No Inn At The Inn, part 2

Dear Sillies, 

See last post before you read this one. Here we go:

Katie zips back towards me, as Hugh strolls behind. "There's one overflow room, so not the best," she reports, "but it's available at the Tar---. Come on, we'll take you there in my car." 

I'm at their mercy, still in shock. Silent prayer ensues. May the room have a toilet. And a bed. 

Hugh grabs my suitcase. "I'll take this for you." 

I follow them out to a dark blue, oldish Honda, packed with clothes and miscellany. Hugh sits in the back, leaving the front passenger's seat for me. A true gentleman. 

"Forgive the mess," Katie says. "I just moved here from Edmonton. It's a new job. Hugh actually works at the Tarmigan." I'd learn that this hotel, named after a bird, begins with a silent "p." Who knew there's such thing as the silent 'p'? Ptarmigan. 

Within minutes, we're at an upscale hotel on the main strip. Wow. 

"She's taking the overflow room for three nights," Katie tells Tony at the front desk. Hugh and I stand on either side of her.  

"Yes," I chime in. "I'll take it!" Desperate. So long as there's a toilet. And a bed.

Tony does calculations. Very stoically, he says, "That will be one thousand..." I don't hear the rest. Despite my jaw having dropped to the floor, and my heart remaining in a different time zone, I manage to retrieve my wallet.  

"Put that away," Katie insists, gently touching my hand. She turns to Hugh. Maybe they'll pull more strings for me. But no, Hugh pays the bill before I can do anything to stop him. The.whole.bill!

Katie hunches over to tell me, softly, "He said this is your Birthday weekend and he feels bad. He wants to pay for your stay."

"What? NO. That's far too much." More tears. "Now you're making me cry again!"

Hugh simply says, "No more tears." 

"Just enjoy the New Zealand kindness," Katie emphasizes, "and all the fun stuff there is to do. He's a handsome bartender." She strokes his cheek lovingly. "He'll be fine."

----------------------------

My Sillies, you wonder about this "overflow" room? Two comfortable beds! Full bathroom with toilet plus a bathtub! I'm a bather. Perfect, except the coffee maker doesn't work. Thankfully, I'm no coffee drinker. No complaints whatsoever. I didn't have to sleep under a tree. 

I'm forever transformed by the knowing that magnanimously loving, protective forces pervade this great Earth. They're with me (and you too). What better outcome could've ensued from finding out there's no inn at the inn?

Endnotes:

• What used to be the inn now serves as seasonal housing for Banff staffers. The former owner was negligent about tying loose ends. Don't worry, I've made a fuss to assure that it won't happen again. 
• Another seemingly coincidental nuance is that the building manager had not fixed the front door lock. I wouldn't have been able to wander in were that the case. 
• I repaid Hugh in full over the next two days. At that time, the US dollar was approximately 70% of the CAD. I'd forgotten this. Price was more reasonable than I thought.
• When this happens in the US, no problem. You find a nearby hotel. Canada follows strict laws to prohibit urban sprawl, though. People sometimes book years in advance for Banff. There's thus not enough lodging generally, especially not the second summer weekend. Yet I got a great room in one of the best hotels for three nights in peak season.  
• The rest of my trip went fabulously well, including a heavenly spa treatment and a divine Birthday dinner. 

Paradise Lost

My Dear Friends,
   I can hardly find one syllable, much less the words to inform you about the staggering devastation in my part of the world.
   I am fine, lucky to be safe. Chico has remained intact. Yet the Chico and Paradise connection is uniquely, lovingly enmeshed. Two very different cities (different demographics, politics, size, climate, lifestyle), somehow we and our Paradise neighbors have grown closer than close. Only ten miles apart, scores of people live/d in one city, commute/d to the other for work. Birth families are/were split between the two. My friends from Paradise have spent oodles of time in Chico, and vice versa.

   A handful of you might recall that seven years ago, I moved to Chico for a job in Paradise.


February, 2011 Sign reads "May you find Paradise to be all its name implies."

   Last Thursday, November 8, within one day, an unbelievably monstrous fire tore through and ravaged Paradise - which had been home to over 27,000 people -- many, sick, elderly, and impoverished.

                                                       November 8, 2018 photo by Skip Culton


   An entire town lost its homes, schools, businesses, precious heirlooms, farms, horses, beloved pets, musical instruments and studios, . . . so much that cannot or won't ever be replaced. Remnants of bone are still being found; numbers of the dead may reach into the hundreds.
   I'm relieved to say that my friends and clients are alive and safely housed - though they lost everything but the clothes they wore to escape. 
   As of now, the fires are only 40% contained. It seems Chico is out of harm's way, as vicious winds push the fires into Paradise's other surrounding cities. Air quality is off-the-charts hazardous, here and throughout much of northern California.
   There aren't words for this type of devastation. Well, I can articulate that I'm extremely grateful.  I am housed, safe, and loved by many. I also feel guilty. I'm fine. I haven't done enough.
  And there's too much to do. The needs of our new neighbors (survivors) are endless.
  Our love and determination to help carry them through is also infinite.
  It's going to be a very, very long recovery process.

   In the midst of it all, heroism and love. I hear story after story - a man who drove his Toyota Tundra to and from Paradise to save people. He got out of it just before it melted. He didn't care; he was thrilled to have saved lives. Upon learning about this, Toyota promised him a new truck.
   A man risked his life (as did countless unsung heroes) to keep his and his neighbors' home intact. When asked how they could repay him, he said he'd be happy with a case of beer! (I hope it's high end stuff. Is there "high end" beer?)
   Local churches, the fairgrounds, and the Chico Airport are housing evacuees.  Businesses are serving free food. People are opening up their homes to whole families, asking nothing in return.
   A soft heartedness pervades.
   As I sat in an In N Out for the luxury of chocolate milkshake therapy, a woman at the table next to me asked if I'd been affected by the fires. I told her that I was fine, but I evacuated for a few days -- to be safe. She then offered to buy me food. (So sweet. She doesn't know me, and that I consider a chocolate milkshake to be a nutritious meal. Thus, I was deeply touched.)
   One of my clients gave me flowers recently, saying she's thankful for me.

   Some of you have checked in on me, and that means the world.
   Humankindness endures.
   It survives the worst of tragedies.
   It won't be destroyed.
   It will outlive this unrelenting nightmare too.

This article by a survivor and Chico Professor, Sarah Pape, is incredibly well written. I don't know how she wrote it, despite her own pain and shattered heart. She's amazing.

  Please don't worry about me. I'll be fine.
  Stay safe, my dears.
  Take care of yourselves.
  I love you.