Inhabiting the Habitat

From Yokna Bottoms Farm, it was an 11 hour drive to our next host farm – Habitable Spaces, a “sustainable farm & artists residency,” growing in spaces carved from the scrubby oaks, mesquite, and cacti of Texas, out beyond the outskirts of both San Antonio and Austin.

We arrived in the darkness of the new moon, in the first hours of the longest night of the year – winter solstice, time for openings and new things – and immediately ran aground and became happily stuck (Huey Lewis style) upon a rooted tree stump. How metaphorical! I liked it.

Although I wouldn’t completely feel good about it until I was sure the transmission hadn’t been damaged or something …

(this uploaded upside down but I’m just going to leave it as is.)

We cut the stump down the next day and drove to a more convenient dock.

Our dogs got along great with their three girls (Mina, the giant; Lola, the sweet; and Lily, the wild). Our cabin – “El Casa De Escorpio” – was awesome, and surprisingly similar to the Rust Shack back home in layout. It, too, was a pallet shack with a loft – but slightly bigger and significantly more finished than ours, with insulation, wallpaper, a heater, and meticulously and artfully applied interior wall paneling. And a bottle window!

"The House of Scorpio" - until they'd finished the walls, the place became home to dozens of scorpions . — “The House of Scorpio” – until they’d finished the walls, the place became home to dozens of scorpions .

They had a good junkpile/supply, the native rock poking up everywhere was a sexy glassy flint, and animals and evidence of active construction projects were everywhere.

rainwater collection system – totally going to borrow that sediment trap design back home

– needless to say, we immediately felt at home, and were excited to wake up to the reborn sunshine of the first lengthening day of the year.

While helping out with projects, we met the ducks and chickens, the cats and kittens, the friends and family, the pig and the place.

clockwise from foreground: Widget, Cleo, M, Lola, and Lily) — clockwise from foreground: Widget, Cleo, Mina, Lola, and Lily)

We also did a lot of scavenging; a friend’s family had moved away from their farm, and left behind a rich and satisfying array of plunder for Habitable Spaces to pick through.