"A Magical Place"

When I arrived at the festival at 2:30 on Sunday, I wondered if being there would reduce my stress. I was stressed for alot of reasons but then even more stressed to learn I'd have to pay $5 for parking. I wasn't even sure if I had an extra 5 on me and realized I might have to turn around and go home. Turns out I did have the extra 5.

I'm at a very magical place. Spoutwood Farm in Glen Rock, PA. I'm not positive the web address but I surmise it's www.spoutwoodfarm.org

It's the Mother Earth Fest. I've been here twice before. I was here in 98 with Anne who was coming to pick up her seasonal share of the harvest. This is the site of the Community Supported Agriculture Program. I was also here in May 2001 for the Faerie Festival. The theme for this festival is sustainable living.

In the past I hadn't noted this property as magical, but this time it really feels that way. Literally after about 15 minutes on the property, I felt all my stress melt away. When I told some people there that I felt that way, they said, that's because Spoutwood Farm is a magical place. There's something about the combination of the land, the architecture, the beautiful brightly colored outfits, the interesting and beautiful things being sold and the friendliness that is really unique. Virtually nobody seemed "guarded" like in Baltimore.

You know if you've been reading my blog, that I have a "Special Place in my Heart" for a handful of places. The Carroll County Farm Museum is another one. Always something transformative about being there that goes even deeper then the natural beauty.

At this festival there is a guitarist sitting off to the side putting on a show. He stops the show, so that he can give an off the cuff flute lesson to a 7 year old walking by, who hasn't quite mastered her instrument. He instructs her to come back when she's "learned to play the flute" I think thats a very tall order! She runs away without looking back! She isn't with any adults. Which seems quite normal in an environment like this. You just kind of know when a place is really safe. I can imagine that Woodstock was probably like this.

One of my favorite parts of this festival was the bus diner. The owners painted some cool designs on a school bus and turned it into a restaurant. The bus seats are transformed into booths. Wondrous for me, but I'm told that the diners in the old days were reconverted trains!

I'm surprised to learn that I only live 10 miles from the PA line, and that it would only take me 1/2 hour to get to this festival.

I finally got to the see the straw bale house that my landlord and his family built here in 2000. Absolutely amazing. You certainly can't tell that it was built out of straw. It was kind of surreal because he decorated it with the same antique rug that I walked on daily when I was his tenant for a year in '00-'01.

I most certainly wasn't used to this kind of difficult terrain. I had a hard time keeping my balance and even had a hard time with the slanted path that one had to walk on to get from their car to the festival. It felt even more painful then usual to walk. (It does hurt to walk anyway when you have fibromyalgia. Your thighs and calves and sometimes your hips and feet hurt. Not the same kind of hurt that a healthy person would feel after a workout)

I would also bet that you can learn about this place by going to

www.communitysupportedagriculture.org

(glen rock)

I hope you enjoyed this post!