A Living Magazine - Day 270 - Homecoming - Wake Forest: At The Oasis

This was a lovely day of work and rest. I woke and had coffee with Jeff, then we headed to our separate work stations. He had been immersed in a project and I was hoping he could get what he needed to get done without me being in the way. It seemed that whenever we got talking we had a hard time stopping.

We met up again for lunch and had a great discussion about the Conrad family. Jeff is my second cousin. We shared great grandparents (Mabel and Charles Conrad). Their daughter Helen was my grandmother. Their son Donald was Jeff's grandfather. Donald was my mom's uncle and Helen was Jeff's dad's aunt and so on.  

The day was warm and sunny with a light breeze. He'd suggested I might want to work out of the deck. It was a good idea and I moved out there for the rest of the afternoon, eventually publishing a post. 

Natalie returned to the house with Spencer. She left shortly after for dinner with her sister that evening and Spencer and I hung out on the porch; he, with his homework and I with my blog work. Every now and then we talked about the yard and the woods. He told me about how after the thunderstorms a few days earlier, one of the rivers was so high that it made a little waterfall in the woods some way back behind the house. Then he showed me a picture of it that he took. 

When evening fell, Jeff came downstairs and let us know he was going to grill up some t-bones. Yes! He wanted to try an experiment with potatoes. He wrapped a bunch of small potatoes, olive oil, herbs and salt in aluminum foil, and then placed coals all around the sealed package. They crackled and cooked there for a good half hour. 

A March half moon on a warm North Carolina evening.

Spencer and I walked around the house and out into the front yard where we watched bats darting around above us. He tossed pine cones in the air to see if the bats would go after them. One of the bats circled and then dived down close to us before flitting away toward the road.

There was a strong sense that spring was right on time--early actually. Leaves seemed to be rushing out of their buds. Each day the forest was getting greener. And, each night the trees worked at filling in the spaces between their branches...      

Ultraviolet.

Jeff came out and laid the t-bones on the grill. The smell of the meat cooking was almost as delicious as the taste would be. We had a beer and talked about a wide range of subjects, until all the food was done. 

A cozy home.

When the food was done, we checked out the potatoes in the kitchen. The under-the-coals method worked brilliantly. They were moist, not greasy but still well-oiled, and the heated oil had worked the salt through their skins and into the center of the starchy flesh. They really were perfectly done. It is sometimes difficult to get a soft potato in a short amount of time, but this technique did the trick.

The steaks were smoky and juicy. We three men sat down at the table; the two old guys with beers and the young guy with a milk (his favorite drink). We really enjoyed the food. We started off with knives and forks, but ended up gnawing on the bones. Men eating meat. Arrrr... Ha!

By the time Natalie had returned there were only scraps left. Even Spencer ate his whole steak. Mission accomplished!

After Spencer had retired to his LEGO land to sleep, we three adults stood in the kitchen for a while talking about politics, history, and the world in general. These were the only two people I'd visited in 270 days who were my own age. I have had a wonderful time with the old hippies and the baby boomers, but to have some Gen Xers to trade stories with and talk about the music we listened to growing up was a treat. We retired to the living room and watched a documentary called, The Other One: The Long Strange Trip of Bob Weir.

We talked a while longer afterward. Then Jeff and I discussed the direction of music--where it came from, what inspired us, and where it was going. We both agreed that some new never-heard-before music would eventually be born again, as it has been in the past. Right now though, popular music is at a stand still and even devolving in some aspects. We didn't want to stop talking, but we both had work to do the next day. Eventually, we went to bed. I certainly enjoyed not sleeping in the woods!