Say Aah

      There are places I can go and feel my body relax and say "aah", not necessarily places you would expect.  The place this most often happens is in hotels, not the really fancy hotels, those make me nervous, like they're going to find out I don't belong there and throw me out.  But when the hotel is clean and spacious and nicely decorated, I can walk in the door and instantly feel my shoulders relax.  I know I am going to spend several days away from housework, or any other kind of work.  The hardest thing I will have to do while I'm there is pick which restaurant to go to for dinner. 
     The second place this happens is at the hotel pool.  When my children were young and we traveled together, I spent many happy hours sitting by the pool while my children swam.  Now the mere smell of chlorine makes me feel happy and relaxed, though I'm not planning to devise a chlorine scented air freshener, and I still like to sit by the pool and read when I'm at a hotel.
     I have had massages for the sake of my migraines and that feels good, but not in the "aah" way.  I have had food that delighted my palate, seen sights that filled my senses, heard music that lifted my soul and had times of worship that I wished would never end, but they didn't make my body say "aah".  That feeling is more like cuddling up with my husband at the end of the day feeling safe and relaxed and happy. I expect heaven is the place our souls will at last relax and say one final "aah".