catchup

A few things occurred to me some time in the past and since I am trying to catch up on my writing from several days ago, I thought I would mention some of these. It is hard to sing coherently while brushing one’s teeth; at least it is for me. I can hum well enough during the brushing though. There is a simple solution for the long face, whether this condition is a physical one or one of the emotions, which could also be called “the blues”. This solution is the smile.

A smile can improve the shape of your face by making it more round as well as improving the shape of your emotions by making them jollier – at least it can if it is not a fake smile. Even a fake smile – the outward only kind – can improve a person’s looks, but doesn’t really help “the blues” – unless they are fake “blues”. For the real emotional traumas to be helped, the smile has to come from deep inside and mostly can only be had with the help of a Higher Power.

Then came Wednesday, June 27th, a day that the Spice and I have been looking forward to for some time – with a bit of trepidation, at least on my part. On this day we were to invade the domain of the “rich and famous”. Our daughter, OD, and son-in-law, FSIL, had given us a night at the Ritz-Carlton Lodge on Lake Oconee back at Christmas, but due to recovering from my several ailments, we were just now availing ourselves of the present.

This “Lodge” is located some several miles off I-20 exit 130 near Greensboro, Georgia. We left home in the early afternoon and arrived there about a quarter of four. We were met at our van by the one in charge of meeting people at their vehicles. On being informed that we were checking in, he wrote up a valet parking ticket and unloaded our luggage on a cart. As we approached the check-in desk, the luggage person introduced us to them – what a concept!

At almost the same time, a smiling person brought the Spice a small container of spiced pecans and a cup of lemonade. Just seconds later I had the same things in my hands, leading me to believe that the check-in process would take at least a short while but such was not the case. After only a sip of the beverage, we were on our way down the hallway to our room. It was up one floor, so our luggage handler chatted us up on the elevator, but I still felt like a fish out of water.

He opened our door, situated our luggage, explained a few things and was gone. I did tip him; I’m not that much country comes to town. The Spice and I sat down and with wide eyes just looked at each other, trying to comprehend what had just happened and the speed of it. The room was a spacious one with all the basics and much more. The bed was king-sized and had eight pillows on it. There were two upholstered chairs, one with an ottoman and a desk with chair.

One wall was dominated by a large armoire with TV, drawers and a small “stocked” refrigerator behind one of the doors. There was a closet with supplied robes and a safe for valuables. The bathroom had a tub and a separate shower, two sinks with shelves and drawers underneath. The john even had a louvered sliding pocket door for privacy. The faucets and even the trim work around the walls were first class. Also noted was the fact that the bedroom had four lamps.

The only flaw noted was the fact that a fly was in the room, probably came in when I checked out the balcony. Try as we might we could not get the fly swatted – lacking proper equipment. The thought crossed my mind to call the desk for a flyswatter but then thought better of it. It did serve to remind me that we are all subject to nature as well as God’s laws. But the wonderful part about that is we all have the forgiveness of God available as well – but it is by our choice alone. TBC ec