I got to take a little peek today. A peek inside a world I’m ultimately grateful I don’t belong to, although it was quite interesting to visit. It was the World of the Other Half.
Due to circumstances involving a llama, I got to attend quite the to-do. It surely was the biggest thing to hit the outskirts of my little town since they repainted the dairy.
It was billed as a Garden Party and hats were encouraged. The hosts were an author and spouse throwing a book signing party. The couple owns a rather elegant business in Portland. The “About the Author” blurb referred to the scene of the Garden Party as “…her ranch in Washington” where one is left to assume she goes to recharge from her toils in Portland. I honestly didn't know we had ranches here. I thought they were all farms. Oh well, color me a country bumpkin.
As I turned off the main road and joined a long line of shmancy European cars with Oregon plates, I realized I was about to enter another dimension. The next clue was a sign for valet parking in a field. Being a tight-wad unwilling to pay to park for a glorified bar-b-que, I inched my way along a ditch-lined road and hugged the shoulder as best I could when putting my Japanese car in Park.
I walked towards the “ranch” and past a small group of festively dressed urbanites obviously out of their element among the gravel, hay, and riding mowers. Just past the five Port-o-Potties and accompanying table with a basket of Hand-i-wipes, I spotted my llama friends greeting guests under a tree. I joined them as staff and went to work.
It all was very elegant. Big tents like at a wedding reception were set up, one dedicated entirely to food service. A table sat along a garden path for book sales and personal notations. Catering servers carrying silver trays offered delicate snacks. Women with hats and jewelry and very smooth faces mingled about sipping glasses of Pinot Gris. The men looked fresh off yachts or verandahs. One voluptuous woman with a distractingly plunging neckline prowled about with her Wing Woman.
Guests were surprised and happy to see the llama, yet they were more reserved than I am used to seeing. One couple returned for a second visit with the wife saying, “My husband just adores this llama!” You couldn’t tell by me. I’m used to seeing people effuse emotion when they fall in love with Rojo. This guy just smiled and posed for a picture.
I observed a couple people who hadn’t seen each other in a while bump into each other. Again, not a lot of emotion. Just very polite and correct and civilized. And I think that is what left me unsettled as I drove back home. While the World of the Other Half was indeed very pretty and elegant and important-feeling, it also seemed rather reserved and careful and guarded. Sadly so.
I spent yesterday surrounded by friends sitting in their own toted-along lawn chairs and helping themselves to an array of potluck BBQ goodies. It was quite a contrast to today’s shin dig. If only for the sincere, unguarded, heartfelt laughter I heard any number of times yesterday and not once today, I’ll take my half of the world every time.
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