A little over a week ago, my parents flew into Hartford, Connecticut, for a seven day workshop in macrobiotic cooking at the Kushi Institute. We met them at the airport hotel, and spent a wonderful day and a half together before strapping their suitcases to the bed of our truck, and all squeezing in for the drive to the Institute, located in Becket, Massachusetts.
This brief time together was going to be the extent of our visit, but we all agreed that it felt criminally short. It just didn't seem right for them to be so close, and not be able to see our camper or our land in the winter! So, thanks to Tyler's urging, my dad called the airline and got their plane tickets changed. Amazingly, they changed the flight at no extra cost. We arranged to pick them up in a week's time.
When we hugged goodbye, we were all happy, knowing we'd see each other again very soon.
This past weekend, we excitedly brought my parents back to Vermont, where they'd booked two nights at a fantastic little apartment called Joshua's retreat. There, we hung out by the cast iron wood stove, cooked together, and contentedly read the amply (and aptly) stocked shelves full of classic homesteading books, such as The Good Life, and The Maple Sugar Book, as snow fell gently outside.
Besides relaxing at my parents' rental, we brought them to see our land, of course! They'd never seen it in winter, and were as shocked as we were by the difference in scenery, by the mountain views, by how lovely it looked under a blanket of snow. After giving them a tour of our camper, we split wood...
...and took turns pumping clean mountain water from our well.
We also went for a walk, tromping through the snow together, to the pond at the far end of our property.
After they'd seen what we had to show on our land, we introduced them to our new friends. First, we headed across the street to visit Hercilia and her dog Roscoe. Jeremy was in Chile leading a fly-fishing tour for Orvis, but we got to speak on Skype for a bit! Later, we drove them to meet Jenna, and her menagerie of animals at Cold Antler Farm.
Eventually, it was time to drive my parents back to Hartford so they could catch their flight home. We were sad to say goodbye, but very happy they were able to extend their stay to spend time with us in our little corner of Vermont. What a gift it was to have them here, and to introduce them to our new friends. We'll miss you guys! We love you! Come again soon!
