Forty-First Anniversary

We had planned to leave yesterday for a three-day romantic weekend at Snowbird Mountain Lodge in Robbinsville, one of our favorite places and a frequent destination for our anniversary on July 6.  This year we are celebrating 41 years, and when Martha made the reservations a couple of months ago it seemed like the perfect plan.  But as her Mom's condition worsened, and amid continuing concerns over Covid-19, we decided to re-schedule the trip to September.  Both of us were thinking about Snowbird yesterday afternoon, though, when we would have been arriving, climbing that long steep drive up to the parking lot and its views over Santeetlah Lake, and walking into the cool, shady log lodge building itself which always smells like woodsmoke and old books.

We have taken a lot of inspiration from Snowbird in decorating our own home over the years, and we enjoyed spending the night here nearly as well.  While not pampered quite so much by the gourmet dining, the use of bicycles and canoes, and all the rest of it, we enjoyed grilled chicken and corn-on-the cob (the quintessential summer dish) on our deck before the late-afternoon shower chased us indoors.

This morning there was a cool breeze blowing, and I noticed that a gift bag and card had appeared on the table where I had placed a card and a dozen roses a day or two ago.  What do most couples do on their anniversary when they stay home?  Of course:  we both drove separately up to Town to go for a run.  I started a little earlier than Martha, and it being Monday decided to climb Big Bearpen yet again.  I had wanted for us to run together, so I was happy to hear Martha calling out my name after I had descended and was running back down Chestnut Street.  So we ran a quarter-mile or so together before I turned back, leaving her to run up Lower Lake Road while I drove home.

Martha had posted this photo on Facebook, and by lunch-time there were nearly 50 comments from friends wishing us a Happy Anniversary and many more to come.

I remember that day well!  It was August 28 of last year at the Giant's Causeway on the coast of Northern Ireland, part of our 40th-anniversary trip to Britain and Ireland.  A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption.  "It’s been a wonderful journey with the beautiful woman I love!" I commented on Facebook.

After lunch out on the deck, we opened our cards.  But what did this intriguing gift bag contain?  It was unexpectedly heavy.   And I knew that Martha has not had time to do any shopping.  The card revealed that this gift was purchased on that same trip to Ireland, only four days after the stop at the Giant's Causeway in Waterford, home of Waterford Crystal.  Two of our travel companions had helped her hide the gift, and she had carried the well-padded package all the way back home in her luggage.  "It took up a lot of room in my suitcase," she said.  What a surprise:  two beautiful leaded crystal wine glasses.  Martha said they had warned her that the lead in the crystal might set off the alarms when boarding the plane, but they did not, and so she successfully kept this secret for nearly a year.

Whenever we use these glasses, we will remember that trip to Ireland, the journey across the wide shining Atlantic Ocean and back again, and our own beautiful journey together.