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We spent the weekend at the Hostel! Yay! Here is my detailed account. I may edit with pictures any minute, whoooo knowwwssss.
First, we actually did most of the packing Thursday night so we got out Friday morning (like before noon even!) which is a miracle for us. On the way we stopped to see Marika and Jester (the circus folks we met so long ago and fell out of touch with.) They've just bought a farm and tragically lost their 3 year old son just a few weeks ago. I was so glad to be there with them and to be able to grieve and even laugh together. It was healing, I hope for us all. We intended to stay for an hour or so but ended up staying all afternoon and evening. We toured their farm, met their goat and chickens, talked alot about what's been going on with them in the last couple of weeks. Made plans (firm plans I hope) for them to come down for Thanksgiving... haha, we offered The Hula as additional enticement as if she is the universal lure for all good people.
We didn't get to the forest until almost 9! It was raining hard so instead of the usual unpack-a-thon we just grabbed our pillows and blankets and got set up in our tree house. We were in the honeymoon, where we stayed when we got married! It has a hatch door that you can close from inside, so there was no way the girls could escape in the forest alone or fall down the stairs accidentally, and someone had been kind enough to throw an extra mattress up there for us so that night we didn't even all have to sleep together. It was pretty warm considering the rain and the sound of it was so soothing. Slept like a rock which is unusual since I didn't have my mask and I was wearing clothes and on a hard mattress covered in plastic that makes noise when you move. But sleep I did, ahhhh.
The next day the weather was perfect! We woke up late even and then spent some time just all 4 of us cuddling in bed. I hadn't realized before how much of our morning routine is driven by the animals (for those keeping count that's 2 dogs, 2 cats, 2 toads, 1 tree frog, 2 love birds, 2 shaft tailed finches, 4 zebra finches and 8 chickens.) It was nice to just relax. We mosied out finally, got some tea and met some of the folks who were about, sat by the fire, ate oatmeal and then got around to unpacking the car. We showed the girls around the duck pond, the glass house and then to the garden. Jeremy, who has been manager for about a year now and whose father was a manager back in the 70s (Murray), was out there and was kind enough to give us a tour of the newly expanded garden. It's amazing what they've done out there. Jeremy is just a super young man and I think a good reflection of the kind of person a hostel-baby turns out to be. The garden was really inspiring. They have some goats now too, hoping to make cheese eventually.
After that we went to the swimming pond, the girls stripped and splashed, we walked around the woods a bit and general lazed about. The girls and I went to have a nap and Amanda went to get milk which we'd forgotten since it was so late the night before. The hostel kids were making masks and getting ready for a spooky night in the forest. There was a baking workshop where Luke, the kitchen manager, showed me how to make yeast bread without measuring anything. Awesome. And I made a cake with ginger icing for dinner (icing experiment for the eve feast, and, as it turned out, in making icing without a mixer.) I got frustrated with my still too warm cake and my heavy unwhipped icing and so passed that off to Mikey with the comment that I'd slaughtered it. This inspired him and he made it Slaughter Cake with a big heart shaped apple pumping strawberry milk-mix blood out of the top. It was GREAT.
Dinner was fantastic as usual and everyone came in costume. The circle was so healing, all of that gratitude. I was especially mushy because I am grieving for Tristan still, our friend's 3 year old, and very very aware of how blessed we are every day. We crashed early but enjoyed listening to the kids (the hostel kids... so funny to hear the girls refer to them as "the kids" too) scare each other in the woods and have a masquerade ball. Ruby had a night terrors episode which fit right in, as her screams echoed through the forest. Didn't sleep as well that night because it turned cold and we were all crammed in together but the snuggling was still nice.
Sunday was low-key, we had another walk in the woods. The girls colored, we swept and raked a bit before packing up and heading out. We stopped in Jacksonville to see Terese (she performed our ceremony) who is 25 weeks pregnant. We'd fallen out of touch too since the girls were born. She seems great and very grounded and happy. So it was a reconnected weekend all round and felt like a real trip through the cycle of life. As always the Hostel inspired, calmed, renewed and healed.
First, we actually did most of the packing Thursday night so we got out Friday morning (like before noon even!) which is a miracle for us. On the way we stopped to see Marika and Jester (the circus folks we met so long ago and fell out of touch with.) They've just bought a farm and tragically lost their 3 year old son just a few weeks ago. I was so glad to be there with them and to be able to grieve and even laugh together. It was healing, I hope for us all. We intended to stay for an hour or so but ended up staying all afternoon and evening. We toured their farm, met their goat and chickens, talked alot about what's been going on with them in the last couple of weeks. Made plans (firm plans I hope) for them to come down for Thanksgiving... haha, we offered The Hula as additional enticement as if she is the universal lure for all good people.
We didn't get to the forest until almost 9! It was raining hard so instead of the usual unpack-a-thon we just grabbed our pillows and blankets and got set up in our tree house. We were in the honeymoon, where we stayed when we got married! It has a hatch door that you can close from inside, so there was no way the girls could escape in the forest alone or fall down the stairs accidentally, and someone had been kind enough to throw an extra mattress up there for us so that night we didn't even all have to sleep together. It was pretty warm considering the rain and the sound of it was so soothing. Slept like a rock which is unusual since I didn't have my mask and I was wearing clothes and on a hard mattress covered in plastic that makes noise when you move. But sleep I did, ahhhh.
The next day the weather was perfect! We woke up late even and then spent some time just all 4 of us cuddling in bed. I hadn't realized before how much of our morning routine is driven by the animals (for those keeping count that's 2 dogs, 2 cats, 2 toads, 1 tree frog, 2 love birds, 2 shaft tailed finches, 4 zebra finches and 8 chickens.) It was nice to just relax. We mosied out finally, got some tea and met some of the folks who were about, sat by the fire, ate oatmeal and then got around to unpacking the car. We showed the girls around the duck pond, the glass house and then to the garden. Jeremy, who has been manager for about a year now and whose father was a manager back in the 70s (Murray), was out there and was kind enough to give us a tour of the newly expanded garden. It's amazing what they've done out there. Jeremy is just a super young man and I think a good reflection of the kind of person a hostel-baby turns out to be. The garden was really inspiring. They have some goats now too, hoping to make cheese eventually.
After that we went to the swimming pond, the girls stripped and splashed, we walked around the woods a bit and general lazed about. The girls and I went to have a nap and Amanda went to get milk which we'd forgotten since it was so late the night before. The hostel kids were making masks and getting ready for a spooky night in the forest. There was a baking workshop where Luke, the kitchen manager, showed me how to make yeast bread without measuring anything. Awesome. And I made a cake with ginger icing for dinner (icing experiment for the eve feast, and, as it turned out, in making icing without a mixer.) I got frustrated with my still too warm cake and my heavy unwhipped icing and so passed that off to Mikey with the comment that I'd slaughtered it. This inspired him and he made it Slaughter Cake with a big heart shaped apple pumping strawberry milk-mix blood out of the top. It was GREAT.
Dinner was fantastic as usual and everyone came in costume. The circle was so healing, all of that gratitude. I was especially mushy because I am grieving for Tristan still, our friend's 3 year old, and very very aware of how blessed we are every day. We crashed early but enjoyed listening to the kids (the hostel kids... so funny to hear the girls refer to them as "the kids" too) scare each other in the woods and have a masquerade ball. Ruby had a night terrors episode which fit right in, as her screams echoed through the forest. Didn't sleep as well that night because it turned cold and we were all crammed in together but the snuggling was still nice.
Sunday was low-key, we had another walk in the woods. The girls colored, we swept and raked a bit before packing up and heading out. We stopped in Jacksonville to see Terese (she performed our ceremony) who is 25 weeks pregnant. We'd fallen out of touch too since the girls were born. She seems great and very grounded and happy. So it was a reconnected weekend all round and felt like a real trip through the cycle of life. As always the Hostel inspired, calmed, renewed and healed.
