Capybaras! Capybaras! Capybaras!

Several years ago, my friends Melanie Miller, Sandra Gibson and Maggie Bennett attended Breyer's Ponies and Palm Trees event. I followed their adventures on Facebook without any FOMO at all, at least not until afterwards, when they went to a wildlife sanctuary that had capybaras. 

They got to pet the capybaras.

I was so jealous.

Less than a month later, I opened up Facebook and there was Carol posing with a capybara. 

Once again, I was overcome with jealousy.

"I can't believe you got to pet a capybara" I exclaimed. "Where are you?!"

She told me that picture was taken at an interactive wildlife sanctuary called Wild Acres, that was not too far away from her house.

"If When I visit you," I said. "We're definitely going there.

Last week, I finally went to Mississippi to visit Carol.

Before I arrived, she asked me what I wanted to do during my stay. I said, "Capybaras!"

Capybaras!

Capybaras!"

On the first full day of my stay, we drove to McHenry, Mississippi and met some capybaras.

I got to pet them...

and a whole bunch of other animals, too.

It was so exciting.

Thank you, Carol!

I am so glad that finally happened!

Home sweet Carol

In 2018, my best friend, Carol, applied for and received a job posting in Stuttgart, Germany. 

I was not very happy about this, at least not until the very end of 2019, when I flew to Germany and spent a month with her in Europe.

Funny how that works.

In 2021, it was time for her to come back to the States. A lot of locations were possible, but she ended up in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.

"Ugh," I said when she told me. "I don't really like Mississippi."

"I don't either," she agreed, but that didn't stop her from buying a house there.

For the last four years, I have been talking about visiting her there.

Instead, she keeps visiting me here.

Funny how that works.

I didn't make any New Year's resolutions this year. Olive had just died and the whole year was already, obviously cursed. If I had, however, it would have been to finally go to Mississippi and spend time with Carol in her house. 

I didn't actually think it happen, but then it did.

I'd seen plenty of pictures, so the outside of her house felt familiar.

But when I stepped in the door, I knew I'd come home.

Everywhere I looked there were pieces of Carol's life.

And also, so many pieces of mine.

Remember that time we drove Cara's dogs to Iowa in the dead of winter? I certainly do!

On this pleasantly cluttered shelf, I spied not one but two horse shaped objects.

The first was Why Not Madeline, the model I gifted to Carol shortly after she moved into her first post-divorce house.

The second was Carol's 2020 NaMoPaiMo piece, painted during quarantine in Germany.

I'd never seen this one in person, but I recognized him immediately. 

Just like the house.

Funny how that works.

Postcards from the gulf

 

Away

August 2024 was one of the hardest months of my entire life.

The first part was okay. There was a lot of complicated life stuff happening, but mostly I was taking care of Olive, who was absolutely acing her post colic surgery recovery.

Then my mom fell, and all hell broke loose. I bought a one way ticket to California and stayed there for the rest of the month.

It was really hard.

This August has been better, but still, it's been a long, hot, hard month filled with a lot of complicated life stuff and so many car problems.

I was chatting with Anne Field one day, and she invited me to come spend some time with her in Massachusetts. For a hot minute, it seemed do-able, but ultimately, we weren't able to work out the logistics. I was really disappointed. Right up until that moment, I hadn't realized how much I needed to get away.

A few days later, I related this story to my friend, Carol. She said, "I'm going to be in Washington DC next week and New York City the week after. Why don't you fly out and join me at one of those places."

"Sounds good to me," I said, but once again the logistics weren't in my favor.

Before she went re-enlisted in the Air Force, Carol worked for Frontier. She has benefits with a couple different airlines and can sometimes find deals that I can not.

"Give me some time to work on this," she said. "You really need to get away. I'm going to make something happen."

Sure enough, a couple days later I got a call from Carol. "Check your email," she told me. "I've made you a reservation. You have two days to pay for it."

"Where am I going?" I asked.

"Well," she said. "You're flying into New Orleans."

I laughed. "I'm going to Mississippi, aren't I?"

And then we both laughed together.