Alone

This is a message from the breakaway cell.

“Dark Fire sets out on her own, armed only with monkey-toe grip and an abnormally small right eye-socket.”



Ah, the joy of going to bed without taking my contacts out, of opening my eyes in the morning and seeing the world with all its edges and corners. No more mandatory yearly eye exams or jumbo-sized bottles of saline solution. My backpack already feels lighter.





So I've set out on my own.




I fly into Anchorage Monday night, and in a month or so I will be on my way to Thailand.




Excited stuff happening over there, with the military coup and all. My brother's colleague just sent us photos of his son sitting on a tank in Bangkok. Uh, there are flowers on the tank, and everyone is just smiling and hanging out. It doesn't look too dangerous, so don't worry. Besides, military dictators just make things more exciting.








It's strange being out here on my own, but I'm feeling more centered and grounded than I have in a long time. It's good to be going home, and I'll be working up there and doing art and hanging out with mom and dad.


Maybe I'll finally get out kayaking, or play a little volleyball or something. I'm meeting up with a disaster-zone pal in Anchorage and we will travel together for a while. I am showing him the real Alaska, off the highway system. I'll take him hiking up in the alpine tundra and stuff. Should be fun. There is nothing I like more than showing people the amazing place where I grew up.

Eugene bound

Ok, this is the newest edition in the lives of the tuff roots ‘n co. Nathan, Jesika and Brian are inEugene. We have "officially" moved here. There are levels of moving somewhere of course. Although we all enthusiastically assert that we live in Eugene, we are still houseless.
Last night we stayed at Mark and Ben's house (Mark used to be Valisa's boyfriend). We played amulti-level rendition of rochambeau (that is spelled correctly by the way) to decide who would sleepon the floor. Mark and Ben expressed an almost melodramatic concern that we would all get fleas. We agreed that this would be fine, as it would motivate us to find a place to live even sooner.


Nathan got the couch while Brian got stuck on the flea-ridden floor. The dogs only licked him acouple of times, while Nathan ended up getting stuck between the pillows. Jesika didn't get fleas.



This morning we started thinking about where to live. We scouted out all sorts of places, one withtwo kitchens and four bedrooms. We're trying to decide how many rooms we need. When you visit -we don't want you to have to sleep in the entry way - between the kitchen and the back door. We'llprobably have dogs, and we don't want them to step on you and suck your ear wax.

We want a place that costs less than $12,000 / mo for 4 bedrooms. There are certain people we aretrying to entice to live with us in Eugene, so we're being almost unreasonably picky. After all, weare choosing the location of your next move / vacation -- and we are taking this responsibility veryseriously.

In the truck, Nathan generally drives, Brian navigates, and Jes sits in the middle and tries to carry oninteresting conversation. Typically the conversation spins to sex, politics, and religion. Generally thatall comes into play when we talk about our personal relationships. But trying to tell you about thatwould be a short novel.

In the meantime, we think of big dreams about discovering our passions together, and how to makeour visions come true in a practical way. We have decided against teaching a fairie cosmic dolphindance worship workshop. In this time of revolution, we don't have the proper equipment to distill thenecessary essential oils and flower essences required for luring dolphin fairies to Eugene. In themean time we are filling out rental applications - i.e. brushing up on our creative writing skills. Ifyou happen to receive any phone calls from rental management agencies, and they ask if we make 3grand a month, please say "yes". But let's get back to the original topic of this writing.

On Friday, Valisa got eye surgery. The doctor says she has little eye sockets. We like to call it,"lovely almond eyes". Now she has 20/20 vision. She is going to Alaska for a month to visit herparents, and then she is going to Thailand for 3 ½ months. We're pretty sure she is going to move inwith us after that.

Benja went with Valisa to Seattle to make sure she had support in case she went blind or anything. After she is healed he will pick up the truck in Colorado, and then "officially" move in with us. Iguess we're somewhat excited for his return. Just kidding, Benja.
We plan to keep you all updated as we settle into our rental house, get jobs, and... in the very nearfuture, pin down the property we intend to buy. Although, for the last week or so most of our energyhas been directed towards finding jobs and a temporary place to live, we are determined not to losemomentum in our quest for the perfect community land. We hope that you will not lose interesteither. We are dedicated to maintaining our entertaining lives - or at least presenting them in anentertaining way - so that ya'll will still love us, even when we become practical, grounded landowners. Please keep checking up on us.

We love you,

Brian, Nathan, Jes (Benja and Valisa at large)

A spontanious community

SELDOVIA
reflections, from Dark Fire

When I think of community I think of home... I think of Seldovia, Alaska with its cute little boardwalks, its piles of rusting cars (I might need them later!), its flowering cliffs and soggy winters. I think of the mish-mash of people who wound up there by fate or circumstance, and somehow managed to eek out an existance between the mountains and the sea. My mom recently reminded me that we don't have to drop smack-dab in the middle of a progressive, left-leaning community. People learn to tollerate, and even appreciate eachother when living in spontaneous, mixed communities. After reading her letter, and remembering the better points of growing up in a town with lots of oppinions, my eyes and heart were much more open to the towns that lay farther out from our cultural meccas. Here is her letter. I thought you all would enjoy it:

Just wanted to add a few thoughts. Yes, we were also wanderers in search of a home. For us, Seldovia was the great find. A real community. There were a bunch of people about our age from other parts of the country that arrived with us in '76 or '77. We became a sub community in the larger community. A great puzzlement to the old timers.

Think about the community that you grew up in. The larger community, and the community of friends who became our family here. The Chartiers, Corwins, Dillys, Walt and Sachiko, Dick, Jack and Winn, Patty Hanson and the Browns, John and Vivian, Kim and Leny, and others who came and went. I felt like I had lots of co-parents. Especially Lynn & Kirby, Jennifer, Winn, Alix & Dave, Donna Knowles, Sally Smith, Mike Efta, Jim Huff, Ken Streeter, even Susan Mumma. Really, the whole community. I am profoundly grateful to this place for providing space for me to grow up, and for helping us to raise strong, independant children. (you know, I was 23 when we moved here. I had lots of growing up to do.)

One of the greatest things for me (I grew up in a big city, remember) was to live in a community where everyone knows one another, where I brush shoulders at the post office and the grocery store with people from the entire social structure. There is no way for any sub group to truely isolate itself from the other groups. Hippies grow to know and love (or at least tolerate) the red necks. Not that we all get along all the time, but we all want what's best for our kids. Even Honeybee who sat next to me at the counter in the Tide Pool and extolled the warm and wonderful feeling of seeing "all of our kids drinking together in the bar...it was soo sweet to see them all there". Then, she realized who she was talking to and assured me that nobody was drinking too much. I know what she's talking about. It is fun to see the kids grown up. I have a lingering concern about excessive alcohol consumption that she understands.

I'm rambling. Just wanting to talk about communities. We also sought to raise our own food, but were not farmers. I'm getting better at it. The Chartiers and Dilly's actually succeeded in raising or hunting most of their food. A huge job. I always admired that.

And all of those good, strong intentions don't protect from the fact that some people will try the life out and find they don't like it......they want more time for recreation than is possible in a subsistance situation, or they want a more varied social setting, or they get a religion that doesn't fit, or relationships fall apart, or they get sick or they want something else. Life happens and, as you well know, things change suddenly. Stay flexible.

I have no doubts that you can pull this off. Just like at the kitchen, you'll get things going, and have to adjust to realities as they arise. And you will be able to. Remember that you have lots of strong experience with "community". Remember your core values. Compromise when you can, and don't forget who you are.

Remember we love you.

Mom
(dede higman)








This is my dad's shop on Seldovia bay

The longest road trip ever

Our road trip We should decide soon on a place to live - let's not forget where we've been so far. Click on the map to check out the stops along our trip!

This is the longest road trip I've ever experienced. We've been driving hundreds of miles past some of the most interesting countyside in the west. The whole time, searching for a place to call home. With the end of our trip in mid-September drawing near, I am beginning to think about where I want to be. What cities had the best progressive communities and job options for my friends? What public lands offer the best job options for me? Where can we most easily grow our own vegetables?

Well, well, well... three weeks on the road and what have we learned, class? That I don't want to pay for gas ever again in my life? That you can't keep salad mix for three days in an ice chest? That realtors and mortgage firms keep asking for a mailing address?

Wait just a second. We were supposed to be deciding on *the Best* place to found a locally-based, sustainable, rural farm community educational center HOME. So let's review what we've learned. First of all, we have clarified our vision for both the property and the geographical area that we seek.

We are looking for property that is:
- within an hour's drive of a major city or progressive town
- sunny, flat, and fertile enough for growing food
- available to build one or more structures, legally and practically
- large enough that 5 to 15 residents don't feel crowded when there are 10 to 20 visitors (which translates to roughly 5 acres minimum, preferably 10 or more)
- at least partially forested
- hopefully close to a lake or stream
- ideally surrounded by friendly neighbors
- beautiful

located in a geographical area that is:
- sunny and warm enough days of the year to grow food
- rainy enough to replenish the aquifers
- within 1 hours commute to job opportunities
- within 1 hours drive to a progressive city or town
- relatively affordable to purchase acreage (less than $40,000 per acre...hmm...preferably much less)

So, how does that match up to what we've found so far?

Here is the average precipitation for some of the places we've visited (and Alaska for kicks) Click on the chart to see it full size.




Denver, Missoula, and Spokane have less than 20 inches of precipitation per year. Any farm or garden there would be highly dependant on irrigation. Quillayute on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington gets over 100 inches per year!

Here are the average minimum temperatures for the same cities. Click on the chart to see it full size.




Notice that Quillayute, Seattle, Portland, and Eugene frost only mildly, whereas Denver, Missoula, and Spokane are far enough inland to frost heavily. Homer, AK is on the Pacific Coast, but far enough north to drop down to and average of 15F.

What about jobs and land prices?

Missoula has a growing job market, and there are quite a few progressive organizations in and around town. It's surrounded by wilderness and farms. Quite a few of the residents said that more and more people are moving in to the area around Darby and Hamilton, south of Missoula, in the Bitterroot Valley. Land prices are rising accordingly. Currently, valley bottom land with water access, without improvements is $15,000-30,000 per acre. Don't forget - no water rights, no food.

Water is also a precious commodity in Spokane. Surrounded by wheat fields, the few mountainous valleys would be good settings for our center. Its progressive community is growing as well. Land is the least expensive that we've seen on the trip. There are a few areas where you can find property matching our search criteria at $10,000 per acre.

Bellingham, on the west coast, is powered economically by Seattle to the south and Vancouver to the north. The list of progressive organizations is there is staggering. We found eco-realtors at http://www.greenworksrealty.com to talk to about sustainable building, affordable cohousing, and other environmentally and socially conscious development. Whatcom county is willing to work with people like us to approve site plans. They even like composting toilets! Land prices are higher than any place we've seen, but they drop off slightly with increasing distance from town to the east, hovering around $15,000-$30,000 per acre.

The Olympic Peninsula, green and wet, is quite large compared to the population of its small cities on its northeastern edge. The top of the entire watershed is protected inside the Olympic National Park. It is more difficult to find jobs in Port Townsend and Port Angeles compared to a larger city, though. People come to the peninsula for recreation - hiking, camping, fishing, Sunday driving - so many jobs would drop off in winter. Organic farms and really nice down-to-earth people are as ubiquitous as the breathtaking landscape. Land is affordable in some locations, really expensive in others at $5,000-40,000 per acre.

The Eugene area, including Corvallis to the north and Cottage Grove to the south are working towns that are still recovering from the timber bust of the "late 1900's" Luckily, the University engine still powers the economy here. Surrounded by clear cuts, there are some beautiful mountain valleys where hippie homesteads have survived the exodus from San Fransisco for decades. There is a biofuel station in town, serving biodiesel and ethanol, and a thriving farmer's market. Land can be anywhere from $10,000-30,000 per acre.

We have yet to explore Portland fully, but so far we have found several green realtors:
Cascadia Homes Realtors, Roots Realty, and GreenHousing. More to come on our way back north.

I can't wait to explore the area surrounding Ashland including the Applegate valley. Situated between the Cascade and Siskiou Mountains, tons of organic vegetable and herb farms dot the mountain valleys. I only hope that we can digest and synthesize what we've seen enough to make a decision about where to live in a week...no pressure.