Sorry for not posting in a while. I'll try to get back into the writing groove. This is a picture of Brother Christian, from Abbey of Christ in the Desert. His Abbey started brewing beer about a year ago. Bro. Christian, the face of their brewery operation, was in town for Philly Beer Week last week.
He was at The Grey Lodge Pub for Abbey of Christ in DesSert, when we had all three of their beers on tap and Chef Eric made a trio of beer cakes, each utilizing a different Abbey of Christ beer.
Bro. Christian was in town last year, when we had our first Scoats-less beer event at The Grey Lodge, as Maureen and I were in Austin that week. So while he was familiar with The Grey Lodge, it was my first time meeting him.
He remembered The Grey Lodge and our window wall that opens up, which was open on his first visit and last week too when he was there. He asked me if some of the employees worked here for a while, since he thought he recognized some of them from last year. I told him that most everyone has been here at least a year, and some have been with me for 17 years.
While very friendly and personable and extremely mindful, he was a slightly aloof, not due to pretense, but from not really being fully part of this world, living for the last 30 years in a monastery in New Mexico that's 15 miles down a dirt road.
It didn't take long for me to realize that he was a really cool guy (he even takes a cool picture). The thought "cool like Lee Marvin" came into my brain. Which was surprising as this is not a thought I thought I would ever think. Lee Marvin never really appeared on my radar. I can't even name a single movie he was in. It's not a very common phrase, only producing two Google hits. Bro. Christian's isn't a youthful rebellious cool, but a middle-aged I am who I am, who are you kind of cool.
I mentioned "cool like Lee Marvin" to Maureen the next day. I'm pretty sure it's a thought she never thought before either, but she dug exactly what I meant.
It's easy to know what's cool when you're younger, and it's easy to know what's not cool for a middle aged man. It's rare cool and middle-aged intersect. Lee Marvin may be the answer; whodda thought?
Bonus Story: Buddy Handry told me this one today. Jim Noone was wearing an AC/DC t-shirt. Bro. Christian, who has been in the monastery for 30 years, asked him if that was a band. And I thought I was slightly cool for not knowing who Lady Gaga was.
He was at The Grey Lodge Pub for Abbey of Christ in DesSert, when we had all three of their beers on tap and Chef Eric made a trio of beer cakes, each utilizing a different Abbey of Christ beer.
Bro. Christian was in town last year, when we had our first Scoats-less beer event at The Grey Lodge, as Maureen and I were in Austin that week. So while he was familiar with The Grey Lodge, it was my first time meeting him.
He remembered The Grey Lodge and our window wall that opens up, which was open on his first visit and last week too when he was there. He asked me if some of the employees worked here for a while, since he thought he recognized some of them from last year. I told him that most everyone has been here at least a year, and some have been with me for 17 years.
While very friendly and personable and extremely mindful, he was a slightly aloof, not due to pretense, but from not really being fully part of this world, living for the last 30 years in a monastery in New Mexico that's 15 miles down a dirt road.
It didn't take long for me to realize that he was a really cool guy (he even takes a cool picture). The thought "cool like Lee Marvin" came into my brain. Which was surprising as this is not a thought I thought I would ever think. Lee Marvin never really appeared on my radar. I can't even name a single movie he was in. It's not a very common phrase, only producing two Google hits. Bro. Christian's isn't a youthful rebellious cool, but a middle-aged I am who I am, who are you kind of cool.
I mentioned "cool like Lee Marvin" to Maureen the next day. I'm pretty sure it's a thought she never thought before either, but she dug exactly what I meant.
It's easy to know what's cool when you're younger, and it's easy to know what's not cool for a middle aged man. It's rare cool and middle-aged intersect. Lee Marvin may be the answer; whodda thought?
Bonus Story: Buddy Handry told me this one today. Jim Noone was wearing an AC/DC t-shirt. Bro. Christian, who has been in the monastery for 30 years, asked him if that was a band. And I thought I was slightly cool for not knowing who Lady Gaga was.
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