The Village from Fresh Eyes- Devorah and David

Devorah and David are soon to officially be our next neighbours, along with Christine who is technically moving in this weekend coming up. Things are really popping around here!

Devorah and David have been thinking about something like this for a long time with friends from their home town of Maple Ridge. They overheard a radio show that we were featured on and right away knew they needed to see what we were about. The snowed out presentation in January was calling to them, but due to icy road conditions they waited and joined Ingrid for the senior's cohousing presentation a week later. They came for the Ten Mile tasty tour. they dove in to Study group One which is a ten week workshop for seniors-to-be that looks closely at aging in place and how cohousing helps that. Last weekend we got the news that they were ready to take the next steps in joining our little village. We are so pleased to have them!

Devorah mentioned she has been writing to her friends about her experiences here and I suggested that she might begin contributing to the Blog. In time I hope to give her a Blog user name and let her share her own experiences with you directly. I love the idea of more voices sharing what is going on here. More voices gives a much rounder voice to the village.

Fo now- I paste on her behalf.

PS. The pictures are hers too. I think it was very respectful of her to block our faces before sending this out to her mailing list- but I will probably ask for copies where we show. None of the people in the pictures are worried about being shared. But the thought is sweet!

The upsides of multigenerational cohousing in Yarrow

After years of discussions, questions, searching, soul-searching, anxiety, and just sitting around on our butts stuck in our unsustainable comfort, I am pleased to say that we are very close to the commitment to move out to Yarrow Ecovillage when the next housing is ready!

We have just spent a very intense weekend there, and we had so many positive moments that we beat our own deadline for decision making. Here are a few of the things we did and observed.( A few pictures are attached, but some faces are blurred to protect anyone who might object to their picture being taken. )

SATURDAY:

We arrived to one of the first gloriously sunny days in a long time, so it seemed the whole village was out on the farmland and garden working at something. Some were stacking firewood or re-mulching paths; we spent most of our time cleaning out the old fire pit, moving it over a bit, and re-constructing it. With so many helping it was both fun and fast. We started at 1, and a fire was going in the new pit by dinner time. At one point I looked out to see a group of people (including my son) tamping down the gravel and dirt by dancing to an Irish jig played on my son's phone. The whole atmosphere was one of fun!

At 3:30 some of us who are interested in the next phase of housing attended a meeting to narrow down the cabinet, counter, and flooring choices. We did a quick tour of about 4-5 kitchens to get an idea of what things looked like, and everyone's voice was heard as the choices were democratically narrowed down to a few. A flooring expert was there to discuss the choices, which in all cases were non-toxic. There were also some "realities" as some of our preferences were too costly to make "standard". However, once you move in, you can make what changes you want.

At 6:00 we took a break to join others at the fire pit. We had brought ingredients for a communal soup which Janice- who loves to cook- had kindly assembled for us. We had also contributed bread or buns, and enjoyed a wonderful meal. Then, those of us in the focus group went back to finish our discussion about kitchen and floor choices.

SUNDAY:

We arrived at 10:30 AM and met with some of the "mature" villagers and interested folk to go for a walkabout and hike for a few hours. The walk took us around the farm fields, along the creek, a little ways up a mountain, and down along the dikes. For the outdoor enthusiasts such as ourselves, the area was a gold mine of biking, hiking, walking, and probably canoeing possibilities, some just a short walk out the door.

Yarrow itself is very charming, with lots of farms, horses, produce. Along the main road, just steps from the ecovillage, are a deli, restaurants, small grocery stores, gas stations, bank, post office, and a library and school mere blocks away. No box stores.

Two of the "matures" hosted a delicious lunch, and we talked of projects that we could do, such as building a sand box for the kids, and building market tables for the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box pick-ups during the summer. We also talked about other gatherings for the people-without-young-kids group, such as hikes, bike rides, pot-luck dinners.

At 1:00 we all attended the monthly community meeting. Not for the first time, we were very impressed with the respect and democracy that were so evident in this meeting, as well as the commitment to keeping things on track and on time. They knew in advance what issues would be dealt with, and when it came to a potentially emotionally charged issue, techniques were called into play to give everyone a respectful voice without shouting or name-calling. (Our politicians could benefit from watching how this works!!) The next steps to deal with the problem were put into place. As a real hater of meetings myself, I was amazed and even hopeful!

It was delightful to see young children, pregnant women, people of a variety of backgrounds, "mature" folks such as ourselves, couples, singles, you name it, all coming together with the intention of making a community work. The synergy is palpable.

Hey, you might wonder, so what are the downsides? Is there any privacy? Yes. People respect your private space, and there is no pressure to constantly participate. Are there people who will irritate you? I suppose so; (we haven't met them yet.) I'm pretty sure sometimes the group dynamics can be exhausting or frustrating. For us, the opportunity for growth is worth the risks.

If you know of anyone who might be looking for a change, or might interested in this vibrant little village in Yarrow, please pass this on! There are still a few housing units left in this phase of development, and the next phase will be the seniors cohousing.

Devorah

www.cohousing.ca/www.yarrowecovillage.ca/