The adventure of a visit

I had a very pleasant surprise today. My parents made the trek form Arlington to Dayton to visit me. I didn't think they would be coming so soon, but I was sure glad to see them.

When I found out that I had visitors waiting, I got ready as usual - putting gel in my hair, brushing my teeth, and doing a quick shave. I don't have super white clothes anymore, so I had to figure out which one of my sets of clothes had the least stains. After the prep, I headed out of the dorm and over to the admin building where visitation is held. On the way I realized i had no idea how to get in the building. From my side I saw the mailroom window and a small courtyard with a few palmettos, flowering plants and a koi pond - a koi pond! What the heck? The courtyard was enclosed by a gated chain link fence and had a door at the opposite side that led into the admin building.

Because I had no idea what I was doing, I stood there and looked around like a dunce until I heard - click. The gate behind me had opened to the courtyard. I looked down at it, then looked around to see if anyone was coming. Nope. Guess it's for me.

I moved inside the courtyard, letting the gate close behind me and resuming the dunce pose while wondering what a koi pond was doing in this place. Click. Hey, the admin door opened. I moved into a 5 X 5 room with two new doors. Which one do I go through? I stood there a bit, then - click. These clicking doors have served me well so far, so I guess I'll follow them again. Success! I found the strip search hallway leading to the visitation room.

After a quick strip and redressing, I found my folks. What an adventure! I got to fill them in on all the new stuff going on and hear how everything back home was going. This unit's visitation has windows to the outside unlike the unit I came from that my mom likened to a bunker. What a blessing.

As I write this I can't help thinking that the clicking doors are probably very similar to the way some animals are herded from pen to pen. Hmmmm...

A koi pond?!!!