Thursday, August 14, 2008

let's make our own village

i really want to do it.

i am so inspired by the havasupai village. ours can be more foresty though. we can buy a hundred acres or so, built a few little houses near each other in a neighborhood connected by soft footpaths, and then leave the rest of the land wild and free for hiking and exploring and picnicking and swimming in water holes. and maybe even horseback riding!?

we can build cob or straw bale houses like these:


with doorways like this:



we will all park on the outskirts and for the most part our village will be auto-free. nature gave us strong healthy legs for a reason! and we can have horses and bicycles and wheelbarrows for groceries. the roads connecting our dwellings can either be cobbled or graded dirt roads or simple little trails like so


we can have a community center with a kitchen where we make shared meals a few times a week and play music. we can have a barn for barn dances and festivities and hay rides and camp outs. we can stargaze and paint and play soccer and whistle and pet kittens and pick peaches.

our garden! our garden will be massive. it will be an immensely satisfying group effort. we will grow tomatoes, basil, squash, corn, peppers, onions, zuchini, soy beans, cilantro, carrots, peas, and eggplant. not to mention plum trees, pears, apples, apricots. a greenhouse for lemon trees and other exotic beauties. herbs in tidy little rows. wild blackberries for pies and jam.

a trip into town will provide the other necessities. don't get me wrong. we won't be cut off from society, not in the least. we will be positive and shining examples of love and community the right way! not exclusive, non-judmental, not dogmatic or hierarchical or domineering. just simple and safe and respectful. we won't be too hippy-dippy. we will have jobs in the outside world, internet access, netflix, and even an incredible music recording studio.

case in point: orange twin records. anyone heard of them? neutral milk hotel's label. they started a "pedestrian based eco-village" known as orange twin conservation community, outside athens georgia. i bet they have great peach trees over there. i don't know how it's going. i couldn't get much info online. but there are lots of groups doing stuff like this. i just wanted to add that you don't have to be too removed from reality to live this way.

we'll have an amazing communal library and there will be a book club for anyone interested. let's have an outdoor amphitheater with a big screen to show rad movies sometimes. we'll have singing and dancing and full moon night-swims. oh, the good things that we shall do.

i want to be a doer, not a dreamer. i am serious about this you guys, if anyone wants to join me. in a couple years, we need to buy land so for now we can just start thinking about how this actually works. i have been looking into it and i know it is possible. it is easiest to do if you are all friends and family, and not a membership type of thing. it is weird to start from scratch, much different than our much-respected friends down in the grand canyon, but it is a possibility and i think it is a good path.

5 comments:

AdieSpringB said...

hi bun. This is so true and presently, it's killing me. YOU WROTE EVERYTHING EXACTLY THE WAY IT SHOULD BE. And you know what, it's not too idealistic, it can be completely REALISTIC, and I am willing to work my butt off and be as serious as needs be to make such a thing happen. Honestly, all the other little dreams of my life- maybe getting famous thru music one day, being an actress (when I was little), making money from art, getting rich, traveling the world, etc..... they all PALE in comparison to this tribe-like dream. I was only looking for love before, and I still am only looking for love, as we all are. Except before, thru such ideals as being famous or getting rich, I was then unrealistic. Now, however, we are onto something that can provide fulfillment like we have never dreamed of, and it is completely REALISTIC. Honey, I am so with you. And I actually really like working these days, at home, in the garden, at work, etc.... I will do what it takes to get such an idea off the ground. With a few people who have simpler needs and more creative ideas than the rest of the free world, we can easily make this dream happen.

Simpler needs, more creative brains. Straw bale beauty designs, forest paths, gardens, and music studios. What else could one want in life besides good good love? And that would be right outside our doors!

AdieSpringB said...

oh, simpler needs, more creative brains, and HARD WORKING bodies and minds. That part is pretty important, not being lazy that is. Rocking the boat of hard work every day, like we did at havasu. Work hard, play hard.

Susan said...

It sounds wonderful honey, I want to be there. I can work really hard too. I'll help with the Library and I'm good with flowers, you got to have flowers. Let me know what to do to get started! (Are old people allowed?) Love you, Mom

heather said...

of course you are allowed momma! i have already thought about what a cute little cottage we can make for you like in the pictures, with flowers all around your path and kitties in the yard. and hummingbirds and birdbaths and purple petunias. yes, you could help us a lot with the gardening. i want to grow lavender! you can arrange library days for the kids, we can do our own summer reading club. we will still be going to the real library frequently too though, and all kinds of stuff in the greater community. that is important, that we not be too isolated. anyway i am glad you like the idea and i am serious about it...i need to start writing down the rules and regulations of this kind of "co-housing" situation.

Amy Beatty said...

So in love with this!!! I want lots of lavender also. A house a block up has it and when ever I walk by it it smells so wonderful, you just want to lay down in their yard and die.