Some Funny Things

On our first official travel weekend as empty-nesters we went to a family reunion. Go figure. It was in Sequoia and we arrived Saturday early afternoon. There had been a brief snow storm the night before and when we got to our location, there were just a smattering of beautiful snow mounds here and there. The air was cool and crisp and smelled clean and fresh. We met family from the other side of mine, in other words, cousins of cousins but not my cousins.
When I was signing in at the desk a cute little boy came running up to me with a hug and said how happy he was to see me. I didn't know him, so I told him I was sorry I didn't remember him. His dad stood by and watched this sweet little drama then introduced himself and his son. We had been to a lot of the same family occasions, but had never met. (Their side is HUGE)
We all played games and hiked and had meals together. Some brave hubbies even watched a sports game or two. We met the mom of the little boy who had hugged me, and had several little chats over the next several hours. The next evening, we were all playing Scrabble and the mom told me how pretty my necklace was. I thanked her and said, "my boyfriend gave it to me." She said, "I thought he was your husband." I told her ever since the TV show Cheers when Diane got engaged to Sam and he said to her, "nice ring," she responded,"my boyfriend gave it to me," I have loved saying that. And I like feeling it. My husband is my boyfriend, and I've gone with him longer than any other guy! I think it is the secret to a happily married couple...keep being your husband's girlfriend. I like to be in a nice outfit when he comes home, have a little perfume on and some lipstick. It's nice. He gives me a big kiss and hug when he enters the house from a hard day's work, and he says it's the best part of his day, coming home. I love that about him.
So back at the reunion and the cold crisp starry night. Around the lodge there were a lot of bright lights, but beyond, I could tell the stars would look magnificent at that altitude if we got out of the lights. My boyfriend and I stroll down the road and I point to a line of trees that seem to create their own shadow from the lights. I couldn't tell how far away, maybe a city block away? So we start walking towards the trees. We're about 2 minutes into the walk and I say to my boyfriend, "Are bears nocturnal?" Now, I have heard of this saying, but had never seen it with my own eyes, my boyfriend stopped DEAD IN HIS TRACKS. It was so funny. His shoulders rounded up around his head and he just froze. Then he said, "Well, I think we've seen lots of stars; lets head back." Sadly, I was a chicken, too. And I never found out if bears are nocturnal.