Chaucer and the Desk Clerk

A word fitly spoken is as lovely as a golden apple in a silver basket.
—Proverbs 25:11

What do nine inches of snow, three days of 14-degree weather, and a stuck semi trailer all add up to? An amazing adventure in moving; that if we had known it all from the beginning might have made us wait another month!

Add to this four hours of winching the semi up the snow-covered road, and then add eight hours of driving with two dogs, a trailer, and my wife in white-out blizzard conditions. Cathy provided an extra sharp set of eyes and encouraging words all the way!


We were exhausted. Spent. Knackered (as our English friends say). Done in. But we had to push on to meet the truck in Tampa Monday morning ... this morning ... today!

We arrived Friday evening in Paducah Kentucky, in a salt-encrusted car hoping for a pet-friendly hotel. Thankfully, our operations base in Kansas had found a Holiday Inn Express for us.

I walked to the registration desk not expecting much and hoping for less as I just wanted to get the trailer unloaded, the dogs walked, fed, and a hot shower.

I had no idea what change the desk clerk would make with a little comment; "Dr. Bath, I am delighted to meet the man who is married to the of Wife of Bath."

Few people know the Tale of the Wife of Bath by Chaucer in the noted "Canterbury Tales," but with our last name we find some unique aspects of family history.

We engaged in a 10-minute conversation about Chaucer, Wales, and the studies he had done abroad. It transformed the salt-encrusted car in to a warm cocoon, the weariness of the road in to a wonderful jaunt in my head.

A word fitly spoke can indeed be like apples of gold in a setting of silver.

In a few moments you will meet a traveler on the road of life. Maybe they like Chaucer, or Dickens, or Frost, perhaps they like Springsteen, or Cohen or Dylan, perhaps they just want to be treated in a unique way with words fitly spoken.

The desk clerk reframed my weary day; you have the opportunity to do the same for some one today!