This is not only the day of the Summer Solstice, it also kicks off what we call Open House Week, I am sort of a bachelor this week, Maria is spinning like a top, re-organizing her wonderful Schoolhouse Studio and turning it into an art space. Tables are disappearing, she and Fate are running in and out of the house all day, she is happy but in another space.
She Curator Head this week, I am advised to get out of the way. It is very wonderful to see her so engaged. In many ways, this Open House tradition is a celebration of her creativity, a deep well that just gets deeper.
I’m excited too. I ordered some food from the Round House to feed our good and very loyal friends who are coming to help out. Quinoa salad, coconut pound cake and fresh-baked Stromboli bread. I’m watering plans, filling in holes dug by the indefatigable Fate, shopping and cooking.
And I am doing a lot of other backstage prep. I called the Portable Toilet company, in the country you don’t have to pay in advance, they remember. “We’ll send a bill eventually,” they said. Toilets coming Thursday or Friday. Tyler Lindenholl is returning to help organize parking and traffic.
Jim McRae, our gifted Vermont shearer, is coming at 1 p.m. Ken Norman, our friend and shearer is coming later in the afternoon, or possibly Sunday. Poets Tom Atkins, Jackie Thorne, Kate Rantilla and Mary Kellogg will be reading some of their poems. Ed Gulley, dairy farmer and blogger, will be giving a talk and showing and selling his very original and engaging farm and folk art.
Joshua Rockwood, the Glenville farmer so unfairly persecuted last year – he is on the rebound – will be here Saturday to meet people and talk a bit about his experience. I will give a talk about the farm and my next book.
Maria has assembled some exciting artists – Rachel Barlow, Carol Law Conklin, Marilyn Brooks, Carol Barrett, Deborah Glessner, Kim Macmillan, Ed Gulley and Maria, with her tote bags, quilts and hanging pieces. Fran Welge will be here selling her very popular mini-gardens.
Deb Foster will be here to care for the animals and help people meet them safely, and my friend Cathy Stewart will be on hand to help me schedule events and keep things moving. Admission is free and open to the public, we are asking for a voluntary $5 donation this year to help defray the costs of the Open House.
Their art is diverse, very original and inexpensive. It is a kind of feast, a true celebration of the art of rural life. Flo, our ban cat, will be looking for laps to lie in. Fate will be racing around trying to jump on people. Hungry people can get right down the road to the Round House Cafe, which will be open until 3 p.m. both days. Beads and socks (you’ve seen them on Maria’s feet and mine) are available at Over The Moon on Main Street. So are books from Battenkill. I will happily sign and personalize any of my books that are purchased there, Connie Brooks has them all.
If I can lure her out of the studio, Maria will give a talk also. I have no illusions about my role, it is to guide people towards Maria and her studio, show off Red and Fate and talk about our experience herding sheep.
It is also to help people meet the donkeys and Chloe, and talk about the wonderful history and spiritual meaning of donkeys. I will be happy to sign books and say hello as well.
Scott Carrino will also come by in the afternoon to play his guitar and sing some of the lovely songs he has written.
We feel especially good about this Open House, it feels warm and pure to us, close to what we originally had in mind for it. It is so great to have our friends around us, and to meet so many of the people who have supported our work. The Open House will be next Saturday and Sunday, ll a.m. to 4 p.m.
At the end of the day Saturday, Jackie Thorne will be at Battenkill Books to read from her new book, “Gone To Ground,” a beautiful collection of poems and essays.
This is the first of two Open Houses, one this coming weekend – June 25-26, the other in October, Columbus Day Weekend. Details here.