House sitting and hobbity visits

I took another house sitting gig. Two weeks this time. Normally they’re pretty chill. I do them as a sort of writing retreat and, hey, i even get paid a little.

It’s like i’m doing the Neil Gaiman Stay-At-Famous-People’s-Homes-And-Write-Genius-Prose thing, but more of the bargain bin version.

Anyway, the gig was pretty annoying at first. The owners were not so good at giving me essential information, like the code to get in their gated community, or (one of my requirements) the password to their WiFi.

They also didn’t mention their dog likes to eat other dogs.

Erg.

Anyway, it started a bit hectic, but got a LOT nicer when Sarah came out on the 20th for a visit.

I really enjoyed showing her around Eugene, but i stressed to whole time that i wasn’t showing her the “good stuff.”

I’m not really sure what the good stuff is in Eugene.

I ended up introducing her to some of my friends, taking her out to my favorite restaurants and a few parks. I mean, there’s lots i love about Eugene, but it all seemed so boring. Would she dig the bike coop? Does she care about food collectives or the Farmers Market? Should i show her where significant political events happened. I wanted her to see what my life looks like.

*worry worry worry* What’s impressive about Eugene? What does my life look like?

I took her to my favorite writing cafe and, like i said, i mostly took her out for food and movies.

I’m a lousy host.

Regardless, she was very polite about the whole thing, and … well, for me it was a wonderful visit.

As always, it was too short. Maybe if i start planning now, i’ll do a better job on the next one.

Tags: Miller, notadoor, Sarah, visit