Gay Spirit Culture Summit about to begin

I flew in last night from Seattle into JFK airport, and then took a train from Grand Central Station to Garrison, NY. At the train station, I met a handsome man from San Francisco and my gaydar went off. I introduced myself and he said his name was Kirk. He also flew in yesterday for the Gay Spirit Culture Summit that begins later this afternoon. Kirk and I are among the earlybirds who arrived on Wednesday evening. Toby Johnson and Kip Dollar arrived on the next train, having just arrived from Texas. The four of us crammed into a car and a few minutes later we arrived at the Garrison Institute, a retreat center overlooking the Hudson River in a former Capuchin monastery. Patrick McNamara, the summit organizer, arrived to save the day (apparently there are no taxis in Garrison).

A couple slices of pizza later, I was in better spirits, though still dragging from lack of sleep the night before. Met more earlybirds, men from Albuquerque, Iowa, London, and two more men from San Francisco. After eating a bite, some of us smudged the space with sage as we held the intention to invite Spirit into our midst. After a dip in one of the hottubs (are we spoiled or what?) and a good night's rest, I'm ready for the summit to begin.

It's nearly noon, men are arriving, and the summit is scheduled to begin within hours. We are here to connect, to learn, to share, all invited to give our gifts to others and discover what gifts Spirit has in store for us.