Why the name Vesper Hill?

Well OK. People always seem to like this story, so here goes.

Once upon a time there was a hill called Vesper Hill.

Like, literally, a hill.

It was part of a summer camp, far far away, in a land called Ohio. That’s the state where Angel grew up. Steve grew up in Yorkshire, which is a bit different, but in 1992, he came visiting with Camp America. Back then we were both very young, and we’d never heard of the internet. So after that summer, it was hard to maintain a long-distance relationship.
Fast forward a quarter of a century. After a lot of other living, we got married in 2017. And then Angel moved to England, and we all lived happily ever after.

Except that we didn’t, of course. Our transatlantic family puts us right in the middle of a very 21st Century dilemma about when or if to visit loved ones in person – when that means taking long-haul flights. It’s the problem that the writer George Monbiot refers to as “love miles”. And we’re still not sure there’s a right or wrong answer here.

Angel and her kids are now naturalised in the UK, and have taken British citizenship. We try to live and work locally. But there are people close to us, in a land far away, who we still need to be there for. Even if we’re not actually there.
This is the kind of problem that we might once have discussed, without judgement, around a campfire on Vesper Hill.

Today, we’re more likely to go for a walk around Wythenshawe Park. But Vesper Hill retains a special place in our imaginations. It’s a place for quiet meditation, among the trees and the grass and the sky. It’s also a place for laughter, and singing, and telling tales. That’s the spirit we’re still trying to capture, with our virtual Vesper Hill.
We hope some day you will join us.