I'm not your normal Blogging Voice. Christmas is a funny time, and the ecovillage changes this time of year. Many leave to visit family, some stay close to home and have people in. Common Meals may be quiet, or full of new faces of company that has come to see what all the fuss is about. The one thing you can count on is that The Villagers are with loved-ones, in one form or another.
My voice comes from afar. Edmonton to be exact, where my husband and I live as Neighbours-In-Waiting with our children. When you fall in love with a home that is so far away from your... well... home, you feel a calling to make the trek at the Holidays. To see the overwhelming progress the village has made since you last visited, to reconnect with your future neighbours, and even to steady your resolve of moving towards the unknown. Sometimes moving a province away seems scary and even foolish. We have good friends here, you see. And compared to many of our fellow suburbians, I really think we have excellent relations with neighbours. Throughout the years we've collected so many wonderful people and I can proudly tell you I know at least 8 of our neighbours well enough to exchange baked-goods with this time of year. There are days, as much as we love the ecovillage, when we suddenly start to think we should just stay put. Why give up what we know is good? Why are we moving oh-so-far-away when we have so much going for us here?
When we realize we're slipping, we know we need to make the trek back to Yarrow to replenish and remind ourselves why we're moving. This year we planned a trip out for Christmas. A gruelling 16 hour trip through snowy mountains with three young children. We were crushed when it turned out we wouldn't be able to make the trip. Some things went south for us with some spontaneous renovations we are doing in order to ready our home for sale when we finally get to move into Groundswell.
This is the kind of neighbourhood you buy into at the ecovillage folks. After letting some of the neighbours know that we wouldn't be able to make it this time we got a call; they would come to us! One of the families who had some other family in the area decided they could change up their Christmas plans and make the trip to us.
So here I sit in Edmonton with ten of us gaily enjoying each other's company. Six kids, four adults, a few board games and wine. The kids are playing splendidly, and we're enjoying every minute of it. It gives us a good taste of what village life will be like; people around to help with dishes, fantastic meals made by one and enjoyed by many, kids with playmates. However the greater thing we're moving to is neighbours that will drop everything (even Christmas plans) for you when need it.
So Merry Christmas to you folks! Wherever you are. If you're a Resident, I hope to see you soon. If you're a fellow Neighbour-In-Waiting, I can't wait to be neighbours with you. If you are just a curious onlooker from afar I highly recommend you make your own trek out to see what all the fuss is about. Maybe in the New Year.
I want to know what game you're playing -- a drawback to the four of you being in Edmonton is that I can't pop over to take a look :-)
ReplyDeleteBeverly,
ReplyDeleteJulia and Yonas bought an intriguing one called Power Grid. It will surely become an ecovillage hit. Though at the tome of posting I think we were actually playing Betrayal at the House on the Hill. Both were good fun and watching the evil twins go at each other was a highlight of the year for me.
AW! What a beautiful gesture... I'm not kidding when I say I teared up.
ReplyDeleteThe ecovillage here is a little empty too, it's strange to be scattered over the country (and the world! Elke and CM are in Africa!) But the emptiness leaves space for new things to start growing as I've noticed over time.
I'm so glad that you are getting nourished by your future home over the holidays at the same time as your home is getting ready to sell. It seems as though the empty space attracted something nice and cozy into your home!
Happy holidays!