Scott Carrino and I have become the closest of friends. He is an unusual man, I think of his as the new man. He runs a farm institute out in the woods, he and his wife Lisa have launched the Round House Cafe, the new soul of our town. He teaches Tai Chi, runs weekend programs for orphans and emotionally disturbed teenagers, writes songs, loves his family, plays the guitar, bakes bread for the local food pantry, supports local farmers and small businesses whenever he can.

He is, as it apparent, a distracted man, his head is often in many places, so it is not surprising we love and understand one another. I started taking Tai Chi lessons from Scott in exchange for writing lessons, and usually, we are so busy bullshitting we don’t do either. I am hoping this Thursday we will return to the sugar house and write a poem or song together. It is hard for men to make friends, it is hard for me to make friends, I make people nervous, Maria agrees. I don’t know why, it just happens sometimes.

Scott is busy, but he never loses his sensitivity or awareness of other people, and his cafe has become a creative and community haven for so many people. Yesterday, watching him scramble in the sugar house, twirling dials, skimming surfaces, loading wood into the fire, nearly bursting with pride at his wonderfully sweet and light maple syrup, I thought he is a wonderful man, he is what being a man is really about, ought to be about.

Yesterday, Scott was a wizard, an alchemist, he might well have been burned at the stake for this.