Speaking of friends, I just have to mention the special friendship in which girlfriends can bask. Whether it's a long laughing phone call, or a wide-ranging, chatty and silly dinner party, there is a wonderful ease and inhibition of self that arises in conversation with a close girlfriend. The boundary between thy and thine melts. The feeling of competition similarly fades. Like seals or otters that soak up the sun on hot rock ledges together, we steep ourselves in a wonderfully unspeakable joy that pervades an afternoon or evening. 

Here's to girlfriends!