The cup of coffee that Margo had thoughtfully sat next to me on the sofa’s end table had cooled down to just the right temperature. So it was time to lay down the book I was reading and enjoy a few sips of my special Mocha Java coffee.

But my hand stopped in mid air when a loud rasping voice broke the peaceful silence with a familiar greeting. “You are being blessed with my presence,” announced my friend Al as he closed the back door behind him. And as usual, he handed Margo a nice bouquet of flowers.

Al was retired as most of the people of our neighborhood were. He had been a mechanic during his working years. He could fix most anything that needed fixing, including electrical and plumbing repairs. But he adamantly refused payment for his work, unless it was fruits or vegetables from a grateful neighbor’s garden.

I have a hunch that he was attracted to our living room because he shared my love for good coffee, served European style, black and strong, and served with cup and saucer instead a mug.

He settled down in his favorite armchair and watched Margo setting down his coffee next to him. I saw his eyes light up when he noticed that Margo had added two of her scrumptious anise cookies to his fare. The cookies put a lot of enthusiasm into his voice when he thanked Margo.

He came right to the point today instead going through his usual preliminaries. “I found a neat book at the used book store I wanted you to have,” he explained, looking at me, “it’s about the Park where you two spent so many summers as volunteers. When I saw Mesa Verde in the title I just had to get it for you. It’s a real small one, but I guess it’s an antique. The problem is I left it at home. You’ll have to wait till the next time.

By the way,” he continued, “you said at one time that people leave their brain at home when they go on vacation. What actually did you mean by that?”

“Let me give you an example,” I started. “A lady walked into our ranger station, looked at the map and asked me how far it was from the road to the lookout point. When I told her its only a about a mile she thought that would be OK for her and her husband. But then she wanted to know how far it was on the way back.”

“You must be kidding,” laughed Al.

“Oh no,” I told him. “Here is another one. After the evening talk in the amphitheater a lady thanked me for a very informative presentation. And here is what she said.

“I didn’t realize you had that many ruins in this Park. But I couldn’t help wondering, do you have a list of how many undiscovered ones you still have?”