I’ve been on a lot of fun trips in my life, but one of the best was a recent overnight trip to Greenwood, Ark., population 9,052. Salute!
(Hey, it’s about five times bigger than where I grew up.)
My husband and I and another couple were invited by other married friends to visit them at their retirement home — meaning the home they retired to, not a facility with bingo and blue-haired ladies.
This couple worked their tails off renovating the place, and we were excited to see it.
We’d already heard about the deer that come to our friends’ backyard a couple of times a day to eat the corn they put out.
It was a two-hour trip, and we packed like we were staying a week. The wife of the couple riding with us had a box of board games, from the Monopoly game that her children had played, oh, some 50 years ago, to Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit.
We laughed all the way there, especially reading the host’s amusing directions, pointing out the not-to-miss sights, like Walmart Supercenters and river bottoms. (He did not mention the actual river, but we looked at it, anyway).
When we got there, it was freezing cold, and we had just missed a big herd of deer.
It was a wonderful, red-cedar, two-story home in a subdivision on a hill — huge, moss-covered rocks exposed all over the yard.
Our hostess had some delicious soup for lunch, and her husband had made at least a ton of chocolate-covered pretzels, of which I ate half a ton.
Bucky the deer and his not-yet-named girlfriend, plus three does the couple call “the girls,” made their appearances, and I took pictures.
Because it was too cold and rainy to go sightseeing, we got out the board games. And the wine.
No wine for me — I think it tastes like poison — but we had some aficionados in the group.
I hadn’t played Scrabble in years, and it was with a friend in this group who is an expert.
My husband ended up winning both games, but we accused him of making up words. I came in second, which was a major victory, considering I was playing with the Scrabble queen.
I know you’re thinking this sounds about as exciting as watching paint dry, but we’re a fun group. We are witty, especially when we’re together. (I could say more, but what happens in Greenwood stays in Greenwood.)
As the night wore on, we pulled out Trivial Pursuit, and the oldest member of the group kept answering when it wasn’t his turn.
The women beat the men only once, but it was because they got the easiest questions, of course.
I learned a lot, such as the ancient measure from your
elbow to the end of your index finger is called a cubit, and it makes a hilarious picture when your old-enough-to-be-your-mother friend is demonstrating it.
I’ll never forget that the gluteus maximus’s “claim to fame” is that it’s the biggest muscle in the body, or that somebody named Whitey Ford did something in baseball. OK, so that I forgot.
We stayed up late, and my husband and I had the upstairs to ourselves — with stairs so steep you almost needed a
pulley system to get to the top.
A thunderstorm in the wee hours of the morning turned into a beautiful, sunny day.
Our host fixed amazing omelets for breakfast, and soon after, we were on our way.
We got a note last week from them, inviting us to come again in warmer weather, enjoy the deck and work out the “gluteus maximus on the tall stairs.”
Sounds like a plan to me.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.