Welcome to the story, Windmill Co-op, 2035
Newbies
note-
italics is Elder Naj talking
bold is Elder Naj thinking and narrating
regular font is others speaking
“Good morning everyone.”
“Good Morning Naj. Join us for breakfast. We're having your favorite, pancakes. And pan roasted filberts.”
At home with the cluster. Its a nice feeling. Something so simple and basic but so comforting. Living with people who care about each other and depend on each other. Hmmm, how much do they depend on me, at 87? Well, after all, this has been my house for 35 years. But then, that was a different kind of ownership and its all over now.
I have lived for years out of a back pack traveling the world. Sometimes going for months not seeing anyone I knew for longer than a conversation. Sometimes going for weeks without speaking English. I would not trade that for anything. But now, there is something nice about familiarity. Something nice about pancakes and filberts and people I live with. Lots to be grateful for. Something to appreciate about having lived so long to see all these changes.
“Thanks for the offer, Fred. Count me in.”
“Are you joining us for Discussion this evening? We have a few co-op items to cover. We have been assigned a new Cluster. You'll love this, they managed to make it all the way to Cascadia from Arkansas. We're next in the host rotation and from the info we have, they look very interesting. And we also have a request from a young woman who would like to make a visit here for a few weeks, with the idea for eventual membership to Windmill. Finally, we need to talk about our obligations for the Border, its volunteer time.”
2
I looked around. Sun streaming in from the glass in the ceiling. It was cool outside but by mid morning, already becoming a positive solar day, even though this was late March. Plants all around inside. Aime's art projects taped to the walls. Outside the glass walls was one of our gardens. Early spring greens and lettuce gaining some size, especially in the cold frames.
Past the near garden, with narrow channels of sight, framed in by swelling buds on the fruit trees and the 3000 gallon tank was the Cherry Cluster house. There was no fence between the houses. I had lived here for nearly 35 years. If I didn't have the old fotos to show what it used to be like, visitors would have a hard time believing this was the same place. Similar changes have happened all over Cascadia. In fact, leading up to the Transition and afterwards, you either made profound changes or you just didn't make it.
So here is Vertical Cluster. There were six in the house itself and I was still living in the Bungalow just south of the main house. The Bungalow was continues serving me well. Our immediate household includes Sue and Jim in the southeast bedroom; Fraeda and Fred along with their adopted 6 year old daughter Aimie in the west room and the small northeast corner room was empty, soon to be occupied.
We are a solid household, Sue, Jim, Fraeda and Fred and I sharing the place for over ten years. And Aimie joining us six years ago. No one really knew her story. She was found as a toddler at one of the border camps with a note that said, please take care of our baby. Fraeda and Fred, at the time taking their turns at the border, adopted her. She is one of the family.
“Pancakes? Sit yourself down here and tell us what's on your plate for today, Elder Naj.”
“Too good! Just as you say, Fred, take me to your pancakes. And don't call me Elder.”
“I'm leaving most of the day open for Learning with a group of Newbies. Seems like I'm always teaching the Newbies but, don't tell anyone this, it is one of my favorite things to do. When the kids are this age, they are so full of curiosity. Its vital for them to know about our history. You know from an early point as we picked up the pieces after the Slide and into the Transition, we all agreed never again. And part of the way to avoid that past was to understand how it happened and not do it again.”
“Yes, I remember your being our teacher 15 years ago.” Fraeda added. “Until that time I had heard stories from my parents, older friends, done some reading but without flattering our favorite elder, your explaining made it all fit together. After all, you and some of your friends were in the middle of it all, the Slide, the Transition and even advocating for deep changes to culture and economy years before most people even imagined anything was about to go crazy."
3
"Those of us who saw it all coming, went through it and reflect on it all now could hardly believe it either. What's also interesting is that we were actually living in a crisis for decades, the entire lives of Baby Boomers - damage to the natural environment, the consumer culture, a sham of so called democracy, politics for sale, cities built for cars, out of control military budgets. Its all we knew. Few people had higher expectations. Its like people did'nt value ourselves, people had little thought that they deserved better."
“So its the beginning of Third Semester, Tenth Learning. We will be meeting this afternoon at two. And yes, I will be available for the discussion this evening. Whats with the jars?"
"Well, we failed to check the jars for moths. Looks like we lost a couple pounds of dried apples. Its a shame, all the work to dry and we forget to check for moths. We do pretty well with our fruit drying but a bit of forgetting and this is what happens. A couple are a bit too far gone but the chickens will enjoy them."
“Everyone here? All Newbies present?”
“Can we wait a few more minutes? Ed from 4th Street said he'd be a few minutes late. He had to check on a pump down by the River. Seems its not lifting as much water as it should. The river is a bit low for this time of the year. We'll be needing that irrigation by early May. That pump is due for some attention, shouldn't be long.”
I'll just collect my thoughts before we start. Hmmm. Irrigation in a month or so. Its only late March. Used to be irrigation wasn't needed until early June. So it goes with a changing climate. Its warmer sooner and drier, too. So, Newbies coming over. How long have we been doing this? These youngsters are all post Transition. This will be maybe my 15th year as Guide for Tenth Learning. What happened to retirement? Back in the old days, they gave you a watch and turned you out to pasture with a decent pension. None of that now. Everyone has to earn their keep.
4
Imagine, working , retiring with a nice bit of security and doing what you wanted. People often traveled all over the place when they quit working. Flying was cheap. Even was a time people drove these huge gasoline powered houses on wheels with all the furnishings. Not a care in the world.
“Oh, hi. Thanks for waiting. I'm Ed from 4th Street.”
“Sure Ed, glad you could make it. How's the pump?”
“The pump? Oh, it needed a bit of lube and tighten a gasket. We had to move the intake a bit further out. Looks fine for now.”
“OK? We're all here. Welcome. I'm Elder Naj and I will be your Primary Guide for this part of your Third Learning. You have all been apprentices for at least two years. Tenth Learning continues your preparation for Coming of Age when you will become a full Partner in the Community."
"First, lets have an overview about this part of your Learning.
“Before any of you young folks came along, some of us older ones were present for one of the most dramatic episodes in human history. You have heard many of the personal stories from parents, grandparents and older friends. The Elders Council considers knowing our history to be very important. We want you to understand and appreciate the past, present and future."
“What were the circumstances that lead the Slide, the Closure and the Transition? How have we adapted? What about the monumental dislocation and suffering that persisted for years both here in Cascadia and all over the world. Each one of you know people who have still not recovered.”
“None who went through all that would like to see it again. We learn from the past. It helps for making a happier future. We have so much to be grateful for and what we have achieved deserves to be understood and -cherished.”
5
“So, lets go around the circle and become acquainted. I know some of you already know each other. We are from from different parts of town and will be spending a good deal of time together over the next few months. Ed, can we ask you to start off? Lets hear a bit about you. What part of town are you from, what is your apprentice program, co-op and what do you do in the community?”
“Sure. Its great to be here. I'm Ed, from 4th Street Bear Co-op. Its a co-op with about 40 members and 8 clusters. We have several sizable garden plots in the Maurie Jacobs area. Members from our group are also involved with several other projects such as making garden tools, tofu, concrete removal and weaving. Our co-op actually predates the Transition. Personally, I am an apprentice in the community engineering sector, in particular irrigation. I have always had an interest in mechanics. I want to spend some time up at the regional flour mill near Shed at some point. Water power is fascinating and I would like to learn more about the mill there. It dates back to pioneer days. I'd like to see the original because its the model for several newer mills in the Valley”
“Thanks Ed.”
“Next. And will you tell us a bit about yourself?”
“Sure. I am Robin, from Central Town and Blue Sky Co-op. We live downtown. Just before the Slide, you know the LCC building across from the Library. Thats where I live. You know it was built as residential, office, classrooms and all the solar stuff. We produce more electriticy than we use. I have been in a program that teaches information management at the library. We still have some of the old computers, which are giving out one by one so we need to preserve all kinds of info before its lost. So the project is taking info from the computers and making hard copies.”
“Our downtown co-op is also part of the Babylon Project. We help locate, install and maintain gardens downtown, sometimes roof tops as high as ten stories, south facing balconies, interiors of buildings with banks of south facing walls - we call them vertical fields, former multi story parking lots where there is good solar exposure and just about any where else we can grow veggies, fruit trees and vines downtown.”
6
“Hmmm. Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Its beautiful, I expect we will have a look and yes, I know the library well. Even before it was built. It was a wonderful act of civic cohesion that brought the library into being forty years ago. In its hay day, it was full of computers and electronics. Good, thanks Robin.”
“Hi. I'm Rita. The Mall has been home for most of my life. I hope to have a chance to describe all the wonderful projects going on there.”
“Certainly, Rita. You will have a chance to talk about the mall. We can visit as well. Much of this Learning is about sharing our stories - who we are, our Clusters, our Co-ops, our ideas, what we are doing. Field trips and outings are a major part of the curriculum. Please continue.”
“I can't wait. So I live at the Mall. You know its like a town all to itself. My apprenticeship is, not surprisingly, Mall Management. It takes in redesign of the inside which is still ongoing. There's a part for looking after the windmills on the roof, another part is the rehabilitation of the soil that has been uncovered by removal of the pavement. I am an assistant in the culture program at the Mall School working with children.”
“Very good. Just a quick note. Its hard to imagine the mall was once a collection of dozens of stores surrounded by acres of pavement for automobiles. Few people actually walked or rode a bike to the mall or any where else at that time. During our course we will have a good look at the impact automobiles and how people lived in the previous century. But let's continue.”
“Hi. My name is Brendon. I live close in west of downtown, its called Towards the Light Co-op. The group is typical, all kinds of site specific food production, some solar, a day care center. We are a group of ten clusters with fences down. Part of an early Block Planning project. Its good. Most of us have work during the day downtown. My apprenticeship is in Community Cohesion. We help resolve disagreements between people. Its a bit like the court system pre Transition but its more than that. We want to resolve disagreements but we want a conclusion that leaves all involved uplifted. We also go on site."
"Another part CC is facilitating cohesion and uplift so we go to schools, places of work and promote the ideas of good citizenship and social uplift. Its something like encouraging a reminding. You probably have seen some of our posters around town."
"Thanks Brendon. Community Cohesion is where the Elder Council is located along with the Technology Review Board. Hmm. Interesting combination."
7
Yes, and its a fine line between presenting ideals and imposing them.
"OK, lets move on.."
“I'll go.” said an eager young woman. She looked to be very fit and had some kind of spirited self confidence..
“My name is Misty. I have been living with the South Side Salvage Collective. I asked if I could participate in this Learning group. I wanted to see more of the River Road part of town. Its a fair bike ride but nice. In the Southside, we are still removing houses from the hillsides. Most have usable wood, hardware and glass even though some have not been occupied for 10 years.
"Its hard to imagine the size of those houses with only a single family living in them. We trade what we salvage to builders. Our collective can take credit for providing the materials for a good many of the upfill and Block Planning projects around town for the past 15 years. But actually, I am interested in finding out more about urban agriculture and would like to find an apprenticeship in this part of town.”
So this must be our visitor for the this evening's meeting.
“Interesting, Misty. Its not so usual people relocate. Extended families based on longer term mutual assistance have become entrenched in our way of life. Finding both an apprenticeship and new Cluster can be a challenge. Let's talk about this later.”
“Thank you Elder Naj. I appreciate your interest. I'd like to talk later.”
“I'll go. My name is Rabble and I come from West Eugene at Phoenix Co-op. Our co-op is mostly agricultural. We were a church well before the turn of the century. As all the changes started to happen after 2010 and even more so around 2015, some of our members moved to the church and started cultivating the five acres we have. More and more moved to the church. I'd love to invite you all over and tell the story of how the church became a commune.
“Yes, I remember hearing about Phoenix. One of the first communities of faith to actually turn their place of worship into a sort of co housing project. It made sense, especially if the site had some available land. Faith communities had high levels of cohesion to start off with - congregations knew each other, they had many common ideals and beliefs. Yes, Rabble, we will want to visit and hear the story.”
8
“Me next? I am Gracie and I live in town. My focus has been land use planning. Ever since I can remember, I've had an interest in what best uses could be with the urban landscape. I love the stories I hear from Civic Planning. Taking what existed during Transition and making best use of it. My favorites are about Block Planning and urban agriculture like golf courses turned into farms.. How we use the urban landscape is a big deal."
“So I have had a bit of experience in Block Planning, golf course conversion and redeveloping all those parking lots into much better use. I know Misty and Rita from before. We have done some collaborating.”
"That's great Gracie. Next?"
“I'll go. Call me Bridgette. I also live close in at Be Alive Co-op. We occupy an eight story residential tower just south of downtown. There are great views but the walk up is a chore with a load, but the longer the walk up, the better the view. The elevators don't work anymore. Those upper floors are devoted to agriculture, reconfigured to allow in sunlight these are the places with vertical food production. The architecture really lends itself to high rise agriculture. There are large terraces at several levels and each of the apartments have balconies."
"There are raised beds and large cisterns on the roof top, potted dwarf fruit trees. The place is an entire small neighborhood. We work on the Babylon Project with Robin and some other co-ops. A remarkable amount of food is grown downtown, especially on the roof tops and the old parking garages. With all the people downtown, we create nearly all the compost we need.”
“Where was I? My study,, yes, my area of study and interest is social counseling. As mentioned, making adjustments to the changes have been a challenge to many, even after ten to fifteen years."
"My work is to help people who are having difficulty adjusting. The stories I have heard about life before, during and after are just fascinating. Its part of therapy for people to tell their stories. With patients' permission, we record their stories for the historical record. A visit to the Life Changes Center where I apprentice will show you what I mean. I love my appreticeship. This is my calling.”
“Thanks Brigette. You have close contact with our history. And I know the structure you live in. Your enthusiasm is a perfect example of one of our core ideals, bringing out the best in who we are. That's all about human potential and service to the community."
I can look at these Newbies. This is one of the most gratifying parts of being an Elder and Guide. The level of interest they have in learning about the world around them is gratifying. Its accurate to suggest we are products of what is around us. Our young people have a place and expect a place of respect and responsibility. They value themselves and our culture values them. Our culture and way of life depend on them.They are surrounded by a social and physical landscape that is affirming.
9
Memories of before the Transition. Money is what drove everything and if you were not tied into that way of thinking, you were greatly marginalized and even discarded as a person. An economy and existence based on shallow images, vanity and entertainment. Enormous potentials lost. Both the physical and social landscapes degraded human potential. For so much money, it was a culture of poverty.
“Your turn. Yes, Ralph.”
“Well, uh, hello everyone. I'm Ralph and have been at work all day and probably look like it. I have been apprenticing in the Office of Mechanical Salvage or simply Salvage. This is apart from Misty and building recycling. We are about reusing whatever mechanical devices and items of metal we can find left over from the Transition. We still are finding ways to take things apart and rebuild something new and useful.
“Salvage is also responsible for the community smelter. We smelt down all kinds of metals and create feed stock for a wide variety of tools and implements. Many of the old machine and metal shops around town from Pre Transition have been brought into Salvage. A number of Co-ops fabricate metal tools of various kinds as part of their income. Its remarkable what we can make with metal. We can build tools locally that once came from far away. As the old ones wear out, they are recycled into replacements.”
And, I commented to myself, Salvage is the source of 95% of the cases brought before the Technology Review Board. I need to comment on this.
“Here's an item of ongoing debate. We can touch on this later in our Learning but enough to say at the moment, labor saving innovation, mechanical advantage, increasing human productivity - played an absolutely primary role in the pre Transition Culture. Indeed, innovation is a central theme throughout human history.
“We are a gadget oriented species and that fascination, left to its own, will go to great lengths with inventions of mechanical advantage, especially when business profit and industry competition are factored in which was normal Pre Transition [PT]. The pace of innovation and labor saving gadgets was just unprecedented right up to the Slide. It was one of the leading causes of the collapse of the previous civilization.”
"We now have a civic mechanism to review new technologies, gadgets and practices that might lead to disruptive consequences. Its actually an office within Community Cohesion called the Technology Review Board, or TRB. The Board is in contact with other TRBs all over Cascadia.”
“I mention all this because Salvage is charged with both reworking old machinery but also innovation. They work closely with a research group at the community college and link with other Salvage counterparts all over Cascadia. There have been occasions when some ideas and even hardware were denied for use.”
10
“Thanks Ralph. Ok, and we now have,,,,”
"A moment Elder Naj?"
"Yes, Brendon."
"As mentioned, I work in Community Cohesion and we hear comments about some of our responsibilities. How would you respond to the question we are sometimes asked, do we have the right to regulate human creativity?"
"That's a thoughtful question Brendon. Speaking for myself. The short answer is yes. It has something to do with being civilized. There has to be some kind of common understanding of what is ok and what is not. Ideally, everyone agrees what is ok and what is not but that's not what happens in the real world. So we do need some boundaries. The question is, how are those boundaries created and defined? Who has the authority? Here in Eugene and Cascadia we look to the Elders, we look to what seems to be compatible with the Natural World and uplifts the human spirit. Many of us saw what happened earlier this century and we know why all that came down the way it did. We don't want to see that happen again."
"Specifically, we saw what global market capitalism did to people and planet. An essential part of market global capitalism was innovation and invention largely to serve an economy based on endless growth at any cost. And a lot of what lead to the Slide and Transition was about unregulated technology. The economy was more about growth - buying and selling - than taking care of reasonable human needs and the consequences were a disaster for the environment, the human spirit and culture. Many of us considered it to be un reformable. The Transition has provided us with a chance to, well, come close to starting over."
"We have chosen to be much more careful about how we make use of technology. So we have the Technology Review Board. There have been some controversies, there will be others. We call upon the ideals, values and goals coming from the best examples of the human experience to help guide us. At some points, decisions have to be made about what is ok and what is not, based on our chosen ideals and values. We try to be as wise and careful as we can."
"Thank you Elder Naj. That is helpful. Its still a matter of who decides for others. History is full of examples of groups or individuals granting themselves that privilege. Certainly there is need for some cohesion but the results have been mixed at best."
"That's true Brendon. We have set up a system as carefully and thoughtfully as we can. As you mention there is a need for social cohesion. In my entire experience PT, there was never any real widespread discussion about what is the goal of our town, our state, our nation, our society? It was just assumed the reason for life was to work and consume. There are other choices. We have come to agree that some actions, like unregulated technology, are a threat, given human history, to Cascadia's ideals and values. So we review innovation. OK, its important to have these conversations. Who is next?"
11
“That's me. I am Zora. I'm staying with the Nutria Cluster for a time. I live out near the Edge with Full Square Co-op. We started out ten years PT, way before my time, as a farm at the edge of town. It evolved into a farm co-op. The founders still live there. Besides working on the farm, I help co-ordinate Town and Farm Alliance, or TFA. Most of you are probably familiar with this. Its one of the choices for Community Service. At certain times of the year, there is a great need for help out on the farms. We are the ones who organize people in town to go out to nearby farms for several days at critical planting and harvesting seasons.”
“Again, this work brigade system has its origin before the Transition and it's a critical part of growing enough food to feed us all. It goes without saying, many many projects and ideas that serve us well in the present had their beginnings years before most people even noticed the early signs of major change. There were people in town who wanted to grow more food but didn't have the space in town for bulk crops like dried beans and grains."
"So they contracted with nearby farmers and leased space from them to grow larger scale. Typically, this was done in a co-op way with groups, usually 20 to 30 people cultivating a couple acres. As the Slide deepened, more and more people duplicated this idea. We have taken the Alliance even further, to the point its common for people in town to do seasonal help on nearby farm and most co-ops in town have formal relationships with co-ops in the country growing and processing food. So I help coordinate the Town and Farm Alliance.”
"Thanks Zora. That's great. Having a lot more involvement with taking care of our needs makes us all far more appreciative of what we have. That's all of us. Very nice!"
“Elder Naj. Its your turn. How about telling us about your place? I've heard stories but have never had an opportunity like this to see and hear about your place." It was Gracie. "You have one of the oldest and most well known property conversion projects in Cascadia. Can we take a break and you tell us abit about your place? This is great for land use."
Others added to Gracie's request.
"OK. A brief look. Its a special place for me. I appreciate everyone's interest."
“I moved here close to 40 years ago. Even then, many of us were quite convinced we were on the verge of big changes. Some of us were early advocates in a movement based on applying principles of Permaculture to Suburbia. We had discussions, organized meetings, wrote articles and described practical approaches for taking care of more needs in ways that were friendly to people and planet. This was not only about resource scarcity and the ongoing damage to the natural environment. It was just as much about culture, human potential, economics and spirituality. Some called this movement "regime change", others a "new paradigm.""
“When I bought this place and moved onto this property in 2000, my plans from the beginning were to make major changes. With a bit of imagination, you might see fences between all these houses. You know about automobiles. They took up an enormous amount of space. Each house had expanses of concrete to park the cars. My own place could accommodate 5 in what we called a driveway. Most houses had a room called a garage where the cars actually had shelter indoors. Part of my plan was to remove the driveway and turn the garage into living space. I accomplished both of these tasks early on.
Surprising as it seems, most houses PT were surrounded by grass and trees and shrubs that provided no food at all. One of my first actions was to turn both front and back yards into gardens and edible landscaping. Then, there was solar redesign, followed by a 6500 gallon rain water storage system. You can see it all. It's aesthetically beautiful as well. I welcomed visitors, tours and media. It became a place where people came to learn. I created a set of posters and other educational outreach to extend these ideas beyond my property to a wider audience.
Critical to doing all this, I made a series of lifestyle choices that allowed me to work on the place and advocate for deep changes in culture and economy.""Its fair to say, we were pioneers not only in land use but in social and economic terms, as well. To me, transforming a suburban property was the most sensible act a person could make, given the conditions at the time. "OK. So that's the short story. We will have more opportunity to continue this conversation another time. We all live in places that are being used in ways a lot different from what they were first intended for."
For years, showing people this “suburban renewal project,” has been one of my favorite things to do. I loved answering questions about the place. Explaining some of the history of suburbia helped put it all in context. It was great to describe what had been learned about solar design, food storage, rain water catchment, composting my own waste, economics and much more.
"OK, That's good."
"You Newbies are vital to your clusters, co-ops, Eugene and Cascadia. Some of you may become part of making important decisions and policy in the Public Sector, others will do your important work with modest or little recognition. There is no better or more important. Our survival and evolving as a community and as individuals is all part of our identity and what we pass that on to the future. It is our responsibility to be a benefit to ourselves and our community and to live our lives with the greatest respect for the world we all depend upon."
“Already today, we have heard an impressive variety of stories about what you all do and where you live. We will visit many of the places mentioned today. In the process, we will create important relationships as friends and community members."
“Let's meet at the Land Us Sector next week downtown at City Hall. That's Gracie's place of apprenticeship. We will have a look at some economic and cultural history from before the Transition and mix in some land use. Enough for now. See you all next week.”