Another year.  Unbelievable.  The years are flying by.  We will soon welcome our first guests of 2010 and begin our twenty-second year of welcoming them.  Almost a quarter of a century of guests.  Many guests.  Big and little.  Old and young.  Happy and sometimes sad.  I cannot guess the total number of guests we have had over the years.  I remember approaching my twenty-fifth birthday and marveling at the thought that I had already lived a whole quarter of a century (century being the definitive word).   I felt I had achieved a feat of some major consequences.  A century being an eon in my then young life.  On that day I also felt I was officially “old.”  Really old.  Now, at this vantage point and having added a few more of those quarters to my life, I therefore should be feeling young.  Good thought!  I will go that that.  I am officially “young.” 

Back to our guests.  Without them, no B&B.  No Idlewyld.  No one to eat our breakfasts.  I thought I’d take a little time to talk about “you.”  Yes YOU!  Dan and I are certain we have the most wonderful guests that it is possible to have.  We count this as a great blessing.  We have guests who ask for a broom, for a paper towel, for a rake.  We even discovered a young man up to his elbows in suds in our kitchen sink.  What is this?  You are not here to work.  You are our guests.  But you feel at home and you want your home to be tidy.  And you want to help—to make our task a bit easier.  You do our work for us—leaving us more time to chat and perhaps whip up a tasty or two.  We have returning guests and first-time guests.  The returning ones are a blessing.  They know the ropes.  They fill us in on the comings and goings of their lives.  The new guests have much to learn about Lakeside and us.  The new ones are a blessing too.  They quickly come to the belief that they have made the “find of the century.”  They wonder why didn’t they know about the jewel of Lakeside before?  It’s fun to be the observer of guests.  You bless and enchant.   You also ask a lot of questions , , , ,

We try to have the answers.     

Dan and Joan