaming foul.)

Anyway, I look over at the woman sitting on the blanket next to ours and think she looks awfully familiar, but I can't exactly place her. After a few minutes, it dawns on me that she's a cousin of mine that I hadn't seen in probably years. I wasn't completely sure of her name, but Liz popped into my head. I decided to listen to her conversation for a bit to make sure she was who I thought she was. Eventually, she mentioned babysitting in Rowley, which was enough for me (that and her distinct accent). I asked her if her name was Liz and she said no, that's my sister. But are you Joel? Sure enough, I was right. Well, except for her name. Rather than asking her name, I decided to be stealthy and fired off a text message to my father to find out what her name was. After a few exchanges to narrow it down (she has multiple sisters) I was informed her name was Karen. We talked briefly. She met Laura and said that her parents had just mentioned that Joel's girlfriend was very pretty and had very dark hair - we had just seen them the previous weekend at the July 4th family bbq.

Small world.

And of course we took the bikes there and back, which was the icing on a perfect day...