The Honest Courtesan

Last week, a couple of dear friends I haven’t seen in quite some time came to visit, so naturally we spent as little of the time sober as was possible because that’s just the way we roll (no pun intended).  And once again the wisdom of building the new wing was clearly demonstrated, not only because I had guest cottages to offer each of them, but also because we had a beautiful space, a sound system for music, rugs and blankets brought from my incall, and a nice fire for our party; both friends commented that the transferred decor created a sense of continuity from The Den, where we used to have such parties back in the old days.  But now we have a lot more space and no street noise or potentially-nosy neighbors, and when someone faded out she could crawl into a nice bed rather than try to make do on the floor or the couch or half of my bed.  And best of all, everyone who visits here notices the calm, comfortable energy of Sunset; guests often find themselves sleeping a lot later than they intended because they feel safe and welcome, and because it’s got just the right level of quiet: wind and birds and the occasional animal noise, but no engines or slamming doors or shouting strangers or sirens.  Whenever close friends visit, I remind them that my door is always open for them and all they need do is let me know they’d like to visit, even if it’s just to retreat from the world for a time and recover from the stresses of daily life.  And I’m happy to say that as time goes on, they seem to be taking advantage of that more often.