SANDHILL NEWS
By Stan
We've missed a few weeks of news - and it' not for lack of things
happening here. How about this weather? It's good for skiing and
sledding but it sure is hard to get around to cut firewood. We tapped
our maple trees during the warm spell last week - but the sap is
still not flowing. Y'all are invited to our maple syrup open house on
March 20, 1-5 pm.
We've had a lot of comings and goings lately. Emily went with Jacob
to Iowa City to see his sister, who just had a baby.
I went to a community in Seattle WA for FEC meetings (FEC= Federation
of Egalitarian Communities - a group of 6 communities that do income
sharing). We talked about how to support each other and how to
attract new members. I took the opportunity to visit friends in
Portland OR and former Sandhill members & interns in the area. I love
seeing the old growth forests in the Pacific Northwest - they grow so
tall and are covered with moss & lichens. I traveled by train via ND
& MT - so I had plenty of time to appreciate vast open snow covered
landscapes.
Emily invited friends over for brunch on her birthday on Feb 6 - she
shares her birthday with quite a few others in the area.
We recently had our annual Sandhill retreat - we take a few days to
share our visions of how we would like our lives and the community to
be, our budget, how we are getting along with each other, projects we
would like us to do this year, etc. Along with current members, we
also had Trish, Joe, and their toddler, Emery, with us - they plan to
begin living here in June. Some of their St Louis friends came to
cook meals for us.
Gigi is visiting family in Long Island NY: her mother died a year ago
and her family is spending time together. After that, she is flying
to NM to celebrate her 50th birthday with an old friend, who is
turning 60.
Last weekend, Apple was in St Louis, staying with our new members,
Trish, Joe, & Emery. She went to a beekeeping seminar and also saw
Tony, who was an intern here last summer.
Laird is at home these days and his partner, Ma'ikwe, & her son
Jibran have been staying at Sandhill as well.