City Mouse, Country Mouse

Guest blogger: Kim Ross

I have had the privilege to spend the last several days with Brigitte and now I have been given the honor of being a guest writer on her blog.

When Brigitte was a child, we would spend every night reading books. She had her favorites and one was a compilation of four stories, one being about a city mouse who visits a relative in the country and spends much of the time complaining. Finally, the country mouse heads to the big city to see about this “better” life. She doesn’t like the city any more than her cousin liked the country. The only thing that ever disturbed me about this story was that it just focused on the negatives each mouse saw in the other’s home. I don’t know whether Brig and I ever discussed that aspect, but I have to say that she does not imitate the behavior of the mice.

My visit began in the “city” at L’Etoile. The gem of the city, as far as restaurants go. It is housed in a sleek, glass building with elegant but contemporary surroundings. I was given VIP treatment from the moment I informed the maître d’ I had a reservation and gave him my name. A beautiful young woman with a bouquet of fresh flowers greeted me with a hug at my table (I am pretty sure I recognized her from somewhere). From my window table, I could see the top of the capitol building surrounded by white tents for Art Fair on the Square. There were many people out strolling around and everyone gawked into the windows of the restaurant as they passed. I felt like a fish in a fishbowl. Brigitte later informed me that it was a good thing they were staring. I wish I could do the food justice with words. I made sure to choose a dish from each course and then the kitchen decided to send a couple extras! Every dish was a thing of beauty.

Sunday, I started my day with a walk around the complex where Brigitte lives. The community is more of a retirement community with a large in-ground pool and 18-hole golf course accompanied by a country club. The grounds are well-maintained with flowers, trees, ponds, and fountains among walkways that weave in and around the buildings. We later headed off to church and then lunch at The Green Owl, a little vegetarian/vegan restaurant. I never knew how good a “meat” ball made from eggplant could be. The art fair was a must-see, so we roamed around wishing we had a few extra hundred dollars to spend. After eating a delicious vegan dinner of tempeh, vegetables, and rice, we decided to end the day with a movie.

The next morning, we needed to head to Viroqua since it was now “country” time. The drive takes about two hours as we drove through towns that seemed to grow smaller as we went west. We stopped at the food co-op to pick a few essentials before our final leg to the “valley.” When we arrived at the farm, Brigitte quickly switched gears to “country mouse” as she changed into much more casual attire and headed to the kitchen to begin the lunch preparations.

The two and one-half days spent on the farm were what I described to her on Tuesday afternoon as a “dream vacation” which she quickly responded with her opinion of my sanity. There were no well-manicured lawns, fountains, sidewalks, or even indoor plumbing in her cabin. However, it was peaceful and serene (with exception to the rooster at 4 a.m. and the goats that were quite rambunctious). I sat on the front porch and read, napped, and wrote. This was a serious break from my normal routine. I enjoyed watching her in this environment. We went “shopping” in the coolers and chest freezers, picked blueberries and took cold treats to the workers in the fields. In the evening, she created wonderful dinners for the owner/operators and me. She seemed at home in this environment as much as the city (although I was concerned at her lack of desire to shower – maybe it has to do with the walk to the barn where the shower is housed.) The best part of the visit to the farm was seeing a team of people dedicated to providing good food that is as close to the way God meant it to be –fresh and free from chemicals.

It has been an amazing time. When Brigitte first described her plans to live in Madison, I had my doubts how she would be able to maintain such a schedule and constant switching of environments. However, after seeing her in action, my little mouse has shown me that she learned a valuable lesson from that story so long ago – there are benefits to both environments as well.

Blueberry Picking!