Dear Dad,

  We’re still in the valley but have met some exciting people!

  It’s really cool here since it’s so warm and there’s food growing on everything, there’s not a lot of need for things to make food or more clothes or, understandably, anything. So most people here are covered in stuff that’s more art than clothes, and they eat when they want, sleep when they want, and create the rest of the time. There are beautiful houses, and we met Stranen, who makes nothing but windchimes that apparently only play different popular music. I don’t know any songs, but it’s interesting nonetheless.

  It’s fantastic, Dad. I wish you could see how cool some of this stuff is. I guess with nothing to do, people make!

  Fylin has a wall covered in terrible doodles of monsters and men in incredible feats of battle, or looked like they were awful, until the man pulled out a big handheld fan and gently shook it at the wall and all his art, and it all came to life! It was a giant sea of men and monsters to put like Lord of the Rings or other big movies to shame. It was amazing. Apparently, he’s been working on it for years, and I could have sworn that the little figures danced around on the page that he’d tacked up, but no! They were just still, but the illusion was there.

  And then we met Jeron (Geron?), who's got a mad scientist thing going on and showed us some tiny robots he’s made. They’re like those dogs you can tell to bark and stuff, but they’re way more advanced and can do all kinds of things. Jeron had one of them clean our clothes while we talked about all of his “glorious inventions.”

  Reese convinced him to tell us about some things he made that were like handheld lanterns but had something in them that made them float somehow. The man was not only super interested in telling us about the things he made, he showed us how they worked and then gave us a couple to take on our journey. Which I thought was super nice of him, actually.

  The lack of bugs is weird but very nice. Today, it rained almost precisely at noon. Jeron said it was normal for this area, that it was a blessing from the gods to keep all of this going and growing and green, and that it blessed all within this region.

  I think that might just be a bit of poppycock, but he was so sure of it, and Jeron was really nice. So I didn’t say anything.

  From there, we kept going deeper into the valley, but again, tonight, it was so beautiful that we didn’t even really need to make a fire, and the food was all covered by the things growing all over. The trees all had some kind of fruit on it, and even though we were a little ways away from the house now, we could still faintly hear the sounds of all those windchimes in the distance.

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  I didn't plan to stay up too late last night with the star gazing, but I didn’t know how late it was. I don’t think the others did either cause when we got up this morning, the sun was already well up and likely had been for hours.

  Tonight, I think we’ll all try to go to bed earlier, but it can be hard to tell at times, and it’s not really hurting anyone if we stay up late or sleep in a little bit.

  I hope to meet some other cool people in this valley soon. I don’t think we’ve even gotten to the first cluster of houses we saw when we were up at the top of the valley.

  Willow says this place reminds her of her mom’s stories of growing up in a hippie commune, and she also said we shouldn’t be too surprised if people we wander into are naked or worse.

  I don’t want to see that. I don’t think anyone wants to see that, but I’m glad for the warning. At least it gives us a chance to cover our eyes if we need to. Zunair said that if we did come across any naked hippie people, we should ask about peace pipes, which I think was just him being a doof, but I also don’t know what peace pipe is. I don’t think I want to ask, though.

  I wonder what else we'll find if there are these kinds of people out and around. It’s been all artists, but there don’t seem to be many people altogether, so maybe when we get further in, we’ll find more signs of something citylike? Though with the plants and stuff the way they are, it could be better that all the people are spread out like this, then they’re not overeating.

  What would it be like to be able to spend all your life on something, a craft, as a skill, and there’s not even really enough people here to show it off to? Everyone was so excited to show off. Is that what being human is about, the making? Or the sharing? Both? Either?

  What do you think?

  I don’t know which one I’d want, but I do know that I don’t think this place would be terrible to live in. I mean, lots of food, fresh water, time, space, no one needs things from you. I wonder if there are people who just wander the valley, meeting the others who live and work and learn about what they do and make. If I could, I might do that. It would be interesting. I think everyone wouldn’t even need a spare room for you to sleep in. Ever since we got here, all we’ve needed was something between us and the ground, and that’s it. It’s warm, comfortable, and just the right temperature. No rain at night, and no bugs. And apparently, there are no predators either. It’s totally safe here.

  I wonder if there are any schools around here, and what do they teach if there are any? Are they good schools? Do they have you pick what you learn? Do you just figure out the craft you want to spend the rest of your life on? What do they standardize?

  Great questions for me to have asked any of the people we’d met today, and I didn’t think to. I’ll try to ask someone we meet tomorrow if I remember.

  If I can go to Weird Valley Naked Hippie School, I might see what they can teach me and you! Who knows, maybe I’ll be able to teach you a few things when I get back,

  Love, Jack.

  PS

  I think that it would be cool to teach you new things. I also know it will probably be a while till I get home. I know I shouldn’t be so bent on trying to distract myself, but if nothing else helps, maybe I can distract my mind for a little bit and see if I can learn new things. Though the tiny robots are good, they're def not something I can see myself making use of in my everyday life.