The Birding House

So, it turns out I couldn't stay away from Smith for very long. As I said previously, when I found out I would have two days off from the bookstore, I could not face doing absolutely nothing all by myself on the Cape, so I decided to descend upon Natalie and Katherine at their apartment in Northampton.

It was tres lovely -- the apartment (also known as "The Birding House", named by Noelle, a former inhabitant), is this adorable little abode that is just perfect for housing three 20-something girls who love all things lived-in and homey and having to do with flowers and wine and cooking. Apparently it's not quite ideal if those girls have active sex lives, as the walls are paper-thin, but I think they'll learn to ignore each other . . .

I got there around 1 yesterday, just before Nat had to leave to go gardening for this woman in town, so I left to wander about town and the campus and read The Burn Journals while I waited for her to get done. When she did, Katherine, their roommate Rachel, and Rachel's friend Emily were all home, and it was time for more gardening. They've planted the cutest, neatest little veggie garden out back, with rows of tomatoes, green beans, basil and lettuce all standing up. I've never noticed how much personality plants can have -- these are a little droopy and lazy-looking at the moment, but I'm sure the girls will have them standing straight up in no time at all. They're Smithies, after all.

After planting and showering were done, we had a delicious dinner of fritatta, pasta, and spanikopita from Trader Joe's, as well as a goodly amount of red wine. You can't hang out with us and not drink something, and if you're with me, it will probably be wine, and if you're with Katherine, it will definitely be wine. She spent last year and then some in Italy, and her father has been a connoisseur and Italophile (is that a word?) for years. Grace a lui, we had an amazing bottle of 2006 Argentinian wine called La Posta, that was so, so good. And I contributed a $9.99 shiraz from State Street Wines & Spirits that wasn't terrible and did the job.

Today we hit the tag sales and had a picnic at Puffer's Pond. I ogled the UMass frat boys while the other girls floated in the inner tubes they'd purchased from Target while we picked up picnic supplies (I'd forgotten my suit). The frat boys would most likely be terrible conversationalists for someone like myself, but they were nice eye candy and entertainment just the same. Even the boys I do interact with tend to be bookish and small, so I'm a bit testosterone-starved, and these ones were full of it.

All in all, it was idyllic.