The Subaru pulled up in my neighbor’s driveway Friday afternoon. I ran outside with the bags, threw them in the way-back, and said “Clear to leave, let’s go.”
It looked like a heist, and in a way it was. Lisa, Suzanne and I were leaving for our book club girls only weekend away. Way up the Northeast Extension, we would turn north on I-81, as if going to Syracuse, and pull into a rambling old farmhouse to meet the rest of our group.
On the drive we got on the subject of what your car says about you. I learned that one of our local Republican politicians, when out leafletting, will not even bother going up a driveway if there’s a Subaru in it. Lisa said “I’ve always heard that Subarus are lesbian cars.” There we were, three Democrat women in a Subaru – what would people think?
The farmhouse is beautiful, miraculously warm and toasty, and full of the history of the family that has owned it forever. Dinner was on the table when we arrived, a fire was blazing, and the others were already wearing PJs pants and sweatshirts, drinking wine and tired from their half day on the slopes.
The next day we had a great time skiing at Elk Mountain. Although note to self: never rent at the ski slopes again. It takes so much precious time to snake through those lines and get fitted. There’s a little shop in our town that rents ski stuff for everything from a weekend to a season. THIS is the way to go.
Back to the house for another fabulous meal and another evening sitting around the fire. Anne decreed that we would play Scattergories, which elicited some groans and protestations of tiredness, but Anne assured us we would change our tune. And we did. The best moment of the game was when we had to come up with a personality trait beginning with the letter H. We went around the group: Humility. Humorous. Hornery. Wait, what? Did you say hornery?
Jenny, who had written this word down and is the opposite of a smartass, defended her answer. “Well, you know, like mischievous. Isn’t the H silent?” She was laughingly shouted down – “No, it starts with an O!” She scratched at her notepad.
But we all loved the word, and although it does not exist, it really should. Like those Washington Post competitions where you have to invent a word by changing or adding one letter. For instance, “bozone: the impenetrable atmospheric cloud surrounding an idiot.”
On Sunday morning we woke up whenever we wanted and had a leisurely breakfast at the huge country table. Conversation ranged from what books we should read next (“Just Kids”) to what the heck is going on with health care insurance and benefits in our school district and in the country at large. Finally, reluctantly, we started packing and getting ready to hit the road.
But first, a group photo: (and thanks to Lisa for all of today’s pictures)
Front, l-r: Christie, Meryl, Linda, Suzanne, Lisa
Back, l-r: Kathleen, Jennifer, Jenny, Anne
