Note: Based on a true story. Names, dates, places, and details have been changed for privacy.

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Blossom of snow, may you bloom and grow.
Bloom and grow, forever.
Edelweiss, edelweiss.
The Sound Of Music.

July 2020.
San Dimas, California.

"Ok, Peter, so that's how Garage Band works."

"Thanks Ray! Really cool. It's a hell of a lot easier than that 4-track we used to record on in the 80's. Man, I love that song. We must have played Edelweiss a thousand times back then."

I palmed my face. "And yet, we still messed it up! You going to eat that last piece of chicken?"

He slid the bucket to me. "Go ahead, take it, Ray. I know how much you love KFC."

I really did. Especially on a beautiful morning in a suburban park with my friend of over thirty-five years. As a talented musician, Peter had played with me in countless ensembles and situations, both for fun and professionally. We had also been roommates for four years until 1991, when I moved into an apartment with my girlfriend Olivia.

After marrying her two years later, our contact had been sporadic, but Peter and I always fell right back into our witty banter. Most of our relationship consisted of joking around, but we also expressed our deep feelings for each other, and discussed intensely personal things. We had also given support to each other at various times. Financially from me, and emotionally from him. In 2020 he needed a different kind of support, but I wasn't sure what to do.

I hated to ask, but felt I had to. "How are you feeling today?"

He winced. "Not as good as the last time I saw you. It won't be too much longer though. This is my last dose, and when I get through it, I can hopefully get back to normal."

Consoling people was never my strongest area. In fact, I tried to avoid it as much as possible, but his cancer treatments and the Covid lockdown left him homebound and longing for company. With both of us in long marriages, we knew that our wives could only provide so much. It had been especially hard on Peter, who was as gregarious and extroverted as I was introverted.

I offered a tepid, "Ok, cool."

Peter laughed out loud. His high pitched chortle warmed my heart, but prompted a stroller-pushing mother to hurry down the path by our picnic table. "Ray, I know damn well you're thinking, 'Oh no! What do I say?"

His caricature of me as the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz was completely accurate. My friend Wendy from the mid-1980's had also mocked my emotional discomfort.

Wendy!

Musing about my formative decade brought a thought to mind. "Hey Peter, did you know that San Dimas is the home of Most Excellent Waterparks?"

Peter and I had seen at least a thousand movies together before I married, and one of our favorites was Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. All it took was one small reference to send us into a quoting frenzy.

Starting with the little air guitar riff the duo used to punctuate the jokes, Peter announced, "Dude, strange things are afoot at the Circle K..."

I came back with, "Joan of Ark? Wasn't that Noah's wife?"

Peter killed it with, "Hey Bill, your Step-Mom's pretty hot. Remember when I asked her to to the prom? Shut up, Ted!"

It took us a minute to calm down, then I waved eastward, "Peter, did you ever go to that place?"

"The water park? No. You invited me once, but I had to work."

I tapped my temple. "Oh yeah, I remember. I took Erica there that day."

Peter shook his head and wolf whistled. "Erica. Damn. That, my friend, was one bodaciously good looking girl. It was most unprecedented, how much that chick loved you, but I still can't believe how bad she dogged you. Most heinous!"

I shrugged. Peter always thought splitting up with Erica broke me more than it did. However, my erratic behavior over the following year likely confirmed his more accurate view. Slightly deflated, I offered a half-assed, "She was bogus!"

Peter scratched his ear, a sure sign he needed something from me. I hoped I would be able to help. "Ray, speaking of your paramour, there's something that's been taking space in my head all these years. You, my good man, dated a ton of women"

I did a quick calculation, "More like four tons, which is a couple shy of your displacement. After all, I didn't dip into the Big Girl Pool as often as you!"

He doubled over. "Oh man, you ain't right!"

I snapped my imaginary suspenders.

Peter looked up and grinned, "Ray, you ain't wrong either!"

I picked at the chicken leg, reflecting on how much I loved my friend.

He continued, "Anyways, I always wondered what was the deal with that plethora of girls. They seemed to get you down, instead of making you happy."

I considered it. "Yeah, I had some pretty bad experiences. Most of it was my fault, and I was too embarrassed to talk about it back then. But now we're two old fools sitting in a park, just like the ones we used to make fun of. So, who cares? What do you want to know, Peter?"

"How about Erica? You two had tumultuous times, I know that."

"Peter, you and I only really started hanging out after I began my relationship with her. You saw a lot of the good times too. I really loved her, you know."

"Yeah. Yeah. Yeah... You did, Ray. I could see that. She made you really happy, and I didn't see that again until you were with Olivia. But I missed a lot of the beginning, even though you talked about her all the time. Tell me how you two got together."

Conversations with Peter often took interesting and unexpected turns. I pointed towards Raging Waters. "It was like that water slide over there. I  slowly and carefully climbed up numerous stairs, knowing I was going to get to the top, but couldn't see how many more flights to ascend. Suddenly, I reached the pinnacle, then hurtled myself into Erica's wet, splashy wonderland."

Peter made the obligatory rude gesture. "I got your pinnacle right here!"

He high fived me. "Look at you, Ray. Getting all poetic. Edgar Allen Panocha"

Tossing a piece of biscuit to an impatiently squawking crow, I began my account. "Ok, Peter, I first met Erica in November, 1984. It was right after I had fucked up everything with Alice..."

A/N: I met Peter in the park, and I showed him how to do multitrack recording using Garage Band on his iPhone. We recorded a simple demo in the windy and noisy picnic area.

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