sitting on hills with friends

the four of us collide into each other. we hug for way too long. there's no one else around save for a few hikers with hiking poles and sturdy outdoorsy dogs, who get out of their cars silently around us and head out for the hills. a reunion in a gravel parking lot in the malvern hills. it's been five years.we all stare at each other in disbelief, then laugh. pete and dave stand next to each other and we say they could almost be twins. the sky is grey and we walk under it, trying to squeeze four across the narrow path along the edge of the road. i grab emma again and tell her that i'm not going to be able to stop hugging her now that we are finally next to each other again in real life. it's been a friendship that's grown long distance, as our paths have mirrored each others across an ocean, but that started when dave and i found ourselves working as teachers in the city of birmingham, england in 2007. emma was working at the agency where we worked.. her boyfriend pete was in a band and we'd all go to watch him play on the weekends. i can remember pete giving emma a new camera and her bringing it to our office christmas party.. if you'd told those people fiddling around with menu settings together where they'd all be five years down the line, how much photography would change our lives, none of us would have believed you. we find a spot on the side of the hill and sit with our legs stretched out looking over the countryside and the wind blows.we all talk excitedly. and i think... i know it's the internet and facebook and twitter that's helped keep our friendship in tact all these years.. and i'm so thankful for that. but still, there's nothing that can beat the sound of your friends' voices right there next to you.the malvern hills, uk // july 2013