Evenings
A Saturday evening for the regulars
Saturday is the long night at the lodge, and the one our regulars guard most closely. Here is how it unfolds from the first pie to the last hand.
The long night
From half past four to half past ten
Saturday begins in the kitchen. Gareth Clarke has been at work since the morning, with pastry rolled and stock simmering, and by four the first trays of pies are in the oven. Renee Wells opens the green door at half past, and there is usually a guest already waiting on the step.
The early diners are families and walkers back from the forest tracks. By six the dining room is full, the verandah is busy and the casino room has begun to fill. Glenn Russo walks the floor with his hands behind his back, as he does, and misses nothing.
The shape of the evening
Dinner and the early tables
Dinner has the room until seven, and then the casino doors open wide. Roulette fills first, since it asks least of a newcomer, followed by blackjack. Poker tables fill last, with the regulars who prefer to finish their pudding before they sit.
The tournament
At seven the full tournament begins at the poker tables. It runs for three hours, with a break for tea and pastries, and the rail is two deep for the final. The dining room sends up the last of its guests to watch.
What the regulars like
They like the predictability. The same pie is on the board, the same lamp is lit, and the same croupier is at the roulette wheel. One of them told me that Saturday at the lodge is the part of his week that does not change, and he treasures it.
The tables close at ten and the doors at half past. The last guests are walked to the car park, and I oil the nearest table before I go home. It is a modest ritual, but it has been mine since the beginning.
One regular, a retired shearer, always arrives at five minutes to five and takes the same chair by the stove. He has never told me why, and I have never asked. The chair is kept for him, and a pot of tea arrives at his elbow before he has taken off his hat. That small courtesy is the lodge in miniature.