QUARANTINE BLOG # 30

April 29, 2020

The “Blondie” comic strip below came the day after Columbia County and the city of Appling received a great piece of news.  Amazon is going to build a fulfillment center here, bringing in as many as 800 new jobs.  After months of speculation, and the announcement that Exit 183 was going to undergo major modification, the word finally came down – Amazon won’t have so far to go to deliver the books I order.  And any Dagwood who lives close, can breath a sigh of relief.

👉 Did you ever wonder why a cup of coffee is sometimes referred to as “a cup of Joe”?  I hadn’t given it much thought until Wheel of Fortune, America’s Game, had a puzzle – “Drinking A Cup Of Joe” – that spurred my research.  Pat Sajak asked the winning contestant if she knew why it was called a Cup of Joe, and before he could give his answer, she asked, “Because Steve was busy?”

Well, the real reason is Josephus Daniels, former secretary of the US Navy, tried to imbue the Navy with a strict morality. He increased the number of chaplains, discouraged prostitution at naval bases, and, most controversially, banned the consumption of alcohol.  Purchases of coffee were increased and Daniels’  name was attached disparagingly to the daily drink of millions around the world.  First called “a cup of Joseph Daniels,” it was soon shortened to a “Cup of Joe.”  And now you know the rest of the story.

** While researching yesterday’s trip down memory lane about Mountain Lake Park, Maryland, I learned something new about my home town of Loch Lynn, and found a view of the town from before my time.

First, Major Joseph Coleman Alderson purchased the property that is now Loch Lynn.  Major Alderson served in the armed forces of the Confederate States of America.

Second, the view below is from the Mountain Lake Park side of the railroad tracks, and shows the B&O depot to the left and the post office to the right (with a barbershop upstairs).  Across the tracks is “The People’s Store,” which was “Harvey and Reams” when I was a kid.  The building to the left of the store was replaced by the Loch Lynn Restaurant.

👉 Speaking of the Loch Lynn Restaurant, may I share a cruise story from our early days of sailing?  Bonnie and I were on the Norwegian Dawn, and it was the last night of the cruise.  We were sharing a table with three young women, and as you do on a cruise ship when seated with folks you don’t know, we began the conversation with names and where we call home.

We went first and then the ladies.  One of them said, “I’m from a little town in Maryland that I’m sure you’ve never heard of.”  I said, “We are both natives of Maryland.  Give us a try.” 

Well, of course you are there ahead of me.  She lived in Loch Lynn, and rented an apartment above the restaurant.  When she said that, I began to ask about specific local landmarks, my knowledge of which astonished her – the Amoco station, the small grove of pine trees across the road from the station, the house at 117 Shenandoah Avenue – and we laughed at our small world.

Oh, her two friends were from Mountain Lake Park (across the tracks) and Friendsville (23 miles away).  Small world, indeed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUdA2qBUDKM

👉 Well, this is my next-to-last planned trip back into the history of Garrett County, and today’s visit is to the Oakland Hotel, which was, of course, in Oakland, Maryland.  Oakland is the county seat of Garrett County with a population of slightly under 2,000 (it is today and was when I still lived with Mom and Dad).

A brief non sequitur.  Or a short detour.  Or a rabbit hole.  Dad worked for the Board of Education, and was once asked if he would assume the duties of the wood shop teacher at Southern High School (full name: Southern Garrett County Junior Senior High School – there were two schools in the county; the other was Northern, etc.).  Dad was an excellent carpenter and the boys would have benefitted from his tutelage, but he declined. 

When asked why he said, “Because one day I will throw a member of the Oakland 400 out of class and you will fire me.”  The Oakland 400 was Dad’s description of the “which of which there is no whicher.”  He never named them, but you knew they were there.

But back to the Oakland Hotel.  Early in the 1870's, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad realized an asset to its passenger train service would be having a resort hotel in Garrett County (the county, once a part of Allegheny County, was named for John Work Garrett, president of the B&O). The railroad  built the Deer Park Hotel in 1873, which proved so successful that in 1875 they started construction of the 300 room Oakland Hotel.

One of the unique features of the Oakland Hotel was the telegraph office in the hotel’s lobby. The telegraph office had a line that connected it to the lobby of the Deer Park Hotel. In the early 1890's the hotel-to-hotel wires were attached to telephones and became the first telephone line in Garrett County.

In 1900, due to dwindling patronage, the railroad sold the Oakland Hotel to a medical group for a proposed sanatorium. The venture was unsuccessful and hotel was torn down in 1909 for its lumber.

👉 Let’s return to Psalm 23 as we close out this blog.  The Psalm can be divided into three parts.  First, God is a faithful shepherd (verses 1-3).  Second, God is a reliable guide (verse 4).  Third, God is a loving host, and we, his sheep, are invited as honored guests to God’s table (verses 5-6).

In verse 5 David said, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.”  Eugene Peterson paraphrases, “You serve me a six-course dinner right in front of my enemies” (The Message).  

Can you picture David’s enemies, and he had many, including members of his own family, surrounding him, ready to attack, when all of a sudden the Lord hosts a table for David?  Oh the envy.  The frustration.  How they would have begrudged David that moment.

Well, we, as well as David, are God’s sheep, and God invites us to take a permanent place at His table.  Eugene Peterson suggested a six-course dinner.  How about this menu?

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1 English Standard Version).

“At one time you were far away from God. But now you belong to Christ Jesus. He spilled His blood for you. This has brought you near to God” (Ephesians 2:13 New International Reader’s Version).

“God has freed us from the power of darkness” (Colossians 1:13 New Century Version).

“He brought us into the kingdom of His dear Son” (Colossians 1:13 New Century Version).

“For through Him we have access to the Father by one Spirit” (Ephesians 2:18 New International Version).

“He has said, “I will never under any circumstances desert you, nor give you up, nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave you helpless, nor will I forsake or let you down, or relax My hold on you assuredly not!” (Hebrews 13:5 Amplified Version).

What are you waiting for?  Pull out a chair and sit down.  Your Host is waiting to serve you!

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