Meeting Online Friends: Making it Happen

Meeting online friends these days has become pretty common … and when said new friend visits you in your home, you make lemon loaf, serve tea, and then you shoot it ;) (that is, if your new friend is a fellow photographer and lover of still life styling!)

I met Kathy @kpardell at #findingstillness2016 with Kim @kimklassen back in September and I was immediately struck by her enthusiasm and determination to learn everything she could; from styling, to photography, to editing. She was already styling beautiful images which I’d been noticing online in The Studio 2.0 and I was curious to discover who this new talent was!

So after a few days of getting to know her (in real life), and because she lives in the same province as I do, I invited her to come stay with me “someday”. Well, with Kathy Pardell “someday” is not a day of the week ;) quote by Denise Brennan-Nelson

As soon as I uttered the words, the wheels were in motion! So after spending several months trying to come up with a mutually agreeable date, we finally settled on a late January visit.

Suddenly, I was nervous. Very, very, nervous. I (would have said) Kathy and I are on opposite ends of the personality spectrum. Kathy being a Type A, and me being a Type B. And while there may be a bit of truth to that analysis, it certainly wasn’t a problem. We got along famously!

She arrived around noon so I had homemade soup simmering on the stove, ready to warm hearts and hands. A perfect way to break the ice!

I also had a lemon loaf I’d baked just that morning, so I suggested we use it to create a few still life images around two friends enjoying tea and cake. That kept us busy for hours … shooting, editing, and finally eating some of that yummy loaf.

After lunch we took a walk to soak up the bright January sunlight and work off a bit of the sugar high from the cake we’d eaten. I also wanted to give Kathy an idea of how I live—quietly, on the shores of a small lake, in a somewhat secluded area.

For dinner I made a simple salad (recipe to come later this week). I’d marinated a salmon, which I barbecued and served with asparagus and rice. Easy, but elegant.

With bellies full and feeling like we’d known each other for ages, we retired to the living room where we talked and talked: about food, photography, and life. We enjoyed tea, wine, and a roaring fire.

Yesterday I took her around to visit my favourite little stores: one a country store about 5 minutes from my home, and the other a junque store in a small town about 20 minutes away. A few purchases and a delicious lunch later, we headed back to relax for the evening (but not before a few more still life images were created and shot.)

Today I find myself alone at the kitchen table … basking in the beautiful sunlight pouring through the windows and thinking about this new world we live in; where meeting a new friend does not depend solely on geography. You can simply remain on-line friends (which is great), or when possible, you can take it to the next level and meet in real life … you just have to make it happen … because someday is not a day of the week.

This has been a bit of a ramble, I know, but I wanted to document our visit before the details fade into oblivion. I’m still in the processing stage … and writing this post has helped so much.

 

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**Word Art is for personal use only :)