Beaver Clan visits the Windmill Garden Center.
note-
italics is Elder Naj talking
bold is Elder Naj thinking or narrating
regular font is others speaking
“So, I just saw the Newbies head out. How was the first session?”
It was Fraeda, she was at home a lot. She had a small business making insulated drapes. It was late in the season for that but she still had a few to do and some other sewing as well.
“A good group. All very much engaged. I know several of the youngsters because I know their parents and grandparents.”
“Yes, I recognized several of them from events and parties here in the neighborhood. Several I think I've seen at the Garden Center. Speaking of the Garden Center, you might go find Jim and Sue. They may be in the veggie green house.”
“Sure, I'll go have a look.”
Nice day. And what do I hear? I still can't quite get used to that. It just knocked my socks off the first time I heard a Mockingbird right here on Benjamin Street. I used to live in Texas where the feisty little avians were all over. They would dive bomb our cats and sing endlessly from early in the morning to after dark. Then after moving up here in the early 90's, I made a few visits to Santa Rosa, north of the Bay Area. One day in Santa Rosa, I borrowed a friend's bike and was cruising through a neighborhood and what did I hear? I had no idea Mockingbirds had a range into California. But there he was. And others too. Turns out, Santa Rosa was a popular place for Mockingbirds.
They are a warmer climate bird and I wondered if and when they would start to show up this far north. Even before the turn of the century, salmon were spawning in northern Alaska where they never used to be. Before travel became far more expensive less than a decade after the turn of the century, I took a trip to Texas and visited in Dallas. I could not believe all the palm trees. I had always been into exotic plants, even when living Dallas even as a kid. There were a few hardy palms here and there and some banana trees that always froze back in the winter time. Those plants just called to me.
1
Between 1965 and 2005, there was a remarkable difference. Its not like Dallas was looking like Honolulu but the change was a jolt. I thought I had landed in the wrong place.
That was the early onset of climate change. I had spoken with several people who made it out of Texas in time and I can only imagine what it was like when the heat in Dallas became like Laredo. As it turned out, even all the windmills making electricity put up during the windmill boom around 2010 were not enough to keep that place livable. The bust in so called "fracking" turned out to be an energy side track as well. Over a period of several years, along with a declining availability of practically everything else people were used to, big population movements were taking shape. Dallas was a sizable part of the watershed that added to a huge river of environmental refugees. A few of those people made it into Cascadia with amazing stories.
Well maybe this Mockingbird is a descendant with family he could trace to Texas. More likely, these locals made their way up from California along the coastal corridor. They are not the only newcomer. How about malaria. We've been able to keep that in check but I've heard of a few cases in Cascadia. Still, some of those diseases from further south have made their way up here. Ironically, that's part of the reason others have survived. We do have enough resources here in Cascadia to take care of ourselves, thanks to a much reduced population.
And the Neighborhood Garden Center just across the street was one such resource. This entire Willamette Valley and River Road area, in particular, was agricultural for much of the previous century. Great soil, wonderful climate. It was an extension of California's Mediterranean Climate. Because of the changing climate, our temperatures and rainfall were becoming like the Sacramento Valley 50 years ago. Something like near Chico, maybe up in elevation a thousand feet of so.
Here at the Garden Center, we grew many kinds of seedlings including citrus. Several of us were only joking when we set up the Eugene Citrus Exchange almost 40 years ago. We planted outside the hardiest citrus available, up close to a house and then had to cover and heat those small trees on numerous occasions during winter. By and by, those shrubs grew larger and we started putting them further out in the yard and had to cover them less and less often.
2
So now, we grow a modest but highly appreciated amount ofl citrus. Its not unusual. Olives, too.
When I bought my house in 2000, there was a wholesale nursery across the street. There were a dozen one hundred foot long green houses. The owners propagated their own ornamental shrubs. But as they approached retirement age they began to subdivide the nursery open space into lamentable suburban houses as large as could fit on those small lots. Ten or twelve houses were built but they turned out to be the high tide of suburbia. The one built across the street from me was the last.
The bottom fell out of the housing market around 2007, especially for those kinds of houses. They never did fill in the rest of the lots. After a time, the owners came to realize the best use of the property was to make it available to the neighborhood as a suburban farm. The neighbors provided some friendly encouragement for that decision. It turned out to be a good choice for everyone.
The owners died during one of the flu outbreaks but are remembered fondly. After that, for all basic purposes, the property was taken over by the Neighborhood Council and further put into the care of the nascent Windmill C-op. The property that was not built on became the Neighborhood Garden Center and it provided a great deal of food at all seasons for hundreds of people. The new houses they did manage to build before the real estate and financial markets crashed are now in a slow state of decomposition. Unlike older homes, these contained a limited amount of usable lumber.
A half block further down the street was a one acre park dating back to about 2010. Fortunately, its design was such that it could be converted to community gardens. We only wish we had not waited so long to replace the ornamental trees with Walnuts, Chestnuts and Pecans. Much of the neighborhood west and north of Rosetta Garden has been abandoned. In fact, there are only a couple of co-ops further out of town in this direction, the Missionary Co-op being one of them, another where the old Methodist Church dug up their acres of parking lot for gardens. Further west across the old railroad tracks in Bethel, there is another group of co-ops.
3
“You found me. Good timing, we're expecting a visit from the Beavers at River Road Elementary School in a few minutes. I can handle the host part. You might be interested to tag along.”
“Sounds good and I'll do just that. A day in the life of kids. Its a far more practical education these days isn't it?
“That's right. Its healthy for the kids and its good for us, too. There will be a day when we will depend on these kids looking after us. Its not like when you grew up, Naj. People who were well enough off went to the retirement home and had professional care. If you didn't have that you needed family or a care giver. It was a hit or miss way to deal with the aged. This is our social security. All the kids in the community and the ones in your co-op in particular. That's one reason we treat our kids so well. We don't want them to take off and leave us on our own when we're dazed and confused.
"And, of course, we want these young people to be successful in carrying on for the good of humanity. We would like to think we have some words of wisdom that will be helpful.”
“That's all true Jim. Here come our visitors.
"Tasha, so nice to see you and the youngsters. You know Jim.”
“Hello! Yes, I know Jim. Here we are. A tour group from the Beaver Clan at River Road Elementary School. We are 20 in number, ages 8 to 10.”
There were several co-ops closer to the school. It was five blocks away from Windmill. Windmill, was on the border between older suburbia and newer suburbia. Newer suburbia tended to be much less populated. The houses did not age so well, hundreds of them abandoned further out. I didn't know at the time how well Jim and Tasha knew each other.
“Certainly, for quite some time, don't we Jim?”
She had a knowing smile. They both shared some kind of secret and laughed easily. Multiple affairs were not at all uncommon and even encouraged as long as everyone involved was ok with it.
I knew Tasha since she was 5. Now a grown woman, she was a grown up version of her younger self. Very creative and theatrical. She had started on a career in performance and was doing well untill it was time to go. As she describes, her intuitive judgement was clear - abandon San Francisco. Her return was near legendary, crossing into Oregon in the winter time at frigid and snowy Siskiyou Pass.
4
“Lets get started. Hi kids, I'm Jim and welcome to the Community Greenhouses and Gardens. I know some of you. Many of your parents have spent some time here.”
“As you may know, your parents work in a number of places besides their main job. One of the Founding Principles was for every adult to have a functional knowledge of multiple kinds of work. We are multi skilled for many reasons.”
That was only part of the story, I thought. People who had multiple useful skills were invaluable. People who knew little of value were a burden. When it came time to organize Clusters- extended families- some people did not receive much welcome or embrace. It was bit like choosing sports teams when we were kids. Some kids were picked last and it didn't feel good. Picking up the pieces just to survive during the Transition, it was far more important to choose practical skills rather than worry too much about hurting peoples' feelings. A carpenter, plumber, gardener or handyman was of far more value than most white collar professionals.
Jim was good with kids.
“Did you kids know much of your food comes from this place? We grow vegetables inside during the winter and outside in the summer. We can extend the growing season by planting some veggies early inside the green houses and then later, take down the cover when its warm enough.”
“I bet all of you have gardens at home.”
All the children raised their hands.
“I bet many of your veggies had their beginning right here. We start the plants from seed, grow them in small containers and then transplant them. We grow thousands of small plants here and distribute them all over the neighborhood.”
5
“Here's a bit of history it may be hard to believe. Most of you know Elder Naj. He has lived in that house across the street for over forty years, before the Great Transition. What is now the Garden Center used to grow plants that were purely ornamental. That means you could only look at them. They made no food. Elder Naj was an early pioneer of growing food at home. Many people had gardens but Elder Naj was one of the first people to take his entire property and turn it into gardens with fruit trees, blueberries, brambles, nuts and many other food plants.”
“You may not believe this either, fifty years ago, most people did not have a garden, they went to a store and bought what they ate. A lot of other people went out to eat to places called restaurants or they drove cars for what was called fast food. We don't have any of that now. Even more amazing and think of your Geography, much of the food people ate came from hundreds if not thousands of miles away.”
"We have to take much greater care of our needs much closer to home. Like our food here. Gardens are everywhere. And did you know people used to eat animals as a normal part of their diet? Not anymore, the meat eating took too much energy and resources to continue. Being vegetarian was a bit unusual fifty years ago but that is all different now. Meat is a rarity now."
“What do you mean?” One youngster asked.
“I mean there was a system of food production that used a great deal of energy. With energy being so cheap, it was possible to grow food in one place, ship it and consume it far away. As long as the energy was cheap for transportation and for cheap fertilizer, it worked ok. But about 40 years ago, the system fell apart. That same cheap energy was essential to raising animals for food. When the energy was no longer cheap, a lot of things people at that time depended upon went away like food from far away. That was the beginning of the Transition."
"As you all know from your history, this was a terrible time. Many people died, especially in other parts of the country. What was the great United States came undone and different parts of the country began to look after their own affairs. Some areas did not do so well."
“Its true, kids. Even at the turn of the century, a lot of our food came from California and much of it even came from outside the country. People just expected it and when that all ended, it was a severe shock and many people did not know how to survive, especially in the dryer and hotter parts of the United States. You will learn more about this in school.”
6
“OK, where were we? The River Road Garden Center is a cooperative. Many people spend part of their working time here. You know we all commit to a certain amount of Community Service. That service begins when kids are eleven years old. That means, most of you will be taking on a more ambitious set of chores a bit further from your home cluster. You will be given some choices. The Garden Center is one place where people do service so you might consider doing some service here. Other places for Community Service include schools, child care, elder care, the hospital and clinics, serving on civic boards and advisory panels. Some people volunteer to put in time at the border. Depending on the popularity of the service, some have more value than others. Less popular service receives more volunteer time value.”
“Here at the Center, there are several managers, I am one of them, and it is our task is to take care of the Center. We trade some of what we produce but most of it stays right here in the neighborhood. There are dozens of other urban farms like this around town. Some are in former parks, golf courses and even where there used to be pavement like at the Mall and downtown. This is actually one of the smaller Garden Centers. We also provide agricultural advice to co-ops in the neighborhood, like a neighborhood extension service. We make “garden calls.” We provide guest speakers to schools and we love to have visits. We have classes here and we collaborate with other neighborhood Centers in the area. The days of food brought from a distance are long gone. We have to take care of our needs close to home. ”
I reflected on this field trip for the youngsters. This was vital education. When people have a connection to the things they use, like where it comes from, how it was produced, what went into it, what's the story, they will have a much greater appreciation for taking care of that need with a much greater level of respect for the product and how they use it. If they actually participate in taking care of those needs and help produce the product, thats even better.
In the years before the Transition, most people had little idea about what they used - how it was made, where it came from, under what conditions and how it affected those involved. A way of life had been created with people disconnected from knowing what it took to maintain their affluent life styles of big houses, driving cars, eating food from thousands of miles away and all the rest. In reality, much of the world's people and natural environment suffered enormously for the affluent people of the world. And most who benefited from cheap prices and convenience either had no idea or didn't want to know.
Jim continued.
7
“There are many activities here at the Center that are essential for our survival. Years ago, even if people had a garden, they would normally buy seeds every year at the store. Most of those seeds were what we call hybrids. Those seeds were the product of human manipulation that would not happen by itself. The hybrid seeds became wonderfully productive plants but planting the seeds gathered from the mature vegetables of those hybrid plants would not reproduce the same vegetables as the original hybrid seeds. The vegetables from the plants from the second generation seeds would oftentimes be no good to eat.”
“We can't go to the store anymore. We have to maintain plants and collect seeds that will continue to reproduce themselves and the quality vegetables we want and need. So seed saving is essential and we do that here at the Center. We are the back up seed bank for the surrounding co-ops. Most co-ops save their own seeds, we back that up and then we collaborate with other centers around town as additional back up. In case something happens at one location, we receive help or can offer help to another.”
"Other towns in the Willamette Valley have similar arrangements. We are all inter-connected that way and can all help each other when needed."
“We also encourage growing what we call perennial food plants and we raise many of those here as well. Some of those are native, others come from distant places. What they have in common is they grow well in our climate and don't need the amount of time and resources to maintain as annuals. Annuals are are plants that live less than a year like most vegetables we are familiar with. Many perrenials don't require seeds, they may grow tubers that can be replanted. Many others are nuts or berries.”
“The Center has a number of greenhouses. These places use sunlight to create heat. You know that's called solar energy. With that additional heat, some food plants that would do little outside, because its too chilly, will actually grow well during the winter time inside. Extending the growing season is very important. Cool weather crops do well over the winter inside and warmer season crops can have an earlier start in the Spring and last longer into the Fall.”
"And you know we are seeing changes in the climate?"
“Years ago, humans created a world wide problem called climate change. By burning all kinds of fuels like gasoline, coal and later so called bio fuels, a lot of gases were put into the atmosphere. These gases behave like the clear cover on the green houses. They let sunlight in and hold it in and that increases the temperature. Fifty years ago, Eugene's first freeze in the Fall came about late October. Now it closer to mid November. Last freeze in the spring used to be mid April. Now its late March. Temperatures aren't as cold in the winter either, as you saw, with care, we can grow citrus here now and that was very difficult fifty years ago. Our rainfall is less now and when it does rain, it can rain harder than it used to. We also have more thunder and lightning than we used to and even an occasional tornado. Those kinds of storms were rare when Elder Naj moved here in 1990.”
8
Nice to be referred as a calendar marker of ancient times.
“What's that?” One excited youngster asked as we approached an odd looking tangle of pipes and tanks.
“Good question. That dome shape with pipes going in and coming out is what we call a methane digester. This simple bit of technology accomplishes multiple important tasks at the same time. Years ago, there was what we called a sewer system. People would go to the bathroom, flush a toilet, you know a water filled bowl you would poop in, you'd turn an handle, more water would come in, it would drain quickly and away it would all go to a central place where the waste would be broken down, treated and made safe. We don't do that any more. Instead, we either have composting toilets or we collect the poop and bring it to a digester like this. There are over 30 digesters like this around town with more planned. Installing them, managing them and fabricating the parts is the main work of several co-ops in town. Its a process rarely used in Eugene untill ten years ago."
“Lots of people take turns collecting the waste. Its community service work.Care to help? Its one of those chores with high time value. All the poop comes from Windmill Co-op. We dump it in here and the bacteria in the big tank you see decompose the poop creating methane gas we use for cooking and what is left over is great fertilizer. Pretty nice wouldn't you say? This is great technology. Very simple."
“Years ago, this waste was considered a nuisance, even dangerous. It was only when several “outlaws” began using the illegal composting toilets, were caught and then showed the authorities they were a good idea, that the laws changed to allow them. One of the first examples of challenging the old system occurred just a few blocks from here. Tasha, would you happen to know anything about that?"
Tasha smiled.
"Of course, about 15 years ago, before any of you were born, we did away with most of the old laws and created new ones.”
"When we were well into the Transition, energy from far away was difficult to find. We had to make much better use of what we had. We found lots of opportunities to take care of our needs that were here all the time. We just didn't see them. Like the methane digester. We should have been using them much earlier. We probably could have avoided a lot of suffering."
"Here in Eugene, our pre Transition utility company actually owned several small hydro power plants up in the mountains. We still use those plants, but that eletricity serves only downtown, the community college and the hospital. Lucky they were thinking ahead and stocked up on spare parts. There are quite a few solar electric systems around town. The city is also thinking about windmills up in the Coberg Hills."
"Windmill Co-op produces its own electricity for the Dome in the evening. Some of the Clusters have their own smaller systems. We use electricity much more carefully than fifty years ago. Instead of cooking with electricity, which was common 50 years ago, we are shifting to gas, solar and also wood.
“So the digester fits right in. Multiple benefits. Human waste is now a valuable resource.
"So how does it work?"
"How does it work? Inside the methane digester, the waste is kept anaerobic, that means without oxygen. At the right temperatures, these particular bacteria become active and eat the waste and produce methane gas at the same time. The left over product becomes a valuable fertilizer. The gas produced can be collected in a tank, pressurized and used as cooking fuel. Most of this gas ends up in the Dome for cooperative cooking. It has a lot of advantages over wood or solar.”
"Tasha's dad was the first in the neighborhood to have a bio gas system."
9
“I can remember that.” Tasha spoke. “ We had a learning center. That was Karmalaya, where I grew up and live now. It's a co-op as well. Most of you have been there for the Pear Blossom Festival. Karmalaya began shortly after elder Naj started his project. In fact, this neighborhood became a hot bed of social and economic innovation. When I found my way back to Eugene from the Bay Area 20 years ago, heading into the Slide, the once popular but modest sized classes and workshops about living more ecologically had become overwhelmingly in demand.”
Jim continued. “You see kids, your teachers and neighborhood and people who live here have many stories. And you are all part of those stories and you will take those stories with you into the future.”
“Nice tour today, Jim.” Back at Windmill. “Somehow this all seems like a novel. Even after 20 years of adjustment, it still seems so hard to imagine this has all happened. You know, many of us at the turn of the Century talked about the whole system coming unglued and what would it look like afterwards. Normally, I don't even think much of all about the past but when I meet with the Newbies and I see the way you talk with the younger kids, it always puts me in a playback mode.”
“I was just a kid but my parents would tell me stories.” Jim replied, gazing out the window. " Action, drama, tragedy, heroics, disappointment, uplift. It was all there and sometimes one shifted to another in almost no time at all. My parents had been together for 8 years and I was only five or six.”
“We lived in Colorado. First memories I have, we were in the midst of widespread unemployment, in the mid 'teens. Several years earlier there was a sharp upturn in social protest. A movement called "Occupy Wall Street" started to occupy the news. It was quite a sensation. What started off in New York City spread nation wide in a matter of weeks, thanks to computers and near instant communications."
"Yes. I remeber that."
"Some would say that movement was touched off by a totally unprecedented wave of social upheaval in the Mideast during the summer of 2011 when a number of long term dictators and authoritarian governments were forced out of control, mostly by disenchanted and unemployed young people. As I was told, that same phenomena took root in the US. The big real estate bust, sharp increase in energy costs, increased cost of food, deepening unemployment, events in Europe, the Mideast, Asia, and you know, a lot more and the growth based economy just kept sinking and sinking."
"The middle class was shrinking, wealth was being conentrated in few and fewer hands. People were coming to recognize, the government really was an employee of the corporate economic system and the wealthy who controlled that economic system. More and more people had time to protest with less and less to lose. The so called recession was permanent untill people actually rebelled and challenged it."
"I was told there were people who years before had heard all the gloomy predictions of resource scarcity, climate change, economic disarray and even collapse and expected somehow, for the USA to come unglued. I think they were as surprised as nearly everyone else when it actually happened. We left Denver to stay with friends in Kansas where at least there was land to grow food. After a few years, we knew that was not our final stop and we joined a group in Kansas heading to Oregon. We were lucky the group included us and then, we were lucky we made it across the border.”
10
“So, we have a Discussion this evening and we'll talk about another group of people who lived their own ordeal to make it here. We are reminded of the past all the time.” I replied.
“What's all the talk?” It was Aimie. She just walked into the kitchen with a nice load of greens.
“Hi dear. Just some talk about life and how we have fit into it. At Discussion tonight, we will talk about Wind Mill and a new cluster who will be staying with us. We have a few responsibilities with the River Road Co-op Association and the broader community. Like other co-ops, we agreed some years ago to host a new cluster from the Outside when the need presented itself. Its our turn and it will be good for us.” We are being asked to hosts a cluster of seven. Five adults and two children.”
Even six year olds received a complete answer.
“Where are they from?” Aimie asked. It was not an idle question.
“This is remarkable. Ten years ago, people from all over the country risked everything coming to Cascadia. Not so many in recnet years. These folks are from what was known as Arkansas. Its about 2000 miles to the south and east. I can't wait to hear their stories. We haven't had word about what's happening in huge parts of the country for some time, other than the occasional short wave radio and that's only here and there.”
“You know since the Transition, birthrates have gone down. From what we can tell, much of the country doesn't have a birthrate at all. There's no one there. If newcomers can qualify, they are very welcome. We need to maintain our numbers. Many of our older population are passing on. The medical care that kept many of them alive BT is mostly gone now. Home care is mostly what we have and many older people don't want to be a burden so many just say that's enough I'm out of here. That's a choice we respect.”
Aimie knew a good deal about these issues. Letting go of a flickering life was not at all uncommon. Neither was helping it along just a bit.
“That years ago right to die movement is alive and well, Naj, and how have you dodged it so successfully?”
11
Jim's humor.
“Good luck. You know, I heard about a guy in South Africa years ago. He could run a hundred yards in 30 seconds. Doesn't sound so impressive until you find out he was 100 years old. Some just have it.”
“We are still glad you are with us Naj. But I am in line for the Bungalow. Say, this will be great, Windmill is up for sponsoring a new cluster. Its been a 6 or 7 years. I can bet we will be in for some great stories. Imagine, Arkansas to Cascadia."
“Also, there's a request for volunteers at the Border."
“Finally, we have a request for trial residency. Her name is Misty and she is from South Eugene. Nice resume. She works in Hillside Salvage, has been active with her school group, looks to have traveled a great deal. She's been to Ashland, Florence, Portland, even to the Eastern Border Areas. That's a lot for a 15 year old.”
“I've met her. She's one of the Newbies. Left a good impression, maybe a bit mischievous. Sounds like a lot to cover.”
“Hi guys.”
It was Fred and Fraeda.
“Into the kitchen. We need to come up with a dish for tonight's Discussion. Your assistance is invited."
“Sounds like an invitation you pass up at your own risk. OK, lets put something together.”
The Dome is the pride of Windmill Co-op. Most co-ops have some kind of iconic feature, the dome is ours along with the windmill. From the beginning everyone agreed we needed a space large enough for everyone to be with each other. After lengthy discussions, a site was chosen that was already severely impacted, an old gravel parking area on the south side of a house with area large enough to consturct a meeting space with good solar access and reasonably convenient for everyone. The owner of the house gave his enthusiastic consent. We built the dome on this location, largely with materials salvaged from nearby abandoned homes.
The dome was built extending south from the two car garage of the existing house. It was built nearly 40 feet in diameter and close to 20 feet high and included a big wood stove, book shelves, work space, many potted plants, couches and comfy chairs. It was built to integrate with the existing house which came to include a library, kid space and tool room. The dome was furnished with a collage of colors and styles. As the neighborhood's population went into steep decline during the Transition, there were plenty of homes full of furniture to make use of. Whatever was in them was there for the taking. Most of the neighborhood north and west of Windmill had become a giant salvage yard.
12
All together, Windmill counts nine clusters, each cluster having its own house, an extended family of five to seven people. There are several houses within Windmill's boundaries maintained but not occupied. Windmill is about average in size for a residential co-op. About 55 people.
Next to the Dome is the co-op bike barn and workshop. The area of the Dome facing southeast to southwest is clear for solar gain. We have a clever system for drawing a huge insulated drape over the clear walls when temperatures are low.
For our meeting, food is put out along with tables and chairs. Unlike in years BT, there is no child care. For the most part, even at a young age, kids have a sense to be on good behavior and it's important for them to become familiar with how the co-op functions. And, the kids are encouraged to participate. We have high expectations of the youngsters and they have high expectations to be included.
As people arrive, there are excited greetings, quick catching up on news and anticipation for the monthly Discussion. The Dome is the heart of Windmill Co-op and that heart beat its strongest when the community comes together. Coming together was not only to discuss community affairs, it's also an affirmation of our mutual dependency and appreciation. Co-ops are an essential part of life in Cascadia. This is the foundation of our ideal to nurture the best in our potentials and character. This is our cohesion and security.
Since the Transition, our culture has made conscious and thoughtful changes in how we live. We have a remarkable chance to create a dramatically different way of life. We really didn't have a choice. To some, it was the mythical new paradigm. Others considered it mildly oppressive social engineering. A few are not happy at all. Co-ops are vital for both economic and human relations reasons. Cascadia could not afford the social isolation before the Transition, which included people living alone and also traditional families. We have no remote control garage door openers. Affluence buys insularity and distance from the real world - both social and physical."
It's during these gatherings where bonding and making group history takes place. New traditions and rituals come into being that serve to strengthen the connections between co-op members and teach young people the importance of cohesion and cooperation.
13
Co-ops and clusters evolved many of their own ways of expressing group solidarity. These rituals serve to bind the group's members together but also to bind it to this physical location - its soil, its water, its climate. It's important to acknowledge those cultural and physical relationships. The traditions are far more than just feeling good about each other, they are about defining who we are as people - our values and ideals and our respect and appreciation for the place we live. Our survival depends upon it.