It’s 4:30 in the morning and the barn swallows that nest under our roofs are already awake and clamoring for food. There are so many things these days that keep people apart: families living far away; long work commutes; and electronic devices like Wii’s, PlayStations and iPhones that remove people from family and friends.
Nature does a lot for me to quiet the soul. Sure, the barn swallows are pesky and dive-bomb me when I walk out on the deck and leave waste to the wind to pound windows, houses and garage doors. But there’s a lot of other nature out there. I do believe I saw a wolf yesterday morning. It was moving quickly so I ran to get the binoculars. Definitely not fox or coyote. There’s always something to see here that’s not a computer game.
My family is scattered over the country and globe. Jim’s family is mainly in a 200-mile radius, with a couple on the west coast, but that’s a plane ride away. It’s good to have even some family here visiting. While I pre-stress about visits because I want everything to be perfect for our guests, I really enjoy them being here and being able to show them things and entertain them with personally selected sights, foods and activities that they’ll enjoy.
Admittedly we toned things down when we got here, fearing an influx of people we haven’t seen in decades just because we live in such a beautiful setting, but family and some close friends are coming in and that’s good. We just don’t want freeloaders who have a tenuous connection to us and use our home for free room and board. If I wanted to operate a guest house, I’d buy a large one and charge for that.
But right now it’s family, and it’s going to be a fun and educational visit. Take care and listen to the birds, Dee
Cooking with Dee 