North Carolina

That’s where I am now. After hours of flying (again), I am at my parents’ condo in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. I will have solitude for a few weeks while they are on their around the world expedition. I believe at the present time they are in the south of France.

Things I noticed upon my arrival:

**They have the most non-food food products in their pantry that I’ve ever seen. Fake butter, fake seasonings, non-fat crackers. Just reading the labels transported me back to high school chemistry class.

**White wine is not meant to be aged. I’m not sure anyone has explained this to them.

**My mother will freeze anything. There was a very sweet note on the kitchen counter, instructing me where to buy groceries, when to water the plants, who the neighbors are (“You be sure to drop in now, ya’ hear…”), and that there was food awaiting me in the freezer in the utility room. This surprised me. They departed over a month ago. I scurried to the utility room, quite hungry after my transcontinental flights (on which meals are no longer served). I was greeted by frozen bread, individual frozen portions of chicken, frozen soup, frozen raisins, frozen Craisins, frozen nuts, frozen crackers, frozen pound cake (individual portions), frozen cookies, pretty much anything that was left in the pantry was put in the freezer. This will be interesting…