| Ponds, Part II Though with a car comes the more complicated problems of maintenance and gasoline. There's the trips to the mechanic. These considerations are not cheap. They are taxing and time consuming. But there is the freedom aspect which cannot be ignored. So with a new car comes the inevitable excursions. Yes, the trips to perform this or that odd miscellaneous item of course surface. That is not to say that the frequent forays into the countryside were taxing on me. Just the opposite in fact. I couldn't have been more excited about the car and its being in the country. The property itself is something to look twice at. There are trees and ponds and small fields. They serve their purpose and utility quite nicely. They make you feel like its the weekend all week long. The hammock is comfortable. The grass is short. The couple of ponds are refreshing. You would think that the situation was too good to be true. But it wasn't too good to be true. Though two of them made expenses easier, it was still burdensome. Not that they complained. No, that was never a problem for them. That was never a shared characteristic. Time went on and I saw less of them. My duties were in the city. This fact made it apparent that we were growing apart. The less I saw of them the less I knew of them. So I was not apprised of every detail of their life. I got by in the city and they were making final preparations for the house in the country. This would afford them twice the convenience and cooperation over splitting their time. On one trip to see them one spring day, I happened upon them at home. They were and looked well. They got along well. I said I was surprised not to have heard from them in a while. I walked around the front yard and noticed the car sitting out. I remarked on its comfort. I said how it must make life easier. They agreed. We went inside and had dinner. We talked about the cottage and its charm. I enjoyed the kitchen and living room. We went out for a ride after dinner. We left the trees and ponds behind. We arrived home some couple of hours later. Only we didn't go right to sleep. We camped out by the hammock and the ponds only to have it rain. We hurried inside and soon called it a night.
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