My First Night!

May 24^th, 2011 9:23pm

Hello friends and family!

Tonight is my first night at Earthaven! So much has happened and I’m SO excited!

My flights were uneventful. I had no trouble navigating O’Hare. Pretty quick and painless, actually.

As I was flying Chicago to Asheville, I watched out the window as flat monoculture gave way to forested mountains, and I had the overwhelming sense that I was coming home.

Lyndon, one of the two people who run the Medicine Wheel community house, happened to have a dentist appointment this afternoon in Asheville and was able to pick me up with no problem. He was very friendly and told me all about the area, Earthaven, and Medicine Wheel on the drive back. Lyndon has been studying and practicing permaculture since 1986, and he has grand plans for Medicine Wheel. I look forward to living and working with him.

Earthaven is incredible! I admit I haven’t seen much of it, but it is lush, green, biodiverse forested mountain. The structures are rustic but charming. It reminds me a lot of the camp I went to every summer as a child, but better. And I always wanted to live at camp!

Medicine Wheel is fabulous, too. Patricia warned me that it was “unfinished,” and that it is. But again, somehow it has a charming feel rather than seeming "rundown" or "under construction." I can’t WAIT until the morning so that I can take a picture of the INCREDIBLE view from my window. I have a smallish room on the third floor overlooking the pond and the garden. I’m listening to the chorus of frogs and crickets right now. It’s peaceful. My room is unfinished – bare plywood floor, walls, and ceiling – but I have plans to start making it feel homey.

The whole house is solar powered, which is really impressive given the size of the house, so conserving energy is key. The water is from Earthaven springs and rainwater catchment, and from what Lyndon told me, there are plans to improve the cistern and plumbing. There are two bathrooms for bathing, but the toilet is an outdoor composting toilet system. Again, I think it’ll be kinda like camping, but all the time!

Everyone I’ve met so far has been very friendly and welcoming. There was a potluck dinner tonight. The food was fantastic, and I had several excellent discussions with a few different people. I’m still learning names and faces (and I will be for a while!), but I’ve met a lot of people that I can tell are going to become good friends.

Well, I’d better get to sleep for tonight. I have a lot more meeting and orienting to do in the morning.

peace

Molly

The view out my window! It's SO BEAUTIFUL!!!

P.S. As I suspected, the closest point for cell reception is about a mile east of here. I’ll make calls on the house phone when I can. Also, I have to walk to “The Office” to get internet, which means I’m not going to post this until tomorrow. G’night all!