A Pleasant Surprise

I arrived at the lodge tonight a bit early having made great time on my drive from the office. I turned into the lot expecting to have some time to kill as I stood outside and waited for others to arrive (especially those with keys). But tonight was a bit different.

As soon as I got out of the car and popped some smoke I noticed another one of the brothers pull in a few spots down. I couldn’t see who was driving but there are not many Mississippi plates around here. So, I walked up and we caught up a little bit on what was going on (not much since we saw one another last Tuesday and Friday).

Walking up to the front door it was easy to see that there was at least one person who beat us there and when we entered we found that it was a few brothers. After catching up on the happenings of life outside the lodge (most notably some humorous stories about the tribulations of rebuilding at the New Jersey shore) our conversation shifted to the weekly discussion about improvements that need to be made to the building.

There are many items on our to-do list and more things seem to be added every week. However, there is progress being made and we were reminded of that fact when we walked down the stairs on our way to the office. It’s amazing how a simple cleaning and fresh coat of paint (or even primer as was the case tonight) can make such a huge difference just in the experience of coming down the stairs.

Maybe it was the fumes (the floors in part of the basement had just been refinished as well) but I was feeling really good about some of the progress that was being made. Granted they are small improvements at this stage but they are improvements nevertheless. Of course, this only fueled further discussions regarding improvements but at least they were now being focused on the needs that exist in the office space.

This is when my to-do list began to grow. Having a little access to some of the things we need and want in the office, I was writing notes about who I need to call and what I needed to do as we wrapped up a few of the tasks for the night and began our slow departure for the evening (which usually takes at least thirty minutes). While it is additional work, they are things that I gladly take on knowing that I can have an impact on the lodge (however small that may be).

So our night began a little bit early and ended a little bit early. We need these kinds of nights every once in a while to balance out the much longer meetings and, sometimes, conferrals. But no matter what time were are there it is still a great night of fellowship and I always depart feeling uplifted in some way.