Time Away — Houseguests, Appearances and Such...

With summer officially just a week away, I guess we are entering that time of the year when "there's always something going on." At least around here!

I feel like I have already not had much time to write, and now we have houseguests arriving this afternoon, which likely means I will have even less time to write, at least for a week or so.

When I was a teenager, we lived in a fairly large house that had an entire "guest suite" or so — I guess what some call a "mother-in-law unit" — and my mother was eternally asking people to come stay. Summers were particularly busy.

What always struck me as slightly odd was the fact that she spent a lot of time complaining about "never having time to herself" because we had people staying, so often.

From where I am sitting, seems to me that you can't really have it both ways: social and quiet.

My mother had a choice, of course... the guest area had its own entrance to the driveway, and its own kitchen, bathroom and sitting area. People could be perfectly autonomous... but she always fussed over visitors, like an anxious mother hen.

In time, an otherwise unused downstairs patio was enclosed and converted to a second small guest space with its own kitchen and bath. More guests. My mother even more overwrought over how "there were ALWAYS visitors!"

As for me, I have always been quite content with "the quiet life." Mrs. Denmarkguy is a little more social than I... but one of the ways we are a good "fit" is that she is also very protective or her alone time.

I shall be quite relieved when we have the house to ourselves, again... even though we really like our imminent visitors. UN-like my mother, we won't be having anyone else staying this year... unless the suddenly show up, more or less unannounced.

When I look back, I think my mother often struggled with her need to "keep up appearances" as a generous and and welcoming hostess... even though she didn't feel like being one.

Makes me wonder just how often we do things we don't want to do, simply in service of maintaining a certain facade towards the external world; the whole "building an image" thing. It seems very important to some people, even though their actions turn out to be at odds with their true feelings.

NOT a game I want to be involved in...

Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend!

How about YOU? Do you enjoy having houseguests? Or do you not like sharing your space? Do leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

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Created at 20220617 09:31 PDT
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