Open-hearted October Almanac

I don’t know about you, but every year around this time, I start to feel a little … contracted. I pull my jacket a little closer around my neck and dig out my scarf from the coat closet. I make sure my boots are ready for another cold season.

What can I say? I grew up in Minnesota. 🙂

Here in North Carolina, it’s a bit different. There’s just a touch of chill in the evenings. And though we’re a couple of hours away from the East Coast, we are well aware of the calamities produced by wild weather. Our friends just a few hours west of us are really struggling after Hurricane Helene’s wrath. Some didn’t make it through that storm.

So, while I zip up my jacket, I don’t want to close off my heart. I want my heart open to those who are struggling. Because we’re all part of this one big community here on Earth.

At Common Ground, our aim is to serve as a model for others — a place where collaboration thrives, where we practice self-reliance while also caring for our neighbors, near and far.

Weighty aspirations for these autumn days.

These are not just fall days, but in some ways, fallen ones. The storms remind us how fragile things are—how modern life can unravel so quickly under the weight of water and wind, and how much our world is changing. That’s why having a strong, open heart is so essential. It’s not just for the season but for the times we’re in.

So, let’s keep our hearts open as we face our challenges together and continue building a more resilient and compassionate world.

Lots of love …

Roshana

Photo by Kai

Auspicious August 2024 Almanac

Pickles, the barn frog, knows how to stay cool in the summer. She’s a smart cookie, hanging out in the shower.

May we all be so smart, because, as we know, summers aren’t getting any cooler. Maybe it’s best to hang out where there’s a little water, a bit of shade, and friendly folks.

I asked ChatGPT 4o to write an ode to Pickles. Here’s what the chatbot came up with:

Pickles in the Shower

In the heart of August, scorching and bright,
Lives a little barn frog who hops with delight.
Named Pickles, she’s quite the charming lass,
With a shower in the village, she finds cool repast.

In the ecovillage, where nature thrives,
Pickles finds comfort, where cool water arrives.
In the heat of the day, when the sun is a beast,
Pickles seeks refuge, where warmth is decreased.

She lounges on tiles, so smooth and so cool,
Avoiding the sun, August’s fiery rule.
Water droplets glisten, a refreshing retreat,
For a frog in the shower, it’s life’s simple treat.

So here’s to Pickles, in her cool, damp domain,
Finding joy in the water, amidst August’s reign.
With each little croak, she sings with delight,
In her Common Ground shower, where all feels just right.

Jubilant July 2024 Almanac

In Summer

Oh, summer has clothed the earth
In a cloak from the loom of the sun!
And a mantle, too, of the skies' soft blue,
And a belt where the rivers run.

And now for the kiss of the wind,
And the touch of the air's soft hands,
With the rest from strife and the heat of life,
With the freedom of lakes and lands.

— Paul Laurence Dunbar

It’s been sultry, steamy and sticky! And summer has only just started!

Still, our common dream remains … to be an agrarian intentional community that is regenerative, collaborative, creative, and celebratory in all that we do. 

And we’ve done it again … experienced another month of collaborating creatively and celebrating life (and each other) in regenerative ways.

Yay us!

Here’s another look at our evolving adventure. Enjoy!

Juicy June Almanac

The Sleeper

By Edgar Alan Poe

At midnight, in the month of June,


I stand beneath the mystic moon.


An opiate vapor, dewy, dim,


Exhales from out her golden rim,


And, softly dripping, drop by drop,


Upon the quiet mountain top,


Steals drowsily and musically


Into the universal valley.

(excerpt)

Enjoy this month’s juicy Almanac!

Meaningful May 2024 Almanac

May has come in,
young May the beautiful,
weaving the sweetest chaplet of the year.
Along the eastern corridors, she walks.
What time the clover rocks the earliest bee.
Her feet are flush with sunrise,
and her veil floating in breezy odors o’er her hair.
— Thomas Buchanan Read

Hello, dear friends!

I think it’s almost impossible to be sad during springtime in North Carolina. Certainly the beauty all around us encourages us to look up and notice how fortunate we are.

We have another installment of the Almanac, with a slightly different take on a well-loved and well-worn idea that emerged from the heart and mind of Hope.

I bring it to you with gratitude and satisfaction that I can lift that responsibility from her shoulders as she and Paul go on a great adventure for the month of May … and beyond.

I have a long history as an editor at a daily newspaper. Putting the Almanac together brings back many memories of copyediting and laying out newspaper pages in Kansas for many years. It’s like putting a jigsaw puzzle together with pieces that morph and change as new bits of information are squeezed in at the last minute. But here, there are no pressmen becoming impatient as I bump up against a midnight deadline. Just the expectations of Common Grounders who want their beloved Almanac and its timely information at the end of each month.

And here it is. Enjoy the friendly faces of our wonderful community and the freshness of April as we move into the beautiful, weaving sweetness of May!

Roshana

Appealing April Almanac

The Spring season that is taking shape all about us, that will surprise us every day to come, is the product of a winter’s long night.  It’s the outworking of our hopes and dreams.  For who among us has not wished – hard – for spring?  And who among us has not made our mark in some way on what is soon to be born? 
            Hope Horton, Essay on the Vernal Equinox, 2013

With the unfurling of Spring comes a new look for the Almanac.  Roshana Ariel has created an artful and inviting design to tell the evolving story of Common Ground Ecovillage with freshness, clarity and beauty.  Meetings and community events follow newsletter items from our Circles and members.  Roshana and Hope would like to hear your thoughts about this new format.  Please email them at roshanamail@gmail.com and hopematrix@fastmail.com.

We are so grateful to Roshana for offering her seasoned publication skills in the service of this community and hope you’ll feel inspired by what you see to bring your unique gifts to this growing enterprise.  May the irresistible impulse of Spring rouse you to act on your dreams and make your mark where it matters most. 

See you at Common Ground

Majestic March 2024 Almanac

Hope is … an orientation of the spirit, an orientation of the heart; it transcends the world that is immediately experienced, and is anchored somewhere beyond its horizons. Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously headed for early success, but, rather, an ability to work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed. Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.
― Vaclav Havel (contributed by Anthony Weston)

Dear friends,

If you were to walk the Streamside Trail through the woods today, you would see a very un-Springlike scene.  The ground is grim with ash and devoid of undergrowth save for a smattering of Christmas Ferns.   There’s the tang of smoke in the air and your steps stir up grey dust from charred pine straw.  Scorched branches lay awry on the forest floor.   You marvel that this burned landscape belies the quickened growth below, awakened by fire long suppressed, recalling its original nature and poised to arise. 

Such is the state of about 20 acres of forest and fields, lit into new life by a carefully controlled February burn.  Such a perilous process requires a community to undertake, and we had people aplenty show up and help out.  Open this Almanac for a greater glimpse into this and other landmark events that are bringing us ever closer to outworking our values and visions on this land.

For example, our Conservation Easement grant application is complete, and the Eno River Association submitted it to the NC Land and Water Fund for consideration.  We are prepared to commit 63 acres of waterways and woodlands into perpetual preservation because this is what our hearts tell us to do.  Sadly, what we value most has been appraised for a fraction of what we paid for it, exactly because we have striven to protect large portions of this land from sprawling development and timber extraction from day one. 

Hence the quote above.  It inspires us to keep going; keep doing what’s most needed; keep deepening relationships with each other and the land.  It’s the only thing that makes sense in a world on fire.

See you at Common Ground

Fruitful February 2024 Almanac

Dear Friends,

Spring is coming.  Though it’s yet mid-winter, Earth is waking from her winter somnolence and quickening the ever-ready forces of Nature.  Daylight, which bottomed out just six weeks ago at the Winter Solstice, is rising with the returning sun, like a glowing magnet high in the sky that pulls all of creation up along with her.  Whatever else is happening in the human world, we cannot fetter this great and fierce force that will soon animate all that appears dead to us, but is really simply resting under hushed brown and grey veils.   

Common Ground has been planting seeds of vision, creativity, and endeavor for many years now.  We cannot know for certain what will come of all we have sown.  But we know for sure that we will keep tending this dream and keep responding to what we’re learning.  This Almanac is an invitation to you to join us in this beautiful experiment.  

Spring is coming, revealing wonders, surprises and delights every day.  Let’s go through this gateway together. 

See you at Common Ground.

January 2024 Almanac, Year in Review

Keep some room in your heart for the Unimaginable  —Mary Oliver

Dear friends, It’s winter, and night outpaces the day.  Winter is a season of stillness, dormancy, and hibernation, the life force retreating within and below, holding its breath in the space between death and life while spinning the invisible threads that weave Spring’s emergent pattern in ways that we may attempt to influence yet cannot predict or control.  Winter is a time to dream; to loosen our grasp on our certainties and open a space to host seeds of new life that are as yet unknown and unseen.    

As this Almanac reveals, Common Ground continues to become itself through the creativity, initiative, love, and longings of its members. The farm team and friends have outdone themselves this past year, cultivating ever more life-giving food and vibrant educational offerings.  We have recently discovered a new way of proceeding with our village development that may well fulfill our dream of living on the land.  Our long-held intention to conserve large portions of our waterways and forests may come to fruition through a grant process shepherded by the Eno River Association.   And CGEV is at the hub of the new Triangle Prescribed Burn Association which will enable us to bring the restorative power of fire to our forests and fields. 

Though it feels discouraging to not yet be living together on the land, it’s vital to celebrate all that we have, all we’ve done, and all that we aspire to become.  We’ve got a big vision and continue to lean into wants to happen next.   We hope you’ll feel moved to contribute in some way to the emergence of this life-giving project. 

See you at Common Ground