The family is enjoying a couple of days at an AirBnB out in Western Maryland, away from responsibilities and neighbors and the house we’ve been trapped in for a solid year. Jen began following a lady on Instagram who has a lovely cottage perched on the side of a hill, and they struck up a conversation. We booked it for a couple of days in the middle of my birthday week, and we settled in last night.

Hazel spent the entire evening pacing around the house, peering out the windows and BUFFING at the chickens next door, who don’t give a crap about her, and BUFFING at noises she’s not used to, and whining at the door to go out but THERE ARE CHUPACABRAS OUT THERE so she whines to come in, and paces around, and whines to go back outside again. I grabbed her up and bear-hugged her on the couch until she calmed down and napped for a while, and that seemed to help.

This area of Maryland is beautiful. It’s basically old-school farmland, dotted with red-brick barns and lots of old houses that look like they’ve been kept up really well. It’s hard to tell what the main crops are out here but we’ve seen a lot of sheep and goats munching idly in the fields. However, the specter of our former president haunts us, waving at passers by from atop a boom lift in the middle of town.

This is a lovely way to spend a birthday. When Jen proposed we get out of town back in January I was hesitant, but I’m glad she talked me into it. I’ve been getting more and more stir-crazy being trapped in our house as the winter has dragged on, and my mood has not improved with the promise of spring around the corner. We have a day of exploration planned, and hopefully Western Maryland will provide some sights and sounds to lighten the mood and calm Hazel’s nerves.