Five years ago I was in the middle of my long search for a Playground.

Well, for a space to hold my Playground, the center I wanted to open.

Found it we did, through a very cool miracle which I will tell you about some other time, and those five-rooms-and-a-galley became the ground (and the play!) for the most incredible, miraculous, spark-filled moments of my life.

And now it is the end. Which is to say the beginning of all that comes next.

The Playground is empty, though not any less magical for that. It is just as charged up with love and presence and grace as it always was.

Have you ever walked into a cathedral and gasped quietly, because the air inside is so different? The Playground is like that. It’s holy, but it’s also playful.

I’ve never been anywhere like it.

Help me empty as I remember this space.

As I said the other day, while making wishes about newness and following the beautiful signs, pieces of Playground have taken over my dining room table, and I need some help with the emptying.

So I want to let you know about a few special items for sale, in case you happen to want them.

And maybe this will also be a way to share some Playground moments, so that you can feel what it was, this space I loved so much.

Playground treasure.

The sparkly hedgehog.

This hedgehog has had many names. For a while we thought he might be a vampire (because he sparkles, in the light).

He makes an excellent schmurphle. Schmurphling is a thing we do at Rally, it is very fun, and one part of it involves doing a terrible job of tossing an object towards someone (the idea is that you always miss), and the thing that gets tossed is the schmurphle.

He is charming, vivacious, wise, holds many clues, and is strangely comforting for a hedgehog. Plus he has all the superpowers of herringbone print, and of things that aren’t supposed to sparkle but do anyway.

Yours for $10 SOLD.

The wall of clues.

At the Playground we had a wall with eight beautiful prints in eight beautiful frames.

If you own the BORK — the Book of Rally Keys — you have seen a photocopied version of these, designed for us.

Each print gives you a way to interact with your project (even if you don’t know what your project is yet).

I don’t want to ship these with frames, because it will be too heavy. If you’re in Portland though and want to pick them up, let me know – $8 each, all eight for $40!

Otherwise we are just selling the prints without the frames: $6 each + $2.50 shipping/handling or all eight for $38 + $5.75 shipping/handling.

The purplest cat.

This is a lavender-pink cat with dark purple stripes, who is always in a good mood.

This cat was invariably found hanging out at the edge of someone’s project circle, poised to leap.

Very friendly, playful nature, surprisingly wise. $10 SOLD.

Froggy!

I have no words for how much I love this frog.

One year we used a photo of this frog in the calendar, and another year it was the default profile avatar in our online community.

It’s really hard to be around a magical frog and not instantly be in a better mood.

I will bestow at least 100 kisses on that green head before saying goodbye.

$20 SOLD.

Pirate cushion!

These are small, like throw pillows (12 x 12″) and so cheerful.

We have three of them, and they turn any space into a playground-ey one.

$8 each + $5.95 shipping/handling or all three for $20 + $12.65 shipping/handling.

Or if you’re in Portland, you can skip shipping and pick them up of course.

The best pigs ever.

One pig is called Rosie and the other pig is called Rex.

Both of them are so soft and so sweet, and while I used to be conflicted about piggies (Conflicted About Piggies, fake band of the week?), these two helped me change my mind.

I love these guys so much. $12 each + $12.65 shipping/handling or both for $18 + $12.65 shipping/handling.

Momo and Shmulik.

These wonderful creatures are actually water bottle holders. You can hide a mason jar inside of them, and they also have a sweet little pocket in the head.

When their mouths are unzipped, they look slightly wild, and they are always smiling. $12 each + $5.95 shipping/handling or both for $18 + $12.65 shipping/handling.

The tiniest handmade buttmonster!

It’s practically a pocket buttmonster. As you can see from the photo, this little guy fits in your hand, and there is also a photo of its adorable squooshy butt.

This buttmonster is also wearing a button that says cats are whores and can’t read.

I’m not sure what the story is there, but this probably happened at Rally, so it’s just one of those things.

The only buttmonster of its kind, I have never seen one anywhere near this small!

$15 SOLD

How to acquire these things!

Contact the first mate and tell him what you want!

Goodbyes.

I have so many memories of sweetness from the Playground. Watching green firefly stars swim through the ceiling vents. Soaring blissful moments of opening up, and grounded, steady, trust-filled landing.

I am thinking about that startling joyful sound of someone suddenly bursting into epiphany-giggles from the hammock behind the orange curtain in the Refueling Station.

I’m smiling about blanket forts and project circles, graffiti on the mast, picnics on the floor.

And, of course, I’m hearing the humming from all the times we hummed our way out together, humming the rally hum, which is how we always exit on the last day of Rally.

So hum with me today, if you like. I would love the company, as I make my way out of this space and set off on the next beautiful (and grand!) adventure in the desert.