Pond Play

The pond is one of our favorite places to play.  We throw rocks, check on the progress of plentiful tadpoles, look for animal tracks, and poke at the mud.  Those who don't mind the mud hop in for a a swim.

Catching Up

My photo album tells me there's lots to share, so here goes.

The moon at 6:42am on April Fools Day.

Biking on White Hawk Lane.

Greg and Marty's hoop house is full of greens.

Sue and I like to toss rocks into the seasonal streamlet that runs into the pond.

First crocuses at number 7!

The porch at number 7 is currently littered with toys, but we'll be clearing it out to make a stage for John Simon to play at our May 2 tour.

On Easter Sunday, White Hawkers and friends attempted archery for the first time.

Busy day on Monday!  The first shovelful of dirt got scooped up at 8 White Hawk Lane.

Then I had lunch downtown with Susan Cosentini of New Earth Living.  She's a creator of the Aurora Dwelling Circle currently under construction in Ithaca.  We consider our living options to be quite complementary, since the Aurora Dwelling Circle offers an urban, walkable, predesigned option, while we offer a rural, land-rich, open design option.  We look forward to working collaboratively to share the experience of community living.

By the time I got home, George Van Valen's crew had made a lot of progress!

Then students from the Cornell University Sustainable Design project came for a tour.  

Formerly the Cornell University Solar Decathlon Team, the group is now considering three kinds of projects:  international humanitarian, a local home or community center, or a prototype high-tech home.  

On Friday, the forms went up around the future foundation of number 8.

I'm pleased to announce that the daffodils are starting to pop!

Joe has been working on clearing and marking a trail around the village.  Much of the tromping down has already been accomplished by the deer.

Along the way, you can see springtime ramps

and White Hawk's tiny waterfall.

Today, plumbers Deb and Mike installed the sewer and water pipes that will be in the slab at number 8.

And this just in from Saratoga Springs:  Jules and Steven are busy prepping their home for showings.  Jules' new passion is vacuuming walls!  All fingers crossed for a quick sale.  After more packing, Jules, Steven, Emma, Devin, and Liam will become very familiar faces at White Hawk.

I Can Knit

I can't knit.  I don't know how.  It seems that all my friends--every single one--know how to knit.  Amazing!

Dmitri has been steadily insisting out of the blue for the past two months or so that I know how to knit.  I finally decided he's right.  I just don't use yarn yet.

I communicate with people and groups. I weave and blend them together.  The sweater I'm knitting is called White Hawk Ecovillage. I don't have a pattern for it, but like my whiz knitter friend Jenna, I have instincts about what to do next.

I love this type of knitting.  I do it naturally and willingly.  I'd never dream of clocking my hours and checking them off as work done.  I just want to do it, so I do.  Plain and simple.  I notice that we all have our natural interests here, and we all fall into them easily and willingly.

Joe loves to walk the land, make maps, participate in site planning, beautify and make the land the more welcoming place to be.  I know to go straight to him when I have land thoughts to take advantage of his perspective.

Alicia loves to make beautiful images that convey complex messages in one second.  I'm so glad she knows how to do that!

I love how everything is optional, how it's possible to live here without any heavy obligation, saying yes when we mean yes and no when we mean no.  For example, you are not likely to find me doing much physical labor.  But as soon as I say that, I become interested in a sandbox project that involves digging.  Our interests are always evolving, and our participation follows.

2 Kids + 1 Kid = Effortless

My friend is pregnant with her third child.  Sometimes I wonder if she has completely lost her mind.  How will she do all the work of having three kids and not go postal someday?  Last night, though, I started to think she's onto something.

Dmitri and Sylvanna have been traveling to each other's houses to play.  Both households have noticed that a third child seems to make everything easier.  They're so absorbed in each other that we get to be absorbed in something else for a change.  How refreshing!  I love my children, and I love it when they're not asking me for something.

I just realized an error in my mathematics.  I did not count in my own dear Sue, making the child total four.  As she is nearly always fused to my hip, I forget that we're different people.

At the Woinoski's house, though, it's irresistible. She has to get down and explore. She wants to participate!

Last night Steve called me to report that Dmitri had fallen asleep.  All I had to do was trot over there, pick up my adorable guy, and carry him home to our bed.  Life without carseats is grand!