12.28.2010

sunken treasure

every year, somewhere near the new year, our neighbors have us over for dinner. they did it the year we moved in (2 years ago), then again last year, and again tonight. it's quite an experience. there are always six of us. matt and i, who are around 30. john and linda, the hosts, who have been retired for 5 years. i'm guessing they are around 65 to 68. and then there's smokey and dotty. they live 2 houses down, in the BIG house, and are in their 80's (i think). the first year we were invited over, we were touched that they would include us. however, we had no idea what to expect! what do we have in common with a bunch of old people? but it was a great night. as was dinner last year. as was dinner tonight.

i mean...the food is amazing. linda is a great host. there's cheese, crackers and wine in the sitting room. dinner consists of no less than five dishes, and more wine. there's dessert and coffee. and to top it all off, plates of christmas cookies, chocolates, and other evil sweet yummy things. everything is served on fine, antique china. she goes all out for us! (and it was only a tuesday night)

the highlight, however, is talking with smokey and dotty. never in my life have i met such interesting people! smokey was a professional diver and videographer. he has worked independently and for national geographic. why he is in lancaster is beyond me! he was one of the first to film the titanic for the first time, has dived with jacques cousteau, and has retrieved sunken treasure! how cool of a life is that!!!

tonight was no disappointment. there was a story of dotty getting drunk on bermudan rum, the real stuff, that was retrieved from a sunken ship. there were tales of filming wild elk over a period of seven years (not as exciting, in my opinion). and there was the "we got lost in the everglades" story. they were hiking, followed the blue flags (which were actually for a trail race the next day) and got lost deep in the woods. they had to be rescued by a search and rescue team--both from the woods before they got eaten by wild panthers and alligators, and from the nest of fire ants that dotty stepped onto. quite a story.

we've started to look forward to this dinner. the first year we were a little skeptical. but the lives of our elders can hold so much! 

now i have to go watch pirates of the caribbean. i have a hankering for rum and gold and adventure:)

2 comments:

  1. Old people rule.
    Young children arent too bad....

    It's somewhere in the middle that we turn into ***holes.

    ReplyDelete
  2. they do rule! seriously sha...you should hear this guy's stories. they'd blow your mind.

    ReplyDelete