It was Maria’s idea to have a small meal and dinner gathering on the patio of our new home. I was hesitant. We won’t move in for weeks, we have no furniture, food or tables in the new farm. Not a problem. Jenna Woginrich and I each cooked a pizza – mine with roast vegetables, hers with enough meat for a cowboy bunkhouse. Ajay helped us set up the tables. The flagstone patio sits by the side of the old farmhouse, and we patched together a bunch of chairs from the old house and the barns. It was such an important meal for us. People brought food, wine, gifts, flowers, a walking stone. Jenna brought her fiddle and played it after dinner.

It was the perfect group to welcome us into our new home, have our first social event, our first meal there. Jenna came, Ajay, Ben Osterhaudt and his wife Liz, and Bailey Guidon a friend who also helps us clean and care for Bedlam Farm. And Maria and I, the first time hosting people in the new place. We cooked the food in the Bedlam Farm kitchen and brought it over. We got a blueberry pie from Gardenworks. I drank enough wine to get slightly buzzed. Red came and dozed on the grass. We lit our beeswax chandeliers in the old candelabra we got from George Forss at his gallery. I was the oldest person there by far, and that felt quite good, and I plugged my Ipod into a speaker and we were serenaded by Jenna, Aretha, Leonard Cohen, Dylan, Thea Gilmore, Van Morrison and Allison Krauss.

Good group. The food was good, the wine was good, the music fine, the company and conversation excellent, warm and fun. An important night for Maria and I, our first night welcoming friends into our new home. What a good idea.  Back to work in the morning. Towards the end of the evening, Jenna leaned over and asked me how I was. Good, I said, a little pressed and frantic. I know, she said, but isn’t it good to be here in your new home, surrounded by people who care about you. Jenna is amazing sometimes. Yes, I said, it is good.