A lovely dinner is what we had in mind, we three friends with so much catching up to do. But since the elegant restaurant we considered could be a little quiet, and since this was Day Twenty-Three, we opted, instead, for Mojitos Tropical Cafe.

Over cuban black beans and rice, we talked of Gerard Manley Hopkins and Mary Oliver and the Poetry Foundation. We considered the works of Hemingway and the personality of Zelda Fitzgerald. We made a commitment to read more, write more, gather more.

This sentence was spoken, I swear:

“I had this friend in college who would drink too much then call me and read Gertrude Stein.”

I drove home thinking: It’s lovely to be 51, to talk about something other than boyfriends or children, to enjoy classic literature that no one is making you read, to look forward to the poem of the day simply because it brings joy to your life.

In fact, it’s not just lovely. It’s fun.

30 Days of Fun is inspired by one of my favorite blogs, Mighty Girl.