when I move up to the country more than a decade ago, I had no idea there was a Maria. So it is strange for me to come to understand that she was the reason I came in the first place. The simple truth is that I was looking for her.

I looked in the wrong places, and in the wrong ways, but it eventually became clear to me that she was the reason I came here, she was what I was looking for. I guess you can’t really know what you are looking for until you find it.

And then, a voice goes off in your head, it says something “oh, so this is it…this is why I came here.” I still can hardly believe that I found this person, or she found me, in this remote hamlet where there are many more cows than people.

She was there all of the time, we often say we conjured one another up. I often joke that I am kind of person people never invite to dinner twice, I’m not entirely sure why this is so, but it does seem to be so. I’m okay with it.

When I told Maria this she laughed, and then stopped, and said, “you know, when I think about it, I think this is true.”

We were both laughing then,and I said I expected her to open her eyes one night, look across the bed and scream in shock: “what am I doing here?.” So far, so good.

It is true about the dinner invitations, but I told her I was very grateful she wanted to see me again and again and again. You have to keep hope alive, what you want might be right in front of your nose, waiting for you to see it.