Sarah Ryhanen’s Favorite Things

“I enjoy playing medicine man on the farm and making tea. Lately, I’ve been steeping burdock root which makes an insanely colored turquoise brew. Good for the liver.”

“I spend a lot of time looking at antique quilts online. You realize how much time and consideration was put into making something you’d keep forever. What joy! This one has incredible colors.”

“We run a boarding house/hotel at our school. Keeping the sheets straight is a specific sort of organizational hell. I’m convinced having complete sets for each room, with each having a different color, it would be easier to keep them straight.”

“I don’t really wear make up, but I imagine one day I will start, as I transition from farmer to performer in my dream of having a dance troupe or outdoor opera. In the end, we come home to ourselves!”

“The dance/outdoor opera is probably a greek tragedy complete with a traditional chorus. Instead of togas, they’ll stand on the hill in the breeze wearing this Khaite dress, which made me scream when I found it.”

“I have fallen in love with Sicilian wine after spending a month there collecting my thoughts, resting before the farm season, and writing my adaptation of Medea. (She’s misunderstood!)”

“N/A option for our farm barn bar—the Racoon Saloon. Can we get it on tap?”

“This has been my travel bag for a decade! I adore it. I load it up and scoot around Europe with it.”

“(Developed arthritic shoulder.)”

“My family has made soap for 20 years. We started with a sauna soap…my father is Finnish and Saipua is derived from the Finnish word for soap ‘saippua.’ Asking me for my favorite soap is like asking who is your favorite child. But I think lately on the farm I’m always coming in from working with chickens or sheep and washing up with the liquid soap at the kitchen sink is easier and more sanitary feeling than using a bar.”