Kindred Spirit, Part 2

I did, I did, I DID make a friend!

So my new friend and I met up today at the park and travelled to her house to see her meat chickens. I have chicken envy. A serious case of it. I want meat chickens. But Hubby said "no". He tried to tell me the landlord wouldn't let us. The landlord said she didn't care. (Yes, I asked. She just happened to call me today about some repairs on the house and it casually came up in conversation.)
On hearing this, I am sure my husband cursed our landlord for feeding my hippy notions and said it has to wait until we have land of our own. I was like a 5 year old begging for a dog. "Please? I'll take care of them myself. They are so cute and so easy! You'll love them. You won't even know they are there! You won't have to do a thing!" Um, except butcher them, because that part is kind of gross and hard to do when your 8 month old will not stop clinging to you and your breasts. Then, Hubby told me that if I can't kill them, I can't have them until we move to a place of our own.
Phooey. Maybe I'll see how much guts it takes to gut a chicken.

Anyway, I digress... my new friend and I had a blast, and I have to say that I am so glad I went to her house instead of going downtown (by myself) to the Midnight Sun stuff (by myself) to wrestle with Maddie in the stroller (by myself)... well, you get the point. And the summer solstice will happen again next year.

So, in our chattering away today, we touched on the topic of making friends as grown-ups. And I'm posing the question to all my readers:

Why IS it so hard to make friends as grown-ups?

No, don't give me the "we are all busy with our own lives" speech. Don't you other grown-ups out there get lonely? I mean, I'm pretty independent. I'm also a bit of a homebody, and a little bit of a hermit. I am content in my own company most of the time. But dang it, even I want friends! And I'm an incredibly busy woman, but I'm NOT that busy with my own life that I can't look out every once in a while.

Why is it that after a certain age or life stage, we seem to lose our ability to meet people, or we suddenly become socially akward. Ok, in all fairness, I was always socially akward and a bit of a geek, but I hear former cheerleaders complain about being socially akward too. It's not just me!
When I was young, my parents used to get my bike or rollerskates unpacked at whatever base we landed on and send me out into the neighborhood with admonitions like, "I think the house at the end of the block might have kids, they have bikes and a trampoline in the yard." I never had a problem going up to strangers and asking where the neighborhood kids were at. So why is it that going up to another mom is so intimidating?
Or when you meet someone, think they are pretty neat, exchange numbers, but never call eachother. Or worse, you call the person who gave you thier number, but they don't answer or return your calls, making you feel like a creepy stalker or something.
WHY does that happen?

Seriously... what's the deal? I open my blog comments to solving world issues... like making friends after you are too old to knock on your neighbor's door and asking if they have any kids you can play with.

Ending on a better note, "M" if you are reading, I am so glad we actually got past the social wierdness and called today, and really glad we hung out. I had a great time and can't wait until next time, when it's your turn to bring the coffees!

Happy Moose Trails!