Spring Creek Farm Revisited and Rainbow Respite

Spring Creek Farm Revisited

Our corn seedlings all grown up

     After Bonnaroo we had some flexibility with our farming schedule, and since we were already in Tennessee we decided to swing by and catch up with our friends in Pioneer. Adam and Shelby at Spring Creek Farm were happy to host us again, and we were looking forward to seeing everyone and how the farm was doing. There were some new faces on the farm, including Shelby's three daughters up from Florida, Jane the resident agricultural expert and summer farm chef, and Bree, a fellow WWOOFer. Adam and Shelby had also adapted the farm with WWOOFers in mind. While there we enjoyed the heck out of their beautiful, large outdoor shower, and had fun staying in a lovely woodshed-turned-cabin.

A much greener greenhouse

     This was the first time we got to return to a farm we had previously worked on, and it was rewarding to see the fruits of our labor. The New Zealand spinach (actually not in the spinach family) we had planted was growing prolifically, the corn we had started in the hoophouse was as tall as we are and quite delicious, and the blueberries we had tended were producing fruit. Not all of our labor turned out so successfully, though. About half of the turken and chicken eggs we had carefully put in the incubator didn't make it due to an incubator malfunction.

Jane, Randy, Louise, Corey

However, the poultry population had already been boosted by the purchase of dozens of new guineas, quail, and turkeys. The number of cattle had decreased significantly due to sales; they had decided to focus more on the thriving sheep. An entirely new species joined the farm in the form of about two dozen rabbits.
     A few days after we arrived, two more WWOOFers came to the farm. Corey and Louise were traveling around the states, and this was their first farming stop. Corey hailed from New Zealand/Australia and Louise was from England. They both very friendly and engaging, and everyone had a hard time not slipping into their pleasant accents.

Bree and Shelby enjoying pizza

Jane and her amazing doughnut meal

Making flower crowns

     With so many friendly folks around we had a great time hanging out after work. We were both bummed that Adam's son wasn't there to hang out, but we had fun with the 5 girls. They all begged us to jump on the trampoline with them, and they especially liked it when Randy jumped because he bounced them all super high. Holly had fun making clover/dandelion crowns with the three little girls, who were duly impressed with her flower-joining skills. Jane was a talented and original cook, and we all had the pleasure of enjoying her culinary creations. Some of our favorites included mint-basil shortbread cookies, squash and beet pizza, orange ginger biscotti, and an indulgent lunch of homemade doughnuts. Adam and Shelby love croquet, and we had a blast racing through the wickets. One night the farm hosted a local get-together featuring a fire and drum circle. Adrienne, Mac and others from A Place of the Heart Farm came over and helped us relax     and laugh around a fire while creating some rockin' rhythms.

Cruisin' in the convertible

Cumberland Falls State Park

     Following the national trend, we had some especially sweltering weather, made worse by the lack of rain. But, the Spring Creek crew compensated by taking off to a local swimming hole one afternoon, and also taking a day trip to Eagle Falls. We decided to take this opportunity to try putting the top down on our car (aka popping the "red pimple" as Barbara, Adam's mom, called it). Because the car is usually too full of stuff to use the convertible option, we have been unable to enjoy this classic summertime experience. It was invigorating to have the sun warming us as the wind played over us. The Cottrills frequent Eagle Falls as a place of relaxation, and it was easy to see why. Gorgeous views of the Cumberland River and awe-inspiring rock formations peppered our 1.5 mile hike to the falls. Once there we cooled down in the pool beneath a narrow waterfall, jumping in off the rocks and playing in the falls. Later we headed down to the actual river which was quite a bit warmer, frolicking in the semi-strong current, sunning, and eating our lunch.

Natural high-pressure shower

Randy gets diving advice

     A downside of having a flashy red out-of-state convertible is that it attracts cops like pigs to fermented grain. We were pulled over by a state trooper a few miles from the state line, with the explanation being he'd run our tags and they'd taken awhile coming back. Since we obviously couldn't have been speeding, he let us go.

Knoxville Farmer's Market

Contemplating produce

     The Knoxville Farmer's Market and Spring Creek's CSA were in full swing, and we enjoyed helping to harvest, process, and sell the produce. We got to see Adrienne and Mac again at the farmer's market, since their booth is next door. Holly especially had fun being able to partake in one of her favorites pasttimes, hawking produce; while Randy savored one of his, exploring the city, including the 1982 World's Fair Sunsphere

A recording of the 1982 World's Fair performances loops continuously inside the Sunsphere, this is probably a close approximation to hell.

Quite a burl

*   *   *

Rainbow Respite

     Many people valued the Gathering as a safe, unique space, and felt that photographs would be invasive. Out of respect for their wishes, we took few pictures.

     The annual national Rainbow Gathering is in its 40th year, and is a gathering centered around praying for peace. It generally attracts counterculture-types seeking an alternative to mainstream consumerism and popular culture. The gathering is held in a different national forest each year, and everyone comes together to provide food, water, and medical care to the 10-20,000 people who attend. Members of Holly's family have attended Rainbow Gatherings in the past, and she has been wanting to check one out for a while. This year the Gathering was in Tennessee, and since we were in the area we decided to make the detour. After mentioning our plans to a few different people, we heard mixed reviews of the event. Opinions varied from it being a beautiful bonding experience with others to it being a anarchistic party in the woods attracting the wrong types of people. We weren't exactly sure what to expect when we arrived on Monday evening. We drove a ways down a windy, bumpy gravel road in Cherokee National Forest, passing miles of precariously parked cars. Some friendly folks stopped us and gave us a map of the area. We eventually found a parking spot and ate peanut butter sandwiches in the car. Soon we were introduced to our parking spot neighbor, Marco, a pleasant nitrous dealer. Since it was quite dark, we decided to just sleep a little ways off the road in the woods, and figure out the lay of the land in the morning. All night the road was home to a boisterous population whose constant din woke us up a few times during the night. After that night we were a bit wary of how the Gathering would unfold.

All the grubby cars had graffiti, we found this on our dust bunny

     The next day we explored the Gathering itself, learning that we had actually slept in A Camp (where the use of alcohol is restricted to), and the vibe of most other areas was more peaceful and considerate. Frequent greetings were "welcome home" and "lovin' you." We also learned that we had snagged an excellent parking spot quite close to one of the main trails. Because Cherokee National Forest is in the mountains, the Gathering was quite spread out along several trails through the woods, and we ended up walking several miles each day. We relocated our campsite to a nice secluded spot on the edge of a meadow. Though we could still hear A Camp in the distance, it was worth it to be hidden amongst the trees and have as many blackberries as we could eat outside our front door.
     We also enjoyed the wildlife indigenous to our meadow. One afternoon we noticed a box turtle hanging out around the tent, and we had fun watching it for a while before it slowly lumbered off. A slightly less tranquil encounter occurred one evening as we were drifting off to sleep. Holly felt something run over her arm, and gave a startled shout. We spent the next five minutes chasing the mouse around the tent, trying to either catch it or shoo it outside. Every time we thought we had it cornered it would disappear into the jumble of blankets and pop up somewhere else. Eventually we weighted down the door lip and it was able to run out.
     During our time there the weather was quite hot, with highs going up to 106 degrees. Luckily, the Gathering was close to South Holston Lake, which was a welcome reprieve. We went almost everyday, and had fun cooling off and practicing our childhood water tricks. The lake also provided the only source of cleanliness, since drinking water was too valuable to bathe in. "Bathing" consisted of jumping in in our swimsuit, while "doing our laundry" consisted of jumping in with our dirty clothes on.

Enjoying the local cuisine

     Our en route dumpstering had come up short, so we were a bit worried about having enough food for our ten day stay. We needn't have worried, though, because there were about thirty different kitchens around the Gathering that regularly served food to whoever was hungry. While most served various meals, others specialized in pancakes or gluten-free fare."Pop corner" always had a different flavor of popcorn with an interesting name; the taco-spiced was "sexy enchilada," and the curry-themed was "kirtan gives me runny poop." "Tea Time" was a kitchen we frequented that had several types of tea available 24 hours a day. Occasionally we would wonder from kitchen to kitchen sampling their "zuzus" (desserts), including deep-fried Reese's cups, 'smores, butterscotch pancakes, and chocolate-banana-peanut butter turnovers. All these kitchens also usually prepared a dish to share at Main Circle, a communal meal served every night. The kitchens donate approximately 2/3 of the food they served, the rest being supplied by money donated to the "Magic Hat" each evening. Nothing may be bought or sold at the Gathering, but contributions are asked for each night as an orange five-gallon bucket, the "Magic Hat" is brought around the circle accompanied by accordions and violins. 

Sadly, we never got to ask

     Besides money, you could help the kitchens by "plugging in" (helping out). They always needed people to haul supplies the 2-3 miles up the mountain and dig latrines. We made several supply runs for various kitchens, and aided in the arduous task of digging a latrine in parched mountain clay.
     As the days passed, it was fun to watch a community of thousands form in the woods. Besides seeing people we knew already, like Adrienne, Mac, and others from A Place of the Heart, and Wade and Kate from Mountain Gardens, we also began to recognize and become acquainted with many other members of the Rainbow family. One of these people was the "pocket trash guy" who seemed to spend all of his time walking around with a trash bag collecting everyone's potential litter. Another niche was Nic at Night, who went around handing out and collecting cigarettes, a sort of food pantry of cigarettes. We also met new people when we were occasionally stopped and asked for a "smoke, toke or joke." Since we never had the first two, we shared and gained a good many jokes. Here are two of our favorites, although their hilarity depends greatly on intonation: "What do you get when you cross a brown chicken and a brown cow? Brownchicken browncow!" (to the tune of bow chica wow wow). Also, "what did the hippie say when the homeowner asked him to leave? Nah-ima-stay."

Thoughtful people hung a swing for everyone's enjoyment

     At night, parts of the gathering had a carnivalesque feel. Once we came upon a woman performing on a circus sash hung from a tree, complete with violin accompaniment and head lamp spotlights. Fire spinners queued up to perform in front of enthusiastic crowds, brandishing a seemingly endless variety of flaming accoutrements. Hula hoopers, devil stick jugglers, and traditional jugglers also enjoyed entertaining the masses.
     Another way for people to show off their skills was at the Granola Funk theater, a stage constructed at every gathering for various performances.

"G-Funk's" amazing stage

This year's stage had a pyramid theme complete with a passing extraterrestrial craft. Some of the performances included a singer/songwriter night and gong and talent shows. Drummers got plenty of opportunity to work the crowd into a dancing frenzy with multiple nightly fireside drum circles lasting until dawn.
     There were also educational opportunities in the form of workshops. Green Path camp offered numerous daily options, and we took advantage of a plant walk. We had already been munching on blueberries, blackberries, and wintergreen, but Learning Deer brought a few new plants to our attention. We learned that all pine needles are an excellent, easily absorbed source of vitamin C, that can be eaten raw or steeped in water bottles.
      A fun part of the Rainbow economy was the lively trading area. Dozens of people spread their wares on blankets while passersby admired and haggled over the goods, reminiscent of an open-air street market. After scoping out the area for a few days we decided to test the trading waters for a sushi mat. Holly was able to make a hemp necklace in exchange for it. After that we were more confident, and traded a MRE for a cargo strap, a tire repair kit for a few books, a piece of turquoise for a pocket mirror, and an Arkansas crystal for a pendant. We also got a sweet magnifying glass from a young entrepreneur in exchange for a few more of our crystals.
     The area was in desperate need of rain, and on Sunday and Tuesday there were two prayer-answering deluges. Sunday night was an epic light show, and on Tuesday afternoon we happened upon people playing Red Rover in the rain, which we excitedly joined. We also learned a new, highly addictive backyard game called Ultimate Ninja.

     The Rainbow Gathering culminates on the Fourth of July in a dawn-til-noon silent prayer for peace, broken by a community om. The silent morning was inspiring, and the lack of traditional communication created a deeper sense of togetherness. It was also a powerful sight to see thousands of attendees gathered in the main meadow unified in purpose and mantra. After the om concluded a drum circle sprang up, and refreshing watermelon was shared.
     We concluded our final day by exploring a section of the Gathering we hadn't even been to, and ended up enjoying the delicious pizza, chili, oatmeal, and barbeque chicken from Montana Mud and Shut Up and Eat It kitchens.
     One of the most important precepts of Gatherings is a harmonious relationship with the land. After the Gathering ends, some people stay to clean up, re-seed and aerate heavy traffic areas, and generally ensure that the forest will soon resume its pristine state.