Kindness and Community

Western Heratage Cultural Institute
Two days ago (I think it was two days ago) we visited the Western Heratage Cultural Institute. We were shown around by Bernadette and Bevin. Bevin lives on the property and Bernadette lives close by and is on the board of directors. Bevin has been focused on starting communities for the last… ummmm… lots and lots of years. He said that this particular one was his 8th try, and he is considering moving on to something new. The Western Heratage Cultural Institute is a very note-worthy combination of folks. The majority of them are Mormon. Bernadette and Bevin, however, spoke about goddess centered and earth-based philosophies. They both alluded to some struggles within the community due to this diversity, but seemed hopeful that everyone is being “more real” with each-other to work out the conflicts.
These two philosophies meet in the middle over their common assurance that (in my words, not theirs) the shit is about to hit the fan. Whether this upheaval will be a result of Armageddon - or the earth shaking off her shackles… whether the source of this insight is the Bible - or the Mayan Calendar - the preparations that need to take place are the same. As Bernadette said, “I’ve been growing so far left that, all of a sudden, I turned a corner and ran smack into the right!“
Now they are all working together to build a sustainable community, and to network with other farms and neighborhoods in the area to create a general system of support - and they have accomplished a lot in the six years that they’ve been working together.
They have a large, well-functioning green house and quite a number of structures (6... 7...?) built in earth ship fashion. They dig many of their buildings into the earth - to maintain a moderate temperature throughout the year - and they use structural materials such as straw bales and tires. They have a semi-large garden and, though they do have water on their property, they have found a way to irrigate using run-off from other farms’ irrigation.

Having worked - personally - with several groups of people who fell apart earlier and over differences - seemingly - much smaller than the ones I witnessed here, I was very motivated and encouraged by the accomplishments: spiritual, emotional, and physical, that I saw at the Western Heratage Cultural Institute.
They did express that they would like to have some younger folks to join in on their projects (They all seemed to be in their late 40’s to 60’s - except for the children.) - but I have a hard time visualizing us leaping into the middle of that Mormon / Pagan struggle. It did, however, lead us to more consideration about joining a pre-formed community of older folks. As I understand more about the difficulties and complications of the community-forming process, I realize how it could very easily leave you old and gray by the time it all comes to fruition. After that, if there is no vitality left to jazz things up - or lift heavy things- it could easily fade away to nothing.
So the question is… do we want to be the wise ol’ grizzled community starters? Or the spark of life that jumps in to keep it going?

General Niceness
I just want to comment, quickly, on the overall grand-spanking-wonderfulness of everyone we have encountered in Montana and Idaho. At each small town we stumble upon, I walk tentatively into the coffee shop to guzzle my daily intake of caffeine and ask if there’s a wireless connection. I say ‘tentatively’ because I just left a few towns in Colorado (which shall remain nameless) where my general appearance seemed to create… what shall we call it? A slight disturbance - stepping onto any random coffee shop or Target. On one occasion I was even told that a certain pregnant woman had to “flee the scene” because the sight of my arm-pit hair instigated her morning sickness.
Needless to say, when I walk around in these small, Montana cowboy towns - I try to permeate a vibration that says, “don’t worry, I’m nice - and I probably won’t give you fleas.”
But it really hasn’t been necessary. Everyone here has been absolutely godly to us. If I receive any odd looks, they seem to be full of intrigue rather than nausea. People initiate conversation, asking where we’re from and where we’re going. They tell us stories and give suggestions.
At the Western Heritage Cultural Institute, Bevin wouldn’t let us leave without accepting grocery bags FULL of kale, peppers, tomatoes, onions, tomatillos, chard, and beans.
Two nights ago - we were supposed to stay in a cabin belonging to Paul, a friend of Valisa’s mom. It turned out the cabin was not quite as comfortable as he had described. His neighbors, Carl and Vikki, decided that we would be more relaxed in their cabin - which was utterly fuzz-cuddly wonderful. They invited us in, fed us dinner, and gave us a book of Hot Springs in the North West.
Even now, as I write this from a Coffee shop in Spokane Washington, we have just been invited to stay tonight in Rachel‘s house. She’s the girl who served us our tea.