A Weekend in the Country Leads to Reflections on Old Friendships

I wrote recently about our love of both the country and the city.  In many ways, our last two weekends illustrate that perfectly.  After a short jaunt in Milwaukee the previous weekend at a downtown hotel, we returned to Wisconsin for a brief weekend outing in the "country," north of Milwaukee.

After a long friendship carried out over many years of dining out at various Chicago-area BYO restaurants, our little "Supper Club" (comprised of three couples) found fewer opportunities to get together in recent years as new professional obligations and opportunities--including our own long absence from the Chicago area during our "gap year"--meant that we could not see each other as often or as conveniently.  That is all the more reason why these occasional weekend retreats at the Wisconsin vacation home of our friends became such special occasions for catching up.

As it gets darker outside, the highlight of these weekends starts with our host firing up a pile of charcoal to start dinner--as he, rightly, prefers the taste of char-grilled foods over the more convenient propane grill.  Everybody contributes a little something (bottles of wine, breads, dessert, etc.), and our hosts produce a marvelous meal even better than those from most restaurants we used to dine at.

It's become a tradition that the next morning, our host then scrambles up some eggs with the leftovers.  ALL the leftovers!  Having experienced these morning scrambles before, I was curious about whether he would indeed get to utilize some items one wouldn't normally think about being added to eggs.  Of course, red peppers, scallions, spinach, and cheese went in.  Check, check, check, check.  But I was looking to see if other items from dinner the night before--cucumber and spring greens from the salad, the brussel sprouts, the Israeli couscous, etc.--would also make it in.  Indeed, they were all there!  I love using leftovers, and it delights me to see someone confidently creating a mish-mash scramble this way.

Aside from the wine-flowing dinner and coffee-fueled breakfasts, these weekends are also notable for peaceful walks in the country.  On Saturday, we took a long (and slippery!) walk around Kohler, enjoying wildlife all around us.  A couple of curious white-tailed deer loped nearby, and a crane (?) signaled its displeasure at human presence, near what might have been its nest, by circling above us and calling out distress cries.

Sunday morning, while Will enjoyed his morning run, I took Katie for a 2+ mile walk in the nearly empty county highways, and then enjoyed views of Lake Michigan (like below) along the smaller winding lanes.  (As you can see right above, even the winding driveway out of their home is picturesque!)

Then, after breakfast, we all took a long walk along the lakeshore, down the stairs right off their back lawn (pictured below, along with their dog Lola).

Katie dug deep into her inner wolf heritage by rolling her beautiful shiny coat in piles of bloody worms, sniffing around a dead bird, and trying to eat a gigantic desiccated fish!  Will and I were embarrassed that we all had to take turns yelling out her name to stop her from participating in some new nastiness while our hosts' dog Lola just sweetly ambled along without causing any fuss at all.

It was wonderful though to let Katie run loose a bit.  Living in a 4th floor condo in the downtown of a Chicago-area suburb, Katie doesn't get to be unleashed outside much unless we bring her to a pooch park.  And since she especially loves swimming in lakes--like at Lake Geneva, WI (perhaps we have yet another Wisconsin trip this spring?)--it was good to see her enjoy the weekend at least as much as we did.

There was, of course, a bittersweet tinge to our weekend since our latest get-together was also an occasion to say goodbye to one of our group who would soon be leaving for another job out east.  Even though we hadn't been able to see as much of him and his wife in recent years, it was sad to think about the end of an era of being able to more easily get together with longtime friends, still living within a few hours drive of Chicago.

As we started talking about our various ailments and the more serious health issues of all our parents, we also realized that we were at that transitional time of life when major life changes--both positive and negative--will inevitably befall us.  All the more reason to treasure wonderful friendships and any opportunities to enjoy each others' companies!

To that end, we've decided to think about friends leaving this area not as a loss but as a territorial expansion which will result in visits to other parts of the country, even perhaps to other countries!