Plenty of room at this Inn

The original story of Christmas has Joseph and a very pregnant Mary being turned away from an "inn" in Bethlehem, followed by Mary giving birth in a stable. It was almost a year ago, we think, when we (yr obt svt and his Better Half) received a gift card for accommodations at a more local inn, the Nicollet Island Inn. This morning we used it at brunch. The food and the ambiance were superior. Brunch was leisurely. We're not sure why we don't do this more often. Perhaps we will.

Nicollet Island Inn, view to exterior

Photo by J. Harrington

Nicollet Island Inn, interior view

Photo by J. Harrington

On the other hand, the Inn must somehow have received an exemption from whatever sidewalk shoveling requirements the City of Minneapolis imposes on other folks. Else, we're sure, the sidewalks in front of and along the side of the Inn's building would have been clear(er). Perhaps the risk of slipping and falling is intended as an inducement to use the Inn's valet parking. We wonder if their insurance company knows about this.

Nicollet Island Inn, unshoveled sidewalk

Photo by J. Harrington

             “Your Luck Is About To Change”

By Susan Elizabeth Howe

(A fortune cookie)

Ominous inscrutable Chinese news

to get just before Christmas,

considering my reasonable health,

marriage spicy as moo-goo-gai-pan,

career running like a not-too-old Chevrolet.

Not bad, considering what can go wrong:

the bony finger of Uncle Sam

might point out my husband,

my own national guard,

and set him in Afghanistan;

my boss could take a personal interest;

the pain in my left knee could spread to my right.

Still, as the old year tips into the new,

I insist on the infant hope, gooing and kicking

his legs in the air. I won't give in

to the dark, the sub-zero weather, the fog,

or even the neighbors' Nativity.

Their four-year-old has arranged

his whole legion of dinosaurs

so they, too, worship the child,

joining the cow and sheep. Or else,

ultimate mortals, they've come to eat

ox and camel, Mary and Joseph,

then savor the newborn babe.

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