Nothing But Blue Skies From Now On

Glorious fall! Shavings of amber and garnet float from the trees; a sapphire sky above; and the Friday morning non-life bridge game. What could be better?

It's bustling at the Bridge Center, everyone greeting each other and settling in to play. Today my partner is Joan whom I haven't played with in awhile. She's very polite at the bridge table and after we finish bidding and before we begin the hand she always asks, "Questions, partner?"

I've noticed people doing this before and it's always puzzled me. What kind of questions would one ask? I suppose you could ask to repeat the bidding?

I shake my head no when Joan asks me the first time and then the next time I simply say, "I don't have any questions that you can provide the answers for, Joan, so you don't need to ask me that anymore" -  in a very nice way, of course. But it's a habit and she forgets and continues to ask. So eventually I think of a question for her. 

"Why do they always put 'DO NOT DISTURB' on those door placards in hotels instead of just 'DON'T DISTURB'?

Is it more menacing without the contraction? I would think they would want to save space by contracting the verb. Especially in a Holiday Inn Express.

The next question I have when she asks is, why is it that when you have to go to the bathroom and you hop around it makes it go away. Where does it go? Why wouldn't hopping around make it worse? 

In the meantime, of course, I'm not watching what my opponents are discarding and counting has gone out the window but then I think of another question I asked my mom when she was quite elderly. I said, "why are you so happy all the time when all you have to look forward to is sickness and death?" I know this sounds terrible but I often asked my mother questions of this magnitude because I knew she could handle them and wouldn't think I was trying to be insensitive. She answered me, "Because I am here now and I'm with you and it's wonderful" (that last part is probably hard for you to believe). "It's the moment," she said. "You enjoy the moment."

Not profound, I realize, but certainly something worth reminding oneself from time to time.

The question asking ends and so does the game so I hug my bridge pals goodbye and walk out to my car. But for a moment I look up at that brilliant sapphire above and smile.