Stories From The Studio: Travel Reflections

H E L L O  F R I E N D S !

Over the past year, my family (husband Evan and our 6-year-old daughter Analou) have been road-tripping around the USA. We set off from Kansas City with a rooftop tent on top of a tightly packed green Subaru Outback and our hearts open for adventures.

We have experienced so much—landscapes subtle and dramatic, dull days and dream-come-true days, morning birdsong, and endless starry skies. I wanted to take this opportunity to pause and reflect on our journey to share some memories with you.

As you read these reflections you may rightly be asking, “How do these chickens continue to be made while Sally is away?” The short answer is that I have an incredible team. I am so thankful for their dedication to our studio work and for their support of my family’s adventures in this season of life. What a gift of time and space to give attention to the beauty of Creation— both in the land and in the people we meet along our journey. I know I am growing through it all.

“Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God’s handwriting.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

> Sally & thecgf studio

Family:

• Seeing a double rainbow with my in-laws at our camp at Vedauwoo in Wyoming.

   

• Quarantining on a mountain in Washington when we were sick.

• Being amazed alongside Analou by a luna moth at rest in a camp bathroom at North Cascades National Park.

• Tasting my first-ever beignet in New Orleans.

• Surprising Analou with a daddy/daughter day at Disneyland.

• Finding our first wild sea stars in the tide pools of the incredible Oregon coast.

• Wondering at the experience of feeling so warm inside an Earthship in Taos, New Mexico, when outside everything was freezing.

• Eating the best chocolate-dipped vanilla ice cream cone in front of the Chateaux-de-Frontenac in Quebec City.

   

• Listening to taps being played at Arlington Cemetery with my Dad while he held Analou’s hand.

   

• Tucking hot water bottles into our sleeping bags to stay warm enough in Texas hill country to camp through the winter.

   

• Enjoying a fancy high tea together at the Gryphon in Savannah, Georgia.

   

• Interacting with a father and his grown son in northern Nevada who were gold miners and whose kind spirits we will always remember.

   

• Playing with cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents in Kansas, Washington, Texas, Arizona and Maine. (Wisconsin, we are on our way!)

   

• Discovering the place where Harriet Tubman is buried in Albany, New York.

   

• Petting a brand new kitten some little girls were carrying on the Riverwalk in San Antonio.

   

• Checking beehives with new friends we met in Quebec who invited us to visit them at their home in Vermont.

   

• Beholding Analou’s grand reaction as we rounded the rocks and she caught her first view of Delicate Arch in Arches National Park.

   

• Walking and talking with my Mom along the rim of the Grand Canyon.

   

• Witnessing the power of forgiveness displayed by veteran George Sallie whom we met at the foot of the bridge in Selma, Alabama. He showed Analou the scar on his forehead from a wound he received marching there on Bloody Sunday.

   

• Waking up one morning in an Earthship and falling asleep that night in a caboose.

   

• Confirming again and again that google searching “waterfalls nearby” is an excellent place to find beautiful adventures in new places.

   

• Smiling at the memory of the daring positions that Evan put himself in while attempting to get the best camera angles for #chickentour photo shoots even if I wasn’t smiling at the time.

   

• Touring the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory on an unofficial “food tour” led by our new camp friend and chicken fan Frank in Vermont.

   

• Attending a good ol’ fashioned Christmas parade at the kind invitation of our Red Robin Farmhouse Airbnb hosts.

   

• Receiving the gift of hospitality from old friends who opened their homes and hearts to me during my return visits to KC this year.

   

• Finding my own mind and curiosities waking up as we led Analou through her kindergarten year of “Linville Travel School”.

   

• Dancing and singing more.

   

• Learning about the free bird identification app called Merlin and the Project Puffin in Maine.

   

• Making new friends along the journey. There are so many kind and interesting people in the world!

Visits:

• Saying hello in person to the Hyatt Flock of Chicken Little Footstools at the Hyatt Centric Portland.

   

• Joining in the fun of sharing the Art of Chickening and a homemade meal with Galit and her friends at the Baboo showroom in San Francisco (now opening in New York!).

   

• Accepting the honor of being asked to speak at the 2023 APDesign commencement at K-State, my alma mater. (My portion begins around the 22:10 minute mark…)

   

• Meeting and spending a day felting fiber alongside Marjolein Dallinga (one of our Global Chicken Collection collaborators) in her amazing studio in Quebec.

   

• After several years of kind invitations, finally had the flexibility to visit Pine Meadow Ranch in Sisters, Oregon, and share about the Art of Chickening with their community.

   

• Sharing my birthday lunch with the fabulous Jo Packham, who featured our studio in two publications of What Women Create magazine, in Salt Lake City.

   

• Traveling to White River Junction, Vermont, to meet another Sally Jane who has been hosting chickens in her lovely shop, The Uncommon Home, for many years.

   

• Participating in the inspirational spirit of community as the Ledger in Bentonville, Arkansas (now home to two Chicken Footstools), opened its doors.

   

• Sitting in the shade companioned by the cutest little Ouessant sheep, Francois, during our visit with Marie, the shepherdess of Full Circle Wool.

   

• Talking with modern-day quilt makers during our visit to Gee’s Bend, Alabama, whose quilt designs inspired the Gee’s Bend Flock we created in the Fall of 2020. It was special to hear more about their craft and introduce them to our chickens.

• Picking up Carly from LAX in a rental car to pop around LA making chicken connections for a few days. As we drove down Rodeo Drive we wondered if there were any resident Chicken Footstools nearby…?

• Taking a deep breath and carrying Little Rena up to the security checkpoint at the Getty Center in hopes of taking some photos of her there. After many sideways looks and some authoritative walkie-talkie action, we received clearance.

   

• Returning for the opening of “With Wings Unfurled” exhibit at The Festival of Butterflies at Powell Gardens and being SO PROUD of our team and the beautiful, innovative butterfly-inspired collection that was created.