It’s getting to be that time of the season, in spite of how the retailers seem to rub our noses in it.
This time of the year always brings a smile to my face, when I recall a story a friend of mine told me a while back. I promise not to use any names, but I do want to share this gem.
A few years back, this unnamed friend, and his wife signed up for a tour bus trip going to Leavenworth to celebrate their annual lighting festival. They hopped the tour bus, were greeted with welcoming mimosas and had a scenic trip through the snow, eventually reaching the town. They arrived quite early, 11 a.m. or so. The spouse set off to do some shopping while my friend planted himself in a friendly Alpine-style pub to sample the local brews.
They met up later in the day where, with another couple, they had an early dinner at a theme restaurant enjoying the good food, wine, and beer of choice. Now, don’t get me wrong, my friend is not by nature a heavy drinker. But as he told me, “There is just something about Leavenworth.”
“Maybe it’s the cold weather, maybe the thought of my spouse spending all my hard earned cash on trinkets and stuff that men just don’t understand.” Be that as it may, my friend had quite a little buzz on by the time for the big ceremony to begin.
As my friends waited in a huge group in the square for the light show to begin, my friend had the brilliant idea that the crowd needed to be warmed up, at least as much as he was. So he began to practice “Ooohs” and Ahhhs” to get the crowd into the spirit. In no time at all he had a vast following all going “Ooooh, Ahhhh,” at his direction.
He’s not sure how he got to the next step, it could have been that last German Bock he consumed. But now he added a count-down. So the crowd followed his lead and went “3, 2, 1, Ohhhh Ahhhh.” This countdown quickly spread to encompass a large portion of the crowd. At its loudest, with my friend leading, at the countdown, half of the lights in the square did come on. My friend roared with laughter. “Caught ya,” he hollered. The lights were quickly turned off.
Just then, he happened to glance around only to see two or three big Nordic types heading toward him, dressed in lederhosen and obviously recent graduates of Gold’s Gym. Gently they escorted my friend back to the tour bus and instructed him to please remain there until the ceremony was over and the bus was ready to leave.
The moral of this story is, as my wife told me, oops, as my friend’s wife told him, was “Enjoy the beauty of Leavenworth, the shopping and the food, but watch out for that German beer and never say ‘Ohhh, Ahhhh,’ in public again.”
• E-mail Bob Edwards, a North Bend resident and member of SnoValleyWrites, at bobledwards@comcast.net.
