“It is by chance that we met, by choice that we became friends.”
–Anon.
We’ve had a glorious past ten days here at Chez Feinberg, entertaining dear friends from Australia. I first met in these friends in a chance encounter at the beautiful Cradle Mountain Lodge in Tasmania some years back (if you ever get the chance to visit this magical part of the world, GO!! You won’t regret it!!), and I knew from the start that we would be friends for the rest of our lives, no matter the miles between us. We don’t see each other *nearly* as often as I would like, but when we do, we “suck the marrow” out of the experience, as my dearly departed grandmother used to say.

Chillin’ with friends
In this most recent visit, my friends met Lola Bug and Beau, neither of whom were in my life at the time of their last visit. I’m proud to say that our crew proved to be world-class hosts, behaving beautifully while never missing the opportunity for a snuggle or rub from their new Aussie pals.

Beau & his new Aussie mate
Beau, not surprisingly, made it his business to be the major domo of our nightly Happy Hour, even managing to get a quick slurp of a Sam Adams when my friend’s hand-eye coordination proved a moment too slow.
In fact, he’s decided this event should be an every-night occurrence here. Since our guests departed, Beau has been eyeing the pilsners and a few moments ago he made it quite clear that the time had come to set out the cheese and crackers.

Miss Thing works the room
Lola, meanwhile, made sure that our guests knew that, although she’s a lady from the top of her nose to the tip of her tail, she’ll never walk away from a good belly rub. As her idol Mae West was wont to say, “I speak two languages, Body and English.”
During our visit, we shared many laughs, revisited fond memories and made many new ones. I was reminded once more how very precious good friends are, be they two-legged or four, and how important it is to treasure each and every moment. As we head into this Memorial Day weekend, I wish you safe travels and happy times with the ones you love. Life’s too short for anything less.