“You’re doing what in Spain?” people ask when I first mention the Camino de Santiago. Most Americans I talk to have never heard of it. “It’s a pilgrimage walk through Northern Spain,” I explain. Well, my poor explanation got some help recently. Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez have created a movie about the Camino called…
Month: October 2011
Students and Teachers
“So what did you think of blacksmithing?” friends ask. “I loved it,” I say. “Though it was one of those classes I could have loved or hated based solely on the teacher. Thankfully, I had a really good teacher.” In my ten weeks here at the Folk School, I haven’t just been studying blacksmithing, or…
A New Use for our Garden Shed
Last month, I took Tom Dahaney’s Building a Garden Shed class. In five days, we accomplished quite a bit. What was left undone, we were told, would be completed by the Work Study students with the help of the maintenance department. On Saturday night, I had the pleasure of attending a wedding here on the…
Rocking Chairs
Beth and I went to sit down on the porch, overlooking the mountains. She took one rocking chair, I took another. “Oh – this is the one I don’t like,” I said as I got up and moved to another chair. Beth looked at the chair I had vacated and said, “Yeah, I don’t…
Changing My Mind – Maybe
“You don’t have to do this,” my heard reminds me. Really? I ask, feeling a little lighter. “Remember who’s in charge of your life? You can do whatever you want.” Oh, yeah… I thought. So I closed out of the six windows I had opened on my computer in my attempt to figure out where…
A Day in the Life: Tuesday
“So what exactly is a host?” my dining companions often ask when they see my position listed on my nametag. Where to start? I often wonder. My short answer is this: I live and work here in exchange for room and board and a class every week. The “class every week” part stops most people…
A Host Not Like Most?
“So have you made a lot of things so far?” my new co-host asked me. Having taken eight weeks of classes here at the Folk School, one would assume I have a cabinet filled with the fruits of my labors. “Actually, no,” I said. “I’ve purposely chosen classes where I don’t make a lot of…
RenaissanceRebecca 