Two Days, Two Gaggles of Women

I had the weirdest lunch recently at a road house near a Nature Center that ten of my Red Hat Society sisters and I visited earlier in the day. When I see something on a menu that combines things I’d never put together at home, I like to try it. That’s how I ended up with a Cauliflower Crusted Grilled Cheese. How bad could it be, really, when it’s a “house favorite?” It was listed as a sandwich but it was round and flat like a tortilla that had been folded in half and cut into two pie-shaped pieces and filled with cheddar and Provolone cheese, spinach and tomatoes. But you could smell the cauliflower coming to the table before the waitress set the plate down. In my head I expected the cauliflower cut up in the filling, not something made by putting cauliflower in a blender with an egg until it’s the consistency of rice, then pan-fried to be used instead of bread. Would I order it again? It was interesting to eat but for $11 with a dab of chips on the side, I thought it was over-priced. But never let it be said that I’m not up for a little culinary adventure.

You know how people will travel half way across the country to tour a place they saw in a travel brochure, but we ignore those kinds of places in our own back yards? The Nature Center is only 13 miles away but it’s the first time I’ve ever been there. It has grown from 17 acres in 1965 to 264 acres today, a private non-profit charity and the passion project of an amazing 91 year old women. The place has education programs for all ages, overnight 'survival' camping, a maple tree sap-to-syrup overnight camp, a working farm, woodlands, wetlands and wonderful trails all over the place and all but one are dog friendly. That one trail is a boardwalk around an area where wounded animals in their care are kept. Mostly what we saw were huge owls that can’t fly. I have Eastern Screech Owls in my yard and I hear them every night but until our outing I’d never seen or heard a Barred Owl (20” to 24”) or a Great Horned Owl (20” to 25”). I was immediately smitten, seeing them up close. One of the owls had brain damage from getting electrocuted on a power line and he had a funny way of holding his head and looking right at you that was adorable. His glassy eyes and lazy head reminded me of a drunk on a bar stool trying to flirt with a girl he can barely see.

After lunch we went to a meat market. I didn’t even know places like that still exist. My chapter sisters were oohing and aahing over red meat in glass-front cases and the frozen section with wild game and odd ball stuff like cow cheeks and octopus. And I’ve never seen so many different kinds of sausages, jerky and salami in my life which was probably a nod to the neighborhood’s Polish roots. I didn’t buy a thing but the others loaded up their debit cards. If they had frozen mice I might have been tempted to buy a treat for my new-found love back at the Nature Center. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if they did have frozen mice somewhere in the store. The place was huge with ten butchers working behind the counter and a line of people backed up behind the cashier. It was like being back in the 1940s on a Friday afternoon with my mother. 

That was Wednesday last week with no opportunities for human contact on my day planner until this week Monday when I got together with six of my Gathering Girl pals at the Guy-Land Cafeteria. After two and a half hours we were reluctant to leave, but leave we finally had to do or risk growing roots like potted plants into our booth. We didn’t solve any of the world’s problems but we had a few serious conversations mixed in with our usual laughter. Surprisingly, we talked at length about churches and how they’re changing, trying to hold onto their younger members and I was shocked to learn that four of the ladies had Catholic upbringings. (All of my life I’ve been surrounded by mostly members of Christian Reform Churches.)

We also talked about the homeless, accepting the gay community and helping the poor---or not. We had one dissenter on that last issue. We usually don’t have conversations like these but it felt good to be in a group where everyone was listened to and really heard without judgement. I’ve been missing in-depth conversations---a byproduct of living alone or growing older? Take your pick. I interact with people when I'm out and about but usually those conversations are like eating a cup of Reddi-Whip nondairy whipped topping when you’re craving a pig-out session with Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Monkey Ice Cream. But I think Scarlett O’Hara said it best if you substitute “good friends” for “Rhett” in the following quote from Gone With the Wind: “Talking to Rhett was comparable only to one thing, the feeling of ease and comfort afforded by a pair of old slippers after dancing in a pair too tight.” Did I just compare my Gathering Girls pals to a pair of old slippers?  Oh, dear… ©