The Pacific Northwest where I live is a rich, complex environment so fertile that it gave rise to the coastal Indian custom of potlatch, a gift-giving ritual in which the more you gave away to others, the more status you had. (Hmm . . . what could we learn from that?)
In modern times, my home [...]
Entries Tagged as 'community'
Oregon’s Best Writer: Robert Leo Heilman, Part I
July 3rd, 2009 · No Comments · 97215, Oregon, community, relationships, sustainability, work
Tags: best writers·creative class·Jean Auel·Myrtle Creek·Overstory: Zero·Pacific Northwest·potlatch·Robert Leo Heilman
Happiness In The High Desert
June 12th, 2009 · No Comments · Oregon, community, entertainment, exercise, fun, happiness, lifestyle, money, outdoors, thrift
What did I do last night and how happy did it make me? I went running in the high desert, sang and got people to sing with me — for a 9 on my 1-10 scale of happiness.
I’m in Bend, Oregon, for a conference on public participation. To the right is the type of [...]
Tags: American Pie·Bend·high desert·Janet Johnson·public participation·running
High-Joy, No-Cost Fun: Haiku
May 26th, 2009 · No Comments · 97215, community, entertainment, fun, work
A high-joy, low-consumption pursuit that my friend Colleen Kaleda, a journalist, and I love to do together is write haiku. Her first poem reflects that she and her husband merrily ousted some pavement from their property last summer. Contact speaks to our shared love of community and sociability. Which reminds me: this Thursday Colleen and [...]
Tags: Colleen Kaleda·haiku
The Win-Win Of A Work-For-Rent Arrangement
May 14th, 2009 · 1 Comment · 97215, carbon footprint, community, fun, gardening, happiness, lifestyle, sustainability, urban farming, work
Who says that single people ought to live alone, or that married couples wouldn’t want or need a housemate? I’m happily married and I love having a housemate who helps us garden, clean the house and tend our urban chickens in exchange for rent. It raises our quality of life altogether, and also reduces overall [...]
Tags: housemates
Chickens Bring People Together
April 20th, 2009 · 1 Comment · 97215, chickens, community, entertainment, green living, relationships, urban farming
We spent our weekend outdoors in the dazzling sunshine building our chicken coop and interacting with our neighbors. (The first activity nicely fueled the second activity). About $400 and 25 person-hours later,we have what my housemate Evan cheerfully terms one expensive, half-assed chicken coop. (None of us claim to be highly skilled carpenters.)
How did our [...]
Tags: chickens·choir·church·Farmer Jon
