Friday, November 26, 2010

For the Memory Bank

Do we fly today? No, of course we don't fly today. We are pilots in the north with winter approaching, and the clients dictate where we stay. We go together for brunch at the landmark hotel in town. Not a Landmark Hotel, just a hotel that's a landmark. It doesn't take much to be a landmark in a town that has one business street. The hotel has been there for fifty years or so without burning down, so it's a landmark.

We look at the menu then all have the buffet. It's edible. A change from the free waffles and bagels at the hotel. A loop on the TV goes through adverse weather in Nova Scotia, childcare options in Winnipeg, and a seeming serious documentary on how to win the lottery. I believe the trick was to buy tickets. When we realized that it had looped around it was time to go home.

We were all laughing as we walked back to the hotel. It started with some silly thing, joking about why the mechanic's hotel room lacked a shower curtain. I'm not going to say it, but come on, in the comments guys, what's the first reason that comes to mind for someone to remove a hotel shower curtain? So we're laughing and walking along. Although the weather is still not suitable for work, lots of low cloud bases, it's scattered cumulus and sunshine filters through. It's a beautiful day for walking down the street. It's just a silly moment with co-workers, but it's one of those things that I want in my memory vault in twenty years, along with the images of snow-capped mountain ranges and the pristine lakes that no one ever sees without an airplane.

After we get back to the hotel, a big dark thunder cloud moves in and makes it look like evening. Rain pounds the hotel. Then it passes and we're back to sun with scattered scud.

Maybe tomorrow we'll go flying.

7 comments:

Jim said...

I had two thoughts for why a shower curtain might be missing in a hotel room.

The one I'll admit to thinking is that someone needed a large sheet of plastic in which to wrap a body during illicit disposal (OK, so I just watched an episode of Dexter).

dph said...

Jim got the one that leapt immediately to mind for me... although now 2 hours later I have two other ideas.

Nocturnal recreation involving slidey, sticky substances (jello anyone?) and not wanting to have to pay the cleaning fee afterwards.. (not a good choice)

It is the north, so maybe someone up hunting forgot their rain gear and it was to be a makeshift poncho...

Ward said...

To watch TV while showering?

TgardnerH said...

Jim's thoughts mirror mine. Dexter-like activity is the only idea I'll cop to here. Which says a little something about our priorities of propriety, that bloody murder is in the realm of "okay for public discussion," while a wide range of things that happen much more often in hotel rooms (and could also account for a shower curtain gone missing or damaged) are not.

I also like the poncho idea, much more reasonable than anything that ran through my own head.

John Lennerton said...

You're not staying at the Bates Motel, are you?

Anonymous said...

Mechanics don't need shower curtains anyway...

Jim said...

@DPH - OK, my other thought involved what was often called a Mazzola Party.

Jello is too sticky.