mousme | The short(is) version (Reply)

Sixteen or so hours of driving gives one a lot of time to reflect, I find. I don't know whether I shall expound on that in a later post or not. Suffice it to say that I did a lot of thinking during this trip.

I sorely needed a change of headspace, and the trip did me a lot of good. Seeing

fearsclave after a fairly long time did me a great deal of good too. He's one of the few people who get me on a very fundamental level.

joane is another. I miss them terribly when they're not around for long periods of time.

Anyway, I picked up some yarn and some knitting needles at the evil empire on the way down to Ohio, and have started a baby blanket. I hope to get it finished in about a month or so, if I work really hard on it. No promises, mind you. Can someone point me to a site or a program that'll help me track my progress, the way some people track word count? It'd be a great help, thanks. :)

I got to meet the Wuh-Mun, who is absolutely marvelous, as people go. She's got her head screwed on straight, is tall and attractive, likes cats (and has two of her own), knows what she wants in life, likes fishing even if it isn't a driving passion in her life, and I think she's pretty keen on the idea of settling down permanently with

fearsclave in that very pretty little house they've found near

fearsclave's father's place in Alexandria.

She and I got along quite well, I think. If she didn't like me, she hid it very well indeed. ^_-

We got off to a late start on Friday morning, mostly because it took a crowbar to pry

fearsclave out of the matrimonial bed (ahem), but the day's drive was a very pleasant one, marred only by the hour's wait at the border (well, the toll bridge, to be precise).

I hereby dub Pennsylvania "Land of Roadkill." We spent about an hour and a half in that state, and I counted no less than thirteen dead deer (and I'm not even going to list the dead gophers, rabbits, possums, squirrels, and other rodents, because I simply lost track). I really don't know what it is about that state compared to New York or Ohio, which are right next door. Bleah. *shudder*

prolixfootle is possibly one of the nicest, warmest, loveliest people I have ever had the privilege of meeting. Really. I can hardly wait until I get the opportunity to go see him again, and hopefully the next time I'll have more than a day to spend with him, and the next time I won't be so completely burnt that I'll spend a good few hours sleeping (man was I tired!). His animals adore him, and for good reason.

As for Ohio itself, or at least the Rural Wastelands part thereof, I don't think I have the words to describe how breathtakingly beautiful it is. Verdant, lush, rolling hillsides, with trees much taller than we're used to in Quebec, mostly because the growing season just isn't as long here. It's already getting into high summer there, whereas here full-blown spring has barely begun. Not a conifer in sight, and gabled houses dot the hillside, hide beneath dark green ivy and lurk behind walls of trees and tall bushes (apart from those regrettable parts where developers have seen fit to create suburban-like developments of twelve or fourteen cardboard cut-out houses all in a row and cut down all the trees for acres all around).

The weather was wonderful while we were there. Not a cloud in sight, with crystal clear blue skies and a warm sun. Everything conspired to make our visit there as pleasant as possible.

prolixfootle outdid himself in the cooking department, with rib roasts and steak and corn and lima beans and hash brown casserole and scrambled eggs and squidgie buns (no, I don't know what they're really called) and bacon and sausage and buns and cake and all sorts of marvelous food. I got introduced to a local soft drink called Squirt, which is a citrus type of thing which should really not be allowed within twenty feet of me. It's very nice.

We watched movies at night, and took a nice ramble during the day. I accompanied

prolixfootle on his chores during the day and visited the barn cats, saw the barn cows which were eventually headed for slaughter (they're kept in the barn and fed on corn and oats and other good things that I don't recall in order to keep their flesh from tasting gamey). There were barn swallows in the barn which made me wish I had

fearsclave's camera with me. They're darling little birds, twittering away while tending to their nests.

After that we woke

fearsclave, who'd been sleeping in until then, fed him and then went for the aforementioned walk. You'll find all the photos in his LJ.

prolixfootle introduced us to his cows, the ones that weren't yet destined for slaughter. The photos are of us standing next to a rather placid bull. I wasn't entirely convinced it was placid, but I figured Prolix knew what he was doing. Anyhow, I murmured soothing platitudes to the bull the entire time, and was very happy that it didn't decide to trample me on a whim. It was a nice bull, yes it was.

The visit was over all too soon, but on the way home we stopped back to stay with the Wuh-Mun again, and I got to see

fearsclave's new house, and to visit his WOSM (Wicked Old Step-Mother) again, whom I hadn't seen since February, or thereabouts. I rather like the WOSM, and now that

fearsclave will be living next door to her, I plan on making a point of seeing her far more often. She makes prize-winning quilts, and is into beading and cross-stitch and all sorts of things. She loves her doggie and her cats, and birdwatches, and has a doe that comes and visits her back yard on a regular basis. She's also no stranger to chronic illness, and is someone with whom I therefore can identify on a whole bunch of levels.

In other words, the trip rocked hardcore.

As for the thinking that I did, I still have some processing to do, so I'll let you know if it ever comes to anything more substantial. ;)