Last night we had a perfect dinner in the garden. It was a beautiful day — sunny and warm with those big blue skies for which the state is famous. My friend Jim Fergus has been here for the past few days and so I invited Bill and Maryanne to join us for dinner in my backyard. I miss cooking and miss having people over. And so it was lovely to have a normal dinner in the back garden — the daisies are starting to bloom, as are the iris, the columbines and the pink shrub roses I planted last summer. The apple trees are leafed out, and I lit the candle lanterns in their branches and put a bright red Provencal tablecloth out and everything looked quite festive.
It felt like getting back to whatever kind of life is going to be normal now. Three people I love dearly, gathered in my back garden, eating nice food, getting to know one and like one another. And when it got too cold, we moved inside to my wonderful kitchen and ate warm crumble made with rhubarb from the garden. It was the kind of evening that reminds me that although I’ll never get over the events of this year, I can see a way to start going forward, see a way to start being happy again.
