Saratoga Silks

Saratoga Silks is a story of American Dreamers and Doers taking risks, falling down and giving friends a leg up. Michael Butler is a high school teacher in Portland, Maine with a growing gambling problem. He feels stuck in his life and escapes to Saratoga Springs, New York each summer to cut loose and enjoy the horses, Adirondacks and Lake George. This summer in Saratoga he will cross paths with the people and events that alter him and his life forever. The healing springs and majesty of Lake George will be a background for a season of redemption and growth. Michael crossed the state line and left New England behind, entering shiny New York. There had been gateway years in his life thus far that connected two distinct stretches of belief systems. He hoped this would be one of them. Something needed to happen soon. His bills were getting larger and the gambling was getting more frequent. An older part of him was fading but he did not know yet what would come to replace it. He was feeling stuck and this year as he looked around the teacher's lounge at the older, tired faces, he shuddered to realize it possible that nothing would ever change. Taking a deep breath, he thought of the long discarded snake skins he would find when camping at Lake George. Or the abandoned cocoons hanging from branches at one of his secret island hideaways. There were so many signs of life and rebirth on the lake. That is where he would spend the 4th of July this year. Quietly. Alone in his new Bean tent. Watching silent fireworks sparkle in the distance. -from Saratoga Silks