No. 1
This is weird.
I have started a blog. Something I never thought I would write ten
or 15 or 20 years ago when that word became a thing. Then, just the purview of self-obsessed
loners who thought that their world-view mattered, blogs have now become the
accepted way to throw unsolicited opinions and unwarranted tutorials into the
great wide open and see what sticks.
This blog is intended to share my interests
with no one in particular (and in some ways I secretly hope no one at
all). As a beer enthusiast and brewer I
have followed beer blogs for many years.
At many times throughout those years I have stopped and thought, “I have
an opinion on this.” I have, however,
never seen fit to throw my proverbial two cents into the sphere of unwarranted
opinions. Adding comments is too
anonymous, fleeting, and cursory, while the alternative of starting a blog too
daunting, time-consuming and something I always viewed as a bit… passé?
I have broken down.
The hop gardens of Kent. Inspiration for writing, libation, and alliteration.
Numerous excellent beer blogs have, over
the years, made blogging seem more acceptable, accessible, and, dare I say,
enjoyable. Boak and Bailey, Pete Brown,
Stan Hieronymous, Lars Marius Garshol, Paul Bailey, and Katie Taylor, among
many others, are some of the names which have pushed me to believe that my
opinions can and perhaps should be written down and shared, though it is not
without a great deal of reluctance that I do so.
This blog is about beer, brewing, and
pubs. But, as I have pointed out, there
are many excellent beer bloggers out there who are of a much higher quality
than I can muster. So, additionally I
aim to write about a much broader range of things, therefore, this is also a
blog about allotment gardening, woodwork, DIY, food, cooking, walking, running,
travel, and maybe a bit of music and reading while I’m at it. In my mind, these things have a common thread
of health, provenance, sustainability, and wellbeing in my adopted homeland –
Kent.
But mostly it is about having an outlet for
my thoughts and an intention to do some creative writing.
It has taken me some time to come to Kent,
though I came around to it instantly. I
first visited in 2010 with my then girlfriend (now wife) who graciously took me
back to her home county. I was
transfixed with its seamless blend of seemingly tropical beaches and
stereotypically scenic English countryside.
I moved here permanently in 2017 after bouncing around between Minnesota
in the states, Kent, Edinburgh, and Bedford.
The rural idyll. View from the North Downs Way. Dog included for your viewing pleasure.
What strikes me most about Kent is its
strong sense of place. In a county
immediately adjacent to the sprawling metropolis of London it’s easy to take a
back seat and simply become a sleepy commuter county. It’s the verdant scenery and pristine beaches
that has instead brought people from
London to Kent throughout the years, and its residents know that its top class
destinations are what keep people coming back.
It’s from this sense of living somewhere special that the quality of
local food, destinations, crafts, and traditions stem from.
I have been caught up in this pride of
place. Americans are inherently proud of
their nation, their state, their town.
It’s in our blood. So as I moved
around the UK from Birmingham to Edinburgh to Bedford I was looking for a
surrogate home. One thing I never quite
found was the small-town mentality that I grew up with. It’s a sort of proud local can-do spirit
without being provincial. It’s about
mucking in and getting things done. It’s
about using what is readily available, local, and seasonal and thriving on
it. It’s an intangible feeling that some
places just have. Kent has it.
Scotney Castle. So much of the proverbial "it."
So this is why I landed in Kent, and this
blog is what I’m doing to contribute to that rural idyll that harkens back to
where I grew up. Every day that I spend
here makes me appreciate both where I am from and the small-town values I hold
dear. My passion for Kent and its
parallels to my homeland are how I show this appreciation.
Roam if you must, but come home when you’ve had
enough. -Atmosphere (Sean Daley)
I haven’t had enough. This is the story of how a Minnesotan got
lost. This is my Kentish Life.