It was September 2022. Here in the Pacific Northwest we were just beginning to come back together. The small groups with masks had begun to yield to larger groups outdoors without masks. It was still precarious, but my husband, Greg and I, had decided to hold our first Guanaco Spinning Retreat.
In a things-are-somewhat-back-to-normal-but-not-quite year, 2022 became not just a time to reacquaint myself with society, it also became a year to carve a new identity.
Featuring: The Granite Web Makers of New Hampshire.
A dream trip to Scotland in 2019 culminated in a visit to the 10th annual Shetland Wool Week. After an eventful 12-hour ferry ride from Aberdeen, we arrived in Lerwick, Shetland at the beginning of our 9-day visit to the lovely Shetland Isles.
Mni Sota Makoce rests on unseated Dakota and Anishinaabe people’s land and recognizes eleven federal tribes within its borders. I am currently residing near Wakpá Tháŋka (the Mississippi River), just a few miles upriver from Bdoté, the place where the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers join. I am joyful to be living in this land with three natural watersheds, where farming and shepherding are a piece of our robust state economy.
Just because you’ve learned to spin doesn’t mean every group or experience with “spinning” in the title is a perfect fit. (Hint, the exercise classes are not the same thing!)
As the world seems to be getting smaller and smaller, the place we call home is our touchstone. Where we live holds pieces to the puzzle of our identity. Our values and attitudes can be molded by our place. Place determines the comfort food we eat and the way we dress. It even inspires our art and the materials we choose to express ourselves.
Author Jacqueline Harp brings you an exciting interview with shepherdess (mother of five daughters, veterinarian, and knitter) Meg Falcone of Five Sisters Farm for an insightful Q&A about raising Shetland sheep with the theme of Place in-mind. Read more now!
In different seasons of our life, we may feel the wheels are just spinning. We can’t get out of the ruts. Same problems at work. Same issues with kids. Same health (mental and physical) struggles. Same relationship issues. Our wheels keep spinning to find a way out.
