Monday, March 27, 2006
So I stayed with the Happy Brigaders for one week. I had a great time. Very warm, friendly people. I must return someday to see how they've gotten along.
I took a train ride up from San Jose to Eugene. The train arrived in San Jose about an hour late, and it arrived in Eugene about 6 hours late. I slept on the train (wasn't terribly uncomfortable since I had both seats to myself), ate on the train (the food was really, really terrible, and expensive too), and took lots of pictures on the train. I'll post them as soon as I have the ability to do that.
So almost 24 hours later I arrived in Eugene, where Dave from Alpha Farm picked me up. It took an hour and a quarter to arrive at the farm, and you can only get there by car. It's good they offered to drive!
Alpha Farm is quite a place. It's the second oldest intentional community in the United States. The oldest one is called Twin Oaks, somewhere in the east. This one was founded in 1971 by Caroline and Jim, who still live here and are still in charge, and I believe they're in their late 70s.
It's quite a contrast from the Happy Brigade. Neither community was even aware of the other's existence. People here were all asking me questions about the Happy Brigade, and I was pleased to fill them in. I guess nobody was aware of them because they're so young (only formed within the last two years), and not in any ecovillage directories besides the one by Ecovillages of the Americas (online anyway). Some people here have spent time in Santa Cruz and they weren't even aware of the Happy Brigade. Similarly, none of the Happy Brigaders had heard of Alpha, which is interesting since Alpha is so old and is mentioned in publications.
The atmosphere here is quite a bit different from the Happy Brigade's. There are many more people - about 20, compared to 6 - and they are much more diverse in character. Some of them are uber-hippies, which I think is pretty cool, because they're very interesting people. The whole place seems even more laid back than the Happy Brigade, even though there are some quite mature members here.
This place seems to have a relatively high turnover, especially in the summer. Most people I talk to have only arrived within the last year, and someone who only arrived three months ago suddenly up and left today. And I guess incidents like this are okay for this community. People are surprised for sure about her leaving, but they don't seem horrendously upset, not the way some members of the Happy Brigade were upset to see one of their members decide to take off (even though she told them a week in advance). It's a much bigger event at the Happy Brigade if someone decides to leave than it is here. That may partly be due to the size of the community. Here it's not the end of the world if the group shrinks by 1/20th of its size. But it's still interesting.
This land is very beautiful. They're lucky to have such a cozy little valley to themselves. Their water is from a spring, and the stream that runs through the property is very clear and mouth-watering. There seem to be dozens of little cabins and huts scattered across the property. Some people sleep in the upper floors of the main farmhouse, but most have their own cabin or cottage. There are no strawbale buildings that I'm aware of; I think most of them are made from new and recycled wood. Many don't seem to have good insulation, and almost all of them have a wood stove. It's actually quite picturesque, all these little huts with their chimneys and woodsmoke rising out of them, surrounded by lawns and gardens and connected by little paths.
I hang out most of the time with the younger crowd here, who seem to be between 18 and 28 or so. They often hang out in the "Cabin", reading or making crafts or watching movies. They're definitely a cool group of people.
The farm also runs a store/cafe called Alpha-bit, about half and hour's drive away. People work there on a rotating basis. I really like the place, and it's fun to hang out there. They sell lots of books, but also crafts from the farm and natural and fair-trade products. The cafe offers mostly organic stuff.
I'd like to post more pictures, but that may have to wait until I'm in Portland.
I took a train ride up from San Jose to Eugene. The train arrived in San Jose about an hour late, and it arrived in Eugene about 6 hours late. I slept on the train (wasn't terribly uncomfortable since I had both seats to myself), ate on the train (the food was really, really terrible, and expensive too), and took lots of pictures on the train. I'll post them as soon as I have the ability to do that.
So almost 24 hours later I arrived in Eugene, where Dave from Alpha Farm picked me up. It took an hour and a quarter to arrive at the farm, and you can only get there by car. It's good they offered to drive!
Alpha Farm is quite a place. It's the second oldest intentional community in the United States. The oldest one is called Twin Oaks, somewhere in the east. This one was founded in 1971 by Caroline and Jim, who still live here and are still in charge, and I believe they're in their late 70s.
It's quite a contrast from the Happy Brigade. Neither community was even aware of the other's existence. People here were all asking me questions about the Happy Brigade, and I was pleased to fill them in. I guess nobody was aware of them because they're so young (only formed within the last two years), and not in any ecovillage directories besides the one by Ecovillages of the Americas (online anyway). Some people here have spent time in Santa Cruz and they weren't even aware of the Happy Brigade. Similarly, none of the Happy Brigaders had heard of Alpha, which is interesting since Alpha is so old and is mentioned in publications.
The atmosphere here is quite a bit different from the Happy Brigade's. There are many more people - about 20, compared to 6 - and they are much more diverse in character. Some of them are uber-hippies, which I think is pretty cool, because they're very interesting people. The whole place seems even more laid back than the Happy Brigade, even though there are some quite mature members here.
This place seems to have a relatively high turnover, especially in the summer. Most people I talk to have only arrived within the last year, and someone who only arrived three months ago suddenly up and left today. And I guess incidents like this are okay for this community. People are surprised for sure about her leaving, but they don't seem horrendously upset, not the way some members of the Happy Brigade were upset to see one of their members decide to take off (even though she told them a week in advance). It's a much bigger event at the Happy Brigade if someone decides to leave than it is here. That may partly be due to the size of the community. Here it's not the end of the world if the group shrinks by 1/20th of its size. But it's still interesting.
This land is very beautiful. They're lucky to have such a cozy little valley to themselves. Their water is from a spring, and the stream that runs through the property is very clear and mouth-watering. There seem to be dozens of little cabins and huts scattered across the property. Some people sleep in the upper floors of the main farmhouse, but most have their own cabin or cottage. There are no strawbale buildings that I'm aware of; I think most of them are made from new and recycled wood. Many don't seem to have good insulation, and almost all of them have a wood stove. It's actually quite picturesque, all these little huts with their chimneys and woodsmoke rising out of them, surrounded by lawns and gardens and connected by little paths.
I hang out most of the time with the younger crowd here, who seem to be between 18 and 28 or so. They often hang out in the "Cabin", reading or making crafts or watching movies. They're definitely a cool group of people.
The farm also runs a store/cafe called Alpha-bit, about half and hour's drive away. People work there on a rotating basis. I really like the place, and it's fun to hang out there. They sell lots of books, but also crafts from the farm and natural and fair-trade products. The cafe offers mostly organic stuff.
I'd like to post more pictures, but that may have to wait until I'm in Portland.
| [ 3 comments ] |
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Hey there. I guess it's time I posted a proper update. How are y'all?
So the Happy Brigade is one happening place. (First impression, of course.) The people are super-friendly, much like those I've met in other left-wing and hippie-oriented organizations. The people here, 6 plus 1 intern, range in age from 23 to 40, but most of them are in their late 20s. The atmosphere here reminds me a lot of Everdale's, I think partly because of the age group. People are pretty laid-back and aren't afraid of being goofy sometimes. They're also quite passionate about developing their community and figuring out how to live the lifestyle of their dreams.
I'll give you an idea of what everyone here does. Dean and Erin, who are married, I think are the main visionaries of the Brigade. They bought the property and a lot of the equipment here. Dean works for Cisco Systems about three days of the week. I think Erin spends most of her time at home doing office-type work for the community. Dub is a web designer and programmer gone farmer, like me, Jon, and some other people I know. He works for a small web design company in Santa Cruz a few days of the week. Molly has been doing art direction for a book about using alcohol as a fuel, to be self-published soon by the author, and is supposedly going to be the de-facto book on the subject. But her work is done there now, so she's looking for a new job. Elise is an art teacher at a school in Santa Cruz, and also training to teach at Waldorf schools. Merlin works at a landscaping company, doing tree pruning, and is also studying at tree pruning school one day a week. Tamsen is an intern from England and spends a lot of time volunteering for an organization trying to encourage sensible transportation and prevent the widening of highways and so on in this area. They are pretty diverse, hey?
I have to go now, but I might post more later.
So the Happy Brigade is one happening place. (First impression, of course.) The people are super-friendly, much like those I've met in other left-wing and hippie-oriented organizations. The people here, 6 plus 1 intern, range in age from 23 to 40, but most of them are in their late 20s. The atmosphere here reminds me a lot of Everdale's, I think partly because of the age group. People are pretty laid-back and aren't afraid of being goofy sometimes. They're also quite passionate about developing their community and figuring out how to live the lifestyle of their dreams.
I'll give you an idea of what everyone here does. Dean and Erin, who are married, I think are the main visionaries of the Brigade. They bought the property and a lot of the equipment here. Dean works for Cisco Systems about three days of the week. I think Erin spends most of her time at home doing office-type work for the community. Dub is a web designer and programmer gone farmer, like me, Jon, and some other people I know. He works for a small web design company in Santa Cruz a few days of the week. Molly has been doing art direction for a book about using alcohol as a fuel, to be self-published soon by the author, and is supposedly going to be the de-facto book on the subject. But her work is done there now, so she's looking for a new job. Elise is an art teacher at a school in Santa Cruz, and also training to teach at Waldorf schools. Merlin works at a landscaping company, doing tree pruning, and is also studying at tree pruning school one day a week. Tamsen is an intern from England and spends a lot of time volunteering for an organization trying to encourage sensible transportation and prevent the widening of highways and so on in this area. They are pretty diverse, hey?
I have to go now, but I might post more later.
| [ 1 comment ] |
Friday, March 10, 2006
Ocean Beach
Ocean flowers
The beautiful architecture of Haight and the rest of SF
Haight out the window
Buena Vista Park
Blue blossoms by the road
Me, Meta and Eon at the Irish pub
Meta and Nick at Ocean Beach
Eating garlic bread late at night near City Lights
At the organic cafe in Presidio Park
Duh
| [ 4 comments ] |
Friday, March 03, 2006
Trip photos from my real camera...
Flying away from TO
Union Square
Some pretty little islands
Me
Cute hill
Another one
Impressive bridge
Flying away from TO
Union Square
Some pretty little islands
Me
Cute hill
Another one
Impressive bridge
| [ 3 comments ] |
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
I wonder how much of my blog audience has seen Jon's awesome photos from an autumn some years ago. I've set up a page to show them off. Here is a sampling:
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