What NEW EXPERIENCES can do for you…
Last week my hubby and I drove 2 ½ hours to visit friends for the afternoon and stay for dinner.
They live outside the hustle and bustle of the city on a 34-acre property.
I had no preconceptions of what to expect - I was just looking forward to the visit. What we experienced that afternoon was absolutely magical.
An older small green home was the first thing we saw driving up the long road, this is where his spry 97-year-old mother lives. Beside it was a larger home attached to an old barn. All of it is surrounded by lush flowers and vegetation. This is where D and his wife and their 2 daughters live. On a tour of the homes we went on later, the barn was filled with old race cars of all kinds, at different stages of being refurbished, one of D’s passions.
We were NOT in the city anymore!
We went into the house and to the kitchen which D designed. It looked like something out of an Italian film. High ceilings, a huge stove and sink area, rustic benches (brought by his dad from France) and tables covered in fresh fruits and vegetables.
D immediately sliced open a fresh cantaloupe that he picked that morning from his garden and offered us a snack of cantaloupe and prosciutto. Jeff and I had never had this combination of foods together and it was delicious.
We then put on our long pants, sweaters and hats and D took us for a walk to the far reaches of his property. It stretched on for what felt like forever. He shared the history of the property and how he spent 15-18 years old there as a young boy when his parents first purchased it. Years later, when they announced they were going to sell it - he and his wife S, bought the property.
As we walked through the rolling terrain, dense with trees he shared that his father worked with inmates from the local jail to help rehabilitate them and one of the things he had them do was come out of the property and plant trees. Needless to say, decades on, these trees are big and beautiful holding this compelling history in their roots.
We walked through a wide river bed, dried up in the summer heat, that flows spectacularly during the spring and fall.
We returned to the main house and met up with S who had returned from work. She had started dinner while we were out walking and the kitchen now smelt like a combination of fresh produce and marinating fresh seasonings. She gave us each a small cardboard basket and we headed out to the garden behind the house to pick the veggies for dinner. Fresh potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, fresh cucumbers and fresh basil and cilantro.
The meal S cooked for us was one of the BEST Jeff and I had ever eaten.
We felt like total city slickers for the day. I would have PAID to have the entire experience, my heart was so filled with gratitude! It served as a reminder to Jeff and I of the importance of getting out of your regular routine to experience NEW ways of living & new places to expand and shape your understanding of the world. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy just an openness to NEW experiences.
More memory building coming at the end of this month when we head off to South Carolina for our summer trip. I can’t wait!
Have you had an experience that changed the way you looked at things? Would love to hear about it!
Grateful to be on this journey with you! I BELIEVE IN YOU!
Thank you for being here.
Never forget one person can make a difference…. That one person is YOU.
With so much love,
Your friend,
Kim xo
