Page 28 - Demo

Fools%u2019 Journey22so,%u201d even though she was certainly entitled. After eating, she gave me a tour of the hotel%u2019s common areas, the three dining rooms, and the bowling alley. The swimming pool%u2019s impressive rotating glass dome %u2014 a marvel when built %u2014 was covered on the inside with condensation that was dripping down as rain onto the bathers. We didn%u2019t take advantage of the free coupons for mud baths (which used that stinky Pluto water) and, because neither of us golfed nor shot skeet, there really wasn%u2019t much to do in French Lick %u2014 except what people normally do on their honeymoon, and you can%u2019t do that 24-hours a day. So, with the sun shining brightly at last, we spent most of our remaining time enjoying the countryside %u2014 this time on genuine roads. The hilly, forested landscape was quite a contrast to the flat farmland in northern Indiana where I grew up, and the wooded areas reminded Lynn of northern Michigan, where she%u2019d spent many of her summers. We agreed it would be nice area to live.Back in Kendallville, as soon as we walked into our classrooms, one of the other teachers stopped by to tell us about a meeting that was just getting started upstairs. It turned out to be a faculty reception in our honor, complete with a wedding gift. It was a very nice gesture because Lynn and I didn%u2019t know the other teachers very well %u2014 we%u2019d spent all our time getting to know each other. Later that morning, on a break between classes, Del the janitor presented us with another gift %u2014 a pair of pillowcases, embroidered %u201cHis%u201d and %u201cHers.%u201d We liked Del a great deal %u2014 and spoke with him more than to anyone else in the building. In fact, he stopped by every day to see us, and he loved to talk. He told us about his brother Orin; that his family originally settled in Virginia; how he built a camper from scratch using plans from Popular Mechanics; how his grandfather came from a large family with two boys fighting for the North and two for the South in the Civil War. He was a hands-on person like us, and his gift really meant a lot.The only problem for our students was to remember to say Mrs. Bower instead of Miss Ruprecht. But they caught on quickly. By the end of the week, we were newsworthy enough to receive a call from a local reporter. Mr. Earley, our principal, told us to be extremely careful about what we said, that newspapers were notorious at twist-