My very good friend, Anna, hit that big 4-0 birthday (today) and of course I don't think she looks a day over 34. We were in our 20s (were we ever so young?) when we met as co-workers in Galveston. Anna's husband, Mark, has already gotten away with a surprise party in the past, and he knew she'd be waiting for something this year, which naturally would hinder his plans. So he took the party out-of-town. He brought her along with him, sans children, to a work related conference in San Antonio. While he attended sessions, she ran around town doing her own thing.
She knew that after his last session on Saturday night, they were going to her favorite restaurant in Kerrvile and then staying one night at a B&B there. What she didn't know is that two couples were meeting them for the weekend.
Jay & Melinda, Bryan & I arrived at the pre-ordained time and put our names in for a good table. (They don't do reservations on Sat. night.) We explained the situation to the hostess, giving her the "secret code word" (Anna) to have the birthday couple brought to our table. Then we grabbed some drinks and settled in to wait. Now, Mark is a very punctual man, so when he didn't show up at the exact moment, we got a little antsy. (We didn't know that the hostess left and a new hostess took over - so she just put "Anna, party of 2" on the waiting list.
Bryan decided to go around and sneak a peek at the very full parking lot to spot their truck. As he walked around the corner, he saw Mark in the lobby area. He beat a hasty retreat back to our table.
However, Anna had already seen Bryan. "NO WAY!" She didn't put it all together immediately though, thinking Bryan was in Kerrville on business? or something? But she was pleasantly surprised and we had a wonderful dinner together.
The B&B turned out to be a RANCH - on about 80 acres some 12-14 miles north of Kerrville. The owners had taken a log cabin and connected it with a 2-bedroom frame house. Outside they had a large fire pit, where we sat talking until after 1 a.m. (Men must build fire....)
There were no cattle on this ranch, but plenty of deer. I counted seven as we drove in the gate. Truly spectacular though were the hummingbirds. There must have been a dozen - buzzing around two feeders off the front porch. We won't talk about the colonies of daddy-long-legs seen on the porch, walls, and under the eaves. They're just a natural part of the Hill Country.
I wish we could have stayed through Monday, as was originally planned, but both of us had work obligations yesterday. We really enjoyed the too-brief weekend, and look forward to celebrating Anna's 50th in another ten years. Good friends like these are rare in the world.
