We walked in and saw a fire place that was just waiting for us city-folk to throw our duraflame log into it, which we did later:
We raced to the bedrooms next. They were bigger than most hotels I stay in. The beds were king-sized and relatively comfortable. The rooms even had sinks. We met back in the main living area and headed for the screened-in deck on the back of the cabin. If it wasn't so cold, I suspect we would have spent more time there this weekend, but it was a little too nippy for that.
After agreeing that we made the right choice to finally get away the city for a while, we unpacked the SUV and one of the guys started the grill. As you can see, we had all sorts of "dead animal flesh" as he would call it:
While we were cooking, a couple of deer wandered close to our cabin. It was dusk though and they were just far enough away that we couldn't get a decent picture, but it was quite a scene. We enjoyed a fantastic meal and then attempted to set up the DVD player. Unfortunately, the remote control for our TV was missing and we couldn't figure out how to change the video output without a remote. I was so hoping to get to see Serendipity, but I'll probably watch it this coming weekend instead.
So, we broke out the board game Scattergories. After three games I was starting to feel the pressure because I was the only one who hadn't won a game, but I should say that I was playing under protest. During one round we had to come up with something that is sold in a souvenir shop that starts with the letter "P." If you've never played this game, the pressure can be pretty intense. You have three minutes to come up with twelve answers to twelve different scenarios and when the timer nears the end the ticking noise increases and so does your heart rate as you furiously attempt to complete your sheet.
Anyway, I wrote down "pickles" because I remember canned homemade pickles being sold in a souvenir shop in Arkansas when I was a kid. My grandparents used to take my sister and I to a little town in Arkansas every summer since they were from the area. We always stopped in this one particular souvenir shop. Maybe the pickle thing is something that you only find in souvenir shops in the south, I don't know, but my friends vetoed my answer.
But during that same round, one of them gave this as an answer (that was allowed!): "Platypus Man." You don't really need to know the question with an answer like that, but if you are curious, we were supposed to name a hero that starts with the letter "P." See what I mean about playing under protest? Oh, I'm just kidding. But that gives you an idea about the type of fun we had for the evening. We laughed, we protested, we laughed some more, we totaled our scores, and I never did end up winning a game. I'm just not quick enough on my feet to win at something like that.
We played Scattergories the entire evening and then we hit the sack. After we got up and got ready, we sipped our coffee while gathered around a huge dining table. One of the guys looked out a window and said something that I thought was quite profound. He said he wished he could look out his window at home and see such beautiful changing scenery.
It reminded me of a verse I'd read that morning: "The heavens tell of the glory of God. The skies display His marvelous craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make Him known. They speak without a sound or a word; their voice is silent in the skies; yet their message has gone out to all the earth, and their words to all the world." (Psalm 19:1-4, NLT)
I love city life, but I have found that if I don't get out of the city once in a while I miss so much of what God is saying through the divine silence of a countryside, the whisper of the trees, and the surefootedness of a deer (as Psalm 18:33 mentions). I don't want to do that anymore. Thankfully, the four of us have decided to make this an annual pilgrimage and I'm already looking forward to next year.
