8. Nice To Hear From You!

Well, it's pretty amazing to hear from some of you already by email. All three notes  were from Saugerties, but there’s a wider world out there, although I’ve met some in the village who don’t believe it.

"A monastery in West Saugerties?" wondered  one correspondent. Very definitely.  As I think I mentioned, it's not all that large, but Google Earth sees us just like any other old resort house on the mountain.

Except for our neighbor Lance,  we’re pretty much alone up here on the mountainside.  He's a quarter mile down the road in a house sitting on a promontory overlooking the valley.  Other than Lance, the remaining humans near us are the folks at the foot of the mountain, who look up from their gardens and wave when we drive by in our old SUV.  That never happened often, but lately Agnes and Terd have been going out on some sort of mission.   And regrettably,  our plumbing woes have sent me down to the hardware store in the village more often.

A surprise this morning! A lovely young woman named Sara called to order wedding invitations to be printed by yours truly. Kids today like a deep impression, almost through the paper, something we printers of old abhor. But the monastery can use the income. However, I don't want the abbot to think I'm industrious and ask me to seek out business. This old man and old press can't take it!  Besides, I hear we’re so much in a financial hole that a few printing jobs won’t solve our  problem.