In January, 2019, I went to Minnesota to see friends. Tundra weather pronouncements indicated the possibility of ten days of good weather. Plus… after four months on the boat-alone-I needed and wanted the emotional connection found in deep friendships. So I took the train the Pacific Surfliner- from SB to Burbank, and flew Southwest to Minneapolis.
Trips to Minnesota are feasts. Emotionally and spiritually satisfying. Lots of good food and wine, buckets of laughter, and shared stories. About our children and their lives. The good, bad, ugly, tough and challenging are on the table. And we all feel better after talking. One friend recently lost his only child-his much beloved son, a new baby joined the family, thoughts on parents who grow frailer with each visit. All are shared.
Halfway thru my visit, I drove to Wisconsin to see two old friends who live in the woods outside the town of Roberts. Their location used to be remote. Computer connection for Harold’s construction business accomplished thru a complicated system using a Minnesota phone number. But… I remind myself, it has been 30 years and new construction homes dot what used to be productive farmland. Nothing is as it used to be. Except my friends Harold and Barb, who are and continue to be… amazing. (For many reasons. Which will be talked about in another blog. Since they will visit me on the boat 3 months after this particular visit).
I fell in love at their house. With a cat. A stray who had been wandering their property for a week. Or two. Looking out the window to their front yard, which is more accurately a 2 acre garden, with a gigantic Koi pond now frozen solid and devoid of fishies, a rock concert sized fire pit fit and a variety of old growth trees festooned with bird feeders. I saw a cat. Slung low to the ground and moving with high quality roller blade grace was a snowy white cat with black patches. Medium size, generous amounts of fur, he was on the hunt. Dinner was within his grasp. If he was smart. Fast. And had good eyesight. Note: Barb and Harold are serious birders. Any threat to the Audubon population is taken very, very seriously. Barb was especially concerned this kitty would eat the local residents so I suggested perhaps a can of tuna would divert him from feathered meals. Barb was also certain he was feral and would not come to me, or come into the porch, but I put on my best kitty kitty voice-and he was at my side in a moment. The first picture at the top of the page is the first up close and personal view of my guy.
NEXT: Jackson and his adjustment to boat life.