rainy weekend

We've had thunder storms, briefly, nearly every day this past week. All this after  weeks so hot and dry that everything outdoors was crunchy and wilted.

We met my mother for dinner yesterday at Babette's Cafe, a favorite restaurant for all of us. Great food every time, consistently, and Marla always remembers everything about me and is very friendly when we are there. Usually, we meet for brunch at Babette's Cafe but its been a long time since we met up late enough for dinner and both my mother and myself were desiring a true dinner with a more diverse menu at wine o'clock. I pushed for making reservations as early as possible so no one would have to drive home after dark. I had forgotten about the rain forecast for nearly every day this week. Usually, storms don't last long here. They're over in less than an hour and it seems as if the more intense the weather is, the shorter the duration.

We had a great meal, as usual. I had the chicken and fresh artichokes because I wanted something hardier and more filling than a vegetarian entree. Mother was planning on the halibut, her favorite summer dish at Babette's, until all of us watched a plate go by with the steak and a nice pile of fresh onion rings on of it. She had steak. MonsterMustDie had the veal piccata. Mom and I had fresh blueberry tart for desert while MonsterMustDie had a snifter of Drambuie.

We worked at keeping the conversation light and not dwelling too much on the upcoming move to North Carolina. Mother doesn't want us to go. I don't want to go either but, as we both tried to explain, relocating to North Carolina for John's employer really does seem to be the only viable option for us. It looked like things were going to turn to tears so I switched the subject to my niece's wedding in February. Then I switched it again to health issues of other family members and any gossip I could pull up.

All went well from there until it was time to leave. At the time we paid and relinquished our table, an evening thunder storm rolled in and we sat for 45 minutes in the front of the restaurant across from the tiny bar, waiting and hoping it would slack off soon. I was seeing daylight, another very important factor in my mother making it home safely, fading as we waited for a break in the rain. It was suggested that one of us could drive her home in her car while the other followed, which seemed like a good option to me, but she would not hear of it so we finally made it out into the night as soon as the wind died down a bit with the rain still heavy. She looked like she wanted to cry but she absolutely would not let us take her home. So we had no choice but to let her go alone into a rainy night. Once we got home, I phoned her house every 15 minutes to see if she'd made it home yet. (Why? I don't know. I can't think of anything we could do if we did not hear from her of if she didn't make it home. It's just that need to know she was okay.) I finally got hold of her about 90 minutes after all of us left the restaurant. She had a long slow drive but she made it home all right. I believe this is the last time we will meet her for dinner so far from her home or in the evening.