azebo

aron Von Lodge was the head of a small country known as Lilliland near Switzerland. The time was the early 1900s.

One day the Baron received a very large gift from a distant royal cousin in Germany. It was a large all-metal gazebo. The gazebo was to be placed in a public park for everyone to use and enjoy. There were metal chairs with fine metal artwork on the arms and legs that matched the design on the gazebo’s full structure. It was a very beautiful gift that looked lovely in the public park on a hill with a wonderful view of Castle Lake.

The Baron was quick to thank the royal cousin for such a fine gift that everyone in Lilliland could see and enjoy. But as a few summers passed, problems with the gazebo would become apparent.

Lightning would often accompany the summer rainstorms over Castle Lake and Lilliland. Since the gazebo was an all-metal structure set up on a hill, it would be hit again and again by the lightning.

The Baron asked his chief advisor Professor Hamblin to diplomatically solve the problem. The metal gazebo would have to go because it represented a threat to anyone who might be setting in the gazebo during a rainstorm of being struck by lightning.

The only solution Professor Hamblin could suggest was to contact the Baron’s cousin in Germany and tell him the truth. The gazebo would have to be replaced with a wooden building that had a lightning arresting rod from the roof to the ground. This would keep the people in the gazebo safe and dry during a rainstorm.

The Baron said that he would travel to his cousin’s castle in Germany with his fiancée, Lady Angela of Alpine Castle, to tell him in person the bad news about the metal gazebo.

The visit was a success and the cousin was very understanding about what had to be done to protect the people of Lilliland.

Later back at Lilliland Castle the Baron thanked Professor Hamblin for his advice in resolving the problem. The Professor reminded the Baron that honesty was always the best policy along with diplomatic words of kindness and appreciation.