Lots Going On, Despite Winter Weather!

Someone at last Thursday’s dinner asked me if we who live here in this three-house village eat together other than during our Community Dinners (which, starting this month we reduced from once weekly to every other week, for the time being), and I said no, because I, for one, couldn’t stand it. I need my solitude! 

She then said that even so, most people couldn’t live with other people the way you do. That they prefer to live alone. (A note here: it’s true that though we don’t share meals on a regular basis, we DO live together, in that each house has three bedrooms, for three people, with kitchen, living room, bathrooms in common.) I told her that for me, it’s a good thing because it forces me to deal with my shadow on a regular basis. Each time someone annoys me, I look to their behavior as somehow reflecting my own in a way that I hadn’t recognized. Once I re-educate myself, then the situation with the other, invariably, clears.  

Indeed, usually the other person doesn’t even know what’s been going on inside me! Which is fine, the less drama the better.

Lots of folks gathered, neighbors and friends, about 16, as I recall, including Sam, who came for the first time. 

Sam’s on the couch, next to Camden.

Then, on Saturday, we gathered again, those of us who live here, plus Neng and Ben, who want to join our work parties so they can become more familiar with permaculture.

We needed to find out whether or not we have all the ingredients for soil blocks for when we start planting in February. And we do! So nice not to have to purchase anything this year, not even seeds, since, I think I’ve said before, we are finally saving our own.

Plus, we needed to clear out a back room and reorganize it. 

Here’s Joseph and Neng. Joseph is still checking soil ingredients. Neng is hauling out a bucket from the back room.

And here’s Ben, hauling out another bucket.

P.S. It turned out that missing ingredients for soil blocks in the main greenhouse were all in that back room . . . Plus lots of other stuff, like four soil thermometers . . . Huh? Why? Because we have trouble staying organized, so we don’t always know what we already have. 

We did give Ben a chance to follow Marita out to the compost piles, to help her turn them, and thus learn something about that aspect of this operation.

And, before they left, I lent them Charles Eisenstein’s remarkable book, SACRED ECONOMICS: Money, Gift, and Society in the Age of Transition.

Almost Mid-January, 2023: Cleaning/Organizing, Greenhouse and Basement — and more!

Oh my. I know. It sounds boring. But actually, it’s therapeutic, and fun. 

In the dead of winter, during last Tuesday’s work party we prepared for for the new gardening season by beginning to clean and organize the greenhouse. First, we took everything in there, out. Luckily, it was a fairly warm, sunny day. 

Then, the goal was to wash all the walls, shelves, and trays. Here we go.

Decided to save this stacked pot behemoth until next week, along with the north wall and shelves. 

And we still have to go through this workshop area. (Notice the tools, already cleaned, sharpened, and oiled . . .)

But otherwise, we did it! Joseph, Marita, Adam, and me!

For Saturday morning’s work party, Marita, her son Nicolas, Joseph, Camden, and I headed back down into the bowels of the basement. Five of us, this time, two in one area, three in another.

As usual, we discovered lots of goodies from residents in years past, many of which just happened to be exactly what one of us needed! It’s like Christmas, every time we clean the basement.  

But what, pray tell, is this? Gigantic. See through (kinda.) Not a blanket for humans. Likely some function in gardening, cover for something, but it seems too thick . . . Hmmm . . . I will email it to Rebecca (who migrated west after ten years, having wisely guided us in our growing efforts), and see if she knows. 

And do we really need these plumbing materials? Where did they come from? Rather than automatically relegating them to the Habitat Restore pile, I decided to ask Colin, he might know of a use for them. (But now, I’m thinking. Hell no, let them go!)

I spent my time deep in the process of organizing stuff for the office section of the basement. Need tape? Scissors? Files? Paper, Stapler? Etc. Etc. Check the basement first. It’s probably there.

The office section is unfinished. As is the section for drying herbs. But . . . we’re getting there! Afterwards, Marita and Joseph met to look at our seed collection and sort them for what gets planted first.

Joseph says we’re going to take a more biodynamic approach this year, which includes planting according to lunar cycles . . . Great!

If you recall, we decided not to have a formal garden manager this year, but to see what we can do by everyone taking their own part in figuring it out. So here we go! I asked Joseph, and he agreed, to do a short presentation on biodynamic gardening at one of our Community Dinners.

2023: Feeling Our Way into the New Year

This past Thursday, we returned to our long-standing weekly Thursday evening Community Dinners, BUT: During our “circle-up” time, just before Jeff agreed to offer a prayer, we needed to tell everyone present (about a dozen altogether, including two who have never been here before) that we are going to shift from weekly to bi-weekly for the near future. That means first and third Thursdays of each month. (If you are on the Dinner List, you will get a notice every Tuesday about what week it is!)

We had stopped our Dinners in December, given that a few people here were ill for awhile, and most were otherwise preoccupied with family, in one way or another during the annual Holiday Season that coincides with the darkest time of year in the northern hemisphere. Keep that light shining, no matter what!

Even when you’re down in the dim basement, scrounging around, trying to figure out what should go and what should stay; sending the first pile to Goodwill (two carloads worth so far), and then organizing what remains, section by section. Here’s the first section we organized, at last Tuesday’s work party, mostly the art supplies. So many, still! We’re thinking about getting some of them to grade school teachers. 

Then during yesterday’s work party, we went at it again, organizing a different section and unloading a huge number of oddly shaped vases, plus boxes of psychology books given to us by a neighbor that somebody here, a few years ago, wanted to offer for sale . . .

Imagine: I’ve been here in Bloomington for 20 years now. And starting a few years after I arrived, others began to arrive, first for this house, then for the second house, and finally for the third house — staying from one week (very rare), six months, one year, two years, three years, five years, up to ten years (only one, so far). Probably 45 very unique individuals altogether have cycled through here, most of them storing some of their stuff in the basement.

AND: There’s only one basement . . . So we clear and reorganize it, either every year or every other year, hauling lots of stuff up, out, and away.

Meanwhile, if you have moved in, and need a different chair, or another lamp, or desk, rugs (large or small) —or pens, tape, an electrical cord, etc. etc., “check the basement.” What you need is usually there.

The two new people who came to Thursday dinner were both associated with IU graduate school, in cognitive science. I forgot to ask Ningyao how she had gotten on the Dinner List. She emailed to ask if she could come and also invite Ben, whose house she currently resides in. Yes. They have been realizing that they need to begin to plan for whatever’s comin’ down; and that means grow food and know your neighbors. YES!

These two are standing at the top of this photo, having walked in the door a few minutes earlier. They still looked somewhat befuddled, when my ipad camera happened to notice them.

However, by the end of the evening, they both asked if they could join our work parties. Sure! Come next Tuesday, because we’re going to try to finish work in the basement on Saturday, and that’s not going to teach you about gardening! On Tuesday, we will begin the next growing season by cleaning the greenhouse walls and shelves. Come then.

Marita and I then decided it’s time to create a new group me list, besides the one we have for residents (plus Dan, who lived here for five years, lends his truck, and and still joins us on occasion. He’s the one sitting with high top tennis shoe showing.).

So Marita got right on it, that very night, and added Ningyao and Ben. Good!

One of the folks at the Dinner had an announcement to make: her intentional community, she said, (which she started about a year ago, when she bought a house and land) “has failed.” One of the three people, she said, will have to move out. She was clearly upset by the situation, and appreciated both our concern and our advice, to “treat it as a learning experience” — and keep going, Find someone else.

Yes, it’s not easy to live together! But . . . that’s why we’re here on this planet as embodied souls, to learn how! By interacting with others, we learn about ourselves. Each time there is tension, there is also mutual projection. Which can result in conflict. Solution? Take back projections. Recognize them as denied aspects of yourself! In other words, each of us needs to learn how to do what Jung called “shadow work.” 

A couple who live a few hours from here, on the Ohio/Indiana border, contacted us last week, also wanting to come to a Dinner. They have been talking about their need to move to a place where they can do the same thing that Ningyao and Ben also recognize. In other words, awareness is rising, folks. We need to get together, stick together, and learn to collaborate with both each other and our dear Mother Earth.

Thursday’s Dinner contained a plethora of goodies, that all just happened to compliment (or is it complement?) each other —including Ben’s wonderful Indian dish with cabbage and peas.

So many goodies, that I almost forgot to get the main dish (a large meatloaf made with pork) out of the oven! Luckily, Marita reminded me. 

State of the Village, End of 2022

This past year, 2022, has felt like one looooong holding period. Which forced me to choose: either I could be chronically furious, frustrated, or I could let go and allow what needed to happen.

Lots of plans, but due to various injuries, chronic delay.

To give the most dramatic example: our new 12 foot yurt, which arrived in early April, still sits on my front porch. We were excited! Thought it would be up in the backyard by June, for WOOFERS and guests’ use three seasons of each year.

It’s presence on the porch makes it impossible to use that area otherwise . . .

What held up the yurt? The platform, which even now, sits only partially done.

Here’s the lumber to finish it.

And it’s not just the yurt. Son Colin Cudmore has a long list of projects to tackle. Then, last December, he began to endure the year from hell: first his back went out, then his shoulder, and finally his knee, which is just now, after months, getting to the point where he actually plans to walk for an entire mile today.

Oddly enough, his dog Kona broke his leg at about the same time as Colin’s knee went out. They’ve been invalids together, and are, together, beginning to return to life.

Meanwhile, though our major projects lie unfinished, our seasonal cycling — planting, growing, harvesting — went on without interruption, yielding wonderful results. Grateful.

Oh, and Colin plans to finish the yurt platform starting Tuesday, assuming all goes well.