But this week I've had a couple of experiences that encourage me to pick this blog thread back up. Two different people--friends I haven't yet met--contacted me to tell me how helpful they've found my postings, something I still find extraordinary...and very encouraging. Breaking away from the dominant system has been a huge leap for us and it remains my hope that others come along after us. Only when enough people abandon it can the dominant system falter.
Since January we have been living on the homestead of some new friends, paying our rent through work trade. This isn't an official "intentional community", but we find we've been doing all of the things we wanted to do, and we are all happy, so here we remain. If you'd asked me a year ago if I wanted to be living in a forest, growing my own food, learning how to recognize wild medicinal plants, building cob houses, and playing my guitar I'd give an enthusiastic yes! We've been busy raising vegetables, learning natural building, and meeting other good folk around the countryside.
For the last couple weeks we've helped with the workshop that built this cob house. People came from all over the place to learn how to build a house made of cob. This was a pretty big structure, and the temperatures spiked right at the beginning of the workshop, so we all worked pretty hard. I'm pooped.
It's also that time of year around here that the blackberries are ripening. We were invited to pick on one of the many local wineries, which we are happy to do because these berries get lots of water and so they are fat and juicy! Now that the workshop is over we'll spend a couple days gathering pounds of them and then we'll can them.
So that's what we're up to lately. Next month we'll go back to Texas and Missouri to see la familia.
