Up North

Jeanine, Sarah, and I drove up Saturday morning. Upon arrival I met Louise's husband, Steve, and got the tour of the cabin. We settled in and had lunch. I was in charge of lunch, so we had sandwiches. We took a nice long hike, culminating in my second ever walk on a frozen lake. (I'm not looking to make a habit out of this.)

Took a field trip into town. First to Louie's Finer Meats where I picked up three different kinds of bratwurst and some maple syrup. And then we stopped at the friendly neighborhood Ben Franklin store, which was a trippy experience. It's kind of like a Woolworth's, but smaller. So if you need a grave site decoration, a slip, or an ashtray (or all three!), you can get it at Ben Franklin. Too much excitement.

Back to the cabin for Ghirardelli hot chocolate with some funky marshmallows from Whole Foods which was amazing. Watched a movie — Muderball, I recommend it — and then had a late dinner. Steve read us a David Sedaris story. And then I crashed hard. All that food and fresh air. *whew*

I thought I slept pretty late this next morning, having not gotten up until 9:00, but it turns out Jeanine and Sarah had only just gotten up at 8:30. We a fabulous breakfast of fresh fruit salad, pork sausage (from Louie's), and a dutch baby pancake with maple syrup. That dutch baby pancake was so simple even I could make it, and I just might. Louise gave us a demonstration. After breakfast we went out for another walk and I somewhat overheated in the 45° sun, only to be blasted by a chilly wind when we came out from behind the trees. Then into the car and on back home.

It was so great to see them again! I love them so much. The conversations I have with them are so different from the ones I have with my friends and my coworkers (don't even get me started). I feel so much smarter and like an adultaround them. Steve was great, too.

It totally reinforced the fact that I'm not, and likely never will be, an outdoorsy, going up north type of person. Their house was nice, but I could have all that stuff in the house right here in the city. I can only do so much looking at the trees. I'm not big into boats, jet-skiing, fishing, or snowmobiling. I thoroughly enjoyed the company, but activity-wise I was a little bored. So the 24 hours we there was just long enough for me.

And I'm totally buying one (or maybe two) of these Ikea chairs which I cannot seem to find online at the moment that Steve and Louise had in their house.