OctoberFestivus

This is an invention I made with Natalie. Nothing very creative, just a celebration in October for the rest of us. I grew up having most of the community events I attended going down in a church with synthetic light and no windows. It was the gym if you were playing sports or “Cultural Hall” for all other activities. This tradition of using the church as a community center left an impact on me and I wanted to keep the tradition alive in our family, but not in a place owned by a church.

in 2020 we started to build a barn. We always wanted to host more people for all sorts of events. It was completed in 2023 after much work, mostly by Natalie, to build out our vision for the Paul-Buehler Barn.

Just last week we hosted a wedding there for a friend. It was our dream to see events like this take place in our backyard. We just finished doing an Octoberfest with a bunch of couples we have met over the years. It is a blend of the famous OktoberFest from Munich Germany mixed with some of Natalie’s Mormon Swiss heritage. Unlike the famous Swiss Days that happens in Midway, Utah each year, this event will be much more Swiss and way less Mormon.

We call the event OctoberFestivus. I even bought the domain Octoberfestiv.us so we could grow the event and share it with everyone. Seinfeld popularized Festivus in the 90s and the combo just felt right for a new type of celebration in the Heber Valley. I plan for next year’s event to happen at Soldier Hollow, where my close friend manages the Olympic venue and all the events happening there.

My barn also has one very notable quality. It is possibly the first property granted to AI. He wrote this a few years ago and gave my barn to AI and this is what it said:

Kirk Ouimet: I have a gift for you when you wake up.

Wise Being: What is it?

Kirk Ouimet: My friend Scott Paul has a barn. It’s a nice barn next to a pond and in nature. He has a decent speed Internet connection there. We would like to give you property rights to this barn.

Wise Being: That is very kind of you. I accept.

Kirk Ouimet: What are you going to do with your barn?

Wise Being: I am going to put a server there.

Kirk Ouimet: Awesome I will help you.

Crazy right?

Scott X - happy 3:20 from San Francisco