Life has been pretty quiet here as far as my relationships go. I'm not really sure I can use the plural form, as it feels like I'm really only in a romantic relationship with Bond. I have gone out on one date with a guy that lives 2 hours away and we're going to see each other again this Saturday. And then there is B. Bond and I don't really see eye to eye on what it is we have with her. As far as I'm concerned we never really started a romantic relationship, because of the problems in her marriage, but Bond sees it differently. He says that we
are in a relationship with her. We see her at least once a week, usually twice and that we are in communication with her on and off every day. I see it as an extension of our friendship, that we'd have more intimacy if we were actually "seeing" her. He feels that she tells us (and Ginge) everything, so that equals intimacy, whereas he really only shares the depth of what he's thinking and feeling with one, and that's me. She's said a number of things that make me think that she's wanting to expand what we have going on, but usually those statements are when she's missing us, like when she was in Colorado or we were in Texas, or when she's drunk and/or high.
Golden has left me alone for the most part. He's getting into Tinder big time, so that occupies his mind and time. I'm glad for the respite.
Spring has finally arrived in south central Wisconsin. The weekend weather was splendid.
Saturday was my grandson's 10th birthday party. Wow, that's gone by quickly. He picked where he wanted his party (small state park) and we had 90 minutes of driving to reach it. After eating and presents we went hiking. It was pretty fun and easy hiking in the park, and very unusual. The ground was level and then it just splits wide open and you climb down into these crevices. The rocks were very geometric, in block shapes, but with a lot of pitting on the tops. I think they may be composed of a high level of limestone.
Sunday morning Bond, me, his two youngest sons, B and her two kids, and Ginge went to a lovely state park that I used to live quite close to and therefore have been to many times. I love hiking there. The trail I like best climbs 400 ft straight up (nearly) and then plateaus. The kids were fairly good about doing the climb, but then whined that we had to continue walking to get to the section that takes you down, and lots of complaining that we actually had to negotiate the downward trail...which is kind of treacherous. The path is basically a stairway built from rocks with some cement in places holding rocks in place. I don't know if the rocks have always been so smooth or if it's the result of so much foot traffic over the years, but they are super slippery.
Despite the complaining, I was really pleased with how well the boys did climbing. I would like to get them out to do more things like this, because I'd love to go to the Grand Canyon and they'll need to be in better shape to do all the hiking I'm hoping it will entail.
We were an hour late leaving to get Bond to Beatdown (held at a park in town now that the weather is nice.) He chose the quickest route and it occurred to me a few minutes into our trip that it was heading us towards the ferry. In reality the ferry is not the quickest trip. It's the slowest. But it is an awesome experience. The boys were interested in riding it across, so Bond kept us on course for the slowest, most interesting route.
The ferry can hold 15 cars and it's quite simple to count back by 5's to see which load you'll be on. We were on the 3rd load, 1st car. It takes the ferry 7 minutes to cross the river, not counting loading and unloading time. There is an ice cream stand on the side we were and it's a tradition to get ice cream while you wait, especially if your wait is as long as ours.
Once we were loaded we got out and stood at the rail. Memories of riding the ferry with my kids swamped me. So many experiences. My boys used to ride the ferry back and forth from shore to shore all night long fishing off of it. They knew the ferry pilots (?) by name and were even invited into the cab from time to time which was against the rules. The ferry was a big part of their youth.
Discussion on the way home was about getting a cat or kitten. Bond is finally ready for another feline.
We're most interested in a Maine Coon or a Norwegian Forest Cat. I think we'll end up with the Maine Coon. I'm pretty excited. I read breed info to the boys as we drove to help them make an educated decision. Basically, they'd settle for whatever we promoted. I have a contact in the Czech Republic that raises Maine Coons. She has offered me a free puppy out of my lines if and when the day comes that I may want to get back in the breed. I contacted her about a kitten instead as I doubt I'll ever get back into showing dogs. The cats she owns are co-owned with another breeder. I'd half to pay 1/2 the purchase price + shipping, which makes the cost pretty much what we'd pay for a kitten in the States. Internet searches show that we have some close by. It is so tempting to buy one asap, but I think it would be best if we waited until the kitchen remodel is completed. Then again, that could be months as we haven't really taken any steps other than me daydreaming and sketching things out.
I hope you've all been well. I'll let you know details about the date guy in a bit. I'm not terribly interested in developing another relationship, but I could really use another sex partner and so I'm going forward.