I respect Ron Dotson very much, I feel a special connection with this shy and good man. He lives in a small town in Idaho, and comes to see me once in awhile. I was happy today when he came into the Round House Cafe while  I was eating lunch today, he was with his son Jordan, who I met three years ago when he was half the size. He is entering the University of Ohio at Columbus in September, he and Ron are vacationing at a cabin an hour or so away from Cambridge.

My friendship with Ron is unusual, and our lives are very different. Still,  I feel quite close to this man, a Vietnam Veteran who has devoted much of his life to his own ministry, he helps the needy. Jordon and Ron are on a father-son trip before Jordan goes off to school, Ron messaged me that he was coming, he and Jordan will come by the farm this week.

Ron is very reserved, and almost phobic about not bothering me. He does not ever bother me. It’s a curious thing, but the people I always want to see are the ones who are wary of ever coming by. We are very much at ease with one another, we share a similar sense of humor. He contacted me several years ago when he came to the area, and he visited the farm. He has been reading the blog for years, and some of my books, he  especially loved “Running To The Mountain.”  Spirituality is an imprortant part of his life. Jordan is a lot like him, he is quiet but articulate, and has the same twinkle in his eyes, the same eagerness to laugh. We had a good time at lunch, as we did three years ago.

I told Jordan I had resolved some years ago to never tell  young people that they were getting bigger, since that is one thing every young person does, and is not remarkable to them. Still, I had to say something, he is twice the size of the young man I saw a few years ago.

Can you call this  relationship – we see one another every few years and Ron is not online much – a friendship? Yes, curiously, I do. When I see Ron, and now this is true of Jordan, it feels like no time has passed. I think we both share the experience of rebirth in some way, and although we have different paths to faith, I think of us both being spiritual people.

What is friendship, anyway, except the experience of trusting and understanding another person. And perhaps accepting them.

I was happy to run into Ron today, happy that he and Jordan will come to the farm next week before they go back to Ohio. They’ll meet Chloe, see the donkeys, watch me train Fate to herd the sheep.  Ron is a good man, he has been through a lot and seen a lot, he gives back all the time. I was grateful once more for the Round House, it seems to enter and alter my life when it wishes, it has a presence and a spirit all of it’s own. I was eager to take this portrait with my new $369 lens, Ron had read all about