May 24, 2009. Chevy Chase, Md. The Weekend.

My friend was not pleased to find us, once again, unable to come to their home this weekend in Bethesda. I apologized and agreed that Ken and I are very difficult, because we are always at the farm on the weekends. It was suggested that every so often we should just stay in town. Perhaps we will, but I doubt it, because our time in the country is very precious to us. Perhaps it is the clean air or perhaps it is the lack of pretensions, or perhaps it is the wildlife. Added all together, a weekend in the country restores ones soul, whatever that means.

Here is an example. On the way up, Ken and I ate lunch at "The Number One Chinese Restaurant". I don't know why this name tickles my fancy but It does. The restaurant is in a strip mall in Hagerstown and is very simple but it has this big name for such a tiny restaurant that I like the place. It is our favorite spot for Chinese food in Hagerstown. I slept in the car all the rest of the way to the "Road Kill Cafe" where we always stop for milk. And we always have a nice chat with Barbara who runs the place, to find out any local activities for the weekend. Barbara wanted to ask all about Andrew and Christina and the girls as well, so after fifteen minutes to talk we ate ice cream at the "Alley Cat" , where again we chat with Kathy who runs the ice cream store just outside the "Road Kill Cafe". The ice cream is good and we certainly want to support her store, so at least once every weekend we eat a dish of ice cream, two book scoops for two dollars. Kathy would love to travel but have never been able to do it, so she always wants to know all about our recent trip so another fifteen minutes or more we spend at the ice cream store.

Finally we are at the farm and for the rest of the time we do nothing except enjoy ourselves. We both take a nap, then we sit in lounge chairs on the deck with binoculars in hand watching to see if the birds are using the six bluebird boxes. Finally Ken brings out a bottle of white wine, which somehow or other was missed in the wine cellar. It should have been opened many years before. Our discussions were wide ranging and lengthy and as dark was descending, we decided to scrap dinner and just go down to hot tub, which we did. The evening was lovely and after the hot tub, we just went to bed. So if you were to ask me what we did on Friday, I would have to say that we did not do anything. But we certainly did enjoy it.