KINDRED SPIRITS (6/06)

Paula and Tim came to Wimberley this past weekend - at last! Each time we see them, we swear that we won't go so long between visits next time, but somehow, stuff always manages to get in the way. First their son was in the hospital, then we were involved with Alexis graduating and moving off to California, then there were weeks of activities surrounding Chase's wedding. Next thing you know, it's been eight months since we've seen them! It's always worth the wait though. The Sanfords are that one couple that you always dream about finding - the one where the two husbands enjoy hanging out with each other just as much as the two wives do. No matter how long it has been since you were last together, you pick right up where you left off, as if it were yesterday. Luckily, we met them early in our marriage, and have been able to keep the friendship going for thirty years, despite living in separate cities, and sometimes separate continents, most of that time. We met as newlyweds, while living in Bahrain. John had been sent to work off-shore, and I was left living alone in town, not knowing a word of Arabic. He often mentioned his wild and crazy roommate "Toad" in his letters, who also had a new wife from Texas. Being fairly bright fellows, they figured out that if they managed to get their two wives together, they wouldn't have to feel so guilty about leaving us to our own devices in a foreign country. It was no surprise that Paula and I hit it off right away, as we had much in common - both being non-athletic book lovers who had hardly been out of Texas and were prone towards severe motion sickness. The guys were a different story. My husband is about as quiet as they come, not much into sports, and could spend the entire day sitting in front of a computer and be perfectly happy. Tim, on the other hand, lives for sports, loves to sing and dance, hates computers, and is the center of attention in any room. Not long ago I said "Tim, something has always baffled me. You and John are so different. What was it that drew you together in the first place and made you such good friends?" He sat contemplating for a moment, then replied "Well, I guess it's because I like to talk, and John likes to listen. You might say we're a match made in heaven."

They arrived at the house just before lunch on Saturday. The men headed off to San Marcos to have lunch at the River Pub Grill, where you can sit out on the cool, covered deck and watch the rafters and "toobers" in the river below you. They also planned to pay a visit to their favorite little cigar shop on the town square. Paula and I stayed in Wimberley and had mushroom quesadillas at Juan Henry's, shopped for vintage western wear at Wall Street (it's never to late to be a cowgirl!), and when it got too hot to shop, we took the stairs that lead down between two of the shops to a great, hidden little place called Inoz's. We ordered a couple of big icy sodas, sat out on the tree-shaded terrace overlooking Cypress Creek, and caught up on news of the kids, great books we had read, and just discussed life in general. Paula, like me, enjoys reading all kinds of books, not just one genre, so we always have plenty to talk about. We both adored Under the Tuscan Sun a few years back, so I told her about the new book I had just finished, called On Mexican Time. As in both Under the Tuscan Sun and A Year in Provence, this one was about a couple who felt that something was missing from the hectic lives they were leading in the big city, and who were on a mission to find the perfect location in which to create the life of their dreams, just as John and I had been. One where they could slow down enough to hear their own thoughts. The couple in this new book finally discovered their heart's home in the small Mexican village of San Miguel de Allende, just as we found ours in Wimberley.

Mid-afternoon we headed back to the house to meet up with the hubbies. Since this happened to be the weekend for the Second Annual Lavender Festival over in Blanco, we decided to go check it out. Blanco is now known as the Lavender Capitol of Texas, thanks to National Geographic photographer Robb Kendrick and his wife Jeannie Ralston. A few years back they were in France doing a story on the lavender fields of Provence, when they realized that the terrain and climate there were much the same as in the Texas hill country. They came back to Texas, built a beautiful home near Blanco (which has been featured in several magazines), and started growing lavender. The venture was so successful that they convinced other farmers to give it a try, and now there is a plethora of lavender fields in the area - hence, the festival. Since we didn't have time to visit all of the farms that afternoon, we decided to go straight to Jeannie's new gift shop and field that had just opened up close to town. That was probably a mistake, because our husbands can get rather goofy when they are together, and they gave us a good bit of grief about the "lavender field" there. Since it was newly planted, the shrubs were all rather tiny, and because we have had a serious drought and a late cold snap, the timing of the blooms was delayed. There was not a speck of purple to be seen. Perhaps in my enthusiasm, I lead them to expect too much. Paula and I went into the gift shop to peruse all the lavender infused products, and the men wandered off to the produce stand next-door, to have a little fresh peach ice cream.

I was delighted to discover that Jeannie was actually there in the shop, and I was able to visit with her a bit. Ever since seeing pictures of their home, and reading about what they were trying to accomplish in the Hill Country, I have felt that they must be kindred spirits. When I asked why they had planted this new field and moved the gift shop, I was completely shocked to learn that they had sold their original house and fields. She said "That's what happens when you are married to someone who looks upon a house as an investment rather than a home." Well, I can understand that. My father was a home-builder and my mother loved to decorate. They were house-flippers before flipping was cool. They raised me to be the perfect wife for someone in the oil industry. Each time John came home and told me we had been transferred, instead of crying like most women I knew, I started doing a happy dance at the thought of all the new gardening and decorating projects ahead.

When I asked her what their plans were now, she said "Well, that has all changed just recently. Originally, we were going to move into our guest cottage, while we built another house. When we decided to pack the whole family up and go to Mexico to take Spanish lessons, our plans got turned upside down. We have now decided to build a home in a small town in Mexico." Remember what I said earlier about kindred spirits, and about how all the couples in my favorite books seemed to be searching for the same thing? After staring at her in shock for a moment, I suddenly blurted out "You wouldn't, by any chance, be moving to San Miguel de Allende, would you?" Her eyes widened in surprise, and she replied "Yes! What made you ask?" I grinned and said "Oh, I don't know. Just a hunch." I asked her if she had ever read a book called "On Mexican Time" and she said no, but a friend had just loaned her a copy to read. I explained that after she had read it, she would understand where my hunch had come from, and why I recognized her as a kindred spirit. After our thoroughly enjoyable visit, we wandered off to see what mischief the boys had managed to find. We rounded the corner just in time to hear John hooting with laughter as he snapped pictures of Tim, who had stepped down from the port-o-potty with a ten-foot tail of toilet paper trailing from the waist of his pants. I did mention, didn't I, that they can be very naughty when they are together? Paula and I took a sharp turn in the opposite direction, hoping that no one would realize we knew those nut jobs, only to be followed by voices calling "Baby, what's the matter? Where are you going?" On the whole, a truly wonderful day!