Obsessed with this little story out of NY Times Magazine of a most unlikely couple in the Catskills. Sandra Foster and her husband Todd (just by looking at the photo of the two of them you can see the differences loud and clear) live in a groovy slip of a trailer in the country, she with her blond hair, pink boots and tiny maltese dogs, he with his two scrappy dogs, chickens and pheasants and giant belly. What drew me to the article was a photo of the tiny perfectly Victorian cottage (somewhere Rachel Ashwell is standing and applauding) she built entirely by herself on their property as a fantasy retreat, something she has constantly dreamed of having since being homeless with her family in high school. I can only imagine the delicious satisfaction of knowing she had really done it. “I remember the night I finished as clear as a bell: November 1. I was listening to Rush at very high volume over and over, it was freezing cold, I was starting to paint, but the moon was out. I looked up at the moon, twirling, with my arms out. I was ready to cry.”
Seeing the photo of the inside of their shared trailer only makes it more impressive that if she has always envisioned a romantic cottage to live in, she hadn't run screaming from that life. But despite that her husband was sloppy and covered in dog hair “The only thing holding me together was Todd’s love, and his love of food and feeding me, and his love of flowers. Every single day I come here, there are flowers. A whole path of rose petals leading to a bath full of rose petals and candles. He’s a magical man, despite his flaws.” And make no mistake, Todd has his own man-shack out in the woods where he can raise his pheasants and let his dogs run loose while he cooks and watches tv...seems to be that they both realized some private dreams on this property.
I picture my friend's mom whose husband built a little cottage in their backyard to write her poetry in and create her art...every woman should be so lucky to have their version of a Victorian cottage to escape to. What would yours be?
Read the whole article here.
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