Imagine That…
Imagine that. My daughter Lauren and her boyfriend John were visiting from Florida. I spent my downtime last week preparing for their coming. Groceries were purchased and I filled the pantry with canned goods. I did not want them to think I live on Skinny Pop and blackberries. Or that I would not be prepared if there was a blizzard. I also made everything shine like the top of the Chrysler Building (to use a phrase that might be controversial this close to Motown…).
They arrived at midnight on Thursday, and from that moment until I put them on a plane yesterday, I was 100% attentive to their needs. We experienced everything from a 70 degree hike on the Saugatuck Dunes (see photo above where I am upstaging my daughter), to a SRO Frankenmuth sojourn, to a home cooked banquet at friends’, to a bona fide snowstorm in the Up North, boonies. And we ate a lot of meat. And fried stuff, like pickles and mushrooms and potatoes…
Drinking Mom vs. Sober Mom…
Both John and Lauren have experienced my behavior as a drinker. In fact, they woke me to remind me I used to be “kind of a mean drunk” when they got home (ironically, cheerfully drunk) from a Grand Rapids brewery tour. There was only one time I thought that a glass of red wine would be nice. Oh, come on, we were hiking in snow and holed up in a rough hewn, log lodge…
But seriously, other than sitting in a waterside bar after a long walk with a yen for a warming glass of plonk, the main thing I felt was a resounding sense of peace. When I was drinking, everything was so urgent. Especially on a long weekend with actual, human beings. When could I start drinking? Would I have enough? And how long before we stop all this “fun nonsense” and get down to the business of getting drunk?
Lauren and John – fun nonsense in the Michigan woods…
What a Relief
I am so grateful for the long days I have now and the fact that I can drive at any time of day, with impunity. To experience the first snowfall with a couple of Florida tourists and focus on nothing heavier than what to eat (heavier is right) and what to see next… The profound equanimity. The pure hilarity…
Oh, and speaking of tourists, we hiked in the woods during hunting season and climbed into someone’s deer blind. I don’t think you are supposed to do that. We were walking, tricked out in the orange gear we found in the lodge, and Lauren said, “Why is there yellow snow in our footprints? It looks like urine.”
I said, “OOOH, I think they spread deer pee to mask the smell of man in the forest…” As we went stomping, with our “man smell” all over the woods….
