29 March, 2006
I was anxious to get to Ladyslipper, so first thing this morning Bobby
and I saddled up a couple of his horses and we rode out from Weemaway
home; Ladyslipper is at the end of a long dirt road winding through
a hollow (a hollow is what they call a small valley here), with a
small clear brook running along one side of the road. The trees are
still dead, but the first traces of spring are apparent – crocuses
are blooming along the road, and small green things are sending up
shoots all over the forest floor. The road winds along the meandering
valley and through the trees, and a bevy of wild turkeys scattered
that had been wandering before us on the road. The first sight of
Ladyslipper is always very dramatic – after a bend in the road
the forest is suddenly cleared, revealing fields and the road lined
with elm trees, and at its end the house, sitting in the clearing,
beautiful and welcoming as always, shining in the sunlight of this
beautiful day.
Today there was an extra surprise, though. Clover, who lives there
all alone now, was doing nude somersaults on the lawn, oblivious to
our approach! He saw us just as he landed, fell flat on his face in
the process, and took off running for the house. Bobby and I could
hardly stay in our saddles, we were laughing so hard. Clover has always
been irrepressible, prone to leaping and jumping off banisters and
staircases, running up the sides of sheer hills for no particular
reason, and plunging in freezing rivers in the middle of January.
He is alternately graceful and clumsy, and reminds me at times of
a graceful hound, all slender muscle and speed, or a puppy who hasn’t
quite figured its body out yet. Apparently, when no one is around
he does nude somersaults as well. I have never seen him naked before.
Actually, I have rarely thought of him before at all, other than as
the sweet neighbor kid who lives near by, and whom I actually only
rarely saw, usually when shopping down in town (he hung out near the
Astro Burger a lot with his friends). I will have to get him to model
for me.
By the time we made it into the house Clover was fully dressed, and
he was still blushing beet red. He didn’t know what to say,
and was stammering in confusion. “I thought you weren’t
coming,” he told me. Ladyslipper has no telephone, and there
was no way to let him know that I was on my way.
I thought it would be a relaxing and uneventful day – but a
bunch of people came up from The Haven as soon as they found out I
was here, and I had a wonderful reunion with so many of my old friends.
A new boy came up from The Haven as well, who is visiting from New
York. I convinced him to model for me then and there (which wasn't
all that hard) He took off his clothes and lay on a divan, and the
party continued around us. The drawing is below. He’s really
cute and smart, and I have the vaguest crush on him. We’re the
same age, and he’s an artist as well, but he is going back to
New York in just a couple of days. I’ll be there this summer,
so maybe I will see him again. I was too shy to ask him to model for
photos – I really don’t know him at all, but maybe I will
do so in New York this summer.
We spent the rest of the night hanging out – I visited Incitatus
and Bucephalus, and everyone left early, leaving me alone with Clover.
We sat on the front porch, listening to the river flow, and not saying
much of anything, when he came over and lay his head on my lap. And
there we sat, while I stroked his hair, for the rest of the evening,
until the stars had long come out and it was time for us to go to
our separate beds.