Yellow Springs adventure...

Yesterday, Patience and I decided to take a last minute day trip down to Yellow Springs to do some hiking at John Bryan State Park. The car ride down was just as fun as the rest of the day... we jammed out to a variety of things... including Phantom of the Opera which Patience put me to shame at.

We packed a picnic, a camera, some sun screen, and some reading material and set off on a five hour hike into the woods. No one was around which made it feel like a real adventure. We admired the sights, jumped in the water, climbed some rocks, and talked to mother nature (and naturally) she talked back.

We found a spot at the top of the gorge, over looking the water, with a blue heron wading below us catching herself some fish that seemed very fitting for some slam poetry. We pulled out our "Daughters of Wisdom" book ( a gift from Ben) and our Thich Nhat Hahn, climbed up the wooden overlook and read to the blue heron, each other, and all of nature.
It was hugely liberating and incredibly empowering and I think I even saw the blue heron throw up her freedom fist.



Our picnic ended up getting smushed, but we enjoyed the PB & J sandwiches anyways... along with five hours of conversation. If you are looking for an escape and a day of peace... take to the woods!

We came home and slept and eventually ended up in the flooding streets of Franklinton, without power, in the pouring rain. It was liberating to be out there and feeling the rain come down that hard. It was cleansing. Then we finally made one of our dreams come true... we grabbed a bottle of shampoo from the house, and washed our hair in the rain. That, my friends, is true.

Community

Aboriginal activists group, Queensland, 1970's:

If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.

West side wiffle ball...

An impromptu game of wiffle ball came upon us last Tuesday which started what I think will be a weekly event...

Our rain brother friend Jonathan called the game together so we congregated on Martin and headed over to Dodge Park for the big game. We had an awesome turn out and a lot of fun.


This weeks wiffle ball Tuesday consisted of playing ultimate frisbee in the West Park median... next week will be kick ball.

Nothing like a good old game of wiffle ball in the ghetto...

It's a west side time...

This is an exciting time for our community...

Brian and Heather T.G. just closed on their yellow west side house yesterday... and it was a holy moment. Kelly, Jonny, Jed, Hannah, Greg, Brian, Heather and I all gathered at the new house last night... taped up the kitchen for painting purposes and worked side by side til it was done. Then, in the empty house, we opened a bottle of champagne and had a toast... to Brian and Heather and their new home, to the kingdom in the bottoms, to jed and hannah and their plans to move with us, to our new community house on west park, to kelly's birthday, and to each other... to our little family.

It was a powerful time to say the least. More than anything, this is so exciting because our dreams are coming true... and we are doing it together...

More to come...

...with the grace of a woman and not the grief of a child.

Life is flying by. I say and think this a lot but I wish I could just pause time right now so I have a chance to really absorb and enjoy all the life happening around me. Things feel alive, and surreal, and so damn lovely. Having freedom and love and the ability to do what I want, when I want it has never felt so good. It is certainly a time to cherish.

Women's night at St Johns with the church ladies was a holy time. There was lots of laughter, lots of dancing, lots and lots of tears, lots of empowerment, lots of celebrating womanhood, lots of freedom and healing experienced. It was a righteous time. I am definitely thankful to be apart of that group.

The sun is shining, it is 83 degrees out... and the grass in the front yard is calling my name.

be peace. and freedom.

Hoppy Easter

I (thankfully) had Friday off. A good way to start the Easter weekend. Even better, Marvelyn came to town to visit Patience which meant we got to all hang out Friday afternoon, eat together and have a quick dance party before I headed home to hang with the family. Saturday was spent sewing chair covers and dress shopping for Heather's wedding. I think we are all glad to say that all the dresses are found and we are done with that part of the planning. Now we have 155 chair covers to make...

Saturday night was refreshing with some PBR and pizza at Houndogs with Marvelyn, Patience, Nate, Blake, Jon, Jy, and Kelly. It is good to laugh with them. It is very healing to laugh with them. We headed over to the Tawd and Sharon's for a serious dance party that lasted quite a few hours. Time flies by when you dance that hard. Mostly we jammed to 80's music which couldn't get any better when your friends have the dance moves that mine do. Every single one of them. Thankfully Rachel and Kyle were there and carried our team with their endless dance energy. At one point, Kelly, Marv, Patience, and I started some very authentic tribal moves which somehow swept everyone else off the dance floor. We decided to tone it down and realized quickly that the dance floor was meant to be shared.

It was a hopeful night. Dancing in a circle with your friends, laughing, chanting to the west side, celebrating life through dancing... life is sweet. That was the thought on my mind all night. Life is very sweet. And very good to me. I am very lucky to have the people that I do. I would want it no other way.

He is risen indeed!

Happy Sabbaths.

A day for the ducks... and the best day of our lives...

Too bad today isn't as beautiful as yesterday. Yesterday was sunny with a high of 75 (for real)... and we enjoyed every minute of the day. As expected, we spent a lot of time on the front porch. Had a quick little picnic with our neighbor Matt (who we love). We put our faces in the sun, turned on some jams, and ate our leftovers from the dinner party we had with our neighbors the night before.

Then I took the lotus out for a special ride up to Goodale Park to meet Jason and Shannon and we had another picnic in the grass. We got to share nurse stories and laugh and roll around in the grass. It was good to catch up with those boys. They are two of the finest nurses I know.

I reconvened with Kelly in the afternoon and we biked up to have some margs and chips/salsa before the economics discussion. Jy joined to help us finish the margs, then we met up with Heather, Brian, and Greg for a lecture open to the public on the economic state of our country which was kind of interesting, kind of over my head. Lesson learned: keep everything local (banking especially).

After the lecture, we all met up with Patience and Jonny and visited the dube. It is a wonderful thing having that many people you care about sitting at the same table.

Today we woke up early and met Jy at the new house. The demolition work has been started and the house is stripped to the bare minimum. We got to walk through and hear about all the pending renovations. It is perfect. The overwhelming feelings of peace and joy and hope were profound. Our dreams are coming true!