12 September 2013

parting is such sweet sorrow

This is late.  I jotted most of this all down in August but never revisited it as I was crushed with everything I needed to do to leave Missoula.  So here goes:

As you all well know by now, Pie Guy Industries has picked up its Missoula base of operations and relocated back east.  Buffalo, NY to be more precise.  Now I say back because although I never baked a pie in my life until coming to Missoula, Maryland and the East Coast will always be my home.  Not that Buffalo is home, although I suppose it soon will be, more like I am moving to the region (and time zone) I will always consider home to me and "my people".  Now no disrespect intended to Missoulians, but I don't think it was an accident that my inner circle of guy friends at least are all dudes from back east.  Tim, Keith and Fred, from New York, New York and New Jersey, respectively.  As a matter of fact, my other great friend Brendan is from Colorado but his folks are from Jersey so I can connect those dots too.  These are guys with similar sensibilities as my own, perhaps characterized by shorter fuses, sharp sarcastic wit and a no-nonsense approach to life that is bred from growing up on top of one another and dealing, from an all-too-close proximity, with too many people's shit.

Yet I digress, Missoula has been so kind and good to me (cue Sammy Sosa?).  In the weeks leading up to my departure I would get extremely sad to think of leaving the oasis that is Missoula and my life without the market and the relationships I've established with so many of my customers.  Yet I must admit my spirit does cartwheels now on Thursday and Friday nites when I'm not standing up running around like a crazy man baking til the wee hours of the morning.  I certainly don't miss that but then again, I didn't miss East Coast humidity either.  Sheesh.  So life goes on for all of us and I have to always consider my future and it is with that in mind that I moved from Western Montana to Western New York.

There are so many thank-yous to give out that I apologize if I miss anybody by name.  Thank you to Mary Ellen and Franco for managing the Clark Fork Market so well over the past four plus seasons.  Thank you to Kate for always paying me cash for my tokens.  Thank you to Chris Lafley for encouraging me to sign up to sling pies in the first place.  Thanks to Peter and Sue for letting me know that my rhubarb was crunchy and offering the suggestion to marinate it before baking it in the oven.  Thank you Dawn for helping me develop a more reliable vegan crust as well as a killer custard that works well with any complimentary fruit like blueberry, raspberry, huckleberry or rhubarb.  Thanks to Fred "The Machine Gun" Dealaman, Jr. for helping me with crazy wedding catering jobs and for selling pies/slices on an as-needed basis.

Thanks to Brendan Stewart for letting me use his kitchen to the tune of well over 1,000 pies baked since 2009.  I'm sure it will falter soon - in fact you've probably already replaced it by now - but who knew Kenmore's were so damn durable?

Thanks to all my friends and family who've encouraged me, the assistants who have helped me over the years - from my parents to my brother Mike to Shea and Tim.  Most of all, thank you the customers, even though you were customers I am happy that so many of you have become my friends over the years.  Thank you Derek and Julie for almost single handedly underwriting my production with their own consumption.  As well as to David and all the others who have turned out to my stand nearly every Saturday for four plus years.  I truly wish I could still offer you guys gluten-free pie that is surely lacking in that town now in my absence.

Before I left, I could hardly envision what life would feel like now that I don't have the Clark Fork Market to hang out at.  I'm getting a better understanding now.  It's more than ok, but I do miss Missoula specifically and Montana in general because it is full of so many real, down-to-earth, salt-of-the-earth, warm, genuine, unique, caring and community-minded individuals that made it so sad and difficult for me to leave.

Yet there are more opportunities that I simply could not pass up.  Bigger and better things to strive for, more pies in the sky that I must chase down knowing full well that no matter where exactly I end up, I will always treasure and cherish the journey, the good times, the life-affirming moments along with the heartaches and the heartbreaks, but particularly I will treasure and cherish all the of the diverse, amazing and wonderful people I've had the good fortune to encounter and befriend.

Lastly, I must thank Miss Betty Lou Vilnius for without her none of this would've been possible.  As crazy as that may sound, those who know me know this to be true.  As always, it's all for you, Lou.

Thanks again for everything, Missoula, I'll never meet a town just like you and for that I will always hold you near and dear to my heart and perhaps one day down the road I may seek shelter again on the banks of the gorgeous flowing river that they say "runs through it".

With all of my love, respect and utmost appreciation,

Peter