Waking up in the mountains, with French press of coffee and a fire filling the house with inviting, warm odors. It’s rare that the physical act of visiting friends — the actual physical being there, in this case, in the mountains — is nearly as pleasant the conversation that lasts into the early morning hours.

When we arrived, things were dark and wet.

The next morning, the opposite.

We were all up early thanks to our self-portable alarm clock. There was soon a fire burning in the stove and coffee working its magic in a press. And the conversation picked up where we’d left of the evening before.

The highlight for the Girl: animals. Four friendly dogs and twenty-some chickens made for an overjoyed little girl.