Crisp winter day and wind

Pete and I drove and drove north to spend time with a dear friend, and also browse three of our favorite thrift stores. Though the venture into a thrift store can be a MCSers nightmare if you're unprepared (i need a hat to tuck my hair up tightly, a coat that can be aired out, and a scarf/mask) these three stores have been low-level blitz makers and often give us pleasant and affordable shopping. Gratefully, the journey north was a glorious winter getaway and Pete has a new winter jacket that will need de-stinking (airing, milk and baking soda soaking and time). We were on the look-out for creative and tolerable materials for shelving in our porch pods to be. We found a motley mix of stainless steel and an older painted and off-gassed mug rack that just might work out.

Anacortes, Wa is a wind magnet of a town that sits at the tip of Puget Sound's northern edges. The ferry for the San Juan Islands and Victoria, B.C. leaves from this beautiful little town. The wind was magnetic today, blowing cold (for the Northwest), crisp and clear air. We were bundled with everything we own that is warm, with our thrifty treasures we headed for the deli to meet our friend. This is the same friend who offered us the cottage in Olympia for the winter that we couldn't move into because of the gas stove. It's been two years since we last saw each other.

Meeting friends face-to-face is a treat that becomes more and more difficult when you live with MCS. Tonight the friends we live with are having a dinner party before going to a holiday musical event in a nearby theatre. The laughter, the voices and the socializing is what I miss. The fragrances and sprays that cover their dear bodies is what I don't miss. The reunion we enjoyed this afternoon is what I focus on and appreciate in a big way. I was able to sit and enjoy a sandwich and share a platter of salads with Pete while we chatted, caught up on the goings on in our lives, and for the first time our friend saw pictures of our wheeled home.

"You guys have really done it! You're making a whole way of life."

"Yup, I'd say we are."

Our friend was scent free and asked mid-way through lunch, "Give me feedback about me."
"I can't smell anything," I said.

By the time we'd finished lunch the smell from a customer's perfume was my cue to head for the door. Pete was heading to the counter for a chocolate chip cookie, my friend and I got oatmeal raisin.

I am able to enjoy many pieces and parts of life that some MCSers cannot. I recognize the difference, just as I recognize the differences between the party goers who spray and scent themselves. The winter day did clear the air for me today and time with a friend with no scents and lots of sense is a gift of no small measure.

One of my MCS blogging friends, Leslie from the Oko Box has written a couple posts about winter time hobbies to keep the mind from becoming veg-like. It was good to think about those sorts of inside things; and then I also began to wonder about ways to create social wish-lists and dream makings, too. Once a year near the holidays the Seattle MCS support group gathers for a Holiday Party. We went to one last year, and yippee, this year's party is coming up. A fragrance and chemical free party with (no-new) gift-exchanging, chatting, laughter and food is such a fun happening.

How do you create a social structure that supports you?