3/31/15

 

I switched things up Thursday night (3/26/15) and stayed in a neat mountainside home in Hendersonville.

 

I found Tom Henry through the Couch Surfing app. He accommodated me on late notice, and set me up with a flip out bed on the first story of his house.

Tom fit in well with what I imagined an old timer in rural North Carolina would be like. He was warm and welcoming, and he enjoyed story telling and valued experiences. He spoke about his travels in Europe with a consistent cadence, and he made sure to pause occasionally, content to reminisce about the times when he was “..oh, about your age.”

 

 

The Henry household had a culture of conversation.

 

While Tom and I talked, my roommate, Ms. Kitty, would meow back and forth to he and I to court our attention and exhaust our affection. Tom’s walking mate, a grand pyraneese dog named Sofie, barked wildly in excitement from behind a closed door until her and I finally got to meet. Perhaps feeling left out, his parachet, Ghandi, and his African grey congo, Casey, would chime in occasionally to give their 2 cents.

 

 

Tom spread positivity in nearly every way, and he was a fantastically generous host, but there were hints that things such as past marriages and business ventures caused him to wrestle with bitterness.

 

But that’s people –

I try to allow the good things they frame up to cure and forgive the rest.