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It is rare for us to leave home in late afternoon, but yesterday we had a rendezvous with good friends who are here from England.
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They were spending a night in Bennington , which was also the most likely place to find a suitable restaurant, so we fed the pussycats their dinner and set off.
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“What do you mean you’re going out?”
“I don’t remember being informed!“
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May is a time I’ve always thought you could count on good and warm weather for a visit to New England, but alas it is not proving so this year.
The restaurant has a large deck with a lovely view of the Green Mountains, but it was far too cold and drafty to eat out there.
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A brief glimpse of blue beyond the cloud was but a tease!
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The overcast and low light of late afternoon painted a new scene.
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As did the fields being readied for planting.
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Living in the country is like being part of a constantly changing canvas.
Within weeks, the corn will be up, the image of a snow-swept landscape a remote memory.
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In many ways, I dislike change which I imagine is true for most people.
We find comfort in what is familiar.
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But changes in the flora and fauna are Natural and to observe them always delightful.
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There is not much available here in the way of fine dining, but meeting with good friends was all that counted and we enjoyed a very adequate meal while catching up.
It is nice to have the sort of friendship that doesn’t change over time and distance.
We found ourselves happily chatting as if it had been just a week or two since our last encounter rather than 5 years.
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Last time my friends were here, they stayed nearby in Cambridge, but that motel closed down during Covid and has not re-opened.
The local coffee shop morphed into a Mexican food restaurant then closed before reverting to being a coffee shop, each time with new owners. It’s obviously a struggle to make it work.
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Visitors should not have to depend on hotels and restaurants, but I am loath to expose them to the chaos of our existence.
If you choose to share your space with numerous animals, you must be prepared for adjustments.
Animals cause mess and as they age, said mess is likely to increase. Then you must decide.
Either the animals must go, or you must accept living an alternate life style.
True animal lovers do not abandon their pets.
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Therefore, we live in a perpetual muddle.
It’s more a matter of us living with cats, than cats living with us, if you see what I mean.
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“You can have those bits, over there.”
(“Dee Dee tol’ me to say that.”)
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We do our best to contain the mess.
And what we can’t contain, we clean, repair or discard.
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Let me not paint too dark a picture. We don’t live in total squalor.
It’s just that we tend to live around the cats and their stuff, in whatever spaces they don’t need.
We do not sit at a table to eat and there are only two places in the living room where a human can sit.
For us it’s totally fine, but we appreciate that not everyone chooses to live this way.
Which is why visitors stay elsewhere
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As for feeding anyone, it’s not that I am unwilling to attempt cooking, it’s just that I doubt most people would care to partake.
Grant is diabetic and I am vegetarian, with all sorts of food intolerances, such that our diets are quite restricted.
Even if we were to reclaim the dining room table, I’d be reluctant to lay a meal upon it.
It is a source of concern, should my brother be able to visit, though he too is diabetic, now I think of it.
If the time comes, we’ll work something out. Why make a mountain out of a molehill?
I understand why you do not accommodate. We are much the same, with one of the spare bedrooms designated as a non-sleeping office room, and the other mainly used for storage. We have a large inflatable double mattress that is reserved for family, and ‘very close’ friends who do not mind sleeping at the end of the living room. Other guests have stayed in hotels in town, or up at the coast. I hope your soiree at the restaurant was enjoyable.
Best wishes, Pete.
We had a lovely evening and it was uplifting to be with good friends.
I think that Nature in spring is the most joyful, and your photos are proof. Your house is beautiful, and cats are just a wonderful addition. Without friendship, life is meaningless, wrote a Roman sage. It is lovely to meet people whom you know well and like. And as always, Carolyn, your punch line is perfect!
Joanna
I chuckled as I read your post. I’ve always had numerous dogs and cats running around here and very much enjoyed their company and was happy to clean up after them. With few exceptions, I enjoyed my pets’ company more than some of the humans I know 🙂 -Gladys
A friend recently mentioned that she had a “very narrow food lane”, which I thought a charming way of putting dietary restrictions. Lovely to see old friends who pick up easily ofter years of absence.
From my time in the army, I have always been able to pick up where I left off with all my friends and family, even if the time in between meetings is considerable.