Exploring is always more fun with a friend. Seeing the world with another pair of eyes alongside yours, getting to share the moment with them is magic. They may see a deer hiding in the forest or appreciate the way the light filters through the tree and hits the water differently than you do. Watching someone else find simple joy in the journey is almost more fun your own journey. You get to watch their eyes light up when they see a particular flower, or their head tilt back to take in the sunshine with their eyes closed. It is a beautiful thing. You drive down the wooded road, paying attention to how the light filters through the trees and trying to determine how on earth you would even begin to describe it. You roll down the windows when you hit the bridge over the lakes and drive slower, enjoying how the light hits the water. Some of it is covered in water plants, and small islands crop up a little way out. You wonder what it would be like to take a boat out to explore them. Or maybe just come back with some wood, a blanket or two, a thermos of hot chocolate, and some stuff to make smores so that you can build a fire and watch the sunset dance across the water before its replaced by firelight and fireflies.
It's different again when you wander an old city with a friend. When you watch them absorb the old history all around them, the weight of the ages settling around their shoulders as they realize this building is hundreds of years old, and that one is at least a thousand. You watch them bend over a display, looking at an old cannon and the wall that housed it. You both gasp at the stained glass windows lining the ballroom in the middle of the town common, and they watch you with an indulgent smile as you dance along the colored light they cast in the midafternoon sun. Maybe if you're lucky they'll take your hand and waltz you through it for a minute or two. Your hair and clothes turning green then blue then yellow. They tell you fun facts as you walk through the streets and hold your hand when you get to the subway to keep you from getting lost in the crowds.
Yes, a friend for the times you wander is good. A companion to see you when you smile, when you dance with joy and drag them into the sunshine they're missing. Because what is life without a chance to reach for the sun? A chance to run through a field of sunflowers in Kansas, or tulips in Holland, or poppies in France? To whisper to those that came before that you are here, and you remember them. To laugh with those in front of you about the here and now and the good things in the present. To promise to those who come that you will keep the light burning, plant flowers in the spring, and never give up hope.
