Patrick's party

Friday night my husband and I were invited to a bonfire party at Patrick and Lydia's house. They're a slightly younger couple than us, around 30, with no kids, and both graduate students. They live in a Craftsman home in an older part of town, so combined with their being grad students I expected the house to be old and rundown. Instead, it was beautiful, lovingly decorated and kept up. There were so many little details that showed personality and comfort that I longed for their tiny home instead of my sprawling ranch.

The other attendees at the party ranged from age 20-50. The most surprising thing to me was that they were so musical. After dark, when most everyone was sitting on logs around the little homemade fire-pit, the guitars came out. Patrick and Caroline sang a lovely version of one of my favorite folk tunes, "Wagon Wheel," aka "Rock Me Mama" (see the bizarre video by Old Crow Medicine Show ). Other folk tunes followed. I had this feeling, as I was sitting and watching the sparks rise into the night and the couple across from me sensuously kissing, this feeling like I had dropped down into someone else's life or a scene from a movie.