July was an absolute blur! From galavanting about Europe to Singing Stan on festival stage in Canso it’s been a challenge to keep up! Proof of it all is in the step counter, maxing out at a whopping 18,000+ steps a day. By month end the dust had settled enough to reflect on the July that was and get a few notes online.
We began in Amsterdam, the starting point for our Scandinavia ’25 tour that included Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo. Simply an amazing visit to these northern cities where Janie and I enjoyed the culture, architecture and cuisine around every bend in this beautiful part of the world. A trip for the books!!! Once again… we understand how lucky we are to be able to continue this style of independent travel and explore life beyond our corner of the globe.
Upon re-entry, attention turned to Stanfest ’25. The Lumsden’s are all in with this event, everyone volunteering in some form and taking on leadership roles to bring the event to life. This year I had the good fortune to play on Main Stage on several occasions, while Peter had multiple showcases during the festival while holding down Stage Crew Head duties. Monica was a trooper with Site Crew and Bar Staff work and Janie volunteered with Bar Staff and held together the campground area for our growing Stanfest Family! All in… a huge effort, with countless hours of time in Canso before and after the event.
Packed tightly in and around all of this was as much camp time as possible. We commuted, for much of our Stanfest volunteering, from camp to Canso, and post festival we enjoyed visitors late in the month! Derek & Jill, Curtis & Robert, Jennie & Troy and JP, Erin and Eileen all got in for quick stays! Of note… we saw our first bat since white nose syndrome devastated the North American populations of brown bat since 2011. Perhaps it’s a sign of recovery… as it’s suggested 90% of the population was eradicated. We’re hoping that diversity returns, and that once again we have a species that eats its weight in insects daily! We hope August will be wringing every ounce of pleasure out of the summer vacation. 😁