Is tucker with y’all?

(Sara)  Wow.  It’s been a bit of a whirlwind in the last couple of weeks.  Last Saturday we had a birthday and a board meeting: Paxus’s birthday and a VIS board meeting in DC.  Now, I’ve been to a number of board meetings and even organized and facilitated a few in my short time, but never one quite like last weekend’s.

Arrow, one of our festival experienced board members, brought along his wife Teagan (who we love and are happy to have as an extra, unofficial board member), his 13yr old daughter Felix, his baby daughter Teah and their dog Tucker.  And they all came to the meeting.  And it was wonderful.

I think it was when Teagan walked back into the meeting room and asked if Tucker was with us and I had to tell her that Pax had taken him for a quick walk, because he seemed to need it, that I remembered how unconventional and delightful this project is.  There were times in the meeting when Pax had to take over, because I was distracted by baby Teah, or moments when Felix jumped in to keep notes or get us back on track.  Moments that fit into the flow of the meeting so well, that didn’t distract from the very important things we were discussing, but added and enriched our discussion and decision making.

We talked for hours about fundraising and networking and priorities for the next couple of months.  Everyone was engaged, excited, contributing in critical ways and the momentum it has catalysed is much appreciated.  And we finished the board meeting with a chaotic dinner hosted by Heather, another board member, at her house blocks from our meeting site.  She’d invited friends interested in the project, Arrow and Teagan had invited members from a local intentional community and other board members invited local friends and allies.  And outside of a quick blurb about the project and some questions, we let the night unfold organically.  The kids from the closeby community delighted in the swing hanging in Heather’s living room, allies and close friends mingled to discover new friendships and exchange phone numbers, the rooms were packed full of bodies and noise and it was the perfect opportunity to connect, relax and celebrate the different ways we’re all working towards this new world we’re building.

My favorite moment was a conversation between Tim and Res, a conversation about how to design functioning wooden gears for turbines and such.  I was trying to follow but at one point they exchanged few words and most of the verbal communication became unnecessary because they knew what the other was thinking.  It was sort of like watching a tennis match between two incredible minds.

And now I’m back at East Wind for less than twenty four hours and already I’ve been in three meetings of varying formality to discuss different pieces of the project.  And tomorrow is our big vote here on the lease and proposed terms of agreement.  Things aren’t slowing down and won’t until after the festival.  And we still need a ton of people to manifest this madness.  So find us, write us, let us know how you want to get involved.  If nothing else, it’s a wonderful ride!