By Vicki Scott
Last Sunday, September 19, marked 35 years of wedded bliss for my me and my husband Alan, who was a blind date that married me after three months. Life has not been the same since, and I think I heard God laugh as we made plans to spend our celebration of that event in our vacation house in Glencoe.
Being that we have not sold our house, nor do we intend to, Glencoe is now our getaway/vacation spot. Our children and grandchildren were not on our docket, but our dogs – Reba the border collie that looks like a border collie and Sandy the border collie that looks like a yellow lab – were welcome. The dogs had not been in their old neighborhood since the big move to Dadeville three months ago. Due to the rain, we had to change plans for our dogs, and our son Joseph took care of them. It might be too soon for them, anyway. Sandy had a hard time adjusting to the move, while Reba did not care.
Alan and I started our vacation/celebration attending an auction in hopes to find a new mattress for our getaway spot. Our daughter Eva and her husband Trey moved a lot of our things to our lake house in Dadeville, including our beds. We appreciate good help, but we want a place to sleep when we go into hiding. Our children do not understand why we’ve not tried to sell our home in Glencoe, but the reason clear to my husband and me – we have loved the area, even before we moved here.
At any rate, McLendon Auction had mattresses, but the bids went too high for our budget, so we opted for a cheap air mattress from Walmart. I sought relief on the couch a few times, so there might be a need for budget adjustments.
Every year, our anniversary falls in line with Boom Days in Fort Payne, so the event involves activities both of us enjoy. We visited Fort Payne on our vacations long before we moved to Glencoe. This year as usual, there was a dog show featuring border collies that looked very impressive. During one of the dog shows, I asked for pointers in hopes of teaching Reba and Sandy some tricks. Even with sound advice, I could not get those crazy dogs to cooperate. They think they are – and very well might be – smarter than me.
We had just missed this year’s dog show, however, and thought we would miss the Bellamy Brothers and Sawyer Brown concert because of the rain. We thought Boom Days might be a bust, so I decided to spend time making a few phone calls to check on everyone. I’m so glad that Alan eventually decided to try and attend Boom Days. He was suffering with cabin fever and needed to get out.
By the time we arrived in Fort Payne, the rain stopped, and with the cloud cover, it was not unbearably hot. It was perfect the whole time. There were so many people at the concert. I cannot imagine how many would have attended if they thought the rain would stop like it did. We had folding chairs with plenty of space to sit, and there were vendors with food and drink. It started raining on the way back, but we did not care; we had a wonderful time.
We topped off our vacation/anniversary celebration the next day with a service at Cove Creek Baptist Church. Those people are so good at making a person feel at home. It was there when I was reminded of something on my bucket list – doing stand-up comedy. If it is God’s will, that will happen. It’s hard for me to believe people remember any of my dreams. I’m nothing special, but I was reminded that I’m a child of God. I cried when we left the church. I love this Cove Creek and its kindred spirits. They are in my prayers and praises.
Being that Reba and Sandy were still in Dadeville under Joseph’s care, we cut our vacation/celebration short. We left soon after church was over, discussing who we missed checking on and visiting. I have a feeling we will be back sooner than …. Wait! Is that laughing I hear?
Stay safe, y’all!
