Oasis

In the midst of chaos and struggle and the emotional roller coaster that is admitting failure... there was a bright spot, a brief period of total peace, that kept me going this weekend.

Every year, Houston holds "iFest," or the International Festival. All sorts of fun stuff from various countries, each year spotlighting one. This year, they focused on Jamaica. And this year is the first year I've gone. Of course, it was once again Cole who brought me to a new experience. We weren't there super-long, and I really didn't look around much. He was still fatigued from being sick earlier in the week, and I was fatigued both physically and emotionally from the weekend I'd had. So as people milled about, we simply laid on a grassy hill leading down to one of the city's many bayous, several yards to the side of the main stage. We listened to a jazzy-type band for a while, then to silence, and finally to the Robert Cray Band, the main reason we came. Or, in retrospect, the main thing he had told me when he was inviting me. And the concert was great, too... good music, good performer. But the best part was really being there with him, calm, relaxed... alternately sitting up and lying down on the green grass... watching the people walk by... watching a pretty little girl we later learned was named Tatiana, who had hair almost bigger than she was, and who toddled with abandon all over the park under the watchful eyes of what must have been a huge extended family. Cole was by far not the only person lying in the grass who suddenly opened his eyes to her smiling face and enthusiastic "hello" looming over him. Young couples snuggled and stole kisses in the grass, older couples and groups of friends sat in companionable silence or quiet chit-chat. For a few golden hours, all was right with the world.