I've been keeping busy here at the B&B. If there's not a bed to be made or dinner to serve then I'm down in the basement filing stacks of tax returns. Life here looks like this: be really really busy---and then take a break. A nice, long break. In fact, I usually break for lunch which is at a different time every day--the time that I'm hungry! I take time for lunch...just chill out and chat with my Grandpa.
As I walk from the main house to my cabin a few local species of birds fly past including cardinals and bluejays.
We had an aMAZing storm last night. It started blowing tornadoes all over the midwest and worked its way here heralding a "severe storm" alert from the meteorologists. Yesterday's temperature topped off at about 76 degrees! Wow! It was so nice outside, from when I woke up to when I went to bed. It was even one of those nights that you have to sleep outside of your sheets! I was woken up in the middle of the night, however, by some nasty howling wind. Nothing I'm not used to, but this was accompanied by torrential rain...I'm not kidding when I say torrential. Then it got even better when the dark mountain was lite up brighter than an A-bomb by endless flashes of lightning. You're sitting there in pitch blackness, and then all of a sudden for a split second it lights up all the barren trees surrounding you and you think you're in a graveyard on Halloween. As soon as it comes it disappears...then the counting for the chest-rumbling thunder that permeates the air you breath. Yeah, let's give a shout out for thunderstorms!!! Probably the only thing I miss about Idaho.
So I woke up this morning and what do you you know but the temperature didn't even get over 50 degrees. How rude.
My aunt, true to her nature, worked herself to the bone and was dog-tired by 8 o'clock when the kitchen finally cleaned itself. I was in the mood for a glass of wine and a chick flick, but I knew that wasn't going to happen especially when I saw her head to bed downstairs. With a night to kill and some loose ends to tie up in Oregon I headed back to the cabin and broke out the reisling with me myself and I. No sooner had I checked my email when I got a call:
"Suz? It's Aunt Lois."
"Yeah? I thought you were in bed! What's up?"
"The guys left the sauna all heated up for us. Come on down....and bring your wine."
"My wine is already in my hand, girlfriend. I'm on my way!"
Thus commenced my first sauna adventure.
Understand that this is not your typical sauna...no, no, no. We don't do things half-baked around here. You want a sauna? We're going to build it, not buy it prefabricated. Oh, and not only are we building it, but we're going to ask someone who really knows what they're doing...from FINLAND! Apparently it's the origin of saunas, who knew.
So, not too long ago my aunt found some Finnish guy who builds saunas and lives in Oregon so she calls him up. He's absolutely astonished that she's an AMERICAN who wants a free-standing (not connected to the house) ceder plank, outside feeding stove (not electric) sauna next to a fresh water pond/creek. So they chat about it for a long time and he draws up the plans asking, "who's going to build this for you? You know any Finnish builders in your community?" Keep in mind that here in Montebello the population is under 50. Of course there is no Finnish population here, builders or otherwise, but lots of hillbillies, and will that work? So the Finn sends her a video of how to properly build a Finnish sauna, she gives it to the hillbilly builder and it comes out perfectly. Eventually some guest at the B&B was passing through and used the sauna. He happened to be some kind of expert and immediately recognized the proper build, wood, and craftsmanship. Pretty hilarious IMHO.
Anyways, so here I am, wine glass in hand, trudging down past the house to the creek where Virginia's finest sauna resides. We meet in the front dressing room and enter the very hot cedar planked enclosure in our birthday suits.
Hot doesn't begin to describe it.
I glance at the thermometer: 220F.
And we had just put another log on the fire from the outside.
Wait a minute? Can't you boil water at this temperature?!
As we chatted the temp kept going up…at 230F we opened the connecting door for some relief. I think we may have coaxed it down to 215 before we left but I'm not sure. It was hot. Of course we're both sweating like pigs but the real joy came afterwards.
Grabbing a towel we walked outside onto the spacious deck overlooking the creek and small pond where the goldfish live. You can't see it in the dark, just listen to the babbling brook and believe it's there. Looking up into the starry sky and breathing in fresh Virginia mountain air, having just finished a purifying ritual and now standing out in nature stark naked as a jay bird was one of the most beautiful feelings in the world. It was there we finished the wine and just enjoyed being alive in God's creation. That lasted about 5 minutes and I was freezing….got dressed pretty quickly!
In summation I would like to endorse the Dutch Haus authentic Finnish sauna. If you are ever in the area or consider hiking the Appalachian Trail you must make it out here! (Shameless plug)
As I walk from the main house to my cabin a few local species of birds fly past including cardinals and bluejays.
We had an aMAZing storm last night. It started blowing tornadoes all over the midwest and worked its way here heralding a "severe storm" alert from the meteorologists. Yesterday's temperature topped off at about 76 degrees! Wow! It was so nice outside, from when I woke up to when I went to bed. It was even one of those nights that you have to sleep outside of your sheets! I was woken up in the middle of the night, however, by some nasty howling wind. Nothing I'm not used to, but this was accompanied by torrential rain...I'm not kidding when I say torrential. Then it got even better when the dark mountain was lite up brighter than an A-bomb by endless flashes of lightning. You're sitting there in pitch blackness, and then all of a sudden for a split second it lights up all the barren trees surrounding you and you think you're in a graveyard on Halloween. As soon as it comes it disappears...then the counting for the chest-rumbling thunder that permeates the air you breath. Yeah, let's give a shout out for thunderstorms!!! Probably the only thing I miss about Idaho.
So I woke up this morning and what do you you know but the temperature didn't even get over 50 degrees. How rude.
My aunt, true to her nature, worked herself to the bone and was dog-tired by 8 o'clock when the kitchen finally cleaned itself. I was in the mood for a glass of wine and a chick flick, but I knew that wasn't going to happen especially when I saw her head to bed downstairs. With a night to kill and some loose ends to tie up in Oregon I headed back to the cabin and broke out the reisling with me myself and I. No sooner had I checked my email when I got a call:
"Suz? It's Aunt Lois."
"Yeah? I thought you were in bed! What's up?"
"The guys left the sauna all heated up for us. Come on down....and bring your wine."
"My wine is already in my hand, girlfriend. I'm on my way!"
Thus commenced my first sauna adventure.
Understand that this is not your typical sauna...no, no, no. We don't do things half-baked around here. You want a sauna? We're going to build it, not buy it prefabricated. Oh, and not only are we building it, but we're going to ask someone who really knows what they're doing...from FINLAND! Apparently it's the origin of saunas, who knew.
So, not too long ago my aunt found some Finnish guy who builds saunas and lives in Oregon so she calls him up. He's absolutely astonished that she's an AMERICAN who wants a free-standing (not connected to the house) ceder plank, outside feeding stove (not electric) sauna next to a fresh water pond/creek. So they chat about it for a long time and he draws up the plans asking, "who's going to build this for you? You know any Finnish builders in your community?" Keep in mind that here in Montebello the population is under 50. Of course there is no Finnish population here, builders or otherwise, but lots of hillbillies, and will that work? So the Finn sends her a video of how to properly build a Finnish sauna, she gives it to the hillbilly builder and it comes out perfectly. Eventually some guest at the B&B was passing through and used the sauna. He happened to be some kind of expert and immediately recognized the proper build, wood, and craftsmanship. Pretty hilarious IMHO.
Anyways, so here I am, wine glass in hand, trudging down past the house to the creek where Virginia's finest sauna resides. We meet in the front dressing room and enter the very hot cedar planked enclosure in our birthday suits.
Hot doesn't begin to describe it.
I glance at the thermometer: 220F.
And we had just put another log on the fire from the outside.
Wait a minute? Can't you boil water at this temperature?!
As we chatted the temp kept going up…at 230F we opened the connecting door for some relief. I think we may have coaxed it down to 215 before we left but I'm not sure. It was hot. Of course we're both sweating like pigs but the real joy came afterwards.
Grabbing a towel we walked outside onto the spacious deck overlooking the creek and small pond where the goldfish live. You can't see it in the dark, just listen to the babbling brook and believe it's there. Looking up into the starry sky and breathing in fresh Virginia mountain air, having just finished a purifying ritual and now standing out in nature stark naked as a jay bird was one of the most beautiful feelings in the world. It was there we finished the wine and just enjoyed being alive in God's creation. That lasted about 5 minutes and I was freezing….got dressed pretty quickly!
In summation I would like to endorse the Dutch Haus authentic Finnish sauna. If you are ever in the area or consider hiking the Appalachian Trail you must make it out here! (Shameless plug)
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