When Gather Meets Real Life... Meeting Linda K!

I've been intending to write this article ever since my sister-in-law, Becky D. came from California to visit us last summer. (I started to write this article once before and the Gather gods ate it.) After reading other folk's articles on real-life Gatherite get-togethers, I was inspired to put my thoughts on paper. And... Becky D. and I are going to meet Linda K. later today since I'm visiting the CA coast near where she lives.

I want to share some funny things that happened when my Gather life coincided with my real life during Becky D's visit... and some trepidations about meeting Linda K. (This will be the first time I've met someone from Gather that I didn't know before I joined.)

Obviously, Becky D. and I have met before. We knew each other and adored each other long before she joined Gather... but Gather has still changed our relationship... There are certain, peculiar things that happen when the shroud of Gather is stripped away and you meet someone you know by their icon in the flesh...

The first thing I thought about as Becky came out of the airport terminal is that when you see someone in real life, you can't crop out extra pounds. In our case, Becky looked as young, slim, and lovely as ever. I'm the one whose hair had gotten grayer and whose backside had gotten bigger.  Probably the front and sides, too. But unlike here, in the pretty little world of computers, you can't crop out a flabby extremity and pretend the photo just happened to cut off your arm.

You also can't crop the thistles and Creeping Charlie out of your garden. Many of you have seen my "Beauty in Your Back Yard" photos and admired them. Sadly, my garden was at a low point when Becky came to visit. The flowers that had looked so beautiful days earlier had been pommeled by the Great Iowa Flood, and the ones soon to bloom just wouldn't cooperate and make an appearance. I know Becky was looking forward to seeing the beautiful gardens I'd been featuring on Gather -- she even said so in a post. I don't think a single flower bloomed the entire time she was here.

The second thing I noticed started when we left on our mini-trip to Lake Pepin. Both Becky and I had our cameras in hand. Since joining Gather, I'm always on the look-out for a spectacular shot. Becky wanted a photo of gas that was still below $4.00 a gallon. My husband really is a saint... I'm always saying, "Stop the car! That would make a great picture!" Becky is a lot nicer than I am. It took her a little while to get with the program, usually about 2 1/2 or 3 miles down the road...

Our conversation would go something like this...

Becky:  Did you see that Amish buggy back there? I think they were selling baskets.

Sherrie:  Would you like to go back?

Becky:  No. That's okay. I was just curious about the baskets.

Sherrie: We can go back if you'd like to.

Becky:  No, really. But it would have made a great picture with that pretty old barn in the background...

(Mark driving along at 60 miles an hour...)

Sherrie:  We can turn around and go back if you'd like. I mean, we're on vacation. It's not like we have to be anywhere by a certain time.

Becky:  No, really. It's fine. It's not worth going back for.

Sherrie:  Mark, STOP! Turn the car around. Becky wants to go back and see those baskets the Amish were selling by Preston.

Mark:  What?

Sherrie:  You know. Back a few miles by that big barn.

Mark:  Where?

Sherrie:  Just turn the car around.

Becky:  Really, you don't have to.

Sherrie: We want to!

Mark:  We do?

Sherrie: We do!

Becky:  Well, I would like to check out the baskets if you're sure it's all right...

Sherrie:  It's fine!

($200 worth of baskets and homemade jam later...)

Becky:  Aren't you glad we stopped?

Sherrie:  Definitely!  That was so fun!

Mark:  (Checking his billfold to see if he has any money left...) Um, sure.

Anyway...

We had to be discreet about taking photos of the Amish, but everything else was fair game. I was a little freaked, however, when Becky started snapping some photos of Lake Pepin, part of the Mississippi River.

"Awesome shot!" I said without thinking.

"Great capture!" Mark said, getting into Gather mode.

"That would be a great one for CTQ," I said, "if the theme doesn't change before we get home."

Becky snapped another photo.

"Perfect for the theme!" Mark said.

"Lovely colors!" I chimed in, before we dissolved into giggles, listening to ourselves talk like we were on Gather.

Before long, we were both snapping away... Amish quilts, barn swallows, paddlewheel boats, Red Wing pottery kilns, round barns... it was a photographer's paradise...

"So what's going to happen when we both post the same picture?" Becky wanted to know. "Will we get flagged or something?"

"People who don't know we're related will probably think one of us stole the other's photos..."

"You can post the round barn," Becky said. "You saw it first."

"You should double post all your pictures and see how long it takes them to figure it out," Mark said.

And so the conversation went...

So... when I start posting photos that look like the ones Linda K. has already posted of her view of the Pacific, you'll know what's going on.

And I'm sure, based on the thoughtful and eloquent comments Linda K always makes, that we'll find far more to say to one another than, "Great capture!" In fact, I doubt we'll use exclamation marks at all!

But I do wish I could only show her complimentary photos of me, and not disillusion her with the real me - extra pounds and gray hair and all - that I'm not too crazy about right now.

But, that aside, I can't wait to meet, see, and talk to the lovely lady I've gotten to know here on Gather. There's something special about getting to know someone through their words, first, where their appearance doesn't matter at all.

And, I truly hope this is only the first opportunity I have to meet one of my wonderful Gather friends, as there are many of you I would love to meet some day!

I'll let you know how things go!