God always surprises me with what he has planned for my days.

So today, for example, here I am, sitting in the middle of North Creek, NY. It’s a Monday at 11:38 ET, and I found this precious little Bakery called Sarah’s Cafe, and they have the most wonderful smelling baked goods you’ve ever seen…and one girl works this place alone and she is so sweet and wonderful…and she has talked to me for at least 10 minutes, and we could be real friends if we lived closer I tell ya. Well, maybe we are, actually, because I definitely invited her to church in Albany. We talked about how I act like a native even though I’m from Oklahoma, which made me glad I chose to wear a hoodie instead of some fancy schmantsy shirt to the middle of this beautiful place.

The people that come in an out of this tiny tiny place are just what you might expect for a mountain town. Mismatched layers, barely-combed hair, 30-50 somethings, all talking about horses, kayaks and “cloth coverings” on things I don’t even understand about the great outdoor life. In the last five minutes I’ve heard about Native Americans, “communicating with bears,” two day hikes in the freezing cold, and about sacred water of some kind in the rivers, and “high-altitude” beavers, all coming from a guy wearing “bear oil” so he can go up to the mountains and converse with “his brothers.” When he said that, I thought to myself, oh dear, yes that explains the bad stench you brought in with you. Too honest? They apparently come here often, but you wouldn’t know it how they stewed over the menu of 12 options for about 10 minutes before ordering. I love that. I love that everything is as exciting as lunch. They have no cares in the world. They aren’t in a rush. They still need to ask 10 questions about the sandwiches they’ve probably eaten all their life, just so they can talk to someone about life. And I extra love the crack in my mug.

They are so free, so completely uncaring of what others think of them, refreshingly their own.

I am sitting at a table made in 1870 I’m sure, in a chair I’m afraid may not hold my weight for 10 more minutes, up against a half-paneled wall, with oh so much character. Just above the half wall of paneling are photos, hung in nice black ikea frames with what appear to be Instagram photos, I think…taken on an iPhone or something similar, and not great ones at that, but they are hung nice and strategically, and someone is charging $75 per print for them, and that’s just how it goes around here. I’m sitting under a huge chalk drawing of a Chinese dragon, that someone asked me if I drew, because of course I did if I’m sitting under it, right? But that’s just how this little town is. Everyone is friendly, everyone assumes you’re an artist…a creative person. What a great thing to assume about anyone.

I love this little place. There’s a mural across the street, on the side of the cement wall, and the lady that lives above allows anyone that wants to, to add a rock or stone, to help make the beautiful mural she’s creating…need I say more? Beautiful town.