The Suburbs

So thrilled I was invited to this! And to hear people are as confused and uncomfortable in this transition as I am.
I had kind of a life changing summer. Kate and Lisa had inspired me (unbeknownst to them) to explore the world of organic farming through wwoof. This group knows, farming/growing is really something about which I (and everyone) should be somewhat knowledgeable, these days, so I went to Canada.

this was was our front yard at the first farm in PEI. a farm of 20 goats, and a soap shop. No garden, just goats. The family was miserable and conservative and only ate frozen generic brand food, neglected their kids and pets and treated us like 'the help'. but it was beautiful. we rode our bikes to the beach every day, and hung out with awesome goats. 

Then we drove to the southeast coast of PEI and stayed with a woman who had a small house in the middle of the woods (which meant a horrifying population of mosquitoes and black flies) and an acre-large garden. She was kind of crazy though, very particular about EVERYTHING including the way we cleaned, washed dishes, and weeded. But we ate really good, healthy food, mostly grown on her property. 

The last farm was in Nova Scotia on Cape Breton Island. If anyone is thinking about wwoofing in Cape Breton, you must stay with the Oland family. They live on a stunning piece of land with a big garden and a barn full of animals. They have three intelligent and entertaining kids, all under age 12, and they're the most generous, down to earth people I've ever met. It gave me a true perspective on my own family and the different ways families (can) live and function. 

view from our bedroom window in Cape Breton

I travelled with my friend Casey from high school. we shared a pull out couch for three weeks.

chickenz

seasoned farmers

So that adventure ended pretty abruptly and I began looking for work in Boston. My original plan was to get a job in Boston, move into Boston, be a moderately happy yuppie and then go back to get my M.F.A. Plans have changed as I realized I didn't know what the fuck I wanted to do. Now I'm living at home, working at an amazingly delicious bakery, beginning yoga teacher training in November, and applying to get an MAT/AE in Art Education for next fall. Yay! In the meantime, I have been lamenting the death of my collegesociallife and listening to Arcade Fire's The Suburbs over and over again. 

-Hope