Summertime has been full of richness for the soul. After departing from central Oregon after living there for 2 months, Isaac and I journeyed south in an expedited 3 night trip, utilizing a nomad-friendly website called HarvestHosts.com. We stopped at 3 small farms along the way; Roseburg OR (a vineyard), Corning, CA (a lavender farm), and Cloverdale CA (a vineyard). Each host was incredibly kind, and we patronized their businesses as expected because staying on their lands cost us $0. We could feel the heat of the summer rising up, and it seemed like the hills turned more golden each day we traveled south.
We arrived in the town of Healdsburg, CA at the beginning of June so I could begin training for my new summer job. I worked at a pluralistic Jewish summer camp called Eden Village West, teaching ceramics for the summer. Isaac and I were able to park Lady Loam next to the farm on site, and Isaac got involved with the camp by managing the compost, doing animal chores, and helping with occasional weeding and mulching for a few hours a week on top of his web development job. My hours were packed during my days at camp, but with the one day off a week I had, Isaac and I explored the surrounding mountain and agricultural towns, world famous food scenes, and diverse nature. We visited Guernville and the Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Preserve, Point Reyes National Sea Shore, San Francisco for a Giants baseball game and dinner in Little Italy, Fort Mason, and many afternoons on the Russian River, where we had direct access from the camp. We taught Artie to be confident swimming, fished for trout, munched on road-side blackberries, and enjoyed all the local produce markets. Isaac and I made some great friends at Camp, and when we got the rare change to, we got late-night ice cream and rafted down the river with them. I loved establishing and tending to my own ceramics studio too. The campers and I made hamsa wall hangings, golems, Shabbat candlesticks and kiddish cups, and so much more. Every Shabbat, I took part in the services to light the Friday night candles with campers, parade the Torah around the community on Saturday, and lead the Havdallah spiral we weave into in order to light the beeswax candles I made with campers earlier in the week. Although many of the customs at this camp were different from what I grew up with, I enjoyed trying new ways of observing Judaism and the many conversations I had with my knowledgeable coworkers, both Jewish and goy. This camp’s style of Judaism is centered around nature and appreciation for the food we eat and the land we care for. I loved this perspective, and will take many elements of Camp’s practice with me for the rest of my life.
A few heat waves came and went, as did a few anxious fire warning days. It’s common in overnight summer camp culture to say “the days feel like weeks, but the weeks feel like minutes”. So much singing, dancing, laughter, hustle, sweat, and growth (for both campers and staff!). After 2 months of me working 50+ hours per week, Isaac and I were ready to move on to a new routine.
We traveled to Santa Cruz, CA and resided there for 3 weeks to rest and reset at my parent’s house. We cooked nightly, enjoyed the coastal weather, and Artie loved spending his time in the grassy backyard. Isaac and I went on a 2 night backpacking trip to the Portola Redwoods State Park, where we explored one of the last old growth redwood groves in the Santa Cruz Mountains. We hammock camped and were blown away by the majestic fortress the redwoods sustain (unsurprisingly, but still incredible to witness). We also took an overnight trip to San Francisco again and visited our dear friend Emily. Before leaving, we also explored north of Santa Cruz in the little coastal farming areas of Pescadero and Half Moon Bay. My dad and I serendipitously drove down to Monterey on a Tuesday, where we made friends with a volunteer for Monterey Bay Aquarium and scored free tickets to the aquarium that day.
Back in Santa Cruz, Isaac and I accomplished a few time-sensitive waterproofing projects for Lady Loam. I also organized and purged some of my art supplies, made beads and earrings to sell for Isabelle’s Painted Sky, attended a street fair and sold my art, and completed an Etsy order of postcards. If you want a set of your own, go to the “marketplace” tab in the header to my website above!
In my last Spring update, I was confident that I would be returning to Opal Creek Ancient Forest Center. However, I was notified last minute that they did not acquire enough funding this season to rehire me. As much as this disappoints us, I am looking forward to diving into small-scale organic farming and hope to find seasonal work in Northern California. The next update will have more information about this farm journey…!
Big Takeaways:
- river swimming is always better than pool swimming
- Isaac and I are magnets to farmer’s markets
- I tell my students to “slow down and zoom in” with their clay art, and I think that applies beyond too
- ice cubes and a fan can go a long way
- eating sushi with first-time sushi eaters (previously kosher) is a fun time!
- kids intuitively know how to work with clay, just give them the space to explore
- be friendly with strangers (especially if they are wearing a Star of David necklace and binoculars), you never know who may have tickets to your favorite aquarium on Earth