Gina Abelkop
Gina Abelkop is a Pisces currently living in Athens, GA. She is the author of I Eat Cannibals (co.im.press 2014), Darling Beastlettes (Apostrophe Books 2012) and Trollops in Love (dancing girl press 2011). She is the founder and editor of Birds of Lace, a DIY feminist press, and PhD candidate in English Literature at the University of Georgia-Athens; she also co-curates (w/Gabrielle Lucille Fuentes) the Avid Poetry Series.
A partial list of excellent activities done/sights seen during my month as a Frontier Fellow in Green River, Utah:
Hiking in Arches National Park and watching my brethren climb death-defying heights while I stayed on the ground and took pictures
Finding a level-one-difficulty geocache at Green River State Park after two hours and two consecutive trips to the park (I got an “I [heart] State Parks” pin shaped like Utah!)
Eating many cheese fries and donuts at the eatery of champions, Chowhound
Attending a four-year-old’s “Cars”-themed birthday party complete with “Cars” fishing rod gift
Hugging any and all dogs I could get my hands on (I really missed my dog)
Driving out to Lower Gray Canyon/the “beach” to watch the sunset with superstar AmeriCorps VISTA, Ryann Savino
Cruising down the freeway in a borrowed pick-up truck on the way home from a trip to Moab, windows down & blasting the Dixie Chicks’ “Sin Wagon”
Playing/losing my first game of Risk
Reading poems and doing writing exercises with the stellar, smart, fun and funny 11th grade class at Green River High School
The Sleepy Hollow Motel sign at the top of the street I stayed on, complete with neon roses
Crazy gorgeous neon orange and electric pink sunsets
Daytime desert moon in the sky
Smashing out a pane of glass from a window, to be replaced by Epicenter’s Fix It First aficionado Armando
The “Murder Room” at the volunteer house
The many, many wallpapers of the volunteer house (glitter and floral being my favorites)
Family dinners where everyone kindly provided me with delicious vegetarian options
The insanely bright multitude of stars in the night skies
La Veracruzana’s glamorously dressed collection of dolls
Seeing the Bookcliffs everyday as they frame the town with their magnificent selves
Dead Horse Point State Park, possibly the most vast and gorgeous desert landscape I have ever laid eyes on/been afraid of literally falling into
Gotten my photo taken in front of a diner featured in one of my favorite movies, Thelma & Louise
Watched my first ever wiener dog race and pumpkin chucking competition, both at the Moab Pumpkin Chucking Festival
Wove a tiny rug at fellow fellow Bennett’s weaving workshop at Epicenter
Learned my Meyers-Briggs personality (INFP)
Wrote/sent more postcards in a month than I ever have before
Slept in a bunk bed for the first time in 15 years
Visited the Prehistoric Museum in Price (dinosaurs!)
Bought many exciting items at the Green River thrift store; for example: Pisces mug, set of 2 Flintstones mugs, Scrabble Deluxe, Harry Potter UNO, a $3 paper-shredder, Strawberry Shortcake doll)
And somehow that doesn’t seem to quite cover my month at all. In a state I’d never visited, amongst people I’d never met, I (with the help of the community) created a life in the space of a few weeks that feels dear to my heart, a kind of life I can’t imagine re-creating anywhere else. I miss my friends and family and so look forward to returning to Georgia, but in another dimension (Mountain time) on a strange planet (Utah) lives a really beautiful life. I know others will be coming through and making their version of that life for themselves, and the people who live and work here have made it their primary dimension. Being a Frontier Fellow gave me the gift of so many kind people who I never would’ve known existed if I didn’t come here, not to mention the entirety of Utah, which I’d grievously left out of my imaginings for adventure ‘til I came here. Now I know.
Copies of the “Produced A Pearl: Poems by the 2013 11th Grade Class of Green River High School” chapbook facilitated by Gina Abelkop
