Once upon a time whenever I felt like going to a party I threw one.

Didn’t matter if my house was messy (often), or if the wine glasses were dusty (almost certainly), or if I had the cash to lay out a nice spread. I would tell some folks to drop by, buy the booze & wine, put out some nuts, and the rest would take care of itself. Friends would bring other friends and everyone chipped in some snacks or beer. Put a record on and we were in business.

Slowly over the last ten years I have stressed more about how the house looks, what I am serving, inviting a good mix of people who will have intersecting interests, and so on.

Now I’m not about to give up my fancy cheese habit (thank you Whole Foods Pusher-Man), or the much higher quality alcohol I now indulge in, but I am setting a course for increased casual entertaining. Getting together with old friends, new friends and friends of friends to relax and talk. Hang out. Maybe calling it a party is what has made it seem like I had to invest so much effort. That and the fact that people don’t drop by any more.

I don’t know if the drop by was a symptom of the culture I grew up in, or just a more casual period of time when you didn’t make dates and calendar every damn thing. Yes I just used calendar as a verb. And its not the first time you’ve heard it. 

I hope I can cultivate this idea that its OK, and even appreciated, when someone drops by. Have a glass of tea on the swing, a beer on the patio, or just sit on the steps and shoot the breeze for a little while. I feel like when I am really present, here, and not in my head, time expands and there is room for everything.

So summer 2013. Open invitation, open door, drop on by. Happy Solstice everyone.