"Breakfast is at 8:30am..."
Have crueler words ever been spoken?
Have crueler words ever been spoken?
I got up around 7:45, confused at first as to where I was sleeping. Once I realized that it wasn't a dream, I was really at a B&B where one must rise before the sun to be fed, I walked into the bathroom to shower. I'm not one of those people willing to just roll out of bed for breakfast if I'm sharing a table with people... not even on Christmas would I do such a thing. I started to wake up more as I brushed my teeth... meaning the time became reality and I began to rush a bit. Something about my Innkeeper made me think that I shouldn't be too late.
I gathered my journal and books and walked to the dining room. I met the husband of this couple team running the inn and we all said our morning greetings.
"How did you sleep? You look tired," the woman who had been up since 6:30 felt the need to inform me of my apparently visible fatigue.
"Well, I work nights, so this is just a little early for me. I'm not human until 11," I replied with as much girlish bashfulness as I could muster. I find that, if all my wits are not about me (like at 8:30 in the morning), I end up acting like a girlish nitwit to survive social encounters.
She looked me over one more time, smiled sweetly, and said, "Oh... we don't allow books in the dining room." I naturally acted as though I should have known that and walked out to put my things back in my room. Once my back was turned I started to grumble to myself. If there were rules like this about the dining room, that meant I was expected to be social... friendly... to talk to strangers.
Oh, boy...
She placed me at a table with a young couple who actually lived right in Blacksburg. They had someone watching their kids while they got away to The Oaks for a long weekend. I asked them how they met, about their interests, about parenting while we had a three course breakfast... that ran on the sweet side. We started with a lovely apple tart, moved on to a fresh fruit salad, and ended with french toast (and bacon for the other guests... to avoid the long conversation of needing to know where the meat was processed and how it was raised and slaughtered, I just told the Innkeeper I was a vegetarian). This couple sat there with me talking and eating until 10:30... they only left because we were asked to vacate the dining room so it could be vacuumed. I hadn't broken my smile for two hours... I walked calmly to my room as I wished them a smooth return to their normal day-to-day lives.
Once the door was shut, I picked up my phone.
"Good Morning," that lucky David said sleepily.
"Please, say something rude. I've been polite and social before 11 for two hours straight!" I begged him. He laughed and I relayed the events of the morning... including the Innkeeper's suggestion that I walk to the local coffee shop for lunch and visit the antique store nearby (I told her I collected old postcards).
I reclaimed my journal and books and sat in the library to write and read. I sat near a window and remained aware of the time due to the sun rays moving across the floor and down my back. I wrote about two and a half pages in my journal concerning the thoughts I had cultivated on the drive the day before. I felt satisfied with my conclusions and made myself a cup of tea. There's a station with a bureau filled with tea and cocoa and a hot water dispenser next to library. I had an ideal late morning sitting and reading the book Beth gave me (it's a genuinely interesting project to recreate Alice's life as someone who was trapped being a character in a book to people she met... and those people were progressively disappointed as she aged... because Alice grew up).
I was ready to walk to the coffee shop, but as I walked out the door, enjoying the unseasonably warm air, a car drove by with two young guys who honked and shouted. I stood there, frozen, waiting for the car to disappear around the corner, then I walked right back up to the porch and around to the side of the building to start up my car.
(from http://www.cburgcoffee.com/)It's shameful how close this place was to the inn, but my social strength had already been challenged enough for one day. I parked on the street next to the coffeehouse. There was hardly anyone around, but, it was mid-Monday after all. I ordered a cup of tomato soup (best tomato soup I've ever had... I tend to need lots of grilled cheese and crackers to make it through a cup of that boring, red, ketchup-y sea, but this stuff was sprinkled with fresh herbs and delicately seasoned) and a grilled cheese sandwich. I sat in a window seat to watch the occasional person walk by as I read my book and munched quietly.
I went ahead and walked to the antique shop. The Innkeeper wasn't kidding when she told me that morning that this shop had tons of postcards. There was a nook the size of a kid's bedroom completely lined along the wall with boxes and boxes of postcards. The place itself was huge and one of the most interesting antique shops I've ever visited. I found some vegetarian cookbooks for Anya and myself as well as postcards for a few other girls I know who also collect.
My system decided I was taking a nap after having forced myself awake so early. I barely had time to adjust the blanket and set my alarm before I was out. I stretched it just a little too long (I've been known to hit Snooze for two hours before I lift myself out of slumber) and woke with just enough time to gather my things and get to work.
I arrived somewhat frazzled, walking through a large collection of people. I've never taught a class as large as the one that gathered for that evening session... 30 people came out to sweat under my instruction. After surviving the class the night before, I had worked out all my directional kinks and class went well. The students were very kind... complimenting me for a great class. It's one thing when your regular students, who have grown accustomed to you, tell you that it was a good class (and understand I am very grateful to my regular clients). But, when people you've never met before, people you'll likely never see again, feel motivated to walk right up to you and thank you, Stranger, for a job well done, that's a job worth having.
My trainer and I have only been out socially with the rest of the trainees from my class. This dinner date after the class was the first time we went out together just to catch up. It was a little weird at first, but we had a few margaritas, a friend of hers joined us, and it really was a good time. We went to this place called Cabo Fish Taco, which had plenty of very interesting options for vegetarians and fish eaters alike. The food was quite tasty and I had the most interesting margarita I've ever sampled. It's called an Angry Amigo, and they put three slices of jalapeno pepper in the glass to add some spice.
I have to say that my trainer is an impressive person. I see very few people work against the habits of their nature to work towards tough, personal goals. She is somewhat shy, moderately insecure, and, like all of us, has first impressions. But, she has the courage to walk into a potentially awkward situation and make the most of it. More than that, she leaves the door open for people to reveal who they really are... Whatever her first impression of me used to be, I think she saw other aspects of my personality that night and willingly altered her interaction with me based on the new information. I truly appreciate her, even more than I already did for giving me this gift of a yoga lifestyle. It will not be hard to convince me to go back and spend a few days in her part of the world sometime in the not-so-distant future.
I returned to the inn, well-fed and content with my evening. The next day was my free day to do as I liked before taking my trainer's class for the first time since I had been certified. I considered what I might do, not knowing the area, and decided to play it by ear...
...and the next day ended up being one of the best days I've had since... hmm... 2007?
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