Daughter Lise is working on weekdays, so friend Toke is the Dane with a vacation. He offered to cook a Chinese meal for us, and we jumped at it. I’m glad I have a wok on hand for him to use. Toke speaks Chinese and lived in China for a while.

There were noodles with beef, as well as beef and broccoli. They bought buns filled with pork at the Asian market, and they were a treat, too.

Another day we went to Sylva to have lunch with friends Connie and Marla. Lise promised Toke that he would enjoy talking bikes with Marla, and so he did. I speak for all of us that we enjoyed every minute together.

Lise usually lights a cigarette on the way back from the stop sign, and if she hasn’t finished, we sit on the porch. Most normal people porch-sit in warm weather, but we had been heated by walking and sat outside comfortably when the temperature was freezing.

Lise saw a bargain at Walmart and called me to see if I wanted a new queen-sized air mattress. I did, because Sarah and Nathaniel ended up on the floor a few days ago. Nate said the old mattress had begun losing air the last time he was here, so it was time for a replacement. It served us well for ten years, and that is probably old age in mattress years.