Maria and I walked down the road to Momma’s Restaurant to have dinner with our friends Jack and Kim Macmillan, we walked past Absolut Auto Credit, different from the farms and country houses that dot the road, a different kind of landscape, more like the one I knew in New Jersey and Dallas and other places, and I saw the flags flapping, and the sings twirling and the new sky rushing overhead bringing the evening’s storm clouds and I Absolut Credit looked beautiful to me in the new sky.
Wendy’s place sits along the highway down a bit from our farm, I met Wendy and I knew her grandmother Ida, I just learned recently, she read my books and I used to visit her on the house up on the hill, she had a farm stand down the road, we would talk about the country and my books, she liked to have visitors when she got ill. Wendy’s place had a fire, it is boarded up, waiting. It is an evocative place, it suggests things, triggers memories, evokes things.
(Wildflower with the Daily Egg).
I vaguely remember June 12, our planned anniversary celebration at a nice refurbished Inn in Massachusetts. I was lying in a feverish haze in the first stages of my Lyme Disease and Maria was explaining to the innkeeper on the phone that we couldn’t make it, her husband was sick. The innkeeper said she was taking our $200 advance payment anyway and asked if we had a doctor’s note, then suggested it was probably just a one-day thing and we could come if we wished. As I lay sweating and shivering, Maria lit up and called back and after some back and forth – I called up the next day when I woke up – the innkeeper eventually apologized (I have this sneaking feeling she may have Google us and looked at our blogs) and so all was forgiven, it was no big deal and we made a reservation for tomorrow night, when we also have tickets to a play at the Williamstown Theater Festival.
The inn sounds nice and we seem to have gotten a suite of some sort. Hmmm…I am not into squawking about merchants on the blog or writing nasty online reviews, I prefer to complain in person, and it was just one of those things, no big deal. The innkeeper may have been grumpy that day, it happens to me often enough. We have heard that she is quite nice, and we will find out tomorrow. We are looking forward to this place and if we love it, as I expect we will, I will share the name with you. If we don’t like it, we’ll keep it to ourselves. The big thing is the anniversary, which got mostly lost in all of the craziness with Lyme, the farm, then the Diabetes and a hundred other things I can’t even remember. I am feeling great now, the Lyme is completely gone, at least for now, the Diabetes medication has worked wonderfully in just a couple of days, I feel energized and strong, I am riding my bike every day and writing my butt off and taking more photos than ever.
The meaning of our anniversary is clear, on our actual anniversary date Maria took care of me in the most loving way. I was helpless and I saw so clearly her love and support. Today a friend scolded me for not thinking enough about tomorrow and I was reminded to dwell on our wonderful relationship and on our wedding day, perhaps the most glorious day of my life. In the morning, I will put up a photo and then we will head out of town. I thought of a surprise for Maria, a small way to show my great love for her. Tomorrow, I will celebrate being one of the luckiest men in the world, and I never once in my life imagined I could be loved in such a way by such a beautiful spirit. Our love is a creative connection and now, more than that, it grows all of the time, as our life and adventure together evolves. Like they say at Disney, dreams can come true. We will return Saturday morning, it is a short celebration, but it will be a sweet and meaningful one, a long way from that strange day when Maria made that first phone call.
Love is wonderful, but love is hard and good work, and people who take it for granted will perhaps forget what it really means. I will not make that mistake, not ever again.
The Hound Of Love is a middle-aged puppy, although she can look serious in photographs. She is still puppy’ish, has lost none of her energy and still grasps the meaning of “photoshoot.” Lenore is all love, she is the heart of the place in so many ways. When I was alone and struggling, Lenore kept love alive for me, I could not help but smile when I looked at her and I cannot help it still.
Note: For those of you who messaged me and said you wished to subscribe to the blog but had little money, I have arranged for a $3 monthly subscription fee, meant for those under financial pressure or anyone else who chooses to subscribe in that way. The $5-a-month and $60-a-year subscription options remain, the one-time contribution option has been removed. Donations connote charity to me, subscriptions are payment for my work. Better.
I need to say again, as some may have missed it, that the blog will remain free to those who choose not to pay for it or who can’t pay for it, you are very welcome here. I will always find a way for you to access the blog. Subscribing is a choice, it is an evolution both in my work and my thinking. I like being paid for my work, and increasingly, the blog has become my work. I hope you continue to enjoy it, I will continue working hard to fill it with good stuff.
