Porch Chat

 Sometimes a stranger can make your day brighter.  If you are lucky, that stranger can become a friend...or at least the possibility of being a friend...

Let me explain...

I took Friday off to attend a shareholders meeting at Skytop.  This was my second shareholders meeting.  The last one was back in 19** (yes it was that long ago), when my mother and I did a long weekend at Skytop for the first time in a long time.  (Other memories of that weekend:  I hadn't accrued my "week" time and they didn't like to give you a day when you hadn't accrued the full week...yes, you can roll your eyes here.  I remember soaking in the hot tub on Friday afternoon and it was heaven.)  Now that I am living in the vicinity, I figured it was time to attend another one.

So Friday morning, after a lousy night's sleep, I drove up and found my way to the ballroom/boardroom where the meeting was being held.  I found a seat and settled in among all the men in their jackets and ties (for the most part; my mom would have loved that.  Everyone "dressed" for the part).  There were very few women (and only one woman on the board) and while I was not the youngest person in the room, I think I was pretty close.

Unlike my last meeting, this one was not opened with a poem.  (I remember that very clearly.) The whole thing was done very formally and very “properly ". My mother would have been pleased. 

The longest part of the meeting was a presentation by the general manager showing the financials, explaining them, and reviewing the achievements over the past year. I found it to be very informative and that's really why I was there. To see where the resort is headed. Yes I want the resort to make money, so that I can make my small portion of dividend, but for me it’s more than that.

After the presentation the floor was open for questions. I was actually brave enough to ask one, which, if you know me, although I have no problem with public speaking, I do get nervous when I'm in front of an unknown crowd. I first made a comment regarding one of the new, renovated rooms as I had stayed in (a room that I would consider a suite) on my birthday, and then I asked for some additional information on the newly opened aquatic center. (Which I think is absolutely phenomenal and I'm sure we'll bring in more revenue.) There were more questions regarding financials as well as the issues of property homeowners turning their homes Airbnbs. which concern many homeowners/shareholders. (It’s complicated.) All was handled quite well I thought and the meeting was over in under an hour as I had been told.. 

My hope had been that it would be a nice sunny day and that once the meeting was over I would be able to sit on the porch and read and or go for a walk around the lake or even hike up to Indian Ladder Falls. But the weather was not cooperating. 

Instead I went to the Corner Roast for a latte. Then I decided, clouds be damned I was going to sit on the South porch. It would have been nicer if it was less cloudy and a little warmer but nothing can beat sitting in one of those rocking chairs and taking in the view and the mountain air. Nothing!

As I was sitting there enjoying my coffee, a woman that I recognized from the meeting (one of maybe a half dozen that were in the room) sat in a rocker not too far away from me. We were both scrolling on our phones, but also watching a group people obviously on an office retreat trying to assemble something with a bunch of pipes. It made both of us laugh. 

I decided to be brave and I introduce myself.  Which is how I  ended up spending the next several hours not walking around the lake, or hiking, or even meeting my book but just talking to someone who knew and loved Skytop just as I did .

I don't know how it came up, but in the beginning of our conversation I mentioned that although I had been a shareholder for a long time I hadn't been to a meeting in ages. I said as a matter of fact the last one that I went to with started by a poem. And she replied that the poet was her father-in-law. He was the chairman emeritus and they allowed him to start every meeting with a poem. 

From there on we talked about all sorts of things. While she is slightly older than I am (or at least that's what we both assumed), we have many shared experiences. We have both had encounters with trapping raccoons, groundhogs and in home invasions with a bat. (That’s the flying kind that you don't want to find in your house and not the one that you used to beat the crap out of someone who is intruding). 

Her husband is on the board of directors, as obviously was her father-in-law! Furthermore, her husband's grandfather was one of the founders of the resort. When she said his name I recognized it at once. She knew I was up on my Skytop history as was she. 

And so we were off. While we didn't talk about anything specific or of any importance, we just had a rapport. I think I overshared too much of my life, but…It made me think of my mother and how she loved introducing herself and talking to strangers. How serendipitous was it that I was doing the same thing on the South porch on this somewhat sunny, somewhat overcast Friday morning. 

For nearly two hours we shared Skytop stories and general observations over the years.  She had a lunch planned at the new pool side restaurant and I had to get back home, so we parted.  But she let me know that she and her husband would be back at the end of August.  I said that I would be sure to find some porch time around then.

So we parted ways.  I don’t know about her, but I was feeling happy and relaxed.  Thanks to this no-longer stranger and a morning of mountain air and good conversation.