Monday Miscellany: Visiting

Monday is the day for miscellaneous topics

Today we are in Houston, visiting my brother and his family. We just had a nice dinner with them (at Olive Garden, where else?) and we have returned to the bus and they to their house. In the next few days, we will spend more time with them but each evening will retreat to our own home.

The folks we visit on our travels seem to fall into two groups: those who want us to park the bus somewhere and stay in their guest rooms, and those who understand that we would prefer to sleep in our own bed.

I think that most of our friends and family that fall into the "guest room" category are genuinely trying to be hospitable. When out of town guests come to visit, they are used to accommodating those guests. The offer of a long, hot shower often features prominently in the invitation. Some, I fear, simply can't imagine that we are comfortable in the bus at all. "Next time you visit, we'll get you out of that thing," said one. Gee, thanks. In either case, they often seem a bit put-out when we decline.

Our preference, though, is to be in our own space with our little menagerie. As lovely as your house is, we're most relaxed when we can stumble out of bed at our own pace, drink our own coffee and generally be as slobby as we want to be. Then you can talk about us after the day is over, and we can talk about you.

Lately I've been saying this to people who don't quite get it: "Don't think of us as guests, think of us as neighbors." And just as you don't need to offer your neighbor a place to sleep, you can let us go home at the end of the evening, too. It won't hurt our feelings; in fact, we prefer it.