Chat with Cat: Where's your autumn place?

I know it is not autumn yet--all the leaves on the trees are still green. But the cool weather hit us this week. I love sweatshirt weather--days when you go home and curl up with a cup of tea, or mornings when you see your breath on the way out to get the newspaper. I was not at all prepared for the fall weather this week, but it has made me think about the season that is on its way.

For me, Montreat has always been two places--a summer place and a fall place. I first came to Montreat during the Worship & Music Conference, right before the Fourth of July and right in the middle of the summer. The mornings are still cool that time of year, and it would rain (a lot) almost every afternoon. During worship in Anderson Auditorium the breeze would gently blow the curtains, always a reminder (to me at least) of the constant presence of the spirit. I ate ice cream at the Huckleberry and froze my toes in the creek. And I thought it was perfect.

Then a few months after my first-ever Montreat experience, I came back for a youth group retreat. We stayed in Sylvan lodge and hiked Lookout dressed in coats and hats. We went through boxes of Swiss Miss, and I listened to my first David Lamotte song (New Lullaby). And I thought that was perfect too.

I got to college and applied for Summer Staff, and then I spent my days playing around Lake Susan and my evenings staying cool on the porch of the Velvet Moose. (One more vote for summer place.) Then I attended the College Conference, and I spent my days in sweatshirts and my evenings around the Assembly Inn fireplace. (One more vote for fall/winter place.)

Now Montreat is a year-round place for me, but I believe I will always think of it as a summer place and a fall place. And I will always think that both are perfect.

What are you seasonal spaces? And what makes them perfect?

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Cat is the Sales Associate at Montreat Conference Center. She loves helping people plan the perfect Montreat Experience and would love to hear from you about how this blog can help you.

Cat can be reached at catw@montreat.org.