Today I Met an Alpaca Rancher

"You just click with the people you click with." (Places too, I'll add)
-Constance

Constance, a friend from school, had a party today at her home in Wetmore. No one else from the university made it, save one person who had come and gone by the time I got there, so I got to meet lots of new folk, including a gal who raises Alpaca for their wool. I also got to get to know Constance & Jim's kids a bit more (they're between six and twelvish) and meet the newfoundland dog, Tzar.

Constance & Jim's house is old and has a lot of little rooms and it seems to double back on itself a few times. It's also filled with wonderful antique furniture, including a woodstove, and unexpected artifacts. The house sits on a few acres which are partly overrun with oak trees, which accounts for the acorns everywhere, and it has a lovely patio where we spent a good portion of the party.

I think that at some point, I would like a house just like it, except maybe smaller. Wetmore's total population is about five hundred people, and it's about half an hour from either of the two nearest cities. Not too bad, but out where you can be quiet. Perfect for having a monstrous dog, like Tzar, and sitting on a swing that looks out over lots of landscape and few houses.

Imagine it: I'll have my rural house where sometimes the snow's too bad to get out so I have to stay at home in front of my wood burning fireplace and drink hot chocolate while I read a book, write a story, watch a movie, or just take a long bath and watch the snow come down past the window. In the summer, the trees will get green and shade the patio to keep it cool. The monstrous dog and I (or maybe the horse and I) will wander about and see what's growing. In the fall, the color show of changing leaves will be right out my window. It's an idea I've had in my mind for a while - not just since today - but going up to Wetmore brought it out vividly.

Tonight I came home smelling of woodsmoke and with the sound of acorns crunching underfoot still fresh in my mind.