Windmill Coop members huddle.
Dear Reader, If you would like to help edit Windmill 2040, please contact me.
Imagine having a unique vantage point for a close up look at Windmill Co-op, Eugene and Cascadia in the year 2040. Elder Naj will show you where he lives, explain how Cascadia came into being and what its like fifteen years into Recovery. You will hear about the actions people took at home, in the neighborhood and community, 30 and 40 years before, that were critical for surviving the Transition and taking on the challenges for creating a new, healthy and green economy and culture.
Meeting In The Dome
italics is Elder Naj talking
bold is Elder Naj thinking and narrating
regular font is others speaking
Windmill Co-op is located in the Willamette Valley, between the volcanic Cascade Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. The Valley, ranging from ten to 25 miles wide, slopes from about 400 feet above sea level at Eugene to 40 feet, plus and minus, at Portland, 100 miles to the north.
Earthquakes are not common but historically, they can be extremely powerful. There is a subduction zone 50 miles off shore from Cascadia where two large crustal plates meet. Scientists have determined the quakes occur about every 250 to 300 years and rate a Richter Scale 9. No white people have experienced a Cascade Subduction Zone Earthquake but indigenous oral history refers to the quakes.
The most recent Cascadia quake was accurately recorded over a wide area of east coast Japan, January 28, 1700. The quake evidence was a 16 foot tsunami with its timing, a good fit with geologic evidence here in Cascadia.
The Willamette River, with its meandering channels and riparian habitat, flooded every year, building up a thick layer of rich alluvial soil brought down from the nearby Cascade Mountains such as the Willamette and McKenzie at Eugene.
The Willamette Valley was also affected by the great Missoula Floods. During the last ice age, 13,000 years earlier, a lobe of the continental glaciers blocked a river in northern Idaho creating a huge lake estimated to have had a volume roughly equal to half of Lake Michigan. There are lake shore landscape features on hillsides, 2000 feet above Missoula, Montana.
When the 2000 foot high ice dam gave out, an enormous, catastrophic flood emptied the lake in a matter of days and scoured eastern Washington State's Channeled Scablands. The near desert climate with erosional landscape features like giant ripple marks, immense dry waterfalls and house size potholes, challenged early white explorers and geologists for an explanation.
The surge of water emptied into the Columbia River, over topped river side hills 500 feet high, created additional temporary lakes where the hills narrow along the Columbia. Flood water, containing blocks of ice the size of a school bus backed up into the Willamette Valley almost to Eugene. Portland would have been 350 feet under water.
These floods may have happened up to 80 times, each flood adding to the rich soil of the Willamette Valley. River Road was on the northern edge of the temporary lake filling the Willamette Valley.
Few people would have thought of the western part of Cascadia as having a Mediterranean Climate, but the west coast, mid latitude cool wet winters and dry warm summers are distinctly Mediterranean and perfect for many kinds of fruit and vegetables.
Before White settlement, the Valley was home to the Kalapuya Indians for thousands of years. They practiced pyroculture, intentional burning, to manage the Valley landscape. The fires modified the landscape so plants and animals they used and hunted became more available.
Certain plants like camas, with its small onion like bulbs, was a staple to their diet and the bulbs grew even larger, thanks to the fires. Forests became more open and park like, attracting elk and deer. The seasonally nomadic Kalapuya also fished for salmon in the Willamette River and cared for groves of oak and hazelnut. The Kalapuya lived away from the Willamette in the winter time to avoid the swollen River. They traded with many nearby contemporaries and lived in large communal long houses.
The first White Settlers arrived to what became the Eugene area in the 1840's. The Oregon Trail was legendary for the heroic and tragic adventures experienced by the early settlers. Like other parts of the West, the indigenous people were poorly treated by the new comers as their land, health and way of life was ruined by the pioneers.
2
River Road had earlier transitions. From indigenous hunting and gathering grounds to pioneers with cattle and dairy and later wheat. The farms became smaller as more settlers moved into the area.
Over time, the multi hundred acre pioneer ranches and farms were subdivided in the River Road area into hundreds of small farms and orchards. By the middle of the 20th Century, the small farms were giving way to more residential use, more streets, smaller lots and eventually suburbia. The former hunting grounds and farms became covered with detached homes, streets, pizza franchises and thrift stores.
Still, thanks to Oregon's land use laws from the 1970's, urban growth boundaries were created to better confine suburban growth and protect the rich soil and farms to the north of Eugene and River Road. As a result, Eugene had an impressive food producing capacity within miles of downtown, mostly to the north but also to the west with agriculture also extending up the nearby valleys of the Willamette and McKenzie Rivers.
In modern times, the Eugene area also attracted people who appreciated the geography of western Oregon, the mountains, forests, rivers, the coast. Along with the natural beauty, Eugene's relatively permissive social culture attracted many who identified with the counter culture movement of the late 60's and 70's. Many of them took up residence in River Road. With the trends preceding the Transition, even more people who had a care for the natural environment and social ideals moved to the area from other parts of the former United States.
Windmill Co-op was nested within a very favorable set of conditions. Its identity came significantly more into focus in 2000, when Elder Naj began to transform his suburban quarter acre property. Elder Naj was a suburban pioneer and advocate, not only for transforming a suburban property but also for a fundamentally different economy, culture and future. Grass to garden, edible landscaping, garage turned into living space, driveway removed, rain water catchment system was only the point of departure.
Windmill Co-op can trace its origins back not only to Elder Naj but even further back to the 1960's counter culture and ecological movements
A year after Elder Jan began his property transformation, Ivar and Elehcim began their own property conversion project a block away. Neither place was aware of the other but acquaintance was soon made and common cause quickly identified. This became a very productive relationship. In the following years, more people with these interests moved into the neighborhood and added to the emerging properties followed by example.
Three property owners took down fences between each other, the start of Karmalya co-op. Aratvis came into being. We were all grateful for the good fortune living so close to each other and could share the adventure. There were many practical benefits.
As the years moved towards the teens, these transformation projects looked like a better and better idea. At that time, people were starting to think about the importance of neighbors learning to work with each other. Resilience and preparedness were two words gaining a lot of use.
People could actually see not only the benefits of transforming a suburban property but they also began to think about the larger picture, transforming the economy and culture with their point of departure their own home, street and neighborhood.
3
So Windmill Co-op has a history and other nearby co-ops have histories. If one asked, at what point did Windmill came into being, the answer would be, it happened in stages. Over several years in the late 'teens, a number of friends began to meet to discuss what they would do if the economy really started to come unglued. They asked themselves what if the stores didn't open, electricity becames part time, communications became a problem, big lines at the gas station, people became unruly. As it turned out, that was only the early stuff.
It seemed strange to talk about all that, much less come up with contingency plans, but that's what happened. The group identified various preparedness skills to learn in a coordinated way. They talked about where to have a co-op and under what conditions would they eventually choose to come together at one of the candidate locations.
They wrote a document, a sort of mission statement or articles of coming together, with values, ideals, goals. As much as possible, how decsions would be made, how new people could join and how people would leave, or be asked to leave. That statement had been written and agreed to by twelve people by 2020, the core of what would become Windmill Co-op. As it turned out, only one location was considered. Elder Jan's place and nearby houses, home to several of the core group already, were identified as the first choice for the co-op.
Several of the early group took up residence at Elder Jan's property and three other almost adjacent properties. These were beginnings of the first clusters.
The Governor of Oregon declared a civil state of preparedenss in 2020 and mandated cities in Oregon to set up programs to turn public property into gardens and to requisition golf courses for food production as well. He called on people to come together to form mutual assistance associations and cities to help facilitate preparedness actions. The borders were closed only five years later.
Between the mandate and the borders closing, most cities were wishing they had been better prepared. While many city employees who were part of organizing community crash efforts to prepare would have claimed a personal concern for economic break down in their private lives, almost all failed to voice those concerns on the job.
When did BT - Before Transition, become Transition? Most would say the greatest level of economic and social upheaval took place in the early to mid 2020's. Across the country, far more people did not survive than did. Partly because of violence, but mostly because they simply lacked the skills - technical and social; for taking care of basic needs like food, water, sanitation and shelter. Most successful were mutual support networks with a focus on basic survival skills.
The great majority of people found out first hand how dependent they were for so many fundamentals of life they had no capacity to take care of on their own. And no back up.
4
Cascadia was one of only a few places in the former United States able to salvage a comparatively high degree of social and economic complexity. But even Cascadia's comparatively high standard of living was vastly different from before. No smart phones. No gas stations. No Facebook. No fast food. No Monday Night Football. No celebrity culture. A more detailed narrative of the Transition from "Before" into "Recovery" will take place later in the story.
Some Windmill members lived on site in the preliminary clusters for years before the Transition. Some residents left and their houses tended to be bought by people already interested in Permaculture and green/resilient living. During the most disruptive times, squatting became common. Unoccupied houses were simply occupied. Half of Windmill houses were abandoned or people died. There was no authority to manage abandoned homes or look after escrow accounts or mortgages.
Several Windmill members came from east of the borders and were allowed to settle in Cascadia. A few of those people came to live at Windmill.
"Greetings everyone."
It was Aleta from a few houses away, our Co-op president. We rotated the position yearly. Aleta had been a capable president. She was a medical doctor and had a good feel for being positive. She and her family had been members of Windmill, from early on. Almost 15 years.
Aleta and Tom were from Dallas, Texas. They didn't know each other much time before leaving Dallas. They became acquainted through a mutual assistance network. In Dallas, like many cities across the country at the time, mid 'teens - Phoenix, Atlanta, Kansas City, Jacksonville, Cleveland, more and more people came to realize there were big changes coming "soon."
What began as popular internet "meet up groups" about permaculture, urban agriculture, do it yourself, suburban homesteading, organic gardening and voluntary simplicity, transformed remarkably in only a few years from idealistic and hobby to serious and survival. Before long, and this must have happened in multiple locations, someone had the great idea for a social networking service that overtly addressed the increasing concerns about personal debt, rising prices, social disequity, unemployment, downward trends and for some, evacuating urban areas in a hurry.
Some of new preparedness businesses discreetly sold memberships, the way development companies used to promote condos in a resort, for covert communities stockpiled with disaster supplies, water systems and surrounded by defensive perimeters. What was once the realm of fringe militias in Idaho was becoming close to mainstream in Houston, Atlanta and Omaha.
These preparedness meet up groups were a bit like match making for romance in an earlier time. People submitted profiles about themselves, what they were looking for, where they lived and other useful info. But instead of two people looking for each other, the idea was to connect with eight to ten others with complementary practical skills and personal attributes to form a mutual assistance group.
The group process was fast forward to identify complex personal profiles that would fit with each other. Once a group of about 50 potential team members were identified, they would attend a weekend retreat where the participants, with professional facilitation and process [of varying quality], would identify which persons would be a good fit to create affinity teams of 8 to 10 persons each. Something like an arranged group marriage.
5
This was a tough process. A surprising number of people had few if any practical skills for living simple, survival and taking care of basic needs. Older people, people with kids, people who were not physically fit, people who had disabilities. Not everyone was happy with finding how their affluent middle class lifestyles had left them with little skill experience for living in a severely downsized and potentially turbulent conditioned. This process was a cold welcome preview to the potential realities of life without all sorts of fancy personal support systems.
Some out of shape people went on a crash fitness programs, some went into depression. More counseling and coaching jobs were created to provide services to survival challenged people.
Each team coming out of the weekend retreat would then attend a series of trainings together, over weeks or months, some in the classroom, some were survival camps - both urban and rural, to become acquainted with team mates and to learn a variety of skills appropriate for all kinds of potential scenarios - first aid, food storage, self defense, communication skills, shelter, foraging and much much more.
The first people and businesses to effectively market these services to a mainstream clientele, in the mid 'teens, made a lot of money and indeed, many people came to appreciate what they learned. There are no records about outcomes in real life, but anecdotal reports years later make it clear, a fair number of people claimed they survived because of the teams they were part of and the skills they learned. Some would say they were just lucky. No doubt, some of the survival schools were not up to the task and left their graduates stranded when the chips were down.
From 2010 to 2020, the economy was sending all kinds of mixed messages. Expensive oil, cheap oil. Housing boom, housing bust. The wealth gap between haves and have nots went from extreme to even more extreme. Growth was erratic even with the huge subsidies of cheap interest rates and business and lifestyles externalizing their costs on the environment and public health.
Climate change added an increasingly capricious element of disruption. Many attribute much of the cause of increasing strife all over the world to increasingly erratic climate and weather, damaging crops and forcing rural people into cities that could not accommodate them. Storms, droughts, rising sea level, fires, pollution - natural disasters all became more frequent as more people came to understand, these were not natural disasters at all, they were human caused and humans were not prepared to manage what they were responsible for.
There was also a return to a new cold war and arms race between the West and Russia while China's efforts to gain super power status with expanded military capability caused an increase in tension with its nearby neighbors and the United States. Even North Korea's small nuclear capability and dozens of smaller local hostilities added to the mix of global frayed nerves.
The irony was, there was no shortage of money and expertise to address the world's problems. The well off, who controlled the world's personal, corporate and governmental wealth, were too attached to privilege and power to do what was needed to avoid global financial, ecological and social disruption on an unprecedented scale.
6
The Sun Belt, the part of the United States south of a line from from North Carolina to Missouri to Las Vegas to Los Angeles, owed its existence to air conditioning. It would have remained low population density swamp, humid forest, semi arid scrub land or desert without artificial indoor habitats.
Without indoor cooling, there would have been no explosion of population from post WW II to 2000. When my own family moved from New York to Dallas in 1958, the 4 bedroom, two bath brick ranch style home we moved into on Linden Lane in north Dallas was, like all the other houses nearby, fully air conditioned. Even the dog house had its own air conditioner.
In Dallas, from mid May to well into October, one went from an air conditioned house, to an air conditioned job and back home in an air conditioned car. That was before Climate Change. By 2025, Dallas had a temperature regime more like San Antonio of 1985 and heading towards a climate more like Laredo. By the early 2020's, the climate controlled way of life was looking less secure.
The power disruptions were becoming more frequent and people did not like sweltering in 95 degree heat, in early May. The rising unemployment, cost of gasoline, expensive and increasingly erratic food supplies, the angry demonstrations, reports from elsewhere in the world all were a preview of the Transtion. The words of reassurance by government officials had little credibility, at the same time there was a steeply increasing interest by almost everyone, in preparedness and survival.
That's when Aleta met Tom, in a basement seminar at a round shaped Episcopal Church in North Dallas. They were both taking a series of trainings that focused on skills specific for travel. This group was more focused on getting out of town rather than building a bunker. The Northwest was this group's hoped for destination. Several team members had family and friends in the Northwest they hoped to stay with.
After several months of weekend courses, seminars and trainings, Aleta and Tom's group made a plan to pool together their resources, luck and hired a trip coordinator and "survival expert." The group set their exit from Dallas for spring 2022. There was still fairly dependable access to gasoline although the cost was up to $8 per gallon in the inflated currency of the time and supplies were becoming hit or miss.
Fights and even shootings were not unheard of in the lengthening and increasingly unruly lines to fill up. even for a few gallons. The government tried rationing but it did not go over well. The idea of rationing set off even more hoarding and disruption.
Now and then, an entire gasoline delivery truck was hijacked. Soon, the trucks were escorted by armed guards. Still, with enough money or goods to trade, gas could be found. Fred, their contracted go to guy and former Green Beret, seemed capable shepherding the group. The team was, essentially, putting their lives in his hands.
At the time they left Dallas, the federal authorities were still urging people to stay put and be patient. The disruptions in electricity, food and oil supply were only temporary they said. But few believed the reassurances. Demonstrations evolved into riots in more and more cities and towns.
Aleta, Tom and their group, did leave Dallas. They headed west on I 30 in a caravan of 6 vehicles and a hefty cache of weapons and ammo and walkie talkies for each car. They were lucky to make it past Forth Worth, only 40 miles away.
By the time the group arrived to the Oregon Border, they were exhausted and traumatized. Of the fourteen adults and eight children who started, exactly half of each did not make it. Fred turned out to have earned his pay. He died in a shoot out near Twin Falls, Idaho. The bandits were likely only trying to survive they only way they knew, taking what others had.
Lucky for those who did make it, the Oregon Border was still open to new comers. Even better if they had friends and family who could receive them. Aleta and Tom made their way to Eugene and by good luck, connected with Windmill Co-op.
Less than two years later, crossing the border would become much more difficult. All over the perimeter of Cascadia, roads and bridges were fortified. Closing the border was one of the last acts of the states of Oregon and Washington along with British Columbia.
There was no more welcome mat.
7
People were arriving to the Dome. Some from their day of individual tasks, some from their day of projects with others. The place was buzzing, outbreaks of laughter, a few shrieks, lots of hugs, several late arrivals. Party lights in multi colors. A large pile of shoes, most locally made.
The Huddle was highly anticipated. The "huddle" was the name given to a big group embrace and synchronized breathing. It had the effect of creating both a physical high and also a very strong emotional bond for those participating, especially when repeated over time with the same people. It was one of several new rituals that bonded members of groups such as Windmill Co-op.
Before the Transition, professional sports occupied a remarkable amount of time for tens of millions. Of course football was one of those sports. Mostly males devoted untold hours watching their favorite teams. Over the course of a couple decades, pro football took over Sunday, then Monday, Saturday and eventually, towards the end, there were games almost every night of the week during the season.
Basketball, baseball, hockey and other spectator sports added to the sports obsession. The advertising revenue was unbelieveable and the salaries of the players became a striking statement of the values the economic system placed on entertainment. Professional players were making literally millions. Teachers and social workers would have had to work twenty years to make the same pay in a year as a third string player who rarely made it on the field. Highest paid players made 100 times,even 200 times as much money as teacher or social worker.
As the economic decline and social disorder gained momentum, professional sports began to lose appeal. Fewer and fewer people could afford to buy the tickets to the games nor the products that paid for the advertising that ultimately paid the players. Automobiles, tires and cheap beer were icons of a period of history that proved to be only temporary. By the early 20's, pro sports had become unaffordable, irrelevant and abandoned.
As the disruptions deepened during the early 20's, tens of millions of people struggled with the economic challenges. There was a clear and urgent need for neighborhoods and communities to pull together for mutual assistance. People had to simplify their wants and learn to take care of more of them closer to home. A both new and old economic system was created and rediscovered. Not all economics requires money. People still have skills even if money is not involved. Barter, trade, co-ops picked up a lot of the slack. Cascadia still had money but it was only one form of buying or selling.
Bubba Power was part of a new approach to economics. In one town and then another. Thousands, then hundreds of thousands of sports fans awoke as from an enormous mass amnesia, some would say coma, and volunteered themselves for the civic good.
By 2020, instead of tail gate parties, Saturdays and Sundays became days for removing parking lot pavement, including many of the ones where the tail gate parties used to happen. Community gardens were created in vacant fields, thousands of front yards went from grass to garden, civic action committees and mutual assistance networks sprung up all over, new projects to take care of more needs closer to home came to life all over the country.
The Bubbas were joined by still others. The virtual world of computers became unplugged - millions came out of their cyber lairs. And then the recreational shoppers, movie buffs, patrons of gyms and spas and all manner of people who had been seduced by affluence, tens of millions acted upon a newly discovered sense of purpose, if not survival. There was little choice and they joined the surge of community service.
No one knows where. It could have been Dubuque, Greenville, Santa Rosa. Many claimed the distinction of being a part of the first Huddle. It was simple enough. All accounts of the first huddle were similar.
Someone at some community work party, waiting with dozens of others for the work party to begin, spontaneously hugged a few strangers standing nearby, others close by saw the act, joined in and within minutes, that small embrace of a few sent out a vibe that drew all present into one big salutation.
Many who were present claim it was like a mystical experience, there was a tremendous sense of belonging, a positive vibration, a connectedness, and shared purpose. The legend goes, someone, overcome by emotion, surrounded by dozens of strangers and friends, embracing, squeezing, awakening for the common good, shouted out "This is a new kind huddle! We are all on the same team!"
At that point, hundreds on the scene exploded with laughter and joy. The new ritual was given a name, and the whole practice spread. It was a sort of group thanksgiving, prayer of hope and celebration all at the same time.
Social media still was available at the time so, in the terms of the day, Huddles went viral. Within weeks, practically every neighborhood and community event began with a Huddle.
As it turned out, that tremendous eruption of civic energy was not enough.
8
It was too little too late. There was too much to overcome - decades of forgotten social skills, decades of forgotten practical skills. The skills required for being a good consumer were not the skills needed for surviving the Transition.
From Miami to LA, from Winnemuca to Levittown, almost all of those efforts to re awaken and restore a functional culture and economy fell far short. Millions who participated in community uplift and gave it their all did not survive another five years. Not every good effort has a happy ending.
The people who lasted the longest were the people who had already downsized their lifestyles and were already in the act of pre adapting. Events just moved too fast.
Yet, the Huddle is practiced in a positive way, even reverently, in the few places where it still endures in those remaining outposts of civilization.
The soul of Windmill Co-op was the Dome. At an early point in the Transition, there was need to take some kind of affirmative collective action to bring a focus to the fact that Windmill was now a critical part, even the focus, of over 60 peoples' lives.
Building the Dome was an act of renewal. It was an act to defy the conditions of the time. A project to bring people together, a sort of group therapy that had an affect to help recover those lost social and practical skills and elevate the individual and collective spirit by saying, this building will serve the co-op. We are the co-op. There will be a future here.
Fifteen years later, a great deal has taken place in the Dome. Weddings, funerals. Seasonal celebrations. Potlucks, meditations, slumber parties, kids' events.
With no guidance or prompting, as people arrived at the Dome, they added to the growing and swaying merging of body and spirit. Windmill Co op Huddled. Eyes closed, breathing went into a synchronized rhythm. The collective vibration harmonized. People would report seeing colors, feeling electricity, some would imagine themselves as flashes of energy in a collective brain, others felt like they were a gale of consciousness streaming across outer space. Words used to describe the experience included amplification, merging, pulsation, flow, soar and vortex.
And then, with no prompting, almost on cue, everyone went still and quiet, then opened their eyes, looked all around, made eye contact with everyone within view, one final squeeze and release - that was it. A couple minutes to savor the moment. The Huddle was over.
Aleta's timing was always good. She welcomed people back from the Huddle and to the meeting everyone came for.
Have we all landed? Everyone returned? You are all looking so beautiful!
Another few moments.
"Ready? Lets start the meeting. The agenda, the Eastern Border, the bike path, the horse railway, report from population, funerals, Windmill sponsoring a new cluster and finally, a request for trial membership."
9
Everyone was settled. Couches, pillows, chairs, even an old, many times repaired Yucatan Hammock [gratefully, we had learned how to repair them]. On a mild spring evening, there was no need for the insulated drapes. Windmill Co-op was gathered together for Monthly Meeting. There were 60 people including visitors. The electric party lights were on although there were a few gaps where some greens, blues and yellows had worn out with no replacements.
"First, can we welcome visitors?"
"Hi, I'm Rob and visiting from the Lupine Cluster. Home is near Coberg. We are part of Turning River Rural Co-op. We are five clusters with 45 people. Its my couple days in town and I've known Cindy and Mick for years. We've been catching up and I've been wanting to see how life goes for my friends here in town."
"Welcome Rob. Good timing. What is your in town partnership?"
Almost all rural co-ops have a co-op partner in town, if not several. There were many complimentary benefits. Both locations provided a place to take a break from either in town or in the country. Town partners would help out at important times of the agricultural year in the country. Forest co-ops furnished wood products to their partners In town. In town co-op partners provided certain goods and services and access to medical care and other services not available out of town. Urban and rural alliances were vital to life in Cascadia. Cascadia had few private businesses. Most needs were taken care of in cooperatives - food, professional services, manufactured items.
"We partner with Kincaid Co-op in the Amazon area. Its good. Kincaid Co-op was one of the first co-ops to form in that part of town, back about 2019. I used to live there but moved out to the country.
"Thanks Rob, we're glad you're here. So next is Misty."
"I am Misty and one of your agenda items. I am asking for a trial stay with interest to join Windmill."
"Welcome Misty. We look forward to hearing from you a bit later."
"Hi, we are a group from Springfield Neighbors Coalition, Heather, Ron, Chris, Alex, Mike. We just want to see what people are doing here on this side of the River. We made arrangements with Aleta. And we really like the horse railway!"
"Very good! Great you are here. Welcome."
"News and announcements? Yes, Susan."
"Hi everyone. The composting group will meet next Tuesday here at the dome, in the afternoon at 3."
"Sounds good."
"Yes, Bill?"
10
"We are having a roofing party next Saturday at 10 at Banjo Cluster. Please join us. Snacks and drinks provided. We plan to crank up the pizza oven. We have salvaged a metal roof from several blocks away and will replace the old shingles at Banjo with metal. We hope to have most of the job done in one day. Fun for all!"
Reroofing with metal is a very important retro fit. Several houses have chronic leaks. The shingles are old and it's a constant effort to stop the leaks. Metal roofs are the answer. Even after all this time, we still have roofing to do. Putting a metal roof on my Bungalow and main house thirty years earlier was one of the best investments I ever made. We have scouted out all the metal roofs in the neighborhood, determined a priority for salvage and reroof our co-op houses when we are able. We realize once the metal roof is gone, that house will be lost so we also salvage what wood, windows and other materials even before the roof is removed. Windmill Co-op had a huge stockpile of used building materials.
Related story for later. What happened with the big box stores BT and now.
"We have a notice from Transportation that the bike path needs some work. Its the ravages of time again, they just don't let up. How come the Romans could build the Appian Way and it was good for 2000 years and our bike path can do little better than 3 or 4? We need to smooth out the bumps where the tree roots stick up. Fill in some cracks."
Eugene had an impressive bike path network in place decades before the Transition. Many of its users, myself included, had big problems with the city of Eugene and cursed the economic system that it served but as it turns out, the bike paths were a lot better 20 years ago than now. We have to fill in cracks and level places that looked like small scale fault block mountains. Tree roots also pushed up under asphalt. We didn't have concrete to pour or hot asphalt so we had to use bricks.
We hadn't quite mastered the technique of a totally flat surface. Lengthy sections of bike path now had many small bumps instead of a few large ones. Most people had gained a whole new respect for long lost pavement skills. These days, bikes with bigger tires have fared better than bikes with skinny tires.
But the main locations for transportation were the city streets. With practically no cars and only a few electric golf car type vehicles, city streets became defacto bike paths by the later 2020's. Several of the major streets now had horse railways.
11
Yes, Carol.
Hi Everyone. Just an update with Population Management. You know Eddie and I want to have a child and if you don't know, its quite a process gaining permission. We did not receive permission. Our third request. But we did move up in the list. At this rate, we may receive permission to have a kid before menopause.
A few sympathetic laughs. The days were gone when anyone could just decide to have children. Having kids has become a complicated process. It takes a request review, proof of capability to provide for the new born. That meant the cluster and co-op had to approve with ten "sponsors," willing to take on part of the responsibility. Its like almost like ten people become god parents. Those people are interviewed, too. Consideration is made of food production, health care and residency trends at the cluster, co-op and community level.
"Ok Carol. We know you have a lot of support for that. Just remember, there are reasons for the process."
"Yes, thanks Aleta. We know that. Its ok. We still have time."
"Another update. Gina is recovering from an accident and still can't be with us. You recall. She was on a ladder two weeks ago. One of the rungs had been broken and fixed. Turns out it wasn't fixed so well. Gina was stepping on the rung, it broke and she fell about ten feet breaking a leg. We won't say more about the injury. She is better but long term, its hard to say how her recovery will go. Send her positive thoughts."
These kinds of accidents were not uncommon. Rather than go out and buy new, we had to repair all kinds of tools. Sometimes it didn't work out so well. There are more accidents than BT. We all paused for a few moments sending Gina some good thoughts.
"Ok. That's all ? First agenda item is Eastern Border. Robin, can you tell us about that?"
Robin stood up. She was thin but strong. There were virtually no overweight Cascadians. Her simple clothes showed she preferred the new hand made over what was left of the BT wardrobe. Other related stories. What happened to the mall and various retail stores between then and now?
"Yes I can. The background. As you all know, in the Early Days, the border with Idaho, Nevada and California was closed. There was a flood of refugees that had become just overwhelming. The horrible decision had to be made. In essence, better to have a few lifeboats that could float rather than have them all overloaded and sunk.
This was perhaps the most difficult and controversial decision ever made in Cascadia. It meant that after a certain date, entry into Cascadia would be severely limited. At the border, makeshift encampments were set up on both sides. One in hopes of making it across, the other to ensure that did not happen. What lead to the closings was a massive shift of millions in population from the south towards the north. Oregon, Washington State and British Columbia were the destination and there was not room for everyone.
12
In 2020, the governors of the Pacific Northwest states and province signed a secret agreement that if necessary, and by unanimous agreement between their governments, the borders would be closed. And shockingly, only four years later, the border was closed.
"We fortified the border and sent out word that what was Oregon, Washington State and southern British Columbia had become Cascadia. Entry would be controlled."
The US military, or what was left of it, declared its intent to intervene. Even by the early 20's, it still had the capacity to open up the border by force but for some unknown reason, it never followed through. There are a number of theories why.
The room was quiet.
Almost 15 years later, many remained traumatized with the decision to close the border even though, few would deny, given the conditions at that time, without the border closing, Cascadia would not have survived and neither would have much of the important cultural and scientific leftovers of the previous oil based civilization. Many in Cascadia thought of themselves something like the monks during the Dark Ages a thousand years earlier, keeper of the flame of knowledge.
Some thought that was a good excuse for limiting access to Cascadia. Some people considered Cascadia's earthy way of life as only a necessary but temporary time out before somehow, in the future, life and economics would pick up where the previous civilization left off. Still others, had no interest in picking up where the previous civilization had left off. Not everyone agreed about the future of Cascadia
"We have all heard stories of what is going on beyond Cascadia. There are still people out there but its not safe. The border still requires protection and remember, we do admit a certain number of newcomers. This agenda item is about border security. As you know, all parts of Cascadia have agreed to provide participation for Border Protection. River Road District needs to provide 12 volunteers. Windmill's share is two volunteers."
“I disagree. The border should be open for all. And the border protection people are turning that task into a military operation. So if we don't have a volunteer, that lottery is like being drafted. I can see this border volunteer lottery set up evolving into some kind of coercive authority. All that oppression of force before the Transition is creeping back. We shouldn't have a border in the first place!”
It was Stephanie. She might be described as a proponent of open borders, minimal law and enforced order. She was not alone.
“My own cousins were denied access to Cascadia 15 years ago. I went to the Border my self to see them. I had to cross the bridge into Idaho because they weren't even allowed onto this side of the river. They suffered horribly, walking, hitching rides, risking their lives coming from Ohio hoping to make a new life here. And they were denied access. I almost stayed with them in Idaho but they urged me to go back to Cascadia. There was no future with them. I never saw or heard from them again.”
13
Stephanie was sobbing and shaking. Several people surrounded her to comfort her. This had happened before. Angela was kind to offer support.
“That's all true, Stephanie. We know it was a harsh decision and many suffered. All of that did happen, its all been discussed. We can't change what happened to your relatives.”
Stephanie continued to sob and another voice was heard.
"The Border is where Cascadia places judgement on human lives. So, we do accept people but its only when it works for Cascadia. Its only the healthy we take or people with useful skills, or connections. Its like the other side of the line is a reservoir that Cascadia taps into when its in our own selfish interest."
This was Intel, also well known as a critic of the controlled Border. A couple friends were helping Stephanie leave the dome. Intel continued. People lived and worked together well most of the time, it was occasions like this that opened up the wounds.
"So we allow in people when it works for Cascadia. We do have a low birth rate so the reasoning goes that we need to add new people on occasion. Its like the people beyond the border are a reserve to be used at Cascadia's convenience. So we take the healthiest and smartest and leave the rest. Isn't that a kind of judgemental? Its just not ethical."
Intel, repeated Stephanie. We had gone over all of this countless times. Some had suggested the critics of a closed border trade places with the hopeful refugees but few ever did. The conversations usually ended in a lament and that was that. And such was the case this time. The predictable response defending the border was next. It was Wolf.
"If the border was not there, we wouldn't be either. Cascadia is one of the few places in the country, probably one of the few in the world, where the essence of civilization is not only being preserved, we are building on the wreckage of the mistakes before us. We have a responsibility. The border is not so much about preserving our own individual selves. Its more about re-building humanity making use of the lessons that history has provided us with."
Intel responded sharply."That's a convenient and self serving excuse."
Eight hands rose, almost at the same time. There was a short pause. More hands raised.
"Enough said"
Twenty people cried out "enough said." This was part of Monthly Meeting. It was part group process and part therapy. People needed to be heard so the conversation went on for a while. It was therapeutic and it was necessary and everyone respected the process and made time for it. A group, from Multiple Perspectives took it upon themselves to end the back and forth after enough was said. When comments repeat previous comments, its about time to say enough. No one could keep track of how many times we went through this topic. It was emotional, heartfelt and strangely healing.
14
So several people cried out enough said! Aleta assessed the situation for a few moments and repeated, enough said! It was time to return to the agenda. After a few deep breaths by everyone present, Aleta bowed in respect to those who spoke and continued with the meeting.
"Recall how we help out with the Border. It is either by volunteer or by lottery. You know casualties are not unknown but they are few. Living conditions at the border are simple, like summer camp, but make one appreciate life back here west of the mountains. Its chilly in the winter and hot in the summer. The time commitment is one year. There are no vacations. You won't know exactly what part of the border you will go to but the volunteers from Windmill can remain together. Volunteering at the border is an important part of creating cohesion throughout Cascadia.”
“This is a great way to meet fellow Cascadians. Volunteers come from all over the region, even some from further north around Vancouver. Also, there's fascinating work helping with the early part of the process for integrating new comers. Typically, each border camp accommodates one hundred volunteers. With the age generally, twenty to thirty, it is quite a unique experience. Even a bit like a BT summer camp. Its not all work. Needless to say, there are other activities going on besides securing Cascadia. I know of a number of people who met and became partners serving at the Border. Its not unusual for people to volunteer multiple times. Most of us have been there."
“This is the first call for volunteers. If you would like to volunteer, please see me. If we do not have our two volunteers by next Discussion, we will have a lottery.”
“OK. Next agenda item.
"Alright. Where were we? Newcomers. Windmill will be welcoming a new Cluster of three children and five adults. They all left Arkansas together. I have read the overview of their story and it is an impressive one and loaded with adventure. Wow! Windmill has welcomed new arrivals before, its been several years. New comers help to remind us how grateful we should be.
These people from Arkansas were on the road for four months and then at the arrival center near the border for three more months and have been through four levels of orientation. The reports of their adjustments are good. Let's show some Windmill Co op hospitality. Let's all be welcoming to our new cluster when they arrive."
"So, the new Cluster will live at the empty house we have fixed up on Melvina. Several of us will meet our new arrivals next week and within a week after that, we can introduce them to more residents of Windmill. The children will be with the adults part of the time and part of the time they will meet other children."
"Next agenda item. The horse railway. Atle, can you please tell us about the horse railway? Atle works with Public Works as most of you know."
"Thanks Aleta. Yes I can."
15
Atle, with here bright red hair, had lived in the neighborhood all her life. I knew her as a child and watched her grow up. She moved downtown late in the Transition and was now working with the team managing the horse railway.
Like nearly all cities and towns in the former United States, Eugene's development had been dominated by the automobile from the earliest days of the Model T around 1910. In the following decades, road building, construction, car manufacturing and petroleum interests had an enormous influence, local to national, on transportation policy and planning.
The automobile was one of the best example of how form followed economic need. Cars and all the related services and products that went with them created an enormous amount of economic activity. What made more sense to the economic system decision makers than to fabricate an entire society and culture based on cars? The automobile became a core part of the American Dream.
The horse railway has been wildly successful. Its remarkable how two horses can pull a light rail car. Ok, so its a modified school bus with the motor part amputated. [much laughter] They can move a good ten miles an hour. Fifteen years ago, it was looking like cars were on their way out. The city was losing its function.
Fortunately, we made good use of remaining tools and machinery to haul the tracks from the rail yard, a great source of unused rail, and channel the streets so the top of the rails would be level with the street surface.
That was quite an effort. I was there. Some people thought we were crazy. It was kinda crazy but look at us now. Who would have thought at one point there were as many cars and trucks in the US as there were people?
Hard to believe, before cars took over in the early 1900's, Eugene and Springfield had 18 miles of electric trolley tracks in the mid 20's and a dozen scheduled trains every day to Portland. Sadly, transportation policy favored roads for cars at the expense of rail. Now we know, the automobile dominated society was an important cause of climate change and the disfunction of urban design. Cars were only a 100 year phenomena. The hundreds of billions spent on highways turned out to be a very poor investment.
"Hello Windmill Co-op. So nice to be here. The ride over on the trolley was very pleasant. This part of town is known for its attractive trolley stops and public art. I remember the mural on the old Goodwill building that included a trolley. Our esteemed Elder Naj painted that about 2003, correct Elder Naj?"
"Yes, that's right Atle. And most should know that of the people included in that mural, you were in it, picking blue berries."
"That's right. Closest to the street, just next to the painted newspaper box. Recall, the painted newspaper box had several visionary headlines. How true they turned out to be, about the changing climate and the cost of gasoline."
Aleta added. "We all know about the mural, Atle. Elder Naj is fond of reminding us."
A good chuckle from the group.
16
Atle continued. "Its nice to share one's cherished memories. So I have come to you all this evening with some news about the horse railway. We have been asked by several other towns how our railway works. So we invited horse railway enthusiasts to visit. We are asking for some hosts to give them a real Eugene experience while they are here for 3 or 4 days. Would Windmill like to host eight people for three days next month? We expect people from Roseburg, Salem, Olympia, Everett and Bellingham. Please talk it over and let me know. Thanks for considering being a host. I think you all would be great for the task.
"Ok, thanks Atle. I bet we can find some hosts for the visiting group. Great chance to see what others are doing in those different places. Maybe we could arrange a show and tell with our guests."
"Last but not least agenda item. We have a young woman named Misty, who is interested in an extended trial residence, with the idea of possible membership in Windmill Co-op.”
"Misty, can you tell us a bit of your request and sponsor?"
"Yes, I can."
This young woman had a casual but deliberate way about her. Fit and seeming very self confident, its unusual for a 17 year old to be going out like this. Its rare for anyone to seek a change in their co-op status, especially at such a young age. When people became partners, it was common to change a co-op but a single young woman. First time for this request here at Windmill.
"Hi. Thanks Aleta and everyone. I'm Misty and currently live in South Town at Piedmont Co-op, Fox Cluster. We have been part of the hillside salvage projects since before I was born. My intuition has been telling me for several years I need to make a change. I did a vision search and it strongly tells me to evelop my interests towards Earth and plants."
"My mentor has recommended caution, shifting to a new cluster is a considerable change. That's why I am looking for a lengthy probation period. My attraction is more towards soil than salvage. I have been with our garden team since I was 11 and have been given a good deal of responsibility. Also, Windmill Co-op has attracted me. I have a resume and references."
"Thank you Misty. Anything to add?
From the audience. "Hi Misty. This is Edsel You are very brave. I have seen your resume. It includes mention of visits to the East Border, Roseburg, the Coast, Portland. How is it you have been all these places?"
17
"Thanks for asking, Edsel. Yes, I love to see different places. Its geography. Its meeting new people. I like stories about topics and experiences I don't know anything about. It enriches my life to hear what others think or what they have done. Its like I can gain the best that person has to offer. And I can do the same in return. I think that is what life is about. Sharing what we learn, comparing our stories. So I have had a chance to meet people and I simply like to see new places. Just the act of moving I like. The train to Coos Bay is a beautiful ride. You catch a glimpse of the old road. People used to drive cars on that at 60 miles per hour. Wow! Its mountain bikes and horse drawn carts now on that bumpy looking road. I can't imagine what Mapleton used to look like."
The old road. Yes. It used to take a bit over an hour to drive to Florence from Eugene. Years ago, I thought nothing of a spontaneous trip to the jetties to go surfing. We even saw a killer whale in the channel one time. Going north from Florence, now its amazing to see all the ruins of the big box stores along the highway. Takes a day to go to Yachats now. BT, it took forty five minutes.
Florence was a retirement community. Its population has crashed. Its too chilly to grow much food. Good news is, the fish have returned. An interesting co-op makes a few fishing boats possible. Farms in the Valley make methane gas so the boats can go out. The farmers invest methane gas in the fishing co- op. The fish have to catch a ride on the train from Coos Bay. We will see if that arrangement can last long term.
"So I like to see other places. I keep a journal. Maybe I write something some day.
"Thank you, Misty. You know that you will need sponsorship from a Cluster and a personal sponsor as well. We will see you again for a progress report next month."
"I am aware of that and am making arrangements."
OK. Just a few more housekeeping items.
“Lets make sure we are not creating mosquito hatcheries outside. Spring is here. We know what can happen when we don't keep up with standing water. Since the Transition, we have seen a number of outbreaks of what were likely mosquito born diseases. Let's dump all standing water."
Every year, at least a few people around town die from some kind of unfamiliar disease. We have books on diseases and symptoms. Even several infectious disease docs in Eugene, but without the kind of lab work easily available 40 years go, we have to do some guess work. Best just to try to avoid the problems. We may have been pretty lucky so far.
"OK everyone. Thanks for coming. See you all here or there."
"Thanks Aleta. Well done!"
18
"Hugs to all. Jam at the yurt in 15 minutes."
Meeting was over and people were breaking up into groups for chat or leaving. There were some important agenda items to think about and act upon. Windmill had a number of eligible people for the Border. Someone would step forward. And a new cluster to host. And Misty, she too, would likely be welcomed for a trial residency.
Dear Reader, If you would like to help edit Windmill 2040, please contact me.
Imagine having a unique vantage point for a close up look at Windmill Co-op, Eugene and Cascadia in the year 2040. Elder Naj will show you where he lives, explain how Cascadia came into being and what its like fifteen years into Recovery. You will hear about the actions people took at home, in the neighborhood and community, 30 and 40 years before, that were critical for surviving the Transition and taking on the challenges for creating a new, healthy and green economy and culture.
Meeting In The Dome
italics is Elder Naj talking
bold is Elder Naj thinking and narrating
regular font is others speaking
Windmill Co-op is located in the Willamette Valley, between the volcanic Cascade Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. The Valley, ranging from ten to 25 miles wide, slopes from about 400 feet above sea level at Eugene to 40 feet, plus and minus, at Portland, 100 miles to the north.
Earthquakes are not common but historically, they can be extremely powerful. There is a subduction zone 50 miles off shore from Cascadia where two large crustal plates meet. Scientists have determined the quakes occur about every 250 to 300 years and rate a Richter Scale 9. No white people have experienced a Cascade Subduction Zone Earthquake but indigenous oral history refers to the quakes.
The most recent Cascadia quake was accurately recorded over a wide area of east coast Japan, January 28, 1700. The quake evidence was a 16 foot tsunami with its timing, a good fit with geologic evidence here in Cascadia.
The Willamette River, with its meandering channels and riparian habitat, flooded every year, building up a thick layer of rich alluvial soil brought down from the nearby Cascade Mountains such as the Willamette and McKenzie at Eugene.
The Willamette Valley was also affected by the great Missoula Floods. During the last ice age, 13,000 years earlier, a lobe of the continental glaciers blocked a river in northern Idaho creating a huge lake estimated to have had a volume roughly equal to half of Lake Michigan. There are lake shore landscape features on hillsides, 2000 feet above Missoula, Montana.
When the 2000 foot high ice dam gave out, an enormous, catastrophic flood emptied the lake in a matter of days and scoured eastern Washington State's Channeled Scablands. The near desert climate with erosional landscape features like giant ripple marks, immense dry waterfalls and house size potholes, challenged early white explorers and geologists for an explanation.
The surge of water emptied into the Columbia River, over topped river side hills 500 feet high, created additional temporary lakes where the hills narrow along the Columbia. Flood water, containing blocks of ice the size of a school bus backed up into the Willamette Valley almost to Eugene. Portland would have been 350 feet under water.
These floods may have happened up to 80 times, each flood adding to the rich soil of the Willamette Valley. River Road was on the northern edge of the temporary lake filling the Willamette Valley.
Few people would have thought of the western part of Cascadia as having a Mediterranean Climate, but the west coast, mid latitude cool wet winters and dry warm summers are distinctly Mediterranean and perfect for many kinds of fruit and vegetables.
Before White settlement, the Valley was home to the Kalapuya Indians for thousands of years. They practiced pyroculture, intentional burning, to manage the Valley landscape. The fires modified the landscape so plants and animals they used and hunted became more available.
Certain plants like camas, with its small onion like bulbs, was a staple to their diet and the bulbs grew even larger, thanks to the fires. Forests became more open and park like, attracting elk and deer. The seasonally nomadic Kalapuya also fished for salmon in the Willamette River and cared for groves of oak and hazelnut. The Kalapuya lived away from the Willamette in the winter time to avoid the swollen River. They traded with many nearby contemporaries and lived in large communal long houses.
The first White Settlers arrived to what became the Eugene area in the 1840's. The Oregon Trail was legendary for the heroic and tragic adventures experienced by the early settlers. Like other parts of the West, the indigenous people were poorly treated by the new comers as their land, health and way of life was ruined by the pioneers.
2
River Road had earlier transitions. From indigenous hunting and gathering grounds to pioneers with cattle and dairy and later wheat. The farms became smaller as more settlers moved into the area.
Over time, the multi hundred acre pioneer ranches and farms were subdivided in the River Road area into hundreds of small farms and orchards. By the middle of the 20th Century, the small farms were giving way to more residential use, more streets, smaller lots and eventually suburbia. The former hunting grounds and farms became covered with detached homes, streets, pizza franchises and thrift stores.
Still, thanks to Oregon's land use laws from the 1970's, urban growth boundaries were created to better confine suburban growth and protect the rich soil and farms to the north of Eugene and River Road. As a result, Eugene had an impressive food producing capacity within miles of downtown, mostly to the north but also to the west with agriculture also extending up the nearby valleys of the Willamette and McKenzie Rivers.
In modern times, the Eugene area also attracted people who appreciated the geography of western Oregon, the mountains, forests, rivers, the coast. Along with the natural beauty, Eugene's relatively permissive social culture attracted many who identified with the counter culture movement of the late 60's and 70's. Many of them took up residence in River Road. With the trends preceding the Transition, even more people who had a care for the natural environment and social ideals moved to the area from other parts of the former United States.
Windmill Co-op was nested within a very favorable set of conditions. Its identity came significantly more into focus in 2000, when Elder Naj began to transform his suburban quarter acre property. Elder Naj was a suburban pioneer and advocate, not only for transforming a suburban property but also for a fundamentally different economy, culture and future. Grass to garden, edible landscaping, garage turned into living space, driveway removed, rain water catchment system was only the point of departure.
Windmill Co-op can trace its origins back not only to Elder Naj but even further back to the 1960's counter culture and ecological movements
A year after Elder Jan began his property transformation, Ivar and Elehcim began their own property conversion project a block away. Neither place was aware of the other but acquaintance was soon made and common cause quickly identified. This became a very productive relationship. In the following years, more people with these interests moved into the neighborhood and added to the emerging properties followed by example.
Three property owners took down fences between each other, the start of Karmalya co-op. Aratvis came into being. We were all grateful for the good fortune living so close to each other and could share the adventure. There were many practical benefits.
As the years moved towards the teens, these transformation projects looked like a better and better idea. At that time, people were starting to think about the importance of neighbors learning to work with each other. Resilience and preparedness were two words gaining a lot of use.
People could actually see not only the benefits of transforming a suburban property but they also began to think about the larger picture, transforming the economy and culture with their point of departure their own home, street and neighborhood.
3
So Windmill Co-op has a history and other nearby co-ops have histories. If one asked, at what point did Windmill came into being, the answer would be, it happened in stages. Over several years in the late 'teens, a number of friends began to meet to discuss what they would do if the economy really started to come unglued. They asked themselves what if the stores didn't open, electricity becames part time, communications became a problem, big lines at the gas station, people became unruly. As it turned out, that was only the early stuff.
It seemed strange to talk about all that, much less come up with contingency plans, but that's what happened. The group identified various preparedness skills to learn in a coordinated way. They talked about where to have a co-op and under what conditions would they eventually choose to come together at one of the candidate locations.
They wrote a document, a sort of mission statement or articles of coming together, with values, ideals, goals. As much as possible, how decsions would be made, how new people could join and how people would leave, or be asked to leave. That statement had been written and agreed to by twelve people by 2020, the core of what would become Windmill Co-op. As it turned out, only one location was considered. Elder Jan's place and nearby houses, home to several of the core group already, were identified as the first choice for the co-op.
Several of the early group took up residence at Elder Jan's property and three other almost adjacent properties. These were beginnings of the first clusters.
The Governor of Oregon declared a civil state of preparedenss in 2020 and mandated cities in Oregon to set up programs to turn public property into gardens and to requisition golf courses for food production as well. He called on people to come together to form mutual assistance associations and cities to help facilitate preparedness actions. The borders were closed only five years later.
Between the mandate and the borders closing, most cities were wishing they had been better prepared. While many city employees who were part of organizing community crash efforts to prepare would have claimed a personal concern for economic break down in their private lives, almost all failed to voice those concerns on the job.
When did BT - Before Transition, become Transition? Most would say the greatest level of economic and social upheaval took place in the early to mid 2020's. Across the country, far more people did not survive than did. Partly because of violence, but mostly because they simply lacked the skills - technical and social; for taking care of basic needs like food, water, sanitation and shelter. Most successful were mutual support networks with a focus on basic survival skills.
The great majority of people found out first hand how dependent they were for so many fundamentals of life they had no capacity to take care of on their own. And no back up.
4
Cascadia was one of only a few places in the former United States able to salvage a comparatively high degree of social and economic complexity. But even Cascadia's comparatively high standard of living was vastly different from before. No smart phones. No gas stations. No Facebook. No fast food. No Monday Night Football. No celebrity culture. A more detailed narrative of the Transition from "Before" into "Recovery" will take place later in the story.
Some Windmill members lived on site in the preliminary clusters for years before the Transition. Some residents left and their houses tended to be bought by people already interested in Permaculture and green/resilient living. During the most disruptive times, squatting became common. Unoccupied houses were simply occupied. Half of Windmill houses were abandoned or people died. There was no authority to manage abandoned homes or look after escrow accounts or mortgages.
Several Windmill members came from east of the borders and were allowed to settle in Cascadia. A few of those people came to live at Windmill.
"Greetings everyone."
It was Aleta from a few houses away, our Co-op president. We rotated the position yearly. Aleta had been a capable president. She was a medical doctor and had a good feel for being positive. She and her family had been members of Windmill, from early on. Almost 15 years.
Aleta and Tom were from Dallas, Texas. They didn't know each other much time before leaving Dallas. They became acquainted through a mutual assistance network. In Dallas, like many cities across the country at the time, mid 'teens - Phoenix, Atlanta, Kansas City, Jacksonville, Cleveland, more and more people came to realize there were big changes coming "soon."
What began as popular internet "meet up groups" about permaculture, urban agriculture, do it yourself, suburban homesteading, organic gardening and voluntary simplicity, transformed remarkably in only a few years from idealistic and hobby to serious and survival. Before long, and this must have happened in multiple locations, someone had the great idea for a social networking service that overtly addressed the increasing concerns about personal debt, rising prices, social disequity, unemployment, downward trends and for some, evacuating urban areas in a hurry.
Some of new preparedness businesses discreetly sold memberships, the way development companies used to promote condos in a resort, for covert communities stockpiled with disaster supplies, water systems and surrounded by defensive perimeters. What was once the realm of fringe militias in Idaho was becoming close to mainstream in Houston, Atlanta and Omaha.
These preparedness meet up groups were a bit like match making for romance in an earlier time. People submitted profiles about themselves, what they were looking for, where they lived and other useful info. But instead of two people looking for each other, the idea was to connect with eight to ten others with complementary practical skills and personal attributes to form a mutual assistance group.
The group process was fast forward to identify complex personal profiles that would fit with each other. Once a group of about 50 potential team members were identified, they would attend a weekend retreat where the participants, with professional facilitation and process [of varying quality], would identify which persons would be a good fit to create affinity teams of 8 to 10 persons each. Something like an arranged group marriage.
5
This was a tough process. A surprising number of people had few if any practical skills for living simple, survival and taking care of basic needs. Older people, people with kids, people who were not physically fit, people who had disabilities. Not everyone was happy with finding how their affluent middle class lifestyles had left them with little skill experience for living in a severely downsized and potentially turbulent conditioned. This process was a cold welcome preview to the potential realities of life without all sorts of fancy personal support systems.
Some out of shape people went on a crash fitness programs, some went into depression. More counseling and coaching jobs were created to provide services to survival challenged people.
Each team coming out of the weekend retreat would then attend a series of trainings together, over weeks or months, some in the classroom, some were survival camps - both urban and rural, to become acquainted with team mates and to learn a variety of skills appropriate for all kinds of potential scenarios - first aid, food storage, self defense, communication skills, shelter, foraging and much much more.
The first people and businesses to effectively market these services to a mainstream clientele, in the mid 'teens, made a lot of money and indeed, many people came to appreciate what they learned. There are no records about outcomes in real life, but anecdotal reports years later make it clear, a fair number of people claimed they survived because of the teams they were part of and the skills they learned. Some would say they were just lucky. No doubt, some of the survival schools were not up to the task and left their graduates stranded when the chips were down.
From 2010 to 2020, the economy was sending all kinds of mixed messages. Expensive oil, cheap oil. Housing boom, housing bust. The wealth gap between haves and have nots went from extreme to even more extreme. Growth was erratic even with the huge subsidies of cheap interest rates and business and lifestyles externalizing their costs on the environment and public health.
Climate change added an increasingly capricious element of disruption. Many attribute much of the cause of increasing strife all over the world to increasingly erratic climate and weather, damaging crops and forcing rural people into cities that could not accommodate them. Storms, droughts, rising sea level, fires, pollution - natural disasters all became more frequent as more people came to understand, these were not natural disasters at all, they were human caused and humans were not prepared to manage what they were responsible for.
There was also a return to a new cold war and arms race between the West and Russia while China's efforts to gain super power status with expanded military capability caused an increase in tension with its nearby neighbors and the United States. Even North Korea's small nuclear capability and dozens of smaller local hostilities added to the mix of global frayed nerves.
The irony was, there was no shortage of money and expertise to address the world's problems. The well off, who controlled the world's personal, corporate and governmental wealth, were too attached to privilege and power to do what was needed to avoid global financial, ecological and social disruption on an unprecedented scale.
6
The Sun Belt, the part of the United States south of a line from from North Carolina to Missouri to Las Vegas to Los Angeles, owed its existence to air conditioning. It would have remained low population density swamp, humid forest, semi arid scrub land or desert without artificial indoor habitats.
Without indoor cooling, there would have been no explosion of population from post WW II to 2000. When my own family moved from New York to Dallas in 1958, the 4 bedroom, two bath brick ranch style home we moved into on Linden Lane in north Dallas was, like all the other houses nearby, fully air conditioned. Even the dog house had its own air conditioner.
In Dallas, from mid May to well into October, one went from an air conditioned house, to an air conditioned job and back home in an air conditioned car. That was before Climate Change. By 2025, Dallas had a temperature regime more like San Antonio of 1985 and heading towards a climate more like Laredo. By the early 2020's, the climate controlled way of life was looking less secure.
The power disruptions were becoming more frequent and people did not like sweltering in 95 degree heat, in early May. The rising unemployment, cost of gasoline, expensive and increasingly erratic food supplies, the angry demonstrations, reports from elsewhere in the world all were a preview of the Transtion. The words of reassurance by government officials had little credibility, at the same time there was a steeply increasing interest by almost everyone, in preparedness and survival.
That's when Aleta met Tom, in a basement seminar at a round shaped Episcopal Church in North Dallas. They were both taking a series of trainings that focused on skills specific for travel. This group was more focused on getting out of town rather than building a bunker. The Northwest was this group's hoped for destination. Several team members had family and friends in the Northwest they hoped to stay with.
After several months of weekend courses, seminars and trainings, Aleta and Tom's group made a plan to pool together their resources, luck and hired a trip coordinator and "survival expert." The group set their exit from Dallas for spring 2022. There was still fairly dependable access to gasoline although the cost was up to $8 per gallon in the inflated currency of the time and supplies were becoming hit or miss.
Fights and even shootings were not unheard of in the lengthening and increasingly unruly lines to fill up. even for a few gallons. The government tried rationing but it did not go over well. The idea of rationing set off even more hoarding and disruption.
Now and then, an entire gasoline delivery truck was hijacked. Soon, the trucks were escorted by armed guards. Still, with enough money or goods to trade, gas could be found. Fred, their contracted go to guy and former Green Beret, seemed capable shepherding the group. The team was, essentially, putting their lives in his hands.
At the time they left Dallas, the federal authorities were still urging people to stay put and be patient. The disruptions in electricity, food and oil supply were only temporary they said. But few believed the reassurances. Demonstrations evolved into riots in more and more cities and towns.
Aleta, Tom and their group, did leave Dallas. They headed west on I 30 in a caravan of 6 vehicles and a hefty cache of weapons and ammo and walkie talkies for each car. They were lucky to make it past Forth Worth, only 40 miles away.
By the time the group arrived to the Oregon Border, they were exhausted and traumatized. Of the fourteen adults and eight children who started, exactly half of each did not make it. Fred turned out to have earned his pay. He died in a shoot out near Twin Falls, Idaho. The bandits were likely only trying to survive they only way they knew, taking what others had.
Lucky for those who did make it, the Oregon Border was still open to new comers. Even better if they had friends and family who could receive them. Aleta and Tom made their way to Eugene and by good luck, connected with Windmill Co-op.
Less than two years later, crossing the border would become much more difficult. All over the perimeter of Cascadia, roads and bridges were fortified. Closing the border was one of the last acts of the states of Oregon and Washington along with British Columbia.
There was no more welcome mat.
7
People were arriving to the Dome. Some from their day of individual tasks, some from their day of projects with others. The place was buzzing, outbreaks of laughter, a few shrieks, lots of hugs, several late arrivals. Party lights in multi colors. A large pile of shoes, most locally made.
The Huddle was highly anticipated. The "huddle" was the name given to a big group embrace and synchronized breathing. It had the effect of creating both a physical high and also a very strong emotional bond for those participating, especially when repeated over time with the same people. It was one of several new rituals that bonded members of groups such as Windmill Co-op.
Before the Transition, professional sports occupied a remarkable amount of time for tens of millions. Of course football was one of those sports. Mostly males devoted untold hours watching their favorite teams. Over the course of a couple decades, pro football took over Sunday, then Monday, Saturday and eventually, towards the end, there were games almost every night of the week during the season.
Basketball, baseball, hockey and other spectator sports added to the sports obsession. The advertising revenue was unbelieveable and the salaries of the players became a striking statement of the values the economic system placed on entertainment. Professional players were making literally millions. Teachers and social workers would have had to work twenty years to make the same pay in a year as a third string player who rarely made it on the field. Highest paid players made 100 times,even 200 times as much money as teacher or social worker.
As the economic decline and social disorder gained momentum, professional sports began to lose appeal. Fewer and fewer people could afford to buy the tickets to the games nor the products that paid for the advertising that ultimately paid the players. Automobiles, tires and cheap beer were icons of a period of history that proved to be only temporary. By the early 20's, pro sports had become unaffordable, irrelevant and abandoned.
As the disruptions deepened during the early 20's, tens of millions of people struggled with the economic challenges. There was a clear and urgent need for neighborhoods and communities to pull together for mutual assistance. People had to simplify their wants and learn to take care of more of them closer to home. A both new and old economic system was created and rediscovered. Not all economics requires money. People still have skills even if money is not involved. Barter, trade, co-ops picked up a lot of the slack. Cascadia still had money but it was only one form of buying or selling.
Bubba Power was part of a new approach to economics. In one town and then another. Thousands, then hundreds of thousands of sports fans awoke as from an enormous mass amnesia, some would say coma, and volunteered themselves for the civic good.
By 2020, instead of tail gate parties, Saturdays and Sundays became days for removing parking lot pavement, including many of the ones where the tail gate parties used to happen. Community gardens were created in vacant fields, thousands of front yards went from grass to garden, civic action committees and mutual assistance networks sprung up all over, new projects to take care of more needs closer to home came to life all over the country.
The Bubbas were joined by still others. The virtual world of computers became unplugged - millions came out of their cyber lairs. And then the recreational shoppers, movie buffs, patrons of gyms and spas and all manner of people who had been seduced by affluence, tens of millions acted upon a newly discovered sense of purpose, if not survival. There was little choice and they joined the surge of community service.
No one knows where. It could have been Dubuque, Greenville, Santa Rosa. Many claimed the distinction of being a part of the first Huddle. It was simple enough. All accounts of the first huddle were similar.
Someone at some community work party, waiting with dozens of others for the work party to begin, spontaneously hugged a few strangers standing nearby, others close by saw the act, joined in and within minutes, that small embrace of a few sent out a vibe that drew all present into one big salutation.
Many who were present claim it was like a mystical experience, there was a tremendous sense of belonging, a positive vibration, a connectedness, and shared purpose. The legend goes, someone, overcome by emotion, surrounded by dozens of strangers and friends, embracing, squeezing, awakening for the common good, shouted out "This is a new kind huddle! We are all on the same team!"
At that point, hundreds on the scene exploded with laughter and joy. The new ritual was given a name, and the whole practice spread. It was a sort of group thanksgiving, prayer of hope and celebration all at the same time.
Social media still was available at the time so, in the terms of the day, Huddles went viral. Within weeks, practically every neighborhood and community event began with a Huddle.
As it turned out, that tremendous eruption of civic energy was not enough.
8
It was too little too late. There was too much to overcome - decades of forgotten social skills, decades of forgotten practical skills. The skills required for being a good consumer were not the skills needed for surviving the Transition.
From Miami to LA, from Winnemuca to Levittown, almost all of those efforts to re awaken and restore a functional culture and economy fell far short. Millions who participated in community uplift and gave it their all did not survive another five years. Not every good effort has a happy ending.
The people who lasted the longest were the people who had already downsized their lifestyles and were already in the act of pre adapting. Events just moved too fast.
Yet, the Huddle is practiced in a positive way, even reverently, in the few places where it still endures in those remaining outposts of civilization.
The soul of Windmill Co-op was the Dome. At an early point in the Transition, there was need to take some kind of affirmative collective action to bring a focus to the fact that Windmill was now a critical part, even the focus, of over 60 peoples' lives.
Building the Dome was an act of renewal. It was an act to defy the conditions of the time. A project to bring people together, a sort of group therapy that had an affect to help recover those lost social and practical skills and elevate the individual and collective spirit by saying, this building will serve the co-op. We are the co-op. There will be a future here.
Fifteen years later, a great deal has taken place in the Dome. Weddings, funerals. Seasonal celebrations. Potlucks, meditations, slumber parties, kids' events.
With no guidance or prompting, as people arrived at the Dome, they added to the growing and swaying merging of body and spirit. Windmill Co op Huddled. Eyes closed, breathing went into a synchronized rhythm. The collective vibration harmonized. People would report seeing colors, feeling electricity, some would imagine themselves as flashes of energy in a collective brain, others felt like they were a gale of consciousness streaming across outer space. Words used to describe the experience included amplification, merging, pulsation, flow, soar and vortex.
And then, with no prompting, almost on cue, everyone went still and quiet, then opened their eyes, looked all around, made eye contact with everyone within view, one final squeeze and release - that was it. A couple minutes to savor the moment. The Huddle was over.
Aleta's timing was always good. She welcomed people back from the Huddle and to the meeting everyone came for.
Have we all landed? Everyone returned? You are all looking so beautiful!
Another few moments.
"Ready? Lets start the meeting. The agenda, the Eastern Border, the bike path, the horse railway, report from population, funerals, Windmill sponsoring a new cluster and finally, a request for trial membership."
9
Everyone was settled. Couches, pillows, chairs, even an old, many times repaired Yucatan Hammock [gratefully, we had learned how to repair them]. On a mild spring evening, there was no need for the insulated drapes. Windmill Co-op was gathered together for Monthly Meeting. There were 60 people including visitors. The electric party lights were on although there were a few gaps where some greens, blues and yellows had worn out with no replacements.
"First, can we welcome visitors?"
"Hi, I'm Rob and visiting from the Lupine Cluster. Home is near Coberg. We are part of Turning River Rural Co-op. We are five clusters with 45 people. Its my couple days in town and I've known Cindy and Mick for years. We've been catching up and I've been wanting to see how life goes for my friends here in town."
"Welcome Rob. Good timing. What is your in town partnership?"
Almost all rural co-ops have a co-op partner in town, if not several. There were many complimentary benefits. Both locations provided a place to take a break from either in town or in the country. Town partners would help out at important times of the agricultural year in the country. Forest co-ops furnished wood products to their partners In town. In town co-op partners provided certain goods and services and access to medical care and other services not available out of town. Urban and rural alliances were vital to life in Cascadia. Cascadia had few private businesses. Most needs were taken care of in cooperatives - food, professional services, manufactured items.
"We partner with Kincaid Co-op in the Amazon area. Its good. Kincaid Co-op was one of the first co-ops to form in that part of town, back about 2019. I used to live there but moved out to the country.
"Thanks Rob, we're glad you're here. So next is Misty."
"I am Misty and one of your agenda items. I am asking for a trial stay with interest to join Windmill."
"Welcome Misty. We look forward to hearing from you a bit later."
"Hi, we are a group from Springfield Neighbors Coalition, Heather, Ron, Chris, Alex, Mike. We just want to see what people are doing here on this side of the River. We made arrangements with Aleta. And we really like the horse railway!"
"Very good! Great you are here. Welcome."
"News and announcements? Yes, Susan."
"Hi everyone. The composting group will meet next Tuesday here at the dome, in the afternoon at 3."
"Sounds good."
"Yes, Bill?"
10
"We are having a roofing party next Saturday at 10 at Banjo Cluster. Please join us. Snacks and drinks provided. We plan to crank up the pizza oven. We have salvaged a metal roof from several blocks away and will replace the old shingles at Banjo with metal. We hope to have most of the job done in one day. Fun for all!"
Reroofing with metal is a very important retro fit. Several houses have chronic leaks. The shingles are old and it's a constant effort to stop the leaks. Metal roofs are the answer. Even after all this time, we still have roofing to do. Putting a metal roof on my Bungalow and main house thirty years earlier was one of the best investments I ever made. We have scouted out all the metal roofs in the neighborhood, determined a priority for salvage and reroof our co-op houses when we are able. We realize once the metal roof is gone, that house will be lost so we also salvage what wood, windows and other materials even before the roof is removed. Windmill Co-op had a huge stockpile of used building materials.
Related story for later. What happened with the big box stores BT and now.
"We have a notice from Transportation that the bike path needs some work. Its the ravages of time again, they just don't let up. How come the Romans could build the Appian Way and it was good for 2000 years and our bike path can do little better than 3 or 4? We need to smooth out the bumps where the tree roots stick up. Fill in some cracks."
Eugene had an impressive bike path network in place decades before the Transition. Many of its users, myself included, had big problems with the city of Eugene and cursed the economic system that it served but as it turns out, the bike paths were a lot better 20 years ago than now. We have to fill in cracks and level places that looked like small scale fault block mountains. Tree roots also pushed up under asphalt. We didn't have concrete to pour or hot asphalt so we had to use bricks.
We hadn't quite mastered the technique of a totally flat surface. Lengthy sections of bike path now had many small bumps instead of a few large ones. Most people had gained a whole new respect for long lost pavement skills. These days, bikes with bigger tires have fared better than bikes with skinny tires.
But the main locations for transportation were the city streets. With practically no cars and only a few electric golf car type vehicles, city streets became defacto bike paths by the later 2020's. Several of the major streets now had horse railways.
11
Yes, Carol.
Hi Everyone. Just an update with Population Management. You know Eddie and I want to have a child and if you don't know, its quite a process gaining permission. We did not receive permission. Our third request. But we did move up in the list. At this rate, we may receive permission to have a kid before menopause.
A few sympathetic laughs. The days were gone when anyone could just decide to have children. Having kids has become a complicated process. It takes a request review, proof of capability to provide for the new born. That meant the cluster and co-op had to approve with ten "sponsors," willing to take on part of the responsibility. Its like almost like ten people become god parents. Those people are interviewed, too. Consideration is made of food production, health care and residency trends at the cluster, co-op and community level.
"Ok Carol. We know you have a lot of support for that. Just remember, there are reasons for the process."
"Yes, thanks Aleta. We know that. Its ok. We still have time."
"Another update. Gina is recovering from an accident and still can't be with us. You recall. She was on a ladder two weeks ago. One of the rungs had been broken and fixed. Turns out it wasn't fixed so well. Gina was stepping on the rung, it broke and she fell about ten feet breaking a leg. We won't say more about the injury. She is better but long term, its hard to say how her recovery will go. Send her positive thoughts."
These kinds of accidents were not uncommon. Rather than go out and buy new, we had to repair all kinds of tools. Sometimes it didn't work out so well. There are more accidents than BT. We all paused for a few moments sending Gina some good thoughts.
"Ok. That's all ? First agenda item is Eastern Border. Robin, can you tell us about that?"
Robin stood up. She was thin but strong. There were virtually no overweight Cascadians. Her simple clothes showed she preferred the new hand made over what was left of the BT wardrobe. Other related stories. What happened to the mall and various retail stores between then and now?
"Yes I can. The background. As you all know, in the Early Days, the border with Idaho, Nevada and California was closed. There was a flood of refugees that had become just overwhelming. The horrible decision had to be made. In essence, better to have a few lifeboats that could float rather than have them all overloaded and sunk.
This was perhaps the most difficult and controversial decision ever made in Cascadia. It meant that after a certain date, entry into Cascadia would be severely limited. At the border, makeshift encampments were set up on both sides. One in hopes of making it across, the other to ensure that did not happen. What lead to the closings was a massive shift of millions in population from the south towards the north. Oregon, Washington State and British Columbia were the destination and there was not room for everyone.
12
In 2020, the governors of the Pacific Northwest states and province signed a secret agreement that if necessary, and by unanimous agreement between their governments, the borders would be closed. And shockingly, only four years later, the border was closed.
"We fortified the border and sent out word that what was Oregon, Washington State and southern British Columbia had become Cascadia. Entry would be controlled."
The US military, or what was left of it, declared its intent to intervene. Even by the early 20's, it still had the capacity to open up the border by force but for some unknown reason, it never followed through. There are a number of theories why.
The room was quiet.
Almost 15 years later, many remained traumatized with the decision to close the border even though, few would deny, given the conditions at that time, without the border closing, Cascadia would not have survived and neither would have much of the important cultural and scientific leftovers of the previous oil based civilization. Many in Cascadia thought of themselves something like the monks during the Dark Ages a thousand years earlier, keeper of the flame of knowledge.
Some thought that was a good excuse for limiting access to Cascadia. Some people considered Cascadia's earthy way of life as only a necessary but temporary time out before somehow, in the future, life and economics would pick up where the previous civilization left off. Still others, had no interest in picking up where the previous civilization had left off. Not everyone agreed about the future of Cascadia
"We have all heard stories of what is going on beyond Cascadia. There are still people out there but its not safe. The border still requires protection and remember, we do admit a certain number of newcomers. This agenda item is about border security. As you know, all parts of Cascadia have agreed to provide participation for Border Protection. River Road District needs to provide 12 volunteers. Windmill's share is two volunteers."
“I disagree. The border should be open for all. And the border protection people are turning that task into a military operation. So if we don't have a volunteer, that lottery is like being drafted. I can see this border volunteer lottery set up evolving into some kind of coercive authority. All that oppression of force before the Transition is creeping back. We shouldn't have a border in the first place!”
It was Stephanie. She might be described as a proponent of open borders, minimal law and enforced order. She was not alone.
“My own cousins were denied access to Cascadia 15 years ago. I went to the Border my self to see them. I had to cross the bridge into Idaho because they weren't even allowed onto this side of the river. They suffered horribly, walking, hitching rides, risking their lives coming from Ohio hoping to make a new life here. And they were denied access. I almost stayed with them in Idaho but they urged me to go back to Cascadia. There was no future with them. I never saw or heard from them again.”
13
Stephanie was sobbing and shaking. Several people surrounded her to comfort her. This had happened before. Angela was kind to offer support.
“That's all true, Stephanie. We know it was a harsh decision and many suffered. All of that did happen, its all been discussed. We can't change what happened to your relatives.”
Stephanie continued to sob and another voice was heard.
"The Border is where Cascadia places judgement on human lives. So, we do accept people but its only when it works for Cascadia. Its only the healthy we take or people with useful skills, or connections. Its like the other side of the line is a reservoir that Cascadia taps into when its in our own selfish interest."
This was Intel, also well known as a critic of the controlled Border. A couple friends were helping Stephanie leave the dome. Intel continued. People lived and worked together well most of the time, it was occasions like this that opened up the wounds.
"So we allow in people when it works for Cascadia. We do have a low birth rate so the reasoning goes that we need to add new people on occasion. Its like the people beyond the border are a reserve to be used at Cascadia's convenience. So we take the healthiest and smartest and leave the rest. Isn't that a kind of judgemental? Its just not ethical."
Intel, repeated Stephanie. We had gone over all of this countless times. Some had suggested the critics of a closed border trade places with the hopeful refugees but few ever did. The conversations usually ended in a lament and that was that. And such was the case this time. The predictable response defending the border was next. It was Wolf.
"If the border was not there, we wouldn't be either. Cascadia is one of the few places in the country, probably one of the few in the world, where the essence of civilization is not only being preserved, we are building on the wreckage of the mistakes before us. We have a responsibility. The border is not so much about preserving our own individual selves. Its more about re-building humanity making use of the lessons that history has provided us with."
Intel responded sharply."That's a convenient and self serving excuse."
Eight hands rose, almost at the same time. There was a short pause. More hands raised.
"Enough said"
Twenty people cried out "enough said." This was part of Monthly Meeting. It was part group process and part therapy. People needed to be heard so the conversation went on for a while. It was therapeutic and it was necessary and everyone respected the process and made time for it. A group, from Multiple Perspectives took it upon themselves to end the back and forth after enough was said. When comments repeat previous comments, its about time to say enough. No one could keep track of how many times we went through this topic. It was emotional, heartfelt and strangely healing.
14
So several people cried out enough said! Aleta assessed the situation for a few moments and repeated, enough said! It was time to return to the agenda. After a few deep breaths by everyone present, Aleta bowed in respect to those who spoke and continued with the meeting.
"Recall how we help out with the Border. It is either by volunteer or by lottery. You know casualties are not unknown but they are few. Living conditions at the border are simple, like summer camp, but make one appreciate life back here west of the mountains. Its chilly in the winter and hot in the summer. The time commitment is one year. There are no vacations. You won't know exactly what part of the border you will go to but the volunteers from Windmill can remain together. Volunteering at the border is an important part of creating cohesion throughout Cascadia.”
“This is a great way to meet fellow Cascadians. Volunteers come from all over the region, even some from further north around Vancouver. Also, there's fascinating work helping with the early part of the process for integrating new comers. Typically, each border camp accommodates one hundred volunteers. With the age generally, twenty to thirty, it is quite a unique experience. Even a bit like a BT summer camp. Its not all work. Needless to say, there are other activities going on besides securing Cascadia. I know of a number of people who met and became partners serving at the Border. Its not unusual for people to volunteer multiple times. Most of us have been there."
“This is the first call for volunteers. If you would like to volunteer, please see me. If we do not have our two volunteers by next Discussion, we will have a lottery.”
“OK. Next agenda item.
"Alright. Where were we? Newcomers. Windmill will be welcoming a new Cluster of three children and five adults. They all left Arkansas together. I have read the overview of their story and it is an impressive one and loaded with adventure. Wow! Windmill has welcomed new arrivals before, its been several years. New comers help to remind us how grateful we should be.
These people from Arkansas were on the road for four months and then at the arrival center near the border for three more months and have been through four levels of orientation. The reports of their adjustments are good. Let's show some Windmill Co op hospitality. Let's all be welcoming to our new cluster when they arrive."
"So, the new Cluster will live at the empty house we have fixed up on Melvina. Several of us will meet our new arrivals next week and within a week after that, we can introduce them to more residents of Windmill. The children will be with the adults part of the time and part of the time they will meet other children."
"Next agenda item. The horse railway. Atle, can you please tell us about the horse railway? Atle works with Public Works as most of you know."
"Thanks Aleta. Yes I can."
15
Atle, with here bright red hair, had lived in the neighborhood all her life. I knew her as a child and watched her grow up. She moved downtown late in the Transition and was now working with the team managing the horse railway.
Like nearly all cities and towns in the former United States, Eugene's development had been dominated by the automobile from the earliest days of the Model T around 1910. In the following decades, road building, construction, car manufacturing and petroleum interests had an enormous influence, local to national, on transportation policy and planning.
The automobile was one of the best example of how form followed economic need. Cars and all the related services and products that went with them created an enormous amount of economic activity. What made more sense to the economic system decision makers than to fabricate an entire society and culture based on cars? The automobile became a core part of the American Dream.
The horse railway has been wildly successful. Its remarkable how two horses can pull a light rail car. Ok, so its a modified school bus with the motor part amputated. [much laughter] They can move a good ten miles an hour. Fifteen years ago, it was looking like cars were on their way out. The city was losing its function.
Fortunately, we made good use of remaining tools and machinery to haul the tracks from the rail yard, a great source of unused rail, and channel the streets so the top of the rails would be level with the street surface.
That was quite an effort. I was there. Some people thought we were crazy. It was kinda crazy but look at us now. Who would have thought at one point there were as many cars and trucks in the US as there were people?
Hard to believe, before cars took over in the early 1900's, Eugene and Springfield had 18 miles of electric trolley tracks in the mid 20's and a dozen scheduled trains every day to Portland. Sadly, transportation policy favored roads for cars at the expense of rail. Now we know, the automobile dominated society was an important cause of climate change and the disfunction of urban design. Cars were only a 100 year phenomena. The hundreds of billions spent on highways turned out to be a very poor investment.
"Hello Windmill Co-op. So nice to be here. The ride over on the trolley was very pleasant. This part of town is known for its attractive trolley stops and public art. I remember the mural on the old Goodwill building that included a trolley. Our esteemed Elder Naj painted that about 2003, correct Elder Naj?"
"Yes, that's right Atle. And most should know that of the people included in that mural, you were in it, picking blue berries."
"That's right. Closest to the street, just next to the painted newspaper box. Recall, the painted newspaper box had several visionary headlines. How true they turned out to be, about the changing climate and the cost of gasoline."
Aleta added. "We all know about the mural, Atle. Elder Naj is fond of reminding us."
A good chuckle from the group.
16
Atle continued. "Its nice to share one's cherished memories. So I have come to you all this evening with some news about the horse railway. We have been asked by several other towns how our railway works. So we invited horse railway enthusiasts to visit. We are asking for some hosts to give them a real Eugene experience while they are here for 3 or 4 days. Would Windmill like to host eight people for three days next month? We expect people from Roseburg, Salem, Olympia, Everett and Bellingham. Please talk it over and let me know. Thanks for considering being a host. I think you all would be great for the task.
"Ok, thanks Atle. I bet we can find some hosts for the visiting group. Great chance to see what others are doing in those different places. Maybe we could arrange a show and tell with our guests."
"Last but not least agenda item. We have a young woman named Misty, who is interested in an extended trial residence, with the idea of possible membership in Windmill Co-op.”
"Misty, can you tell us a bit of your request and sponsor?"
"Yes, I can."
This young woman had a casual but deliberate way about her. Fit and seeming very self confident, its unusual for a 17 year old to be going out like this. Its rare for anyone to seek a change in their co-op status, especially at such a young age. When people became partners, it was common to change a co-op but a single young woman. First time for this request here at Windmill.
"Hi. Thanks Aleta and everyone. I'm Misty and currently live in South Town at Piedmont Co-op, Fox Cluster. We have been part of the hillside salvage projects since before I was born. My intuition has been telling me for several years I need to make a change. I did a vision search and it strongly tells me to evelop my interests towards Earth and plants."
"My mentor has recommended caution, shifting to a new cluster is a considerable change. That's why I am looking for a lengthy probation period. My attraction is more towards soil than salvage. I have been with our garden team since I was 11 and have been given a good deal of responsibility. Also, Windmill Co-op has attracted me. I have a resume and references."
"Thank you Misty. Anything to add?
From the audience. "Hi Misty. This is Edsel You are very brave. I have seen your resume. It includes mention of visits to the East Border, Roseburg, the Coast, Portland. How is it you have been all these places?"
17
"Thanks for asking, Edsel. Yes, I love to see different places. Its geography. Its meeting new people. I like stories about topics and experiences I don't know anything about. It enriches my life to hear what others think or what they have done. Its like I can gain the best that person has to offer. And I can do the same in return. I think that is what life is about. Sharing what we learn, comparing our stories. So I have had a chance to meet people and I simply like to see new places. Just the act of moving I like. The train to Coos Bay is a beautiful ride. You catch a glimpse of the old road. People used to drive cars on that at 60 miles per hour. Wow! Its mountain bikes and horse drawn carts now on that bumpy looking road. I can't imagine what Mapleton used to look like."
The old road. Yes. It used to take a bit over an hour to drive to Florence from Eugene. Years ago, I thought nothing of a spontaneous trip to the jetties to go surfing. We even saw a killer whale in the channel one time. Going north from Florence, now its amazing to see all the ruins of the big box stores along the highway. Takes a day to go to Yachats now. BT, it took forty five minutes.
Florence was a retirement community. Its population has crashed. Its too chilly to grow much food. Good news is, the fish have returned. An interesting co-op makes a few fishing boats possible. Farms in the Valley make methane gas so the boats can go out. The farmers invest methane gas in the fishing co- op. The fish have to catch a ride on the train from Coos Bay. We will see if that arrangement can last long term.
"So I like to see other places. I keep a journal. Maybe I write something some day.
"Thank you, Misty. You know that you will need sponsorship from a Cluster and a personal sponsor as well. We will see you again for a progress report next month."
"I am aware of that and am making arrangements."
OK. Just a few more housekeeping items.
“Lets make sure we are not creating mosquito hatcheries outside. Spring is here. We know what can happen when we don't keep up with standing water. Since the Transition, we have seen a number of outbreaks of what were likely mosquito born diseases. Let's dump all standing water."
Every year, at least a few people around town die from some kind of unfamiliar disease. We have books on diseases and symptoms. Even several infectious disease docs in Eugene, but without the kind of lab work easily available 40 years go, we have to do some guess work. Best just to try to avoid the problems. We may have been pretty lucky so far.
"OK everyone. Thanks for coming. See you all here or there."
"Thanks Aleta. Well done!"
18
"Hugs to all. Jam at the yurt in 15 minutes."
Meeting was over and people were breaking up into groups for chat or leaving. There were some important agenda items to think about and act upon. Windmill had a number of eligible people for the Border. Someone would step forward. And a new cluster to host. And Misty, she too, would likely be welcomed for a trial residency.