Creating a Better Community
By Xan Hall
Building a community is hard work; it is often also thankless, exasperating, and overwhelming. But the dividends of that work – a community of people who support each other, who do thingsthat are mutually beneficial, who make sacrifices for each other – that’ s worthwhile.
We all know the stories about the ‘ bad old days’ at the farm. But in case you don’ t, here’s a recap. There was that time Orren had to fight in court so we could access the land at all, because there was a legal injunction against setting foot on the land from October until April one winter. There was that time Stones Rising happened during a hurricane, and the hardy brave souls who stayed out in the rain raised those Stones anyways, and got soaking wet and weren’ t done before dark. There was that time a car got irretrievably stuck in front of faerie camp, necessitating a bypass (that’ s why the faeries have a parking lane). There was that time a flood took away the lower shower house and many campsites in the Soggy Bottoms. There was that time the woods caught on fire, nearly ending in disaster. There was that time in the kitchen without proper refrigeration, when veggies were stacked in the corner with ice bags and tarps, and two people cooked for a thousand. There was that time...