The New Cluster

 

 

note-

italics is Naj talking

bold is Naj thinking

regular font is others speaking

"Wow. I haven't been over this way for a while and its so close."

If one had been blindfolded and took it off as they entered the area of Windmill Co-op, they would have thought this all looks wonderful. Well kept gardens, little green spaces and water features combined with native plants for small wildlife, including Mockingbirds. Outdoor art here and there. Someone laughing or talking nearby but unseen. Green, lovingly maintained, full of life. A few blocks away, the landscape was different.

Twenty years earlier, as the Slide gave way to Transition, the high input needs of suburbia were giving way to the forces of Nature. Thirty years ago, the steepening cost of gasoline, the upkeep of the houses, the failing economy and unemployment, the foreclosures combined to pull the rug from under suburbia.

Into the slide, few people had interest in buying those empty houses, partly because few had the money but even more so because those houses were stranded, too far from anywhere. The newer places had little space for gardens and removing all that concrete to grow an appreciable amount of food was just too much work for those not used to manual labor. What made these houses possible, what made streets full of these kinds of houses possible, what made cities full of these kinds of streets and houses possible was long gone. What made an entire way of life devoted to suburbia was a dead end.

Combined with the loss of other lifestyle support systems such as cheap food, medical care, mobility and paid work, few would have ever imagined just how fragile the entire arrangement was. Untold numbers of people who could not adjust paid with their lives. Cascadia did far better than most of the country but even down the street from the well maintained and thriving Windmill Co-op, there were dozens of stories of immense suffering and disappointment.

Windmill Co-op and several others in a loose association in the River Road area made it through and by 2035 had achieved a considerable degree of security. Human needs were being taken care of in many new ways. Most of the survivors of the Transition had either anticipated the changes by a good number of years or knew someone who did who they were able to attach themselves with. Still others, had particular skills such as health care, growing food and construction that were valuable and were recruited into co-ops as they formed.

2

Those observing the decline about 2008 could literally look in the old Yellow Pages and mark an "X" on the goods and business that were not meant to endure and even a rough chronological order they would fade out. Even the New York Times during the same period ran an increasing number of articles about how people were making changes. They never did completely make all the connections between politics, resource depletion, human nature and the culture of affluence but the articles were extremely informative.

Articles included titles such as "Worries That the Good Times Were Only a Mirage", "Inflation Soars as Confidence Plunges", "As Prices Soar, Restaurant Grease Thefts Rise", "Housing Woes in the US Spread Around the Globe", "Its Not Easy Being Less Rich" and many more. The articles were an unwitting chronicle of a collapsing civilization. They were showing up with increasing frequency right up to the plunge in one of the world's most prominent mainstream newspapers.

From a bird's eye view in the summertime, one would have looked down at what had been River Road and seen a far more dense green canopy than 30 years earlier. The view would have looked a bit odd because the streets were mostly grown over and the roofs of many of the houses were gone but you would still recognize the basic familiar grid structure of the streets. But looking closer, one could see many of the houses were caved in with trees growing from what used to be a kitchen or bedroom. There were more trees visible than houses. Still, the odd chimney stuck out here or there.

The one acre park down the street had become a huge vegetable garden. It still contained the playground equipment, rarely used. I had spoken with the land scape architect with the city thirty years earlier about this site becoming a community garden. His overt design as a conventional neighborhood park was made with a very different future in mind. The park was converted into a community veggie garden with little difficulty. It became the focal point of this part of the neighborhood for several years but as the Slide deepened the surrounding residents either moved or died. Windmill Co-op was the closest place with people living so in effect, inherited the place.

None of the houses surrounding the park were occupied. A few remains of houses were located directly between the Park Garden and the Neighborhood Garden Center with the greenhouses and the bio gas. The entire rectangle had been part of a large plant nursery. It was taking time to remove those houses. The plan was to re-establish the entire rectangle from greenhouses to Park Garden although the house slabs would still be in place.

3

There was a buffer between Windmill and the part of the neighborhood totally let go. These were houses that remained unoccupied but maintained with the former yards in edible landscaping. The houses were also used for the occasional guests and also for the occasional new cluster. A little further out and the houses were giving in to gravity but the landscape was managed and edible.

South facing walls with full sun were places for citrus and olive. The microclimates were excellent locations for warmer climate trees. Former streets were lined with walnuts, chestnuts and pecans. The rows of the big nut trees were straight, the space between them - the former streets- with chunks of pavement buckled by the roots of the growing nut trees, smaller trees growing out of cracks with trunks the size a baseball bat. Former yards became orchards of peach, pear and apple and in even smaller places in filled with native berries and domestic brambles. Still other areas were forest gardens of perennials and various food producing native shrubs and trees. There were all kinds of medicinal herbs and other plants with specific uses.

The effect of thriving agriculture surrounding houses caving in was a mind bending juxtaposition, especially if one had seen those houses 20 years earlier. The co-op residents would mount occasional work parties to take down the failing houses and relocate the debris, making nature's task of reclamation a bit easier.

This was the transition zone and a hike to the more outer co-ops was a passage over an odd jumbled terrain of houses grown over, barely recognizable cars covered in vines, buckled concrete, all overseen by an emerging forest of oak, fir, cherry and feral hazelnut, not to mention the newly colonizing wildlife. One familiar with the neighborhood could still recognize where they were but that was becoming more difficult with each passing year. If not constantly maintained, human infrastructure becomes overrun by invasive plants, leaks, breaks, ruptures, gravity in a remarkably short period of time.

We even had to be conscious of travel at night between the more distant co-ops a half mile away. So much re growth meant a lot more habitat. On rare occasions, there had been sitings of cougar. What a radical change from the fussed over lawns, barbecues on summer days and plastic xmas decorations only 30 years earlier

We approached a group of people at the southeast corner of the Park for our appointment.

It was Don from Hospitality and the new cluster.

4

"Welcome. Great to see you Elder Naj and Aleta. Let me introduce you to Jen, Steve, Bevin, Barber and Glenn."

Jen, Glenn and Steve looked relaxed while Bevin and Barber seemed a bit apprehensive. No doubt, they knew this was an important first meeting and no doubt, their lives have been greatly rearranged since crossing the border. They all looked to be in their later twenties or early thirties except Glenn who looked more like early twenties.

We shook hands all around. Good solid handshakes.

"Welcome to Eugene and welcome to Windmill Co-op. We are eager to help you settle in."

Jen replied,"We are blessed to be here and we intend to make the best of our opportunities. You should know we have been well taken care of. This has been and continues to be a tremendous adjustment and we want to make the most of Windmill Co-op's good will and being in Cascadia."

Aleta replied, reassuringly, "We all have something to offer each other. We have a converging interest here."

Bevin and Barber looked at each other and visibly relaxed.

Don, spoke. "Here is the brief summary. Jen, Steve, Bevin, Glenn and Barber came across the Border three months ago at Ontario. They stayed at Basalt Transition Center for two months. They are all from what was Arkansas. Seems there are still some pockets of reasonable stability down there, particularly in the Ozark area."

Hmm. I thought. We will follow up on this.

Barber spoke."We have a variety of skills, most of them survival. Among us, we know a good deal of mechanics, hunting and some agriculture. We did live in the Ozarks for most of our lives. It can be on the rugged side both in geographical and social terms. There is a lengthy culture of independence."

5

"Did you all live in the same place?" I asked.

"We did." It was Jen. "Our conver stayed at about 60 or 70. There were other groups in the region. Our outer borders would overlap but by agreement, we kept our main activities within a given zone, usually a river valley. Of course, now and then there were disputes and at times there were fights. Stability was helped by intermarriage and Travelers. On occasions, different convers would cooperate but that was not so common."

"Our boundaries were ridges, less often a river. Usually, there was either a natural or cultural feature that drew a population together. Ours was a beautiful little valley with several streams and plenty of flat area for growing food with hills rising up on all sides that were home to a great deal of wildlife. We hunted also. It was one of the most rugged parts of the Ozarks with a sizable river passing through on the south and east. A small church by one of the creeks had acted as the central cultural feature. The goup made use of several existing farm houses." It was Glenn.

He was also Black. And the valley he described. Hmmm.

It was the first time he spoke. " A few times I know of, one conver might try to expand its area or take over a weaker group. This was always un successful and actually, has not even been attempted in recent years. There were also individuals who would travel within a larger area."

"These people were highly valued both for their skills as healers, readers and culture designers but also for the news they would bring. They were prized story tellers and helped keep the peace. I made friends with one and was invited to travel with her for several seasons. It was a kind of apprenticeship. She was afforded a high level of respect and protection. We visited many convers in that time. The skills I learned from her were quite helpful for our travels to Cascadia."

"Remarkable!" I declared. "I have heard similar but vague accounts but not directly like this. What you are describing is a kind of Bronze Age or tribal culture. Can we continue this discussion another time. I am a mentor to a group of young people, we call them Newbies. I hope you will come talk with them."

6

Glen continued. "I kept a journal. Not everyone in all the places I have been can read and write. It is a valuable skill. I, too, was fascinated by what I saw. I was not able to bring the journals with me but I have an excellent memory. I would be honored to speak with your students."

Don spoke. "Captivating. As you know, my work is to help facilitate our new arrivals' integration. Jen, Steve, Bevin, Glenn, Barber. What you see here is what we call a suburban reserve. As the changes 25 years ago played out, many of these houses were abandoned. Its a story you will hear about.

"We kept several the better built houses, ones that have solar potential, ones that are close to existing groups. We can take a look at a house that we will make available to you. It is part of the resettlement process. The co-op that sponsors you will also help you make your place comfortable. As you can see, there are several houses that are not occupied but have been kept up. The co-op will have all kinds of furnishings from that era. Its a bit of a time warp.

"The core of Windmill is a block away. A number of the attractive places we passed by between here and there were also rehabilitated. As you can tell, they look very nice. You will be helped turn the yard into garden, create rain water catchment, solar redesign, upgrade insulation. You will be included in the methane network, Park Garden, Garden Center."

"You will go through a probation period and if you wish to apply to join Windmill after an time and are accepted, you become part of the co-op with all rights and responsibilities. You will also have the choice of splitting up your cluster and trying other long term options. Our ideal is for your group to settle into a living situation that is comfortable for your co-op and community. We are not in a hurry. The best outcome is that this arrangement works well for everyone. You have a basic understanding of resettlement, it is a similar process all over Cascadia. As you know, it comes with responsibilities. It does not work with everyone and there are other options to match the needs of the circumstance. Aleta will be your liaison. If you have any questions, she is the first person to talk with."

"OK." Don continued. "Let's come up with plan for our new cluster to meet the rest of your co-op."

7

"To marrow night is story night. Would you all like to join us for dinner and then fluff up some pillows in the dome and see many people who you will come to know?" Aleta's invite was sure to be accepted.

"I think I can speak for all of us." Jen did seem to be the most vocal. "We would love to. We have been in transit for so long and there is still a ways to go but we are eager to continue."

"Sounds good. I will bring our new friends over to marrow at six. Elder Naj, Andrea, see you to marrow."

"Very good Don. Steve, Jen, Glenn, Bevin, Barber, we will see you and your kids to marrow. Bring your appetite. Don't feel obligated to story tell, but, you are welcome to do so. Storys can be personal history, what happened yesterday, challenges we face as individuals or as a co-op or community. We like stories."