Sarah Hauser
  • Home
  • Portfolio
    • Places
    • Editorial
    • Food
    • Video
  • About
  • Contact
  • Blog

I Cuddled at Caromont

3/4/2016

1 Comment

 
When Caromont Farms put out a call for volunteers to snuggle their baby goats this past January, they never expected to go viral. That's partially where I come in...
Picture
It was another 4 AM wake-up call this past Tuesday. On the road at 5. At the farm by quarter 'til 7.

I received a friendly greeting and tour just in time for a mountain-delayed sunrise. The next sixty minutes were a golden hour rush and flood of endearment. I was CRAWLING with baby goats. Literally. Baby goats nursing on my fingers. Baby goats nipping at my clothes. Baby goats suckling on my hair. Baby goats climbing into my lap. Baby goat noses all up in my camera. Baby goats licking the lens hood. Baby goats stumbling. Baby goats bleating. Some of them were even wearing hand-knit sweaters!

​OK. Pump the breaks. Let me bring you up to speed on these kids.
Picture
Caromont Farms is a family farm located in the heart of Virginia's Piedmont region. They raise and milk goats with which they produce fresh, hand-made cheeses. They also partner with Silky Cow Farm in nearby North Garden to produce a few cow's milk styles, but that's not part of this story. This story is about cuddling!

It's our human need for physical contact and the joy of snuggling (especially with cute, fluffy babies) that brought me to this farm. You win, baby goats. All the way from Australia, you won the internet that day in January, and so my visit was prompted. Yes, people as far away as Australia volunteered to travel half way around the world to snuggle with these kids. The response they received for their request was so huge, their waiting list had a waiting list. And, unfortunately, there will be some goat-less snugglers this season... but not me! *maniacal laugh*
Check out a few of these precious video moments:
This experience was amazing. Therapeutic, even. Cuddling baby goats was exactly what I needed! Only now I want some goats of my own (and chickens, and otters, and a skunk, a fox, rats, pigs, all the cats and a dog).

You won't be able to get your cuddle on at Caromont anymore this season, but keep your eye on next year. They start giving farm tours in June, so you can still feast your eyes, ears and nose on the sights, sounds and smells of the farm. And get your taste buds on some local chevre.

P.S. They should be opening their online store soon, so all those folks in Australia can taste the fruits of our snuggling.
1 Comment

Playing A Pirate

6/17/2015

1 Comment

 
Picture
Picture
On a cold morning in March, 2012, I was rattling in my boots amongst the dark, constructed wharf of Philadelphia. The sun hadn't come up, and I was shivering in somewhat silent solidarity with a rep of the Virginia Film Office. Catherine was her name. She had a tremendous love for and knowledge of film. Our breath rolled out in thick puffs as we shared our favorite movies. We had Miyazaki in common, I remember.

Twenty minutes roll by and the sunrise is finally in our favor. We sprang into action! Or rather, I began losing myself in the surrounding back-lot while she monitored.

I climb aboard a sailing ship that was built for HBO's John Adams miniseries back in 2007 and proceed to walk, crouch and climb around the deck with the camera held up to my face. I wasn't only a photographer that morning, I was a pirate whose ship sailed the open plains in search of land-locked marinas and abandoned cities whose motto was "leave no trace" and "photo or it didn't happen." When you truly get caught up in a scene like this, the world fades away as you search for the perfect angle and composition, as many an artist can attest. Sometimes I find my body in awkward or unperceived positions as the world begins to fill back in around me upon capturing the desired frame, and this time I found myself laying on the deck of the ship. The VFO rep snapped this photo of me caught up in the occasion. You can see my breath condensing in the cold. #JustPirateThings

Known simply as the State Farm, this 3,000 acre historic backlot is 30 minutes outside Richmond and features a period farm first created for John Adams, battlefields and trenches dug out for Lincoln, a jail and plenty of pristine landscapes. Also filmed on location have been AMC's TURN and Randall Wallace's Point Of Honor.
Picture
Constructed alongside the sailing ship was a paddle wheeler, the reproduced exterior of the River Queen used in Spielberg's 2012 Lincoln.
I had never set foot on a backlot before and gained a new appreciation of the facade structures that morning with their exposed posterior beams and unfinished interiors. The best part was having the run of the place and, of course, catching the simultaneous, half-frozen golden hour (oh, and playing a pirate).
Picture
1 Comment
    Picture
    VirginiaFlair

    Your friendly neighborhood travel photographer.

    Archives

    February 2017
    September 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Adventures With Dad
    Animals
    Behind The Scenes
    Drink Local
    Eat Local
    Fall In VA
    Farm-to-Table
    Gone Hiking
    Just Pirate Things
    Natural Wonder
    Roadside Wonder
    VA Beer
    VA Wine
    VFO
    Waterfall

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.