Dog pack

I can’t imagine my life without dogs. We have 3, and honestly, I’d be happy with more rescues.

In the summer of 2023 northern Vermont had our second major flood in 2 years. the huge flood of 2022 didn’t affect me directly. the flood of 2023 put water in my walkout basement where my shop was located. I was away 4-5 days a week, 10-14 hours a day, building the house, which was a 2 hour round trip away. often I’d get through my work days, and go to work 2-3 days in the shop. I was exhausted the first day back , and it never seemed to amount to much work being done. I feel like I am still recovering.

At this point, house was dried in and shop was going up, I knew i needed to temporarily relocate closer to the building site.I was catching myself falling a sleep at the wheel during the commute. I moved into the house shell, my family stayed in Westmore, and I searched commercial listings in Saint Johnsbury , VT but available space was either too small, 150 sq feet, too big 1400 sq feet. the cost per sq ft was the same. i couldn’t afford another $1400 a month. I contacted my friend Mike, who worked for Neko Case, knowing she owned a building and had rented space to other businesses in the past.

The first time I went to meet her, Jeff and Coco, the dog, she said to me she couldn’t live without dogs either. At that point I hoped we would become friends. Erol, my big husky/great Pyrnees rescue and Coco didn’t get along so my dogs rarely came to post office with me. Coco was a sweet shop dog substitute. It was her building after all. I was really happy to move in and have such a great space for alpine luddites.

Neko, is, needlessly to say, incredibly creative. Our first project together was to help her sew her outfit for her latest album cover to look like a weeping Norway spruce tree. right. her photographer, Ebru Yildiz , made it look incredible. my work space was covered in green fuzz for weeks.

She texted me the other week needing to build a new bag for carrying her stuff on tour. previously she used a huge tote bag and had another bag for make up. She comes over with everything that needs to fit and several different fabric options to use. this was not a technical pack but needed to be durable enough for a working life on tour.

the dog print fabric was the obvious choice. it’s sewn onto 11 oz Cordura in neon orange. We spent 2 days building her pack. part class, part collaboration. Neko sewed 90% of the bag. she made the shoulder straps. all design decisions were hers. she brought the skunk patch, and honestly it made the pack. Skunks and dogs are part of life in northern Vermont. some dogs learn . Erol never has.

I love how this pack came together. Neko may write her own story on this pack that you can read on her substack, Entering the lung.