Jus’ Loafin’ Around - On the way to Cape May

No, not really but I was on the way to Bread Loaf. I’ll start my Loaf tale here, on the first day prior to the first hour. I live in Philadelphia. Rittenhouse Square to be a bit more precise. Most mornings I awaken to the heartwarming sounds of bums arguing or trash trucks performing their usual function – collecting garbage.

The morning, or rather late evening I left for the Loaf, the street lamps were illuminated and the morning air cool. I lugged (no exaggeration) my bags to my truck and began my journey. I hoped to stop at a Starbucks on the way but alas I was up too early even for the standard coffee drinker (4 AM).

The most interesting thing about the drive was the transformation. I left concrete slabs and buildings that touched the clouds. As I drove through Pennsylvania and then New York to reach Vermont, the cement turned to grass and the modernized buildings to Victorians, Colonials, and farms. Streets peppered with the rush of city living were replaced with lounging cows and tractors waiting to be used.

To get to the Inn, I drove a narrow curving road that seemed to follow a stream that webbed itself under and next to the man-made path giving me the feeling that I had left one point in time and somehow was transported to a unique world.

And so I was.

The Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference is annually held at the Bread Loaf Inn and its surrounding buildings to form a quaint town alive with a dining area, theatre, store, and library. When I checked in, I was given my room assignment, the name of my roommate and a mailbox number with combination. My room, on the second floor of the Inn, had a view of the street before it and part of the front porch. After I unpacked I wandered the campus a bit to get a sense of my new environment. For those of you who know me, you will understand this – before I could really get a feel for the campus, I got lost. No, no, not on a cross street (there isn’t one) or among the crowds (ditto) but rather walking through the Inn. That’s when I decided to be safe and wait for the guided walking tour, which lasted approximately 20 minutes.

“And over here is a really cool building,” said the tour guide.

“What’s its historical prominence?” a fellow attendee asked.

“I don’t know,” said the guide. “But it’s a really cool building.”

And so it was.

Tune in next time for another installment of Jus’ Loafin’ Around.