We Blew Inn, Franklin, North Carolina
The Unmistakable Family and Me
My three-day stay at The We Blew Inn in Franklin was spent in-between visiting The Biodome in Waynesville and my weekend in Asheville with my sister who was visiting from Florida. The week was everything but uneventful and, at the same time, didn’t have day-by-day particulars to go on about. So, instead of articulating the events of each day, the best way to capture this period of time is to explain the 72-hour span in a single, 24-hour period.
So the day begins…
Joel was the first to wake, him and the birds sharing their early mornings on the porch, doing what they do. Next, Lily, getting Isabel, her doll dressed for the day. Then, Nicole and finally myself.
The kitchen soon buzzed with each of us making our morning wake-up remedy, usually a blend of our favorite loose leaf tea.
After our morning greetings, a “How’d you sleep?” here and a “G’morning” there, breakfast began cooking. The smell of pancakes and eggs filled the air. We sat around the table and enjoyed a nice hearty meal together.
The house, and our day soon split: the kitchen converted into Lily’s classroom, Nicole changing roles from “mom” to “teacher”, and the back porch transforming into an office for Joel and I to spend our workday.
Instead of the typical office surroundings like fluorescent lights, white noise and fake plants, we were surrounded with sunshine, birds chirping, and mountain ranges.
The day passed in a slow, welcomed pace.
After a productive day of work, with a few moments to appreciate the birds chirping being our only distraction, the smell of dinner soon filled the air. A bit of curry, some fresh cilantro, and a combination of fresh ingredients from Your Dekalb Farmers Market outside of Stone Mountain, Georgia create a delicious, organic dinner.
We gathered around the table, now converted from a school desk back to a dinner table and once again share a home cooked meal.
We came to the part of dinner where we all had a chance to recap the events of our day through a game called “Cherry and Pit.”
We went around the table, each person having a chance to express the best part (the “Cherry”) and worst part (the “Pit”) of their day.
We gave ourselves a chance to reflect and articulate our day, both the positive and negative. After Cherry and Pit, I felt as if I had lived through the day, rather than just gone through the motions.
After dinner, Lily cleared the table and began washing dishes. The adults went into the family room for some downtime: Joel curating stories on his phone, Nicole reading Fifty Shades of Grey, and me reading Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel.
Lily soon finished the dishes, then went to her room to get ready for bed. After, she came into the family room to ask Nicole to tuck her in, confirm Joel would go say good night once she was tucked in, and to give me a good night hug and kiss on the cheek.
With Lily in bed, the only sound to be heard in the house was music coming from the Zen music channel on the TV. We sat like this for about an hour, Joel curating and Nicole and I reading.
Earlier that day, while Nicole was at the store, she grabbed two movies from Redbox: 12 Years a Slave and Kill Your Darlings. Tonight’s pick, 12 Years a Slave.
It was time for us to call it a night. Joel and Nicole went to their room and I prepared my bed in the family room, a queen sized pull out couch.
Yet another peaceful & tranquil, yet productive day at The We Blew Inn.
