Due to a mix-up on times, I had told several people, all about my age, that we were now going to start at 6 p.m. rather than 7 p.m. But . . . Gabrielle forgot to say that on the regular email invitation list. So . . . what happened was all of us old folks got together early— the women (Sydney, Sonja, and me, with Kathy, Wanda and Jenny later on) as “crones” the man (Roberto) as an “elder” and Gabrielle, a “proto-crone” (she’s in her 50s. The rest of us are in our 70s and 80s). Time flew by, as stories from our long lives rolled out of our mouths.

But first, on my way over to the DeKist 2 house, I admired the dogwood in the back yard against a glowering dramatic sky, and the already slightly fading redbud in the front yard of that house. This part of the midwest shows off these two trees, usually planted together or near each other, everywhere. The effect, in early spring, is briefly magical.

 

Around 7 p.m., the old starting time, everybody started arriving. Dinner conversations reflected the drama in the sky, lively and unpredictable.

And of course, we had our usual astonishing dessert from young Sophia, this time a hefty meringue!

Roberto, who had to leave early, came up to Solan, who is leaving us for parts unknown, to wish him well on his journey.

And at about 8:30, crone Jenny decided to demonstrate something for us. Bamboo. How to eat the young shoots (peel the top layer back, and then the next layer, too, and what’s in the middle is succulent!) YES!

Eva decided right then and there to go get some bamboo from Jenny’s yard for her own (very large) yard. Me? Bamboo about took over the small front yard of this Overhill house, until I started eradicating it ten years ago. And something bambooish has definitely taken over our pond. Not exactly desired! In any case, a terrific time was had by all.