In the Company of Women

When I was growing up people used to stop by the house just to visit. They might stop by in the evening and end up staying for a hour or they might stop on a weekend afternoon and stay for several hours. They might bring something from their garden or just themselves to say hello.

In our hustle and bustle world today this really doesn't happen much. Impromptu get togethers are almost unheard of. Maybe it happens and I just haven't been a part of it but I see now what I have been missing. Maybe its what we are all missing. I used to think I didn't have time for this sort of thing. Too many projects to get done around the house. Too much work to do. What a mistake it is to cut off the sweetest part of life, connecting with friends and family if you've got them close by, in favor of mowing the lawn or organizing your pantry.

Yesterday, I had a wonderful day of visiting and impromptu get togethers that reminded of these good old days when life was slower. When we took time to just relax and be together without a purpose or an event involved.

I had "planned" to have lunch with my friend, Yvonne and her sister, Inika, who was visiting from Holland. She sent a text to say it wasn't going to work because she had too many boys coming over to the house for an air soft battle at the same time. I was dropping off my son at the battle so we decided to just eat lunch there and hang out. I invited my daughter, Lindsay to join us and bring her dog Emily who loves to play with Yvonne's dog, Cody.

I stopped at the farmer's market on the way there to pick up my weekly box of fresh Western slope peaches and a big bunch of basil and some onions for later in the week. When Jack and I arrived, Yvonne and her sister had just gotten home from a morning at urgent care for a broken toe! She hadn't had time to pick up anything for lunch. No worries. I grabbed an arm load of peaches from the car and the basil and onion. Yvonne searched the fridge and found tomatoes and mushrooms. We would toss them all in with some pasta! I peeled and sliced a huge bowl of peaches. We compared the smell of my peaches to those of the California peaches Yvonne just got from Costo - no comparison. I told them about one of my favorite books "Four Seasons in Five Senses" by David Mas Masimota. He's an organic peach farmer in California and he really knows how to make your mouth water with his words (more about peaches in another blog post). Inika brought me one of the candles she had just made that was scented with basil. We talked of how scents bring back memories much faster than any of your other senses.

The aroma of the fresh peaches was heavenly, pure sweet peachiness and their taste even more sweet. We nibble on succulent peaches while Inika and Yvonne started chopping and I started cooking. I sauteed the onion and mushroom with some minced garlic while Yvonne cooked the pasta. The smell of the chopped basil filled the room. I tossed the sauteed ingredients in a big bowl with the fresh basil, some salt and pepper and shredded mozzarella. Yum! We threw together a fabulous unplanned lunch. It was quite divine if I say so myself. Something about it made me feel a little Italian. I imagine that's the way they cook over there - just grabbing whatever they have that's fresh and see what comes up! And now whenever I smell fresh peaches and basil I will be reminded of this afternoon.

All the while we were cooking we were catching up with each other and talking about everything from making candles - one of Inika's talents - to following your dreams - Lindsay's sculpture talents. Inika has a very special way about her that makes you feel special, like you can be or do whatever you want. It was a lovely afternoon - one of the best and it wasn't even over yet. I still had to run get eggs from my friend Lisa.

Lindsay and I left Yvonne's to drive out to the country to get some beautiful farm fresh eggs from my friend, Lisa's daughter Emma. Emma got chickens last year for her 4H project and she sells them for $2 dozen. They are the best eggs you will ever eat. Her chickens roam around eating bugs and grass and seeds. Because of what they eat they have these bright orangish, yellow yolks that look a lot more like the eggs you get in Europe. I can't even eat a store bought egg anymore unless I am desperate. She even has hens that lay pale blue and green eggs. I think most people have no idea that there are chickens that lay colored eggs. We are much too far removed from our food anymore. We visited with Lisa for a few minutes but she was still busy getting things ready for school. She's a 3rd grade teacher and last week was the first week of school. Lindsay wanted to see the hens so Emma took us out to the coup. She has named a couple of the chickens. One is named Elizabeth but I didn't catch the other name. I think she has about 10 hens. They slow down their egg laying in the summer when it gets hot. Who knew?

After our tour of the coup we headed back to Yvonne's to pick up Jack. She wanted to try some of the farm fresh eggs so I gave her a couple to try for breakfast.

Throughout the day another group of women I used to meet with every month was trying to plan another last minute get together. We had't seen each other all summer and wanted to catch up but our first plan to catch jazz at City Park was out because it was end of summer. The series was over. We decided to meet at Donna's house and sit out on the patio with a glass of wine and whatever tidbit each of us found at home to bring and nibble on.

I zipped home, popped something in the oven for John and the kids and headed to Donna's with a bottle of wine and a bowl of tomatoes from my garden with the rest of the farmer's market basil and some balsamic vinegar.

The perfect evening to punctuate an already perfect day spent in the company of women. We sat out on the patio in the cool evening breeze with a glass of wine and our stories of the summer. Sharlene telling us of the travels with her new job and the chapter she is writing for a book she is working on. Marilyn catching us up on all her new clients and the goings on of some of her old clients (she markets artists). Jennifer catching us up on her busy summer of politics with her husband running for Congress. And Donna telling us about the writing workshop she did in Paris over the summer and reading us one of her fabulous "flash fiction" short stories. And the bring what you have food was to die for! Sharlene made ceviche with halibut she caught on a fishing trip in Alaska and fresh peaches. Donna had the most fabulous brie I have ever tasted. I thought I might have an orgasm with every bite - Delice de Bourgogne (I think) - like butter it melts in your mouth. Marilyn brought a crisp chardonnay and some marinated feta. This was one of the nicest evenings I've spent this summer. Just lovely.

On the way home I stopped at my daughter Lindsay's apartment to see her new coffee table from Ikea. She had cleaned and rearranged furniture and it just looked great. I was so proud her in her neat little apartment.

What a perfect day - in the company of women.

But nice to go home and find my favorite man waiting for me too.