Executive Experience – Par Excellence

Being on the Executive of our Island’s Probus Club does offer palatable perks.

Our President (aka “Prez” for privacy purposes) suggested we have our Executive Meeting, along with lunch, at his home this month.  What a great idea.  Armed with pen and paper, I jumped in my car:

After a forever climb, my car whined, “Are we there yet?”

At the end of a lengthy ridge, a discreet group of arrows pointed to the beginning of the Prez’s driveway.

I geared down for the l-o-o-n-g, windy descent to the house.

Half way down, I had to stop:

To capture a sense of the panorama, reference the tall tree in this photo as well as the next one.

Awesome view! I wondered how I would concentrate during a meeting.

I arrived and found a number of cars parked like mountain sheep in the well planned, circular driveway.  What a relief that I wouldn’t have to turn my car around on this lip-of-a-road.  I hadn’t packed a winch.

Suddenly the light went on!

I thought I was early!  But everyone was here already.

I didn’t get any message saying that the meeting started earlier than usual today.

I knocked and hearing a shout, I opened the heavy, hand-carved front door.

The Speaker Chairman laughs at my mumblings and the Past Prez sighs with relief that he didn’t have to put up with my excuses while he was in office. Do you think they believe my embarrassment?

Look at the impishness in the eye of our Prez. You’d think he was never late. He seldom gets to Aquafit on time!

The Vice-Prez just gave me the “hairy eyeball”.  Yah…heavy on the “VICE”.  Until he came into my life, I thought I wanted a younger brother.

As I settled humbly (!) into the comfortable couch, I chose to ignore them all and inhaled the view on this dazzling Spring day.

The Prez rattled the agenda and discussion resumed.  Minutes later, Mrs. Prez appeared from another exotic room and announced that lunch would be served in a half hour.  What a distraction…who could concentrate knowing she was putting the final touches on a creamy Quiche, an abundant Greek Salad and an irresistible Quinoa/Kale/Arugula/Cranberry salad.  Thankfully, our Prez likes good food – our meeting stopped right on time.

Mrs. Prez cuts the Quiche while our intrepid Treasurer looks on. The Prez is hunting down a bottle of Charbonnet. Most of us did not partake – being seriously committed to the business at hand.

Our Treasurer excused herself immediately after our lunch and left me to deal with all the male energy.

Back to business – The Board Table

Our Prez designed this phenomenal home and worked closely with the contractor.  The lines, angles, finishing touches brought fresh discovery of artful detail from each vantage point.  Since Mr. and Mrs. Prez lived and worked in different parts of the world, each artifact promises a story.  One day, I’m going to ask for a story tour!

This exquisite sculpture reactivated my longing to teleport to Africa at whim.

Adorning the entrance to the kitchen.

The meeting was adjourned and I wasn’t fired.

The Soon-To-Be-Prez wants you to think he’s really an angel. He’s pretending that he’s forgiven me. Don’t be fooled by his smile!

The others were snaking up the driveway and I was offered a tour of the property.  A tour?  Do I need to polish my rappelling skills?  Not at all!  The Prez opened the garage door to a welcome surprise:

A golf cart! We’re off to see the wee cottage he built all by himself. It’s below the family home – sort of half way down the mountain.

What a trip down the “s” curves.  Don’t they have governors for those carts?  So here’s the adorable wee cottage where Mr. and Mrs. Prez lived while their home was being built.

Surprise!  The lost is found. We were looking for Mrs. Prez. We have a message – she needs to call New Zealand.

The Cottage’s exquisite view.

(In case you venture our way and need quality accommodation, the Prezzes make this cottage available to visitors.  Click this link to find out about Sunset Solace Cottage. )

The final leg of the tour – the Prez took me even further down the mountain to his monster workshop – home for his many extras.

The golf cart became my new best friend as we made our way back to the main house and to my car.

Mr. and Mrs. Prez, you shared your home with welcome openness and hearty “spiritedness”.

Everything about the day represented the beauty of who you are.

Thank you for providing an exceptional Executive experience.