Saturday, October 5, 2013

Dinner with Characters

   I rounded out Saturday by joining Joni and Alan, Wager, Kip, and Asher, and Kaye and Kristi at Joni's house (with Aki and Taylor, of course) for dinner. The group of us always has great fun sharing stories and making some new ones. This time, while we were eating dinner in their gorgeous dining room, overlooking a thick woods, Joni got up and turned off the lights. One of her deer friends (pun intended) whom she called Elfie appeared with one of her twin fawns, and we watched them munch on corn just outside the fence. Suddenly Elfie and the fawn spun around to see the magnificent Spinner appear. He commanded their attention and they backed off, allowing him to eat—though quietly sneaking in behind him now and then, to continue their meal.
As you can see, this is Joni's photo of Spinner; it was too dark for me to get one on my little iPhone camera. Isn't he gorgeous? It was fun to watch him eat, and turn his great head to warn the doe and baby that this food was HIS.
   It was fascinating, but also a challenge to keep Aki from woofing to scare them off. After an initial bark, Taylor settled in at the window and froze like a fat, furry little statue and stared right at them. I couldn't allow Aki to see the deer; she was beside herself with the urge to go flying through the second-story window to bag her quarry. Sheesh.
   After dinner, we headed out to the woods and Alan built a campfire, which was quite welcome since it was only in the 50s—more than a 30-degree drop from the day before. Alan made popcorn with olive oil in a cast-iron pot, and we passed the bowl around. Then we found long, slender sticks and roasted marshmallows for s'mores. I hadn't eaten them in years, and they tasted great. The dogs enjoyed themselves as much as I did. They always feel right at home with Joni.
   How lucky I am to have such fabulous friends—animal and otherwise!

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