Maltby Girls

For the last four years, four of us neighbors meet each Christmas at the Preservation Kitchen in Bothell to get caught up and celebrate this wonderful season. Kelly, Mary and Roberta and I live on the same street, and share each other's lives in many ways.  In the spring and summer, we are constantly outside, visiting over the fence and sharing each other's gardens and flowers and summer activities.  In the fall, we are outside, decorating the neighborhood with pumpkins, raking leaves, and savoring the last warm and sunny days before winter arrives.  With darkness now at 4:30 p.m. and sunrise at 7:30 a.m., our days are so abbreviated that we don't see each other often.  Our Christmas lunch is a good way to cover the gap that winter creates.

We had a wonderful lunch, and we laugh until we cry, share our victories and funny stories, and I leave that place and time so grateful to have found a wonderful place to live near these very special people.