Autumn at the Inn, Part 2

Speaker 1 Get more, nothing much happens with bonus episodes, extra long stories, and ad-free listening, all while supporting the show you love. Subscribe now.

Speaker 1 You know those days when your brain just won't cooperate? When you're staring at your to-do list, hopping from call to call, and the mental fog just gets thicker? I've been there.

Speaker 1 And I used to reach for another coffee, only to end up jittery and then crashing later. That's why I've been trying Nature Sunshine Brain Edge.

Speaker 1 It's a clean, plant-powered drink mix that blends wild-harvested yerba mate with nootropic botanicals to help with focus, memory, and mental clarity without the crash.

Speaker 1 I've used it before recording, before writing, and I noticed I could think more clearly, I could stay present, and I could actually finish what I set out to do.

Speaker 1 I like that it fits right into my wellness routine, warm and cozy in a mug or poured over ice, and it feels good to know that the yerba mate is sourced responsibly from indigenous communities in the rainforest.

Speaker 1 Plus, Nature Sunshine has over 50 years of experience sourcing pure, potent ingredients, so I trust what I'm drinking. Don't fight through feeling foggy and lethargic.

Speaker 1 Ignite your mental performance with brain edge. Nature's Sunshine is offering 20% off your first order plus free shipping.
Go to naturesunshine.com and use code NOTHINGMUCH at checkout.

Speaker 1 That's code NothingMuch at naturesunshine.com

Speaker 1 Welcome to bedtime stories for everyone

Speaker 1 in which nothing much happens.

Speaker 1 You feel good

Speaker 1 and then you fall asleep.

Speaker 1 I'm Catherine Nikolai.

Speaker 1 I write and read all the stories you hear, and nothing much happens.

Speaker 1 Audio Engineering is by Bob Wittersheim.

Speaker 1 We give to a different charity each week, and this week we are giving to Dirty Paws Agape Haven,

Speaker 1 a sanctuary for the sweet souls of senior dogs.

Speaker 1 You can learn more about them in our show notes.

Speaker 1 Here is a small way to make the world a softer, cozier place

Speaker 1 for lots of people.

Speaker 1 Become a premium subscriber.

Speaker 1 Subscribers ensure our continual availability.

Speaker 1 They make nothing much happen

Speaker 1 for the world.

Speaker 1 And it's just 10 cents a day. You get loads of bonus episodes and our whole seven and a half year catalog of episodes ad-free.

Speaker 1 Click subscribe in Spotify or Apple or go to nothingmuchhappens.com.

Speaker 1 If you are new here,

Speaker 1 welcome.

Speaker 1 Let me say a tiny bit about how this works.

Speaker 1 Listening to our soft, simple stories will engage your brain just enough to keep it from wandering. The story sort of tucks your mind in,

Speaker 1 and after a few minutes,

Speaker 1 sleep will come.

Speaker 1 Most listeners report best results after a month of regular use.

Speaker 1 The more you listen, the better the brain response will be.

Speaker 1 I'll tell the story twice and I'll go a little slower the second time through.

Speaker 1 Our story tonight is called Autumn at the Inn, Part 2

Speaker 1 and it's the second

Speaker 1 in this series.

Speaker 1 So you don't need to go back and listen to part one,

Speaker 1 if,

Speaker 1 I don't know, you might have slept through it. Nothing much happened in it.
This is a story about a train ride through changing fields, an old station wagon packed full of pies,

Speaker 1 a sketch of the moon on the pages of a journal, wind

Speaker 1 and waves, and a week full of adventure ahead.

Speaker 1 Now

Speaker 1 snuggle down into your sheets and get as comfortable as you can.

Speaker 1 The day is done.

Speaker 1 It was what it was

Speaker 1 and now it is over.

Speaker 1 I'll be here reading and watching over

Speaker 1 even after you've fallen asleep.

Speaker 1 draw a deep breath in through your nose

Speaker 1 and out through the mouth.

Speaker 1 Nice. One more inhale.

Speaker 1 Let it go.

Speaker 1 Good.

Speaker 1 Autumn at the inn.

Speaker 1 Part two

Speaker 1 On the journey, I'd filled several pages of my journal.

Speaker 1 I wrote about the land flying past the train window,

Speaker 1 green and yellow fields of sunflowers,

Speaker 1 and rolling farmland,

Speaker 1 freshly plowed and dotted with haystacks.

Speaker 1 I rode about a bevy of deer

Speaker 1 sitting calmly under a weeping willow

Speaker 1 As the wind of the passing train

Speaker 1 Tossed drying leaves down on top of them

Speaker 1 And I rode about the lady

Speaker 1 who pushed the drinks cart

Speaker 1 up and down the aisle,

Speaker 1 who'd had a story to tell

Speaker 1 at nearly every stop we made.

Speaker 1 Did I know she'd been a pageant winner in her day?

Speaker 1 I chuckled as she poured my coffee and said I didn't,

Speaker 1 but I'd love to hear about it.

Speaker 1 It had been long before

Speaker 1 she'd sold encyclopedias door to door, but after she'd been mayor of that small town we'd passed

Speaker 1 as we crossed the Trestle Bridge over the river.

Speaker 1 I wondered if she wrote a whole new biography

Speaker 1 each time she boarded and stocked her cart.

Speaker 1 And if I rode long enough,

Speaker 1 if I could become

Speaker 1 her archivist,

Speaker 1 tracking all the tales

Speaker 1 and noting how they criss-crossed,

Speaker 1 like the routes of the trains themselves.

Speaker 1 Sometimes I rode about myself,

Speaker 1 little

Speaker 1 thoughts that didn't necessarily go anywhere, but felt good to express.

Speaker 1 Bigger thoughts

Speaker 1 that had been waiting for me

Speaker 1 to have the time to look them in the eye.

Speaker 1 I had a feeling that was behind the general wanderlust

Speaker 1 that had spurred me to book a ticket

Speaker 1 and a room at the inn.

Speaker 1 I'd been spinning my wheels

Speaker 1 and needed a way to help them grab the earth again

Speaker 1 and propel me forward.

Speaker 1 That and desperately craving a fresh apple cider

Speaker 1 and a walk in the spicy air

Speaker 1 under changing leaves on the harvest moon.

Speaker 1 I'd been sketching that moon

Speaker 1 onto the pages of my journal,

Speaker 1 not noticing that the train was slowing

Speaker 1 when my friend at the drinks cart

Speaker 1 leaned in to tap me on the shoulder.

Speaker 1 Your stop is next, dear. Don't miss it.

Speaker 1 Oh, I'd spluttered. Um thanks.

Speaker 1 I closed the book,

Speaker 1 snapping the elastic closure into place,

Speaker 1 and hurriedly pulled down my suitcase from the luggage rack.

Speaker 1 I'd bought myself a new jacket for this trip

Speaker 1 with a soft flannel lining

Speaker 1 and a hood in case it rained.

Speaker 1 I slid it on and zipped it up tight.

Speaker 1 By the time the train chugged to a stop and the doors hissed open,

Speaker 1 I was standing ready behind them,

Speaker 1 ready for my autumn adventure.

Speaker 1 I must have overpacked a bit

Speaker 1 too many pumpkin orange sweaters and thick socks

Speaker 1 because I could barely shift my suitcase down the first step.

Speaker 1 A porter stepped over from the platform

Speaker 1 grabbing it down in one hand

Speaker 1 and helping me out with the other.

Speaker 1 Oh

Speaker 1 how much it means when someone is kind to you,

Speaker 1 when someone helps you when you are traveling, when you are somewhere you have never been before.

Speaker 1 He must have read it on my face

Speaker 1 because after he waved off my thanks,

Speaker 1 he asked if I needed help,

Speaker 1 if I had a ride waiting for me.

Speaker 1 I told him I was headed to the inn,

Speaker 1 and that they'd said they would send someone to pick me up.

Speaker 1 Did he know where their shuttle would be parked?

Speaker 1 He smiled a bit as he nodded and guided me down the platform

Speaker 1 to point the open, high-ceiling station to the street beyond.

Speaker 1 Not really a shuttle.

Speaker 1 We take turns, whoever is going out that way.

Speaker 1 And today,

Speaker 1 I'd say you hit the jackpot.

Speaker 1 Look for a station wagon and a lady in an apron.

Speaker 1 Wouldn't be surprised if she's got a good bit of flour on her.

Speaker 1 I turned to look in the direction he pointed,

Speaker 1 not sure I'd understood.

Speaker 1 But when I turned back to him,

Speaker 1 he was already down the platform,

Speaker 1 lifting another case from the train.

Speaker 1 Well,

Speaker 1 it was supposed to be an adventure, wasn't it?

Speaker 1 On the street, just like he'd said, I found a station wagon, an old one with those faux wooden panels on the sides, and vinyl bench seats in the front and back.

Speaker 1 Standing at the open tailgate,

Speaker 1 shifting cases and crates,

Speaker 1 was, indeed, a woman in an apron

Speaker 1 she smiled as I came around the car to her

Speaker 1 and shook my hand in a friendly and yes flowery way

Speaker 1 she looked down at my lone suitcase and said

Speaker 1 oh good

Speaker 1 I can fit that in the back seat

Speaker 1 I thought I'd have to stack the pies and

Speaker 1 I don't know how much you know about pies.

Speaker 1 She lifted the lower gate, and it locked into place.

Speaker 1 But they really shouldn't be stacked.

Speaker 1 Of course not, I said.

Speaker 1 It could crush the crust.

Speaker 1 And that's the best part.

Speaker 1 You get it, she nodded, and helped me load my case into the back seat.

Speaker 1 Once we were buckled in,

Speaker 1 she started up the old car

Speaker 1 and we began to trundle down

Speaker 1 what I guessed was the main street

Speaker 1 of this little village.

Speaker 1 There was an open bakery box on the seat between us,

Speaker 1 and she insisted I help myself to a cookie.

Speaker 1 I'd been craving

Speaker 1 oatmeal raisin for ages,

Speaker 1 and the box was full of them.

Speaker 1 But they weren't just plain cookies.

Speaker 1 They were sandwiched together around a generous spread of vanilla cream,

Speaker 1 like a stepped-up version of the kind I'd eaten from a cellophane package after school as a kid.

Speaker 1 They were absolutely delicious.

Speaker 1 And for a few blocks, I was lost to anything but the flavor

Speaker 1 and aroma of the treats.

Speaker 1 The baker asked a few questions.

Speaker 1 Was it my first time here?

Speaker 1 How long was I staying? And did I prefer apple crisp or apple turnovers?

Speaker 1 I answered in order.

Speaker 1 Yes, it was my first time,

Speaker 1 a week or so,

Speaker 1 and that I hoped I never had to make such a difficult decision.

Speaker 1 She pointed out a few places I might want to visit while I was here.

Speaker 1 Her bakery, of course.

Speaker 1 A cafe

Speaker 1 with outdoor tables grouped around standing heaters

Speaker 1 that glowed orangey red in the cool air.

Speaker 1 A stationery shop, if I filled up my journal

Speaker 1 and needed a new one.

Speaker 1 I need a new one no matter how many I have, I told her.

Speaker 1 There was a bookshop, with a cozy reading nook,

Speaker 1 built right into the front window,

Speaker 1 and a park, with a newspaper kiosk at its entrance.

Speaker 1 The farmer's market was bustling with shoppers and stalls,

Speaker 1 and I could see that they had a whole section just for mums.

Speaker 1 As we wound our way out of town,

Speaker 1 I asked her what was taking her to the inn to-day.

Speaker 1 She smiled and said

Speaker 1 she was delivering all those pies for the exhibit,

Speaker 1 and then helping chef with a round of pickled Brussels sprouts.

Speaker 1 Now I was the one with the questions.

Speaker 1 Exhibit?

Speaker 1 Chef?

Speaker 1 And most importantly, pickles?

Speaker 1 We turned down the long drive to the inn,

Speaker 1 just as I was voicing all of these.

Speaker 1 But rather than answer,

Speaker 1 she pointed past the beautiful old home where I would be spending the next week

Speaker 1 to the sliver of lake

Speaker 1 visible through the trees.

Speaker 1 She began to crank her window down and I followed suit.

Speaker 1 Fresh lake air rushed in

Speaker 1 and I closed my eyes

Speaker 1 letting it wash over me

Speaker 1 I could hear wind high in the trees

Speaker 1 and waves on the surface of the water.

Speaker 1 My shoulders dropped

Speaker 1 and my jaw relaxed,

Speaker 1 though I hadn't even been aware I'd been clenching it.

Speaker 1 No, I'd never been here before,

Speaker 1 but somehow it felt familiar,

Speaker 1 like I was coming home.

Speaker 1 Autumn

Speaker 1 at the Inn

Speaker 1 Part 2

Speaker 1 On the journey,

Speaker 1 I'd filled several pages of my journal.

Speaker 1 I wrote about the land

Speaker 1 flying past the train window

Speaker 1 green and yellow, fields of sunflowers,

Speaker 1 and rolling farmland,

Speaker 1 freshly plowed,

Speaker 1 and dotted with haystacks.

Speaker 1 I wrote about a bevy of deer

Speaker 1 sitting calmly calmly under a weeping willow

Speaker 1 as the wind of the passing train

Speaker 1 tossed drying leaves down on top of them

Speaker 1 I wrote about the lady who pushed the drinks cart

Speaker 1 up and down the aisle

Speaker 1 Who'd had a story to tell

Speaker 1 at nearly every stop we made

Speaker 1 Did I know

Speaker 1 she had been a pageant winner

Speaker 1 in her day?

Speaker 1 I chuckled

Speaker 1 as she poured my coffee

Speaker 1 and said

Speaker 1 I didn't,

Speaker 1 but

Speaker 1 I'd love to hear about it.

Speaker 1 It had been long before

Speaker 1 she sold encyclopedias door to door.

Speaker 1 But after she'd been mayor

Speaker 1 of the small town we'd passed

Speaker 1 as we crossed that trestle bridge over the river.

Speaker 1 I wondered if she wrote a whole new biography

Speaker 1 each time she boarded and stocked her cart.

Speaker 1 And if I rode long enough,

Speaker 1 could I become her archivist?

Speaker 1 Tracking all the tales

Speaker 1 and noting how they criss-crossed

Speaker 1 like the routes of the trains themselves.

Speaker 1 Sometimes I wrote about myself

Speaker 1 little thoughts

Speaker 1 that didn't necessarily go anywhere,

Speaker 1 bigger thoughts

Speaker 1 that had been waiting for me

Speaker 1 to have the time to look them in the eye.

Speaker 1 I had a feeling

Speaker 1 they were behind

Speaker 1 the general wanderlust

Speaker 1 that had spurred me to book a ticket

Speaker 1 and a room at the inn.

Speaker 1 I'd been spinning my wheels

Speaker 1 and needed a way

Speaker 1 to help them grab the earth again

Speaker 1 and propel me forward

Speaker 1 that and

Speaker 1 desperately craving a fresh apple cider

Speaker 1 and a walk

Speaker 1 in the spicy air

Speaker 1 under changing leaves

Speaker 1 and the harvest moon.

Speaker 1 I'd been sketching that moon

Speaker 1 onto the pages of my journal,

Speaker 1 not noticing that the train was slowing

Speaker 1 when my friend at the drinks cart

Speaker 1 leaned in

Speaker 1 to tap me on the shoulder.

Speaker 1 Your stop is next, dear.

Speaker 1 Don't miss it.

Speaker 1 Oh,

Speaker 1 I'd spluttered. Um thanks.

Speaker 1 I closed the book,

Speaker 1 snapping the elastic closure into place,

Speaker 1 and hurriedly pulled my suitcase from the luggage rack.

Speaker 1 I'd bought myself

Speaker 1 a new jacket

Speaker 1 just for this trip

Speaker 1 with a soft flannel lining and a hood in case it rained.

Speaker 1 I slid it on

Speaker 1 and zipped it up tight.

Speaker 1 By the time the train chugged to a stop

Speaker 1 and the doors hissed open,

Speaker 1 I was standing ready behind them,

Speaker 1 ready

Speaker 1 for my autumn adventure.

Speaker 1 I must have overpacked a bit

Speaker 1 too many pumpkin orange sweaters and thick socks

Speaker 1 Because I could barely shift my suitcase

Speaker 1 down the first step.

Speaker 1 A porter stepped over from the platform,

Speaker 1 grabbing it down in one hand

Speaker 1 and helping me out with the other.

Speaker 1 Oh,

Speaker 1 how much it means when someone is kind to you,

Speaker 1 when someone helps you, when you are traveling,

Speaker 1 when you are somewhere you have never been before.

Speaker 1 He must have read it on my face

Speaker 1 because after after he waved off my thanks

Speaker 1 he asked if I needed help,

Speaker 1 if I had a ride waiting for me.

Speaker 1 I told him I was headed to the inn

Speaker 1 and that they'd said they would send someone to pick me up.

Speaker 1 Did know where their shuttle would be parked?

Speaker 1 He smiled a bit as he nodded

Speaker 1 and guided me down the platform

Speaker 1 to point

Speaker 1 through the open,

Speaker 1 high ceilinged station

Speaker 1 to the street beyond.

Speaker 1 Not really

Speaker 1 a shuttle.

Speaker 1 We just take turns, whoever is going out that way.

Speaker 1 And to day,

Speaker 1 I'd say you hit the jackpot.

Speaker 1 Look for a station wagon and a lady in an apron.

Speaker 1 Wouldn't be surprised if she's got a good bit of flour on her.

Speaker 1 I turned to look in the direction he pointed,

Speaker 1 not sure I had understood.

Speaker 1 But when I turned back to him,

Speaker 1 he was already down the platform,

Speaker 1 lifting another case from the train.

Speaker 1 Well,

Speaker 1 it was supposed to be an adventure, wasn't it?

Speaker 1 On the street,

Speaker 1 just like he'd said,

Speaker 1 I'd found a station wagon,

Speaker 1 an old one

Speaker 1 with those faux wooden panels on the sides,

Speaker 1 and vinyl bench seats on the front and back.

Speaker 1 Standing at the open tail gate,

Speaker 1 shifting cases and crates,

Speaker 1 was,

Speaker 1 indeed,

Speaker 1 a woman in an apron.

Speaker 1 She smiled as I came around the car to her

Speaker 1 and shook my hand

Speaker 1 in a friendly,

Speaker 1 yes, flowery way.

Speaker 1 She looked down

Speaker 1 at my lone suitcase

Speaker 1 and said,

Speaker 1 Oh good.

Speaker 1 I can fit that in the back seat.

Speaker 1 Thought I'd have to stack the pies

Speaker 1 and

Speaker 1 I don't know how much you know about pies.

Speaker 1 She lifted the lowered gate and it locked into place.

Speaker 1 But they really shouldn't be stacked.

Speaker 1 Of course not, I said.

Speaker 1 It could crush the crust,

Speaker 1 and that's the best part.

Speaker 1 You get it, she nodded,

Speaker 1 and helped me load my case into the back seat.

Speaker 1 Once we were buckled in,

Speaker 1 she started up the old car,

Speaker 1 and we began to trundle down

Speaker 1 what I guessed was the main street of this little village.

Speaker 1 There was an open bakery box on the seat between us,

Speaker 1 and she insisted

Speaker 1 I help myself

Speaker 1 to a cookie.

Speaker 1 I'd been craving oatmeal raisin for ages,

Speaker 1 and the box was full of them.

Speaker 1 But they weren't just plain cookies.

Speaker 1 They were sandwiched together

Speaker 1 around a generous spread

Speaker 1 of vanilla cream,

Speaker 1 like a stepped up version

Speaker 1 of the kind I'd eaten

Speaker 1 from a cellophane package

Speaker 1 after school as a kid.

Speaker 1 They were absolutely

Speaker 1 delicious.

Speaker 1 And for a few blocks

Speaker 1 I was lost to anything

Speaker 1 but the flavor

Speaker 1 and aroma of the treats.

Speaker 1 The baker asked a few questions.

Speaker 1 Was it my first time here?

Speaker 1 How long was I staying?

Speaker 1 And did I prefer apple crisp

Speaker 1 or apple turnovers?

Speaker 1 I answered in order.

Speaker 1 Yes, it was my first time,

Speaker 1 a week or so,

Speaker 1 and that I hoped I never had to make such a difficult decision.

Speaker 1 She pointed out a few places I might want to visit while I was here.

Speaker 1 Her bakery, of course.

Speaker 1 A cafe

Speaker 1 with outdoor tables grouped around standing heaters

Speaker 1 that glowed orangey red

Speaker 1 in the cool air.

Speaker 1 A stationery shop

Speaker 1 if I filled up my journal

Speaker 1 and needed a new one,

Speaker 1 I need a new one, no matter how many I have, I told her.

Speaker 1 There was a bookshop

Speaker 1 with a cozy reading nook

Speaker 1 built right into the front window,

Speaker 1 and a park,

Speaker 1 with a newspaper kiosk at its entrance.

Speaker 1 The farmers market

Speaker 1 was bustling with shoppers and stalls,

Speaker 1 and I could see that they had a whole section

Speaker 1 just for mums.

Speaker 1 As we wound our way out of town,

Speaker 1 I asked her what was taking her to the inn today.

Speaker 1 She smiled and said

Speaker 1 she was delivering all those pies

Speaker 1 for the exhibit,

Speaker 1 and then helping chef

Speaker 1 with a round of pickled Brussels sprouts.

Speaker 1 Now I was the one with the questions.

Speaker 1 Exhibit?

Speaker 1 Chef?

Speaker 1 And most importantly,

Speaker 1 pickles?

Speaker 1 We turned down the long drive to the inn,

Speaker 1 just as I was voicing all of these.

Speaker 1 But rather than answer,

Speaker 1 she pointed past the beautiful old home

Speaker 1 where I would be spending the next week

Speaker 1 to the sliver of lake

Speaker 1 visible through the trees.

Speaker 1 She began to crank her window down

Speaker 1 and I followed suit.

Speaker 1 Fresh lake air

Speaker 1 rushed in

Speaker 1 and I closed my eyes,

Speaker 1 letting it wash

Speaker 1 all over me.

Speaker 1 I could hear wind

Speaker 1 high in the trees

Speaker 1 and waves on the surface of the water.

Speaker 1 My shoulders dropped,

Speaker 1 and my jaw relaxed,

Speaker 1 though I hadn't even been aware

Speaker 1 I'd been clenching it.

Speaker 1 No,

Speaker 1 I'd never been here before,

Speaker 1 but somehow

Speaker 1 it all felt familiar,

Speaker 1 like I was coming home.

Speaker 1 Sweet dreams.