Nightglow Window

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Happy Birthday

It's hard to believe, but Nightglow turns one today. For the last 365 I've tried to write every day, with only mediocre success. But taken as a whole, it's a decent chronicle of my year. It's been fun. It's gotten me into trouble (and how) more than once. It's been my glass of red wine at the end of a long day, and a place where I could both vent and rejoice. It's been a journal of the embarrassingly mundane and a record of deep thoughts. (I know, what a shallow pool!)

Oh well, I felt I couldn't let the date pass by without mention.

I'm at the Ritz Carlton Lodge on Oconee Lake, which is 70 miles east of Atlanta. It's quite the spread, and I feel self conscious at first checking in wearing my camo shorts and flip flops. But after a long day poolside, I've settled in nicely. I've had good conversations with most of my coworkers -- even with those whose names are still hard to remember. My bad.

Everyone is uniformly nice and I'm feeling at home. The Ritz is gorgeous and the lake equally so. There's a big barbecue at a nearby house in a few minutes, but I thought I'd take these few minutes for an update.

Return By Water

I take three long steps and kick out into space, and the stars spin for an instant overhead, the moon in my peripheral vision, as I plunge back into the pool. How did I find myself in my boxer shorts doing cannonballs at the Ritz Carlton pool at 2:10 a.m? It's a question I'm asking myself as I come up for air, a giddy feeling percolating through my body that's not all from the mojitos.

Dinner was very nice and at the nearby house of Lori K's college friend. She is incredibly hospitable as the entire staff fills her house; the epitome of the gracious hostess. As the red sun lazes toward horizon, we spread out on her huge back porch, the grass slope leading down to the dock, and around the large kitchen isle inside. It's a potluck barbecue, delicious. By 11:00 p.m., we're heading back to the hotel.

I came over in Roy and Angela's car, but they had to cut out early because their 10 year-old son needed sleep. It was to be a return by water. The Mastercraft crew are good friends with expo, and they brought down the nicest wake boat I've ever seen -- an x-80 or something like that. Anyway, as we set off across the lake of black glass, Jack Johnson thumping from the speakers, the moon backlighting the pine woods into silhouette, we all can feel it. High fives go around with wide grins as the boat comes up onto plane and leaps out across the lake.

Ten too-short minutes later we're back at the Ritz docks and nobody wants the night to end. We gather at the deserted infinity pool, daring one another to be the first to jump in. I'm not the first -- that was Nikki in her dress -- but as I strip down to boxers and take that three-step leap, I realize the lake outing is officially a success. For years, I've enjoyed many of the expo staff. Now I feel part of the family.