3 friends...a cabrio...& a baked potato!

Today's one of those days, where there's a very warm glow to the face.  No doubt due to the rarity of a complete lunatic of a friend, who for all his weird and wonderful idiosyncrasies, completely outdid himself earlier tonight.

In the middle of cooking the evening meal of baked potatoes, I've been on a change of diet for the past few weeks, my body seems to be straining at the leash to persuade me to indulge myself in something wickedly sweet, high in calories, and oh so disastrously sinful, he calls me on the phone.  Nothing unusual in that, until I hear the tone of his voice, which slightly resembles that of a child who is up to no good, and enjoying every single moment of it.

My friend's voice is cheerfully urgent, as though slightly possessed by the innocence of a cherub, and the heart of a devilish plastic garden gnome, all of a glee because it had overheard something being said by the lady of the house, in response to the gardener's explanation of how he gets his cucumbers to grow so big.  I digress, completely off the point, but you've got the idea.

'Be downstairs' he says 'and make sure you're wearing your woolly hat'.  Naturally, with the tatties in the oven, dressed in jogging pants and a sweatshirt, part of the much preferred dress code, I ask 'why?'  A perfectly reasonable question I thought.  'Just do it...be outside your door in three minutes.'

Now there's no point in trying to reason with him when he's so insistent, so I go downstairs and living on a street where it's one-way to traffic, I look up the road.  No more than a few seconds later, I watch this pair of headlights coming towards me.  I'm fully expecting his blue Audi, so didn't pay much attention, but upon seeing me the driver of the car slows down.  As I'm between minds, potatoes getting a crispy tan in the oven and the garden gnome on his way, I find the car's behaviour a bit strange.  Maybe cars today, run as they are by computers, had a malicious virus causing it to hate strange idiots loitering about doorways, especially when said car sees a strange man wearing jogging pants and sweatshirt, bottomed off with no socks and wearing slippers.  No matter, even if it's slightly unnerving, not much damage would have been inflicted had the car suddenly sped up and hit me; after all I'm fairly well endowed with enough padding to soak up the bump.  Which goes a little way to explain why I'm eating more healthily, the downside is that the loo is unhealthily overworked.  Yes, I know.  That was far too much information, but if I'm suffering from choccy withdrawal symptoms, the rest of the world can jolly well suffer along with me.

So nice white cabriolet pulls up besides me, with my friend full of the joys of an Indian summer.  I cannot believe my eyes, the top is down.  Now, should anyone care to take a peek at their calender they will notice that we're just a few days away from November, and the last time I heard November in Germany isn't known for being the warmest of places, especially in the evening.  But this is my friend.  How his particular mind works would be beyond the genius of Darwin, but evolved it has to a level of wondrous delight and mirth making; which is why, and he'll hate me for saying it, he's dearly loved; life would be immeasurably poorer without his particular 'moments.'

The 'boy with the nice, roofless, toy' wants to go for a spin around town.  Fetching my coat, we set off a few moments later.  We stop to pick up another friend, also male, on the way.  So there's my friend driving in his Hugo Boss suit, I know how that sounds but we can forgive him.  I'm sitting next to him in the passenger seat, wearing my winter coat, jogging pants, and the other friend in the back dressed sensibly in jeans etc.  Well, in for a penny, in for a pound as they say.

I have to say that there's moments when you find it almost impossible not to enjoy the absurdity of the situation you find yourself in.  The looks from people, seeing the three of us driving around with the top down, so close to November, was pure delight.  The chilly air disappeared, replaced by the warmth of friendship, simply doing something harmlessly stupid, in the good sense of the meaning.

And the sun tanned potatoes?  They were scrumptious, going down a treat.