These friends were neighbors in Moscow. We love spending time with them because we don't have to apologize for using expressions in Russian, our kids have many shared memories, and we just plain like them. Plus, I usually beat everyone at Catan. Hey, it's my blog, I can write it the way I remember it.
My husband grew up on his grandparents' lake. He knows how to fish, hunt, and do most anything with his hands. I was amazed at how quickly everything came back. He sat relaxed in a chair for hours on the dock. Though he travels the world by plane, he was so happy to take a road trip and get away. I haven't seen him that rested in awhile.
The very first day, the kids found a log in the lake. They played on it for hours and then were surprised at the red marks on their bellies. Who needs toys when you've got a log?
For the first night, our friend made a feast complete with borscht (Russian beet soup), khachapuri (Georgian cheese bread), and shashlik (meat skewers). The next day we had blini (crepe/pancakes) for lunch. It felt like home again. I made the all American dinner that night which included fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and apple pie.
Each day, we spent most of our time on the dock watching the kids, holding the new baby, and laughing about old times. One morning I was surprised to find the place next to me on the air mattress was empty. My husband was out the door before sunrise to try his hand at fishing for catfish, as he heard it was plentiful down this way. In a few hours, he and the kids had racked up a bunch using this nasty bait that smelled like sewage. He also discovered that catfish whiskers will whip you when trying to get the hook out.
During the day, my girlfriend and I took the younger kids strawberry picking in North Carolina. It took only a little while to pick 20lbs each! Since I hadn't picked in years, the strawberries tasted all the sweeter.
We grew up in the country. For the time being, we didn't know what we were missing. Namely, concerts, museums, architecture etc. Ignorance truly was bliss. Now our kids live in a somewhere-in-between. We want them to be acquainted with nature and it's joys, but also know how to analyze a painting or remain unfazed when people are nude at the beach (true story). We want both. I don't know how it will end up, but for now, getaways to the country will suffice.
It was time to go home again, back to the city where I can get all kinds of specialty foods, meet interesting people, and don't have to check for ticks daily. However, it was good to get away and remember the simple things in life. For selfish reasons, we hope our friends never leave that place. They've made a vacation spot for us and we are so happy to drive a few hours to see them. At one point, their son expressed that it "felt like a dream" to have his faraway friends close again.
When we got home, my husband cooked up the catfish and I made strawberry jam. Both things were delicious reminders of our time away.
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