June 4, 2014 – Journal entry on the impact of a Flock House

When I started to think about a Flock House, my mind turned to another kind of hut that visitors to Mohonk Mountain House built over 140 years, along 25 miles of trails. As you walk around the lake, or along the granite cliffs, or in the woods, or on the mountain crests, you see them.  At some time, some visitors picked a spot, their spot, and built one.  I think there are more than 50 of them left standing.  Made from natural materials at hand, they are not so different from a Flock House made from recycled stuff.

Sometimes, I have stopped, and entered one. It beckoned, and I went.  I felt a kind of magic, standing there, or sitting on a built-in bench.  Someone long ago carved it out, and now I could just step across the threshold and be there.  My mind seemed to grasp a vision defined within the space.

Some startle because that they are cantilevered from the edge of a cliff.  Others are perched on a rock. How did just regular visitors build these?  It is an act of faith to step into it, trusting that it will hold my weight. A touch of anxiety, like stepping into an elevator.

One day I realized that it was not necessary to actually go in.  Just by passing it, seeing it from the trail, its presence evoked a state of mind.  Contemplative. Peaceful. Placed along the trails, these invitations to stop supported my ability to envision. Improved my ability to think about whatever was on my mind.

You can see where this is going. The Flock House at Bemis, built improbably next to the Okada building, in the Old Market of Omaha, might have the same impact. Might nudge the mind to turn a few degrees and see things from a new perspective.