A Roundtable of Women

These flowers were from my friend Malinda who was at the roundtable.

The snow falls, but in a small town such as mine, friends still cometo potlucks. My old house is known for them as friends and family know my doors are open, tea waits in a pot, and a warm bed is always available.

The first Monday night of every month I host a potluck for women only. I have been hosting this event for several years and there is a wonderful core group of women who show up each month. These are women that I usually only see on potluck night. We share each other's stories no matter what they are.

This month I decided I needed a conversation with them to prepare for the IndyFringe Diva Fest in March.

I called it our Roundtable, even though my table is rectangle. The food was delicious as always, and most was vegetarian.

I opened bottles of wine and begin. "So," I said, "let's start at the beginning, when did you first learn about sex?" Laughter prevailed around the table and the stories flew as quickly as the pouring of the wine. The answers were fun...behind a tree, at girlscout camp... We moved through the cycles of a woman's life during those dark evening hours. It took a long time to get to now. Now existed at my table of single women, divorced, and married.

Where are we now? And what is happily ever after? Answers were varied, as you can imagine....finding the right guy...the right woman...friendship...until finally the women at my roundtable decided that happily ever after depends upon ourselves.

A really big topic for a cold winter's night in my small town.

The candles burned low as the women gathered up empty dishes to carry home. Cars were scraped of the new snow as the evening ended.

I had to return to the studio in the late night hours to reflect, make some notes and finish up the wine!

I love a really good night!