Coming Down from the Mountain

I just dropped JP off at MBA and I am having my Monday morning coffee at Dose before beginning a busy week at work.  Mediations three days in a row to close out November, then the spring to Christmas begins.  

Our time on the Mountain, in Sewanee, was a much needed respite for our family.  A time to recharge our batteries and to downshift into neutral for a few days.  

In the end, we were all glad we stayed, again, in the Midyett's house on campus, on Tennessee Avenue.  So convenient to all of the things the boys love to do which, of course, is sports, sports, and more sports.  Soccer field across the street, the Fowler Center nearby, and the football and baseball fields a few blocks away.  We packed a lot of fun into a five nights on the Mountain.

• JP and Joe walked across the street and played soccer Wednesday while Jude worked a bit and nursed a bad cold she's been fighting.

• Thanksgiving Day with Jude's parents, Jane and Jim, was good family time.  Smoked turkey from Martin's, ham courtesy of Jane White, and pies from Meridee's.  We gave them a tour of All Saints' Chapel, which they enjoyed.

• I had a nice trail run on Thanksgiving Day on the Dimick Lake trail, one of my favorite trails in Sewanee or anywhere else for that matter.

• JP and I had a nice run together on Saturday morning on the Mountain Goat trail.  It was so good to get a run in with him, as it had been a while.

• We had a list from the Davis family on Saturday, as Oliver, Tera, Preston, and Morgan joined us on the Mountain.  After a visit to the Cross at the end of Tennessee Ave. and a tour of All Saints' Chapel, we had lunch at Shenanigan's.  Great adult conversation while the kids played UNO.  Later, a baseball workout on Sewanee's baseball field followed by basketball at the Fowler Center.

• I alternated reading America, America (Ethan Canin) and First:  Sandra Day O'Connor (Evan Thomas).  Two excellent reads.

• I attended the Sunday morning service at All Saints' Chapel, early, at 8 a.m.  Seminarian AJ Boots ('24) gave a memorable sermon.

• We had two rousing games of family Catchphrase much to Jude's delight.

• On my laptop, I watched UT destroy Vandy, 56 - 0, much to my delight.

• Soccer, tennis, golf, baseball, and basketball for the boys.  Our own sports camp on the Mountain.

• We had front row seats, literally, in from the big screen television on the breakfast side of the Blue Chair to watch the USMNT tie England, 0 - 0, in the World Cup.  Really cool.

• The boys and I had breakfast Saturday morning at the Blue Chair, always a highlight for us.

• Friday evening, I sat in an Adirondack chair across the street from the house, behind the School of Theology overlooking the rugby field, and read a story, two poems, and an essay from, appropriately enough, the latest issue of the Sewanee Review.  It arrived at our house the day before we left.  

All right, my Monday morning reverie is over.  Time to get to work.