TWO LOGS FOR SHERRY (November 16 - December 31, 2021)

Family "Beatstar"

Our final eight weeks at the WYNDHAM FAIRFIELD GLADE in Tennessee were spent relaxing and enjoying the wonderful property.  Autumn and early winter at "the Glade" are the perfect times to just lay back watch the seasons change.  We did have the blessing of being joined by children and grandchildren between Christmas and New Year's Day.  Puzzles, table games, televised football games, and many other great times filled our hours with laughter.

It was in 1982 that we joined the Fairfield/Wyndham family and we have been returning to the Cumberland Plateau on a regular basis since then.  Our family has grown up exploring this expansive resort.

With Ed Kile at Dorchester Golf Club

We introduced many others to "the Glade" back in the early days, including Ed and Ruth Kile.  They are the parents of our oldest son's wife, Jennifer.  They were here, in their own unit, during the last week of our stay.  They were on their way to Florida and so were we so we ended up riding with them as we made our way to WYNDHAM CYPRESS PALMS in Kissimmee.  We will reside there until the middle of February.

REFLECTIONS

One of the reasons we have regularly found our way to WYNDHAM FAIRFIELD GLADE in Tennessee during the fall or winter is because they have wood burning fireplaces in the condo units.  Since 1982 (our first purchase) we have enjoyed the warmth and the ambiance of the flaming logs as they crackle and flicker in the recessed indoor fire pit!  The quivering flames rise and fall as they reach toward the chimney and the smell of the burning wood reminds one, somehow, of days gone by.  The resort even provides the spilt wood and the daily journey to the "wood shed" is, in this case, not an unpleasant experience!  The walk back to the room, with an armload of fuel to be burned, in the brisk cool air of the Cumberland Plateau is enjoyable as one knows of the warmth that your burden will bring.  For 40 years it has been an experience to which we have always looked forward.

Now they are digging gas lines behind our unit in order to install "gas fireplaces"!  I understand the reasoning......safer, cleaner, less hassle!  But there's just something about artificial, constant, regulated, flames that leaves one feeling cheated.  Simpler, yes, just throw the switch, but something special will be lost, at least for us.

Now, every night when I go to bed, I place two logs in front of the roaring fire so that my wife can continue to enjoy the comfort, warmth, and peace of the fire before she joins me in a couple of hours.  TWO LOGS FOR SHERRY.  It is an act of love and a reminder of my desire to make her happy and to provide a place of calm in a sea of tumult.  Next time, if there is a next time, it will be; "Make sure to throw the switch before you come to bed."

It won't be the same!  I know that change is inevitable.  I know that nothing on this earth is forever.  I know that I will miss the "two logs for Sherry" times.