It was brought to my attention by a number of my lovely readers (hi pretties!) that I neglected to tell you what my ultimate purchase was when I went to Chapters. I chose Sideways by Rex Pickett. Two reasons: first, I love me a trade paperback. Second, I make it a rule to always read the book before watching the movie. And half the time, I never get around to the movie. So thanks for asking!

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I got a kick out of the creativity of this auction. I'm almost tempted to set one up at my favorite UBB when they have their next craft sale. Mainly because I think the idea is crafty. Heh.

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I keep intending to tell you about the interesting visit we had last weekend but have let life get in the way. Let's rectify that, shall we?

The Boy recently changed companies. You might know the place - it's grrreat! The change meant buckets of cash and apparently less effort on the pro side, but dropping to the bottom of the seniority list and the loss of some wonderful friends were definitely cons. Most people mention getting together outside of the workplace at going-away parties but in my experience it rarely happens. This time, it did.

Roger and his wife called and invited us out to his 'house' in the country last Saturday. It would be a chance to get together, catch up and enjoy a lovely barbeque/bonfire away from the crowded city. Needless to say, we jumped at the chance.

There was only one concern: these two are vegans. Not just vegetarians, strict vegans. In an effort to convince myself that I would not be seated in front of a towering pile of lentils and be expected to smile, I did a little research on the subject. What I found saddened me; the militant perspective of vegans might be why the vast majority of humans haven't made that particular dietary/ethical choice. Telling me I'm a vicious brute with a chewy moral black hole at my center isn't exactly winning me over. Not that our friends are that way; Heather has many varied cancers in her family medical history. This is her way of fending them off.

Did you notice above where I indicated they had a 'house' in the country? I used quotes because they have gone to great lengths to reduce the stress on their environment while they're out there. The house was built on a slab with no basement, no septic, no well etc. Their potable water supply comes from large water bottles trucked in and the rest comes from a cute little water tower with a shower head attached. Yes, they shower outside. Yikes. Not that I had to worry about that; I was more concerned about the outhouse down the path. They're looking into solar panels in the very near future, as they have plans to retire to that house within the next 10 years; the generator is simply too noisy and propane gets a mite pricey.

I wasn't really brought into the crunchy-granola loop of this property until the morning of; The Boy was watching me decide on my ensemble and took that opportunity to shed some light on the less-than-civilized conditions I would find once we reached our destination. There'd be no backing out now.

We set out on our 45-minute trek, desperately gripping a scrap of paper that held the sketchy directions to the middle of the forest. Zero wrong turns later (go me!) we found ourself at the end of their lane. Their mile-long lane. It was a good thing we took the 4x4 is all I can say about that. Once we were up at the house, we discovered that the lane meanders so they have a chance to see visitors winding their way up to the property, which was very neat.

We got the .50 tour, then settled in to chat while Roger fiddled with the inside of eight cobs of corn destined for the barbeque. Heather brought me in to the main floor of the house (very open-concept) and allowed me to survey everything she'd prepared for dinner. Once we got talking about it, I relaxed. Foccacia bread, broccoli salad, field green salad with strawberries and a raspberry viniagrette, rice with mushrooms and pine nuts, roasted corn on the cob and marinated roasted vegetables and tofu. Dessert was a chocolate pie with banana bread and tea served a couple of hours after in front of a blazing bonfire. The Boy, a serious meat-eater, had psyched himself up to enjoy whatever was placed in front of him. Later, as he eased his belt open, he would admit that he was as full as any 'normal' meal had ever made him. That admission made Heather happier than the huge New Guinea Impatien hanging basket we'd brought.

The most amazing thunderstorm rolled in while we were barbequeing. Lightning lit up the sky and raised the hair on my arms. The resulting thunder buffeted against my body, the spectacle of a disturbance in the wide open distracting me from fearing its potential for destruction and possible physical injury.

We burned birch log after birch log that night, pulling our chairs close to the pit, cradling our mugs of tea and watching the hundreds of sparks waft up, up, up into the air until they blew out and no longer looked like fireflies. The next day, we realized that our clothes and the truck had become covered with the resulting ash.

And it absolutely didn't matter.

Posted at 11:58 a.m.