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One Night in a Tipi

After years of living in the Southwest, it took a small island in the Pacific Northwest to find myself inside a tipi. Although there was that tent pitched unwisely on a mountainside, where clinging to the ground during a rainstorm made fond memories later, The Sweetlife Tipi is the way to camp now.

Nestled in the woods on the grounds of Bainbridge Island’s Sweetlife Farm, the tipi opened its canvas door last summer as a unique and peaceful “glamping” retreat. This authentic 20-foot-high tipi includes a queen size memory foam bed, rustic rockers, mini fridge, Wi-Fi, terry robes and more, making that soggy tent less than a fond memory.

“It does not require many words to speak the truth.” — Chief Joseph

 

Ambient wonders of nature surrounded me inside the tipi as I snuggled in bed under a thick comforter and Pendleton blankets – the bed pre-warmed with hot water bottles. My eco-friendly bathroom en plein air  was just a few steps outside the oval doorway.

Partially open to the forest ferns and wild raspberry bushes, the bathroom is complete with composting toilet, on-demand hot water in the shower and sink, and soaps handcrafted by Sweetlife Farms’ proprietors, Nancy and Bob Fortner. I can do it all while still hearing (and possibly seeing) a chorus of crickets and frogs.

The Fortners began Sweetlife Farm in 1999 and have grown it into a thriving cottage business, offering natural soaps and skincare, jams, condiments, “Dr. Bob’s Bitters,” and other treasures culled from their gardens. Bob’s lifelong interest in Native American cultures, particularly the Nez Perce tribe, inspired the addition of the tipi. “What’s engaged me the most is how Native Americans treated the land and each other,” says Bob. “The peace and tranquility here are part of the mystery that guests experience, which makes their visit to the tipi unique. The only sounds are what nature provides.”

Bob_Nancy_Fortner
Nancy and Bob Fortner, proprietors of Sweetlife Farm and hosts of The Sweetlife Tipi.  Photo: Steve Stolee

One night in The Sweetlife Tipi turned into an island safari of our own. As the sun spread a warm glow over the pines the next morning, I fired up (aka flipped the switch on) the hot water kettle for a nice cup of oolong paired with Sweetlife Farm’s granola, yogurt and strawberry rhubarb jam. French press coffee and juice were also included in the continental breakfast. Sleeping in to the hum of forest sounds carried us onward.

On the wind’s whim — Basso Profundo and Contrabass Quartal chimes and Bass Pentatonic chimes hang from Northwest cedar trees near the Tipi.  Listen:

For many of us, a weekend getaway means slipping into books waiting to be read, enjoying a glass of wine, strolling without a plan and unplugging from our endless email scroll. The best kinds of getaways put our daily reality on hold, shifting us into a space of suspended relaxation. A space where the hustle of parking lots and guests at the check-in counter do not exist. A space where “checking out” is a way of being.

http://annieosburn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/20160520-173710-chimes1.mp3

At The Sweetlife Tipi, town is just a few miles beyond the tree tops. A short walk from the tipi also offers an entrance to the Grand Forest, more than 200 acres of lush woodland preserve and a six-mile trail system across the heart of Bainbridge Island. You can hike, get lost inside your canvas space, or gaze at the reeds and cattails in the pond by the fire pit, all while knowing that shops and hot water are nearby, if you need them. A night in the tipi is just enough out of one’s comfort zone, while still delivering all of the best creature comforts.

Goodnight moon, goodnight Tipi, goodnight noises everywhere.

Filed Under: Journal

On the Edge

Canyon2Inches from the edge, we jostled and bounced in our seats with each hairpin curve. It felt like being in one of those extreme outdoor TV shows mixed with a Scooby-Doo cartoon. There was something comical about traveling at high speeds down a ravine into Canyonlands National Park in a 23 window Volkswagen bus. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Journal

A Love Letter to Oneself

When Simone de Beauvoir, Ernest Hemingway and Kahlil Gibran penned letters to their beloveds, they probably never intended their missives to be among the most coveted love letters of all time. The power of written love surely reaches its reader. Yet, this arrow is just as potent when [Read more…]

Filed Under: Journal

Naturally Gifted

Gifted. Images of child prodigies come to mind, a five-year-old playing a Chopin Piano Sonata, or someone with clairvoyant abilities who can communicate with the other side. When did the emphasis on whether or not one’s child is “gifted” go off the rails?! When tested, children may be identified as having exceptional talent or natural [Read more…]

Filed Under: Journal

The F Word

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Louise Catherine Breslau (1856-1927), Friends, oil on canvas, circa 1902.

No, not that word. The one that should not be used, but is often because it so aptly and viscerally sums up the worst, the most passionate, and the most expressive of emotions. Not that one. This F word is reserved for only the best, the finest, the most meaningful, and that which feels like [Read more…]

Filed Under: Journal

Falling into Change

Fall leavesLife happens. A sudden job change. A familiar leader moving on and replaced with a newer, stiffer model. Unexpected physical limitations. Land development consuming yet more trees. Change triggers our attachment to things, people, circumstance, or just about anything that’s been a comfortable shoe-of-a-feeling. Tibetan Buddhists, on their path toward non-attachment, embrace the concept of [Read more…]

Filed Under: Journal

Throwing a Stone

IMG_0057Forty-two pounds of polished granite slid down the sheet of ice with the sole purpose of landing on the button. Brooms and sweepers kept the stone on course, by might or sheer force of will, helping shift the stone’s orientation to meet the desired end. It seemed an impossible task, all without actually touching the [Read more…]

Filed Under: Journal

The Power of the Feminine Spirit

La_Nascita_di_Venere_(Botticelli)
Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus, tempera on canvas

It fills an entire room. At nine feet wide, it is virtually impossible to take in without moving your head side-to-side, as if watching a tennis match. Seated on a bench in the center of the room, or standing, if you dare, the immense power and strength of the feminine spirit whispers forth from the [Read more…]

Filed Under: Journal

Pausing for Connection

Colbert1
Photo: Gregory Colbert, Ashes and Snow

Tuning into ourselves and the vibrations of others. We think we know what’s going on around us, but are we really connecting? To whom do we sing? Who hears our song? Are we giving off good vibrations, or are we emotionally tone deaf? The answer may be held in the palm of our hand. Behold [Read more…]

Filed Under: Journal

Keeping Memories

IMG_0629As I stood expectantly waiting for Snowball to take shape, the pungent smell of melting plastic wafted from the Mold-A-Rama souvenir machine before me. I loved that noxious odor because it meant that Snowball, warm and slightly slippery, would soon be in my little girl hands. Carolina Snowball was the only albino bottlenose dolphin in captivity. I didn’t realize, of course, that she had been spirited away [Read more…]

Filed Under: Journal

Slow is Beautiful

IMG_0562Slithering slowly across the weathered wooden plank, the banana slug left a silvery gooey trail of its successful progress. There was only an inch worth of goo. It could take hours, if not days, for this gastropod mollusk to [Read more…]

Filed Under: Journal

A Piece of O’Keeffe

Magnolia grandifloraMy gaze has tilted upwards more than usual lately. I am newly in awe of the majestic magnolia. Mine is the large, white dinner-plate variety that smells so citrusy-sweet for just the day that the bloom finally opens. The Southern Magnolia ironically is here in my Pacific Northwest back yard—magnolia grandiflora—aptly named as it is, indeed, grand. After looking at the flower’s closed conical shape for days, wondering if those vertical wraps would actually unfurl, [Read more…]

Filed Under: Journal

Minding our gifts…

“The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.”  — Thich Nhat Hanh  Orchids_Volunteer_Park_Conservatory

Filed Under: Journal

 

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