July 5, 2013

I've been here now for about a week and a half. It has been awesome. Here's a brief run-down:

-Arrived! Lots of hugs in the airport.
-Followed Ryan out to the build site on the Olympic Peninsula, where he works 4 days/week. Lounged around. Helped a tiny bit with construction. Went for a walk. Discovered types of berries that don't exist on the East Coast.
-Trip to Vancouver! We stayed with a very sweet stained glass artist. It's a lovely city. Very tall. But then, most big cities seem tall to me, because DC is so short.
-Headed back to Olympia, where I was reunited with the ever-wonderful Mark, Deepti, and Maya (who is turning one year old at the end of the month). They're great.
-Ryan and I went to a farmstead near (maybe in?) Olympia to buy some Black Star pullets, and the couple who lives there got us all excited about buying land and farming. That same day, we toured a cohousing community in Olympia. Community can look so different, depending on who builds it. We decided that we needed to meet and talk about our vision more.
-On Monday, Ryan and I went back out to the peninsula. I started working at Solstice Farm Bed and Breakfast. Beautiful gardens. The place is run (and was built!) by a woman named Linda, who is fabulous and super-knowledgeable. I'm so excited to learn things from her. I'm not getting paid in money, but she feeds me an enormous lunch and sends me home with farm-fresh goodies every day. Life is great. I'll be working there Monday-Thursday most weeks that I'm here, and I am pumped. This week, I mostly picked black currants for her to sell to an ice cream shop in town-- they make black currant Italian ice that is to-die-for.
-Back to Olympia! We stopped at a fireworks stand on our way back to town, where I requested the lamest fireworks available. We came home with snakes, sparklers, smoke bombs, and the things that go "pop" when you throw them on the ground. Hilariously lame.
-Mark, Deepti, Ryan, and I met for about two hours to discuss our vision for this community that we're trying to start together. I'm the new-comer on the team, but they've been very welcoming. I hope it's OK that I get serious and business-y during meetings, and that I have strong opinions.