Simple life, simple reminders

It is difficult to say I live a truly simple life when I am sitting here clicking away on my Chromebook keyboard and paying too much for a rural internet service. I am sipping an organic Ethiopian coffee and looking out over our acreage from the comfort of a screened in deck. My field is unmowed and I'm trying to figure out why my riding mower isn't working properly. The yard part of the property has been (mostly) mowed with a push mower over the past couple of days.
We have two older cars, a motorcycle, and a pop-up camper that we need to use or get rid of.

Perhaps simple still works because my life is uncomplicated. 
There is little drama in my life - mostly because I have little enough interaction with people. For better or for worse, I don't have a lot of regular contact with people. Most of my people interaction these days comes through the wonder of technology and social media platforms. Actual encounters with people are pretty rare, mostly selective, and generally pleasant. Even my social media contacts are mostly pleasant as those unpleasant contacts and I have drifted apart.

Yesterday, an old friend reached out and sent a nice message. That was pretty cool and definitely uplifting. It was certainly unexpected - both from the standpoint of not expecting it as well as being surprised at the person who reached out. 
As I have matured (code for gotten old), I have started to recognize that there are people that I seem to connect with on a different level. I don't know if it's an energy thing, a kindred spirit kind of thing, or something else, but you just know that you like that person. And I don't always know if the other person feels the same connection. Sometimes I think it's just an acceptance thing, a shared experience, or an understanding of their circumstance or situation.
Oftentimes (as in the case of this particular person), actual times of interaction might be few and far between. In any case, it was a pretty cool way to start the day.

And it reminded me that there are people that I know that could probably use the same kind of uplifting contact. I think I'll start dropping a few notes of encouragement to people that I haven't seen in a while. Maybe it will be good for both of us. Maybe those simple, encouraging contacts are what living a simple life is all about.

John