News Update from Yves

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News Update
(written by Yves, 24 April 2007)

Well, i had planned on sending an update on the equinox, but looks like
i´m as late as ever. i have a hard time believing that so much time
has passed since i last wrote, yet so much has passed that i don´t know
how it could have fit into so few moons.

The new year brought a fantastic crew who revealed the true potential
of a farm community here; social synergy and joyful work. While Trini
and i focussed on our bedrooms, the rest of the crew finished most of the
dorm interior, shelving,the new bodega, extended the greywater system,
dug the first of what will be a series of rainwater reservoir ponds,
among all the other chores and smaller projects. Near the end opf the
month, as the crew strength calmed down and most of the participants had
left in search of new wonders, Amy arrived and immediately begun to
focus her impressively positive energy on revitalizing the garden. She and
Trini held the fort through the first half of february while i went on
vacation with my mom. Yeah, my mother! It was so great to see her,
experience some of Ecuador with herand show her the farm that all of us
have been manifesting, my home. i know i´m not the greatest travelling
companion, so i appreciate my mothers´ patience during my grouchier
moments on the road. Overall, i had a great time travelling and hope mom
enjoyed her week on the farm.

A week after that was Trini´s last full day on the farm before her
trip to Spain (hopefully to return in just over a month from now). Amy and
i had just brought up a donkey train of materials and food from town,
and amy decided to cut plants for mulching while lunch cooked. She made
a bad swing and her machete chopped through to her knee cap. It was a
terrible accident but luckily she didn´t cut any major artery. Another
good note was how the crew handled the crisis with calm and responsible
teamwork. Thanks expecially to Trini and her nursing experience, and to
Carolyn and David for helping me carry Amy down on the stretcher. And
to Amy herself for staying calm and positive, for telling us jokes while
we fumbled down the mountainside. Doctors in Loja put a nail and screw
into her kneecap before stitching her up. They prescribed 5 days of
pain killers and told her she´ld be on crutches for several weeks. She
didn´t need painkillers after the first day, rode J-0 to the farm a week
later, and had thrown aside the crutches to limp around the garden on
her own. What an amazing healer!

Anyway, March was pretty hectic, with between 7 and 11 people sharing
the kitchen most of the time. The farm became more social than
productive, i think. It was a lot for me to handle given my anarchist leadership
skills, but luckily there were some cool kids that came through who
could keep the place relatively organized while i ran off to machete the
hillsides and collect donkey shit. By April, the was a changing of the
guard between a couple of those cool kids, and an inspiring farmer
couple, and numbers had dropped enough for everyone to eat together at the
table again.And now, it´s very quiet, almost. For the first time since
august, i had to lock up the kitchen (and newly finished storeroom)
when i went down last week. i came up with a young german woman and her 4
year old daughter. i feel like i´m playing at ´family´ except i´m
not sleeping with the woman and i can barely communicate with the child.
Hmm, perhaps i´m playing the part of typical father better than i want
to... Joking, joking,spare the hatemail daddys everywhere. The truth
is, having the sweet little girl around reminds me of how nice it would
be to have a family. But i´m all too aware that my committment to this
project doesn´t make it very likely that i´ll be living a family life
within the next decade. My baby is the fragile soil that i wish to
raise into a fertile permaculture paradise; my wife is the manifestation of
my dreams for this place. My family is everyone who´s shared my
dreams, who contributed their ideas, sweat, and encouragement to get us as
far as we´ve gotten at Sacred Suenos, and those who´ll take us beyone
tomorrow.

Blah blah, too much talk not enough action. Gotta go shoppin´then get
out of this town and head back up to my baby. Hope you´re all doing
fine, haven´t deleted this yet, and will write me soon. Take care folks!

Yves