It's Hot!

And a few summertime reflections.

It’s hot! A common phrase lately in our non-air-conditioned house.

Here in Grand Haven the annual Coast Guard Festival has concluded. Our town explodes with activity and a heightened craziness that can be fun at times, but the end of which is always welcomed. We walked through said craziness a few times, watched some fireworks and now breathe (although it still feels quite busy…summer in a beach town!)

True Vacation

The week of July 4, Heather and I took a true vacation. Toronto was the first part of our journey and we, being American, weren’t even aware that one of our days there was Canada Day! We savored the multiple fireworks displays around the city from our 8th floor apartment rental. Earlier that day we took public transportation to the Distillery District where we sampled Sake (of all things), and walked around like the tourists we were.

The highlight of our Toronto leg was our dinner the first night at a Michelin Star winning restaurant Rasa which blew us away! Definitely recommend.

Our ultimate destination, however, was spending 3 nights (including July 4th) at the Spruceton Inn in West Kill, NY. I’ve been hesitant to share much about it simply because it was just…too…good. Let me say that it exceeded our expectations. I promise I wasn’t (as my kids have accused me) “gatekeeping” this little slice of delight in the Catskill Mountains. [Okay, maybe I have been a little bit.] However, more accurately I’m savoring the experience and the place and the people without rushing to blurt out all the feels that came with our time there.

[Casey is in the red shirt with stripes and our morning coffee buddy, Jen, is pictured as well. Note the Pop-Tarts in a couple pics, our hosts even made those hip and so I said, “Why not?!”]

Head innkeeper, Casey, and her husband, Steven have created magic in the Catskills. Well, maybe they partnered with the magic that was already there, I don’t know. Either way, I’ve been a fan of their place for several years now after having read an article about them in back in 2015. I became a fan-boy from the first few paragraphs and their work as artists (Steven, in particular, happens to check all the boxes on things I love to do…paint and fly-fish, and Casey is an author who’s novel will be out next March).

I realize we were paying customers, but our hosts weren’t mere hosts, and they made certain that we knew we weren’t merely paying customers. They have curated the inn as a work of art. I contend true artists are always “hosts,” by which I mean they invite you in and love you well; and I, for one, felt loved by them and many of the other guests. Which was cool because there was ample time and space to just be Heather and me, but absolutely crazy-fun communal times as well (coffee in the morning and bar in the evening…they call it a “bed and bar”…and 50% of proceeds from the bar went to an amazing non-profit) where even folks not staying at the inn would show up.

I still struggle with the words for what this time and place meant to me (us), and yet it did occur to me that it was a privilege to hang with a community of “strangers” in a beautiful place and it was a much-needed reprieve from the insanity taking place in our society. I needed to breathe and laugh and hang out with folks I admire and not think about hypocrisy on a global-scale, genocide, racism, etc. I recognize that it is a privilege to be able to catch my breath in this way because I know that’s not the case for everyone, and so I’m grateful.

Watercolors

I did make some art. As I started this one on the grounds of the Spruceton Inn, I wasn’t too excited about it, but then it progressed well when I finished it just yesterday. I’ll share some more about these and others in my next post. In the meantime, the finished painting is available through my my website here.

Thanks for reading, and remember to lean in to hope in spite evidence to the contrary.

Ed