Hugs and misses

I was all set to go out tonight and whoop it up with the crew for several hours. Really looking forward to it.

Then, word comes along that it's supposed to really, really, really rain tonight. And tomorrow.

Tomorrow I can deal with. Tonight, I'm disappointed over. I could be hardcore, and go out anyway, but hanging out in the rain for a few hours, to where we're due as much as 2 inches tonight alone, just doesn't do it for me. Some rain? No problem? Torrential rain and dropping temps? Problem.

What I'm really going to miss most is not the food, or the mood, but the hugs and the smiles I was going to get and give. I miss my peoples! I'm lucky to know many people who are so generous in so many ways, and I've always got the opportunity to meet a few more people when I'm there.

I had a friend back in college who told me that he took a course where he was supposed to get 10 hugs a day. Seems like a lot. He just got used to asking for them. And he got them. What a cool course to have taken--I forget who his psychology professor was, but sir or madam, I thank you.

I loved being hugged. I'm an affectionate person to begin with, but I'm also cognisant of people's boundaries. I hate it when people I don't know that well (or at all) come grab me like I'm their long-lost billionaire cousin, but if I know you, and we've met at least once or twice before and the vibe is good, show me the love.

Hugging people keeps you healthy, as well as the people you're hugging. Unless they're coughing in your face while you're hugging each other, you can't get sick from a hug, either. Not that there's anything wrong with kissing, but I'm not a casual kisser.

I'd set a goal of getting at least 20 hugs (having backed down from my original goal of 25), and was going to use my friend Dave's method of letting people know my goal and asking for one, just to be sure I would meet my quota with no problems.

There's all kinds of hugs out there, and all kinds of huggers--the tentative, the bone-crunchers, the prolongers, to name a few. I usually guess beforehand if I've never hugged someone and we're about to what kind of hug I'll get from them, and 75% of the time or more, I'm right. You can get different hugs from the same person at different times of the day, too. There's the sobriety factor, the familiarity factor, the daily fun factor (a better day results in a bigger hug at the end of it, whereas earlier hugs may offer less of a squeeze factor), the emotional closeness factor, the reason-why factor, and several others I'm not able to think of right now. I've hugged someone earlier in the day and gotten a "you're made out of porcelain, so I'm going to be very careful about this" hug, and at the end of the day gotten a truly wonderful bearhug goodbye that could have lasted longer but didn't.

Now, I've gotta wait about three weeks or so to see everyone. Sucks.

If it's gonna rain, it's gonna rain. This is April, after all, and Mother Nature knows best. I just wish she could hug me 20 times today.