Withdrawal

Oh, 'tis a wicked day...my friend has gone home and NASCAR has gone dark (the season is over until February).  The chores go on as usual, but there's certainly something missing.  Withdrawal pangs are setting in. 

Dolly and I were next-door neighbors for a long time before she and her family moved away...all of one door down.  Our husbands were best friends, and we all did so many, many things together for years, even after Steve and I came up to Fair Play.  The guys died a couple of years apart, and Doll and I don't see each other as much as we'd like anymore.  When we do, as on this weekend, it's great to catch up on the families' doings, reminisce about all the good times we've shared, and discover what new plans are being made.  Good friends are like a pair of well-worn jeans...always comfortable and comforting, nice to know they're there.  Dolly probably gobbled all the way home, as I made a vegetable-laden turkey soup on Friday and turkey-jack cheese taquitos last night.  (I'm free of leftovers!)  I wasn't so sure about a new recipe for cranberry-onion salsa, but it was terrific, if I do say so myself.  Dolly's speciality has always been appetizers, and we munched through the day on the ones she brought up.  We really lucked out on the weather...warm enough to sit out on the deck and talk on Friday, overcast and then rain (I told her it wouldn't be a visit from her without rain) yesterday and last night, and then a bluebird sky and sunshine this morning.  The cloud cover is returning now...withdrawal.