Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Hello, hello! I’d like to introduce myself - my name is Kirsten, play at home Mama to a three-year-old and a seven-month-old that I made with my husband Robb.

Here I am with my daughter at the park. Hello! Nice to meet you.

And the rest of the family - different day, different park!

I’m a Neighbour-in-Waiting (in the Exploration Phase). This means that I don’t yet live in the Yarrow Ecovillage, but I'm going to. And here’s why:

My Impossible (or so I thought) Ideal Life List:

• Sustainable and green
• Healthy and non-toxic
• Walkable
• Close to amenities (like organic groceries, playgrounds and thrift stores)
• Community-driven (with a social and support network)
• Culturally diverse and multi-generational
• Affordable (for our single-income family)
• On a farm, or enough land to garden (and have the ability to keep chickens. And maybe goats. And bees?)
• Easy access to nature and recreation
• Lots of outdoor space for children to run and explore and get dirty
• Creatively inspiring (with space to get creative)
• Beautiful

One of my future neighbours has a hobby chicken project.  The kids love to watch the birds play on their wooden toy structures.

This is not just a list of some of the many features of Groundswell Cohousing and the Yarrow Ecovillage (because you know the Ecovillage is/will be all this and more), this is honestly my ultimate list for living for myself and my family. Friends, I wrote this BEFORE I ever knew that such a place really existed. When I found the Yarrow Ecovillage website, I felt like I found that somewhere over the rainbow. Choirs sang hallelujah, unicorns cried and all that jazz. But seriously, I never thought that I would ever be able to marry what I loved about living in a city and in our neighbourhood, with my desire to live in the country and keep chickens and grow food and let my children run wild and barefoot in the wilderness.

The Ecovillage is just somewhere over this Fraser Valley rainbow. Via flickr with a Creative Commons license

And now that we have found it, my question is: Why isn’t EVERYONE living this way?

Vivian asked Camille and I (the Mamas of our two-family shared living experiment - read more about her and our backstory here) to write for the Village Tales, so we’ll be documenting our journey from interested outsider to Neighbour-in-Waiting to full-fledged Neighbour. We’re excited to be here!

Bedtime Story by Ben

"Mommy," says the four year old boy from under his Grandma made dinosaur quilt.

"Yes Ben?" I'm already working on the presentation I have to give tomorrow in my head as I cuddle my kids goodnight.

"Now I want to tell YOU a bedtime story. From my head."

All I feel is lucky. Lucky and a little bit guilty that I'm working in my head instead of being in the moment. I snap back into place, "Oh! Good! I can't wait." I close my eyes and really listen.

"Once upon a time... In a land all the way on the other side of this planet... there was a village. And it had many many... zoos. And many many transformers. And many many dinosaurs that were mostly longnecks."

As he tells the story he begins to sit up until he is towering above me with a sparkle in his eyes. I just watch him with a smile on my face while he continues, "and they all had lot's and lot's of community dinners! Every night!"

"And was there a circus Ben?" my six year old asks from the other side of me. Each in their own bed, but sharing a room.

"Yeah!" Ben's eyes gleam, "A circus comes... every twenty days! And they come to community dinner too."

It's quiet for a bit. Ben settles back down in his covers.

"You forgot to say The End Ben." Sophie reminds him with her big sister voice.

"Oh Yeah. Right. The End."

I'd like to tell you that they then drifted off to sleep while I sang their favorite lullaby. The reality is they asked for water, got up to go to the bathroom, begged for a lullaby, argued over the lyrics, and I ended up counting to three and removing myself from the room with the threat of my return for a time out.

Not every moment in parenting is bliss. I guess that's why the part of the story where everyone from the land on the other side of the planet get to go to community dinners was such a wonderful treat for me. It was a little clue from my son that he is happy here. Long necks, transformers, impatient moms, and all.

That's all I have. Back to that presentation for tomorrow's meeting!

Sweet Dreams...

Ask Five Ecovillagers Question 1

Hello out there! I greet you from my comfortable Poang Chair from Ikea. A cup of tea is getting cold beside me as I get a few things sorted out online. I've done all my work for the night and so I get to do something I have been waiting to do for a very long time...

Introducing my very own "Blog Segment". The idea of this Blog was that it would be a mixture of several voices. Ann, the first blogger wanted to engage many people from Groundswell Cohousing to write about their different lives here. The thought was that we could show the world how many different people live here. The truth of the matter is that my neighbours are all pretty busy planning and enjoying our community. While they'd like to write regular Blog posts they don't have time. And so I thought it would be nice to give people an easier way to have a voice here.

Ask Five Ecovillagers will run a random question that I've personally been asked past five random neighbours. Here's hoping you'll enjoy the responses. And hey! If you have a question you'd like asked please send it in. Just use the contact us button and forward the question ATTENTION VIVIAN.

Drum roll please....

Five Random Ecovillagers were asked;

How are you schooling your Children?

1. I don't have school age children however I am a supporter of the public school system.

2. I am homeschooling. I had been working as a teacher and enjoy being with children a lot. When my son indicated that he was not ready to go to school, we decided to teach him at home. It has been going well for us. Our younger children have also enjoyed the educational exposure.

3. My 6 year old is goes to Yarrow Elementary School. It is a nice little school, and I love that we can walk there each morning. It is nice to feel that we are getting to know some of our neighbours who don't live at the ecovillage, too.

4. No Kidlets... yet :)

5. I like the idea of home schooling but I have no patience for it; I'd end up eating my young.

If you have a question you would like us to ask five random ecovillagers please email it through our contact us button and stay tuned!

This is Vivian playing a balloon game with feisty ecovillage kids at the Open house. The game was supposed to involve carrying the balloons between their knees back and forth through an obstacle course. The funny thing about free range kids is that they have their own ideas about what fun is and aren't scared to share them. After a round or two of putting up with the obstacle course the kids quickly changed the rules of the game until every balloon had been played with, sat on and squished. Popping balloons makes kids giggle. What can I tell you?

Wagon ride

Today was fun and busy: the bunker silo was cleaned, the garage sale was fun, kids played in wagons (!), and about half a dozen of us ended the day around the fire.

Only eight more days until the open house: come see!

The Park Next Door - New playground coming this summer!

We live right next to a park... Yarrow Central Park. We’re lucky... it’s like an extension to our own garden and back yard. It’s dense with trees, the special kinds they put in parks, that you’re not so likely to have in your garden ... maples with speckled leaves that look like the sun is shining on them, even on a cloudy day. Oaks beautiful in form and leaf, but which you’d rather not have to rake under and elms and evergreens making a canopy of cooling summer shade.

Early in June, the local volunteer community hosts “Yarrow Days” in the park, with booths selling locally made products, lively live music, a multi-fragrant barbeque ( I haven’t noticed what kind of meat they cook, I’ve only ever had my eye on the strawberry shortcake ) and fun and games for the kids.

The rest of the time, the park has many users, in all seasons.

A Bedtime Story

I'm happy to share this story written by Liz as a bedtime story for her small granddaughter. Liz is a newcomer who (is dreaming? was thinking? could be now planning?) to live here with her little one. She spent Saturday at Windsong with us, so her magical story includes many of the activities and places which the group decided to include during that day's process.

Once upon a future time there was a little girl named Karen. She had big blue eyes, glossy dark hair, and enough energy to dance her friends a merry chase from sun-up to sun-down.

Karen lived in a magical place brimming with splashy pink flowers and chirpy flitting birds and golden gentle butterflies and brilliant red berries and crunchy fruit and sweet and juicy and spicy scents and all manner of creatures from teeny weeny tadpoles to great big old sway-backed horses with swishy tails living their retirement years under the sprawling trees at the end of the road.

Karen had lots of friends big and tall short and small and every day was a new adventure.

Out the door, round the corner stopping to smell a rose with Ann. Hip-hopping along playing leap frog with Jason and Mary and Iris. Down into the underground cave and round the edge of Volcano Mountain. Climbing the mountain and rolling down, up and down up and down with the little kids and the bigger kids and even the big kids with beards and real jobs. A new treat today laughing at Beverly zipping the line and letting Beverly lift her up, up, up, until her whole body hung from her little fat fingers tingling and swaying as she flew down the line and dropped like a ballerina onto her flexy little toes. Up the hill, higher still to linger in the fort and peek out the windows to see who might be out to have a chat or sand some wood or dig in the flower bed. Out of the fort and down the slide racing along the path to find the hose that offers a cooling gush of thirst quenching water. A little spray over Gerry’s feet and off again to splash at the water park with the babies and join the art society to paint a bevy of royal dragon flies on the back of the climbing wall. Veggie dogs and juice at the fire-pit. Slowly she tip-toed down the quiet path to the secret place to slide through the leaves, into the comfy hammock to swing and rest and contemplate her next adventure. Wheels are turning and kids are laughing. Its time to race down the farm road and back until hearts can’t beat any faster, the adults and dogs are lying on the grass gasping and the kids are feasting on juicy, dusty, purpleicious plums.

The gong sounds and Karen’s community drifts towards the smokey smells of veggies and fish on the barbie and pizza and pies in the cob oven. Dusk falls, folks cozy up on comfy bancos with gentle music wafting overhead to thank the earth and the farmers and the cooks for this bounteous feast.

A fire, a song, gooey marshmallows on a fork then good night, good night. The moon is out. Scrub a dub in the tub finds clean fingernails, brown knees and sweet smells behind the ears. A story, a song, a cushy bed and an open window. Karen drifts to sleep with the stars in her eyes and only the sound of crickets in her ears. The gentle voices from the hottub and the firepit drift through the trees surrounding her with peace and security.

Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow will be a new adventure.

Thank you for this story, Liz. In the middle of all this planning, it is grounding and pleasurable to read this story and think of the day-to-day life which we will be living. :-)