My Life as Metaphor

The Halloween season is past and, in case you haven't noticed, the stores are full of Christmas.  Matt's birthday is also on Halloween and our holiday culminated with a trip to The Golden Lamb.  Here's a recap.  More than a week ago, I called to make reservations.  When I called, I was ready for disappointment.  I assumed they might already be sold out and started by asking the reservationist if they were.  She laughed and replied, "You're the first."  Oh well, there was still more than a week until Halloween.  Who could resist this fun?  The package included dinner at The Golden Lamb, Ohio's oldest Inn.  This would be followed by a tour of the Inn, a magic show with an emphasis on debunking medium techniques, & the finale 'a midnight seance'.  Our friend, John, also called and made a reservation and planned a vacation day for November 1st.  On Halloween morning, I received a call that we were the only three that signed up, however, there were available slots for the 8 o'clock show.  As John noted, "Cincinnati is the suckiest town."  

 I met Matt for a late lunch and later as we readied to leave for dinner, I gave him the rest of his gifts.  At midnight (the night before) I had gone by and dropped off a pumpkin full of candy (along with a 4G flashdrive) and a Halloween/birthday cake.  He opened his remaining packages: An 8G Nano, Leopard operating system, & a Leopard tech book.  We headed to the shop to pick up John and then on to Lebanon, Ohio.  We arrived in plenty of time and were seated upstairs in a private dining room with the other 20+ people in attendance.  Dinner was good and we shared a table with two other women.  While Matt, John & I were ready for a nice evening, we were also pretty skeptical that this would be anything more than light-hearted theatre.  I think our companions were prepared for a more supernatural event.  (One gal kept taking photos in the hope of capturing the oh-so-conclusive orbs...snicker, snicker)

I've stayed at the Inn on numerous occasions -- and I must say, there were no mysterious bumps in the night, or even an occasional perception of the "other world".    Our dinners were good and as we finished our pumpkin creme brulee at the conclusion of our meal, the magician introduced himself.  The magic show (I'm no fan of magic) was cute and rather funny.  The tour of the Inn was interesting and as we headed into the seance room, we were equally impressed by the attention to detail.  My sister had admonished me earlier in the evening to not be cavorting with "demons".  There was no danger of that.  Other than holding hands with the hick-let I sat beside, I was pretty safe from anything more dangerous than sweaty palms.  It was fun and funny and completely fake.  We headed back to Florence and anticipated a late evening of watching movies.  John and I began teasing each other about our ability to stay awake and this turned into a "throw down".  We discussed breakfast at 4:00 a.m. and at 9:30 actually went to the local IHOP.  He totally kicked my behind in the contest.  By the end of breakfast, I was having trouble discerning the English language.  As I look back on it, that meal seems like a dream.  Finally, I was in bed by noon, a mere 26 hours awake.   Regardless, it was a wonderful evening spent in the company of good friends.  I loved it and think that Matt had a splendid time.  It was a fine culmination to the spooky season.  Here's a snap of the Golden Lamb.