Monthly Archives: August 2017

Within the hills and dales of northeast Missouri are far fewer miles of paved roads than rivers and creeks. Signs at one-lane bridges warn of flooding, and roadside markers are positioned to measure high water, foot by foot.

These are not comforting details to notice when driving under a flash flood watch. The occasional farm or town seems miles apart from the next, but my final turn onto a lonely gravel road with lush vegetation arrived before the rain.

The solar panels, thigh-high grasses, shed with bicycles and one-of-a-kind buildings some a patchwork of materials were not a surprise. Then came The Milkweed Mercantile, which when I visited sold Walla Walla Onion Relish by the jar, Farmhouse Ale by the tap and four cozy, homey rooms without frills by the night. On Thursdays, a crowd gathers for thin-crust pizzas, topped with organic mozzarella and feta cheeses, both made within this unusual village.

The two-story Milkweed building with screened porch looks conventional, but under the lime plaster is straw bale insulation. Add energy from solar and wind power, a rainwater cistern, composting toilet and note to not use hair dryers.

We dont have nearly enough doilies for the B&B crowd, jokes Alline Anderson.

She and Kurt Kessner built and opened this business in 2010, one year after moving from Berkeley, Calif. They are a part of the 260-acre Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, whose 40 residents are toddlers to retirees who opt to live simply, peacefully, compactly and off the grid. In the mix are global travelers and Ph.D.s, farmers and teachers, midwives and mediators.

The community was established 20 years ago and has since gained international attention. The Milkweed is owned and operated by eight of the Rabbits, as the intentional community refers to itself.

Dancing Rabbit is the largest of three such communities in Scotland County, population 4,800, just south of the border with Iowa and 40 miles west of the Mississippi River. Just six of Missouris 114 counties have a smaller population and only the county seat, Memphis, contains more than 1,000 residents in these nearly 440 square miles.

The Milkweeds guest rooms are named after environmentalists Aldo Leopold, Wallace Stegner, Rachel Carson and David Brower. There is Wi-Fi but no television, ceiling fans but no A/C. Add a shared bath and communal dining.

Its not for everybody, Anderson says. We make people eat with us and actually talk to us. People usually come because they want to change their eco footprint or make a change in their life but are not real sure what it is.

The inns caf does not accommodate drop-in visitors but feeds overnight guests at a long table and single seating. Whats for dinner depends upon the pantry, garden harvest and foraging. Cornbread might arrive in a cast-iron skillet. Zucchini and just-shucked peas might be mixed with beet greens and fresh mint during late spring. Decadent treats include gooey cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

Repeat visitors include folk/pop singer Kristen Graves, a Green Bay native known nationally for her music, activism and humanitarian work. Visiting Dancing Rabbit will expand your imagination and open your eyes to different ways to live in the same world, she says. There are examples of ingenuity everywhere you look.

The place serves as an environmental inspiration, not as a way to shame people who are new to learning about conservation, but as a way to meet people where theyre at with discovery in order to help them learn new and different ways that they can live a more sustainable life.

Nik Garvoille of Spring Green, an artist and graphic designer, arrived as a visitor and stayed for years, which is not unprecedented. Travelers come for a tour, an overnight, multi-day workshops (yoga or writing to food preservation or permaculture design) and multi-week immersions in the lifestyle (through an internship or work exchange).

We dont pretend to have all the answers, but we live lighter ecologically, Anderson says. Brooke Jones of Dallas, an anthropologist, made a Dancing Rabbit energy audit her thesis topic in 2013 and stayed until this year, long after completing her project.

I expected culture shock but didnt feel it until I went home for a visit, says Jones, who concluded Dancing Rabbits resource consumption is 10 percent of the national average. The community exists because West Coast eco activists wanted to live what they preached but couldnt afford to do it with California prices and building codes. So they formed a nonprofit community land trust in 1993, but a lack of income sharing means this is not a commune.

We really had to create our own culture and entertainment, Alline says, of the early years. Today that means Tuesday potlucks with a neighboring farm, Wednesday song circles and occasional no-talent shows. Touring musicians, in addition to Graves, pass through. So do organized bike rides, like the Big BAM (Bicycle Across Missouri).

Danielle Williams, executive director of the Center for Sustainable and Cooperative Culture (a nonprofit within the village), arranges programing there and online. One overriding message: Living a sustainable life doesnt mean a life of deprivation.

Reality TV producers have called, but the Dancing Rabbit is wary. Its a very difficult balance between living our lives and feeling like a Disney exhibit, Anderson says. She and Kessner this year expanded Milkweed Mercantile ownership to include six other Rabbits because wed like to have that simple country life that we keep hearing about, especially as they near retirement age.

Your column feedback and ideas are welcome. Write to Midwest Features, PO Box 259623, Madison, WI 53725 or mary@roadstraveled.com.

Excerpt from:

Roads Traveled: Off the grid: Living a sustainable life in Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage - Kenosha News

This past Friday night, as thousands milled around downtown in their Old Spanish Days getups, smashing cascarones on each others heads and getting smashed on margaritas, a very different scene took place at El Centro, a volunteer-run community center nestled within the lower Westside, which describes itself as a radically inclusive space for the community, by thecommunity.

The event, which kicked off at 4 p.m. and lasted till 10, was many things at once: an art session, a barbecue, a birthday celebration, a send-off, and a powerful and packed open mic. It also coincided with the approximate one-year anniversary of El Centro, the end of Escuelita youth-oriented summer program, and the inauguration of an enormous mural. For five weeks the students of Escuelita had added fresh paint to the wall, manifesting the themes they had learned that week in workshops, ranging from Gentrification to Intersectionality to Chumash Ecological and SocialPractices.

El Centro is big on radical organizing and de-Colonial teachings, but instead of an anti-Fiesta demonstration, it was holding its own remembrance of history. Kids were painting large green and violet leaves onto a dark purple wall (soon recruiting passing reporters with paintbrushes), while other youngsters raced around a group of teenagers who sat laughing in a circle on the lawn. Outside, men grilled ribs and chorizo next to a spectacular array of torta fixings, salads, fruit, and cookies. One womans exploratory toddler was passed between at least five different sets of arms throughout the night, bathed in coos andkisses.

Delineations between friend, family, neighbor, and collaborator were indiscernible. Nearly everyone held some role: board member, youth mentor, organizer, resident poet. Boardmember Simone Baker explained that this is very intentional: Each community member has something to give to the space. Citing a principle central to the Black Lives Matter movement, for which she is also a local cofacilitator, Baker explained, We are dedicated to having a low-ego and a high-impact. Its intentionally not about just one person or one identity but rather community andyouth.

Vivid murals border El Centro: a beautifully detailed dark-skinned woman with brown wavy locks and bright red lips lined with yellow roses and a blue hummingbird, next to her a yellow sunset behind green and blue trees, and an adjacent purple wall detailed with white, green, and lavenderleaves.

Fem God, responded youth art and mural instructor and El Centro boardmember Gabriel Cardenas when asked who the woman was on the wall. He circles back to earlier Mexican muralism where women arent portrayed in a dominant role following traditional patriarchal standards. We try to use the space to get in touch with our cultural roots, Cardenas said. Growing up with his mom and sister, Cardenas was motivated to give thanks to the women in his life by creating this mural also representing her as Mother Earth and showcasing what she gives to the world. Along with local rapper and activist ALAS, Cardenas was one of the Noche de Poetrys featuredpoets.

About a year ago, Boardmember Chelsea Langhorne, a program advisor at Santa Barbara City College, and other local organizers began the process of reclaiming the vacant building, which had previously been managed by the county, to create a community center that would respond to the needs of the lower Westside, a mostly Latino neighborhood that Baker described as underserved and overworked. Initially, SBCC students utilized the space for youth to access often-overlooked artistic resources. Organizers then formed writing circles for formerly incarcerated folks, which expanded to encompass people of allidentities.

Noche de Poetry y Open Mic Night grew about half a year later an event that welcomes individuals of all backgrounds and languages. Poetry is an important aspect of El Centro since it is seen as a connecting force within the Santa Barbara community. Jonathan Gomez, research assistant at the UCSB Center for Black Studies Research and boardmember of El Centro, describes the night as a space where people can speak out loud about the things that people demand and need. El Centro is now the regular home for danza azteca classes, a pop-up bookstore and caf, and local justice group meetings. Community is not found, its forged, its created, Gomezsaid.

Most recently El Centro hosted Escuelita, an educational and cultural program designed to fill the gap in locally relevant ethnic studies programs in Santa Barbara schools. Organizers went door to door in the surrounding neighborhoods to get the word out to parents and kids. They modeled the five week summer program after a volunteer-run, independent Saturday School in Los Angeles called Escuelita Aztln and the Freedom Schools of the civil rightsmovement.

Youth mentors and partner organizations (Future Leaders of America, Ethnic Studies Now, Black Lives Matter, CAUSE [Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy], Just Communities, and the Museum of Contemporary Art) led educational workshops on Tuesdays and Thursdays, cultural food and danza classes on Wednesdays, and arts sessions on Fridays all free of charge and accompanied by ameal.

While more than a few open mic performers called attention to the brutal colonial history that Fiesta celebrations happily brush over or even reinforce it also became clear that the event was not about being in opposition to anything, but rather a celebration of the community that El Centro hasbecome.

We at El Centro are more than what we are against. We are for each other, which means we also spend time investing in our own communities, Baker affirmed. This is resistance aswell.

Read the original:

Across Town from Fiesta, El Centro Celebrates Community - Santa Barbara Independent

I think we have been doing a lot of excessive urban sprawl. Since 2003 weve been building and building. Has anyone read up on permaculture urban growth or intentional communities? See http://www.ic.org. (These folks arent a bunch of hippies get past the prejudices and read on.)

Home arent built well, with not enough insulation in the walls or attic. There is no whole-house fan (that arent noisy) put in besides air conditioning and where are the solar homes?

Have you ever been to towns in other areas of the United States or the world? Not everything is new. Its refurbished, recycled. There are more trees and natural grasses. Folks started pushing big in 2000 for this kind inconsideration. Why are we going in this direction? Homes being built on top of that former dump out there (Highway 32)? Come on.

The only thing thats changed is the council and those working for the city. How big do you want this town to be? Because the Bigger we get, the more costly it will be to maintain and we cant do that now.

The life has been sucked out of downtown. They cut down the trees and those replanted arent being maintained properly. Have some consideration, some ethics and morals. If we were truly supporting local folks, wed send them to SCORE or 3Core for their business education and plans for the next 3-5 years. That way theyd be successful and unique. Thats what made Chico special..

Elizabeth Daniels-Currey, Chico

Here is the original post:

Letter: Chico forgets what made it a unique city - Chico Enterprise-Record

Back in January, I wrote about the abysmal county health rankings in Deep East Texas and the fact that Angelina County has been named the county with the highest obesity rate in Texas. Almost four out of 10 of us arent merely overweight, we are downright obese. Lets just admit it; were fat. And that fatness is a major factor in the development of high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and many cancers, among other illnesses.

Obesity is a double-edged sword that is both killing us early and costing us a lot in terms of ongoing health care expenditures and lost productivity. Smoking is, of course, another huge factor in our high cost of health care and poorer health outcomes. We must do better.

The rhetoric on the national stage is all about the skyrocketing cost of health insurance and how to tweak (or get rid of) Obamacare, as if that would solve our health care problems. The government cant do it for us, folks. Regardless of what happens with health care reform, we need to collectively get off our fat behinds and take more responsibility for our own health. We need to do this individually, yes, but we also need to work on this as a community.

I mentioned in January the groundwork being laid by the Texas Forest Country Partnership. They hosted a series of strategic planning sessions to set goals for growth across a broad spectrum of our regional economy, from forestry and tourism to manufacturing and health care. Part of their health care recommendation was to raise our county health rankings in the region.

Since then, Episcopal Health Foundation, whose goal is to improve the health of the 10 million people living throughout the 57-county region served by the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, hosted a community meeting in Nacogdoches specifically to deepen their relationship with organizations working to improve community health in this area. Other foundations have expressed a similar interest.

But lets be very clear: No foundation or partnership is going to do the work for us. We all have to be involved. The amazing thing about Angelina County is the number of resources we already have, along with the incredible people behind them. These resources need to intentionally focus on both individual and community health and work in a coordinated effort to put the pieces of our health puzzle together.

Hospitals must strengthen community outreach, especially with diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer education. Physicians must expand care for the indigent in our communities. It is our duty. The Angelina County & Cities Health District deserves our full support for the incredible care they already provide, but they can, and must, do more. That requires funding, whether from grant support, state government or within Angelina County. Their primary care outreach is crucial to the health of our county.

Organizations like the American Cancer Society, The Coalition, ADAC and Burke must expand outreach and education about healthy lifestyles and disease prevention, cancer screening, smoking cessation and immunizations. Womens Special Services at CHI St. Lukes Health Memorial will continue to apply for grants for low-income women to get breast and cervical cancer screening.

Lufkin went smoke-free years ago and is better off for it. What about other cities? Diboll? Angelina County? Texas? Our state legislators need to use that proposed bathroom bill as toilet paper and instead pass smoke-free legislation, which we know will both improve the health of our communities and save taxpayer dollars.

Chamber businesses need to provide or strengthen wellness programs for their employees, encouraging healthier lifestyles, diet, exercise and smoking cessation. Maybe if people had to climb two flights of stairs to buy their cigarettes rather than drive through a barn or stop at a convenience store, fewer people would smoke. And theyd lose weight while they were at it. Is it just as easy for us to shop for healthy foods as it is tobacco and junk food? How do we encourage and facilitate healthy eating?

Our educational institutions from elementary school through college should have comprehensive, intentional programs to promote health and exercise. It is discouraging when I see employees at both our local hospitals riding the elevator to go up one floor when taking the stairs is much more beneficial.

Active events like the Neches River Rendezvous, Pineywoods Purgatory and Relay for Life are fantastic. What other events can we organize that will involve an even larger and broader swath of people year-round? Find a reason to get outside. Participate in a fun run, even if you simply walk a mile or two. A stroll around the zoo can be good exercise and lots of fun. Or, spend an hour or two hiking the trails at Kit McConnico Park. Itll do your heart and soul good.

City sidewalks have been a great addition in recent years. Use them. Our Parks and Recreation Department has a website with programs and classes as well. Do we have a master plan for parks and recreation activities? If not, maybe we should.

I have a dream of a coordinated community effort where healthy living concepts infuse everything we do. Will Angelina County catch the vision to join in this effort? Lifestyle changes are hard. Nothing happens overnight. Changes in community health are measured over years decades, even. We cannot get discouraged. Slow, meaningful progress over time will make a difference.

One early step coming up is the Texas Forest Country Partnership Economic Summit Nov. 7-8 at the Pitser Garrison Convention Center. Included in that summit will be a Rural Health Care Symposium. Though it will address more than just Angelina County health care, it will be an important venue to discuss and brainstorm together. The Texas Forest Country Partnership should continue to take the lead in bringing groups together, applying for and administering grants, and monitoring progress and effectiveness.

As we plan for a healthy new direction in Angelina County, I encourage everyone to get involved. Be prepared to work. Come up with concrete ideas that you (or your business or organization) are willing to implement. Where philanthropic support is necessary, we will approach local, regional and national foundations for assistance.

We must become the change we want to see and move the needle on health in Angelina County out of the red zone and into the green. Whos with me?

Dr. Sid Roberts is a radiation oncologist at the Arthur Temple, Sr. Regional Cancer Center in Lufkin. He can be reached at sroberts@memorialhealth.org. Previous columns may be found at srob61.blogspot.com.

More:

ROBERTS: Moving the needle to improve our health - Lufkin Daily News

Companies want customers to love them. Bosses want people to love their jobs. Yet many leaders will tell you, emotion has no place in business.

This is cognitive dissonance at best, dangerous at worst.

Lets start with the cognitive dissonance. To think you can strip emotion out of the workplace, and create a successful business is lunacy. Human endeavors are by their very nature emotional. Success depends on goodwill, cooperation, empathy, and other nuanced emotions, including love.

When Mark Zuckerburg talks about Facebook, hes emotional. Hes passionate; he cares about how Facebook is impacting the world at large. In a recent commencement address he said, The challenge for our generation is creating a world where everyone has a sense of purpose.

Without emotions, business becomes nothing more than a mere transaction. An exchange of money for goods or services with no loyalty or attachments, which is hardly a recipe for creating an engaging workforce or a lasting brand.

Instead of avoiding discussions about feelings, leaders like Zuckerburg leans into the emotional yearning we all have to be part of something bigger than ourselves. Zuckerburg has chosen the missionary path. His organization is going to make a difference and he knows that emotions play a big role.

Another organization leading with emotion is Procter & Gamble. Their recent ad campaign, Lets Talk About the Talk, featured snippets from different generations of African Americans talking to their kids about how to handle prejudice.

Some say its a not a consumer products companys place to wade into social issues. But if you read P&G purpose statement on their web site you see phrases like, improves the lives of the worlds consumers, now and for generations to come. P&G focuses on helping the communities in which we live and work to prosper.

As one of the worlds largest companies with 23 Billion-dollar brands, P&G touches the lives of consumers every day, serving over 5 billion people around the world. P&G has made a choice, theyre going to do more than just sell product. Theyre going to address the emotional issues of our time. Their ad campaign is the result of a long held focus on higher purpose, which includes embracing and promoting diversity.

Being driven by a noble purpose to improve lives (the missionary approach) causes leaders in organizations like P&G to make different decisions about what they pursue and what they dont pursue. Theyre intentional about addressing the emotional impact they can have on their clients, and ultimately the world.

It may seem safer to shy away from emotion. But the results indicate otherwise. Leaders unable to connect to the emotional needs of employees or customers create transactional organizations, solely dependent on the economic self-interest of the players involves.

Which leads us to the mercenary approach. Examples abound of organizations and leaders who lost touch with their people and clients, and saw their businesses fail. Without an emotional rudder, and without leaders who are intentional about what people often call the soft side, its easier for greed to prevail. One need look no further than the Volkswagen debacle and Wells Fargo scandal to see what happens when leaders fail to create a positive emotional narrative for the organization.

Emotions are messy and people complicated; ignoring this reality never works. If youre in business, its going to get emotional. Address it up front, and you create an organization will missionary zeal. Leave it to chance and you may get attacked by your own mercenaries.

Lisa McLeod is the global expert in Noble Purpose. She is the author of the bestsellers Selling with Noble Purpose and Leading with Noble Purpose.

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McLEOD: Is your business a mercenary or a missionary? - Gwinnettdailypost.com