A Small Letter to a Chicken

 

Dear Gypsy…

You were a sweet little hen.

Raising you and your sisters as chicks was so much fun, even when all six of you kept me awake at night with your chirping.

I’d like to thank you for all the eggs you gave us throughout your life; for tolerating me whenever I insisted on scooping you up and carrying you all over the yard.

And, even though you were one little chicken in a whole big world… I loved you so, so much. I wish I would have checked the coop for eggs sooner, so I could have held you and had a chance to say goodbye…

But, I know you’re up there someplace with all the other chickens that have come and gone through our home. I hope that, wherever that place is, there’s plenty of shady spots to dirt bathe in and all the cantaloupe guts you can eat.

Rest easy little chickie, I’ll make sure Biba keeps Benji in line <3

June 2018 Trip to The Hostel

In early-mid June me, my sister Bami, our friend Ang, and her sister Alyssa took a trip to visit The Hostel in the Forest. This would be mine and Bami’s second time visiting and Ang’s and Alyssa’s first.

If you’ve never heard of the Hostel allow me to fill you in a bit…(you can also click right HERE to visit their website). The Hostel in the Forest is a self sustainable, otherworldly place hidden in a 133 acre forest in the middle of nowhere, Brunswick, Georgia. It was started in 1975 by Tom Dennard, as a spot for passing travelers to stay. It has since evolved into so much more, thanks to the many volunteers that have helped throughout the years. Whether you’re a passing traveler, someone looking for a spiritual retreat, or you just want to forget about the outside world for a bit, you are more than welcome at the Hostel. Provided you’re not afraid to get tossed around driving down the long, bumpy road that leads off the highway and into the woods.

The Hostel is best known for it’s geodesic domes and for the multiple treehouses of all shapes and sizes that are available for guests to stay in. You are free to bring your own food and use all the facilities available in the kitchen, though a vegetarian type dinner is made every evening by the staff. The Hostel is essentially a commune, so everyone is encouraged to participate in some form of chore, be it anything from sweeping the porches by the main domes, working in the garden, feeding the chickens or ducks, or helping to clean the kitchen. And if you’re not doing a chore at the moment you can wander along the many hiking trails, swim and/or canoe in the lake, wander through the labyrinth, practice yoga in the Glass House, hula hoop anywhere ya like, play music or read in the library dome, or share some fruit with a chicken.

We did a little bit of everything on our two night trip to the forest. We slept in the Honeymoon Hut, an interesting little treehouse that had a view of the forest and the main dome area. All the treehouses are painted with lovely artwork and are all decorated differently. My favorite part was the creaky trapdoor in the floor that we had to climb in and out of. (I was actually very happy about having a trapdoor….I’m weird…ANYHOOO..) We had a bit of a critter problem though….roaches and spiders….though we believe it was because the particular hut we were staying in had not been inhabited in a while…and also…well, when you’re in the woods it happens sometimes! We made do though, we organized our things, sprayed some bug spray, swatted some man eating bugs with a broom, screamed a bit, and hung our hammocks from the poles that supported the hut so we weren’t sleeping on the floor. Me and Alyssa took the hammocks, Bami and Ang took the bed.

After fending off the bibbits in our hut, we got to work building our contribution the the Hostel: a teepee trellis for plants. Since the Hostel uses plants from the gardens for dinner, we thought it would be a good contribution. We also brought vining spinach plants to plant in the teepee. The chickens supervised the whole thing, scratching around us looking for bugs; digging in the leaves we raked up to clear a spot.

When we weren’t working on our teepee we were swimming in the lake and basking in the sun on the floating dock, playing in the glass house (pretending to do yoga), meeting new people around the bonfire, cuddling with chickens, and just fully enjoying being little barefoot creatures of the woods.

I think my most favorite experience of the Hostel is dinner time: When the bell rings through the trees you know it’s time to start heading towards the screen porch off the back of the kitchen. Once all the food and dishes and silverware are brought out and everyone has gathered together, we stand in a big circle around all the benches and tables holding hands. There’s a moment of silence for the forest around us, then one by one we introduce ourselves, tell where we’re from, and a couple things we’re thankful for that day. Some are known to say they’re from the kitchen if they helped make dinner, or they’re from the lake that day if their hair is still dripping from the walk over. The staff tends to say they’re from “Here” because at that moment the Hostel is their home. Some say they’re thankful for the chickens, the trees, the sun, love, life, sisters, their wife named Nan. No matter what, at this point we’re all either smiling, laughing, crying, or all three. Me, Bami, Ang, and Alyssa were definitely all three. Once everyone has had a chance to speak we get weird, we stomp on the ground, lift our hands up (still holding hands with everyone), count to three, and yell CHOMP! And then we chomp down on all the food we can eat.

There’s also a rule at dinner time: dinner’s not over until the kitchen is clean. So, as everyone is finishing up on chomping, we file into the kitchen, turn up some music, we dance, we groove and we clean! Someone scrapes the food scraps into the compost bucket, someone washes, someone rinses, someone dries, and someone puts dishes away. And we all take turns. And when everything is officially clean, we grab pots and pans and spoons and we bang everything on everything and make as much noise as possible to announce that the kitchen has been put back together again.

I cannot rightly put into words what it feels like to stay at the Hostel, it’s a mixture of ethereal and earthy and strange and magic all stuffed into one place. Between the time you arrive and the time you leave it will feel like home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are so many moments of the Hostel that I didn’t take pictures of: everyone gathering at dinner, night swimming at the lake, fending off the spiders in our hut, eating breakfast with the chickens, hanging around the bonfire. It’s hard to remember to take pictures when you’re so in the moment; which is what the Hostel is about.

However, below are a few pictures we managed to get that I didn’t have room for above: