community

You are currently browsing the archive for the community category.

do-si-do your partner

August 27, 2010 in community, events, music + merriment | 5 comments

Thank you for all your sweet comments this week! I read each and every one and they brought such joy — and a few good chuckles — to my days! Thank you!

I often use this space to share ways that I personally “fill the well” – at the beach, dancing with the Ladies, quiet time alone — but today I want to tell you about one of our favorite family activities…Contra Dancing!

Our kids have been Contra Dancing with us their whole lives. I twirled and do-si-do’d while pregnant with each of them and one of the first family dates we went on soon after Quinn was born was to a Contra Dance. (I remember because people kept asking me when my baby was due and I had to keep saying…oh two weeks ago. He’s right over there with my husband. Good times.)

I first heard of Contra Dancing when I was in high school my aunt met the man who would become her husband, and our beloved Uncle Bill, at a dance. Then somewhere along the line in our dating years, John and I decided to give it a try and were surprised by just how much fun we had!

Sure it’s kind of goofy. And a little awkward at first. But once you get over that, it’s a whole LOT of fun!

Contra Dances are social mixers. You do not need to have a partner to attend and by the end of the night you will likely have danced with everyone there!

The moves, which are all taught as you go, are similar to the square dancing I learned — and perhaps you did too — in middle school PE classes but the whole event is SO much more.

First of all, the music is amazing. Even if you aren’t a dancer, you can come and sit and listen (and knit!) and soak up all the good energy.

Secondly, you will laugh a LOT. Stepped on toes. Misplacement of hands. Dancing in the wrong direction. It all happens. And it’s all the perfect excuse for a good laugh.

Plus it’s a great workout. Seriously. Dance two or three songs in a row and your heart will be pumping!

But I think what I love most about Contra Dancing is that it is a wonderful, traditional, all-ages community event that I feel really good about sharing with my children.

Okay. That and it is SO much fun to dance in a twirly skirt!!!!!

_______________________________________

For those who are local, I hope you’ll join me Saturday night from 7-10 p.m. for the first Community Contra Dance at Casey Farm in Saunderstown, RI.

For everyone else, check out this link to find a Contra Dance near you!

Happy Weekend Friends!

.

 

sweating in service

August 20, 2010 in community, events, music + merriment | 9 comments

 

.

“Ensemble, that is the key to musical enjoyment. Your soloist, no matter how skillful, is a bird of a different feather, and your concert-goer, though he feed upon symphony as a lamb upon milk, is no true lover if he play no instrument. Your true lover does more than admire the muse; he sweats a little in her service.”

~Catherine Drinker Bowen

 

*** *** *** *** 

.

It’s time for me to sweat a little in service to the muse! For those who are local, I hope you’ll join me at one (or both) of these upcoming events…

.

It’s never too Late
(THIS!) Sunday, Aug 22 ~ 10 a.m.
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of So. County, Peacedale, RI

Erin Barrette Goodman grew up in a wonderful, loving, and decidedly non-musical family. She is a drop out of both flute and piano lessons and lived most of her life believing that she couldn’t carry a tune and has no rhythm until recently when she began singing and dancing (in public!) – and loving every minute of it! With words, songs and photographs she will share her story of entering the magical world of casual music-making as an adult.

.

Community Contra Dance
(NEXT!) Saturday, Aug 28
Casey Farm, Saunderstown, RI

Beginner and family-friendly. No partner necessary. All dances will be taught and then called during the dance. Live music provided by Farm Dog & Friends. Dances called by Paul Wilde. Tickets (sold at the door): $5 per person or $10 per couple/family. Questions? E-mail Erin Goodman at caseyfarmnews@gmail.com.

*** This is an alcohol-free event. Please refrain from wearing fragrances due to allergies and close proximity of dancing. Children of all ages are most welcome but must be supervised by a parent or caregiver at all times. ***

.

. *** *** ***

.

Thank you for welcoming me back to this space. It’s good to be “home.”

Have a wonderful weekend friends.

.

a new community

August 18, 2010 in community, living + learning, shifting perspective | 21 comments

The kids and I have visited what will soon be Lily’s new school several times in the past few weeks to pick up and drop off paperwork.

Each time we visit we spend some time “hunting for evidence” that we are going to LOVE being part of this new community. 

As many of you know I am struggling quite a bit with this transition. (Huh. Would you look at that? There’s that darn “S” word again.)

I am having a hard time embracing the reality that my sweet girl is moving out of the gardens and open-ended creative play of her beautiful Waldorf-inspired nursery school, her home away from home for the past three years, and into the world of giant yellow buses, hot lunch lines and standardized tests.

I’m slowly making peace with the fact that the beautiful farm-based cottage school that I have been attempting to pull together for the past four years did not manifest in time for kindergarten. That private school tuition is simply not sustainable for our family. That charter school lotteries did not fall in our favor. That homeschooling is an absolutely beautiful option, but not the right one for the unique dynamics of our family.

And that – despite my own baggage and biases and fears – in just a few days our daughter will begin public school.

And yet every time we visit her new school I am reassured.

On our last visit we spotted birdfeeders outside every classroom window and a thriving vegetable garden next to the main entrance.

We were greeted by kind and outgoing staff members who made us feel most welcome.

We read about sweet community events that took place the previous year, through children’s words, on bulletin boards.

And we peeked into library, art and music rooms that made my girl (and her mama) swoon with excitement.

Of course it is going to be different than preschool. Of course. 

And I know there are going to be plenty of things about public school that are going to challenge the heck out of this highly creative, paradigm-shifting, think-out-of-the-box mama.

But I also know that we will find support and love and beauty and community here. 

And these, my friends, are all very good things.

 

yoga on the farm

July 5, 2010 in community, energy management, events | 15 comments

Often when people find out that I’m a yoga teacher what soon follows are comments about how I must be very flexible or that they can’t do yoga because they are not very flexible.

It’s really not about that, I always respond.

The pictures we see in magazines of people ”doing yoga” may be about bending and contorting pretzel-style, but yoga - real yoga - is not about the length of your hamstrings.

True yoga is about a very different kind of flexibility - especially when it is practiced at a community farm!

As in the kind of flexibility that is needed when you learn two days before your summer yoga program is set to start that the tent that is always up before the Fourth of July weekend, the tent we are blessed to use as our summer yoga studio, is not going up until the fifth of July this year.

And the quick (and relatively smooth) shift to a new location tucked in the shade of the farm house.

It is about OMs chanted in harmony with birdsong, punctuated by passing farm trucks.

And parents and children learning to find moments of peace together — one practicing Downward Facing Dog, while the other “decorates the dog” — during a family yoga class.

It’s about expressing gratitude for this amazing community that we are blessed to be a part of and giving thanks for all those who joyfully share their gifts each week in the form of music, art, produce, pastries, meats, cheeses, ice cream, flowers and so much more.

And the wonderful people who come out each week, shopping lists and market baskets in hand, to offer their dollars directly to the farmers and artisans.

And for me yoga on the farm is about realizing a dream, a little spark of a wish that was born in my heart several years ago to do what I can, using the unique gifts that I have been given, to help grow the community at this beautiful community farm I love so very much.

__________________

Community Yoga at the Coastal Growers’ Market at Casey Farm runs through Sat., Aug. 28. See my events page for more details.

we all work together

June 7, 2010 in community, family+career, farms + food, living our dreams! | 11 comments

Things are in full swing at the two farms where I work. And often, despite all of our best efforts, we do not manage to finish all that needs to be done and I find myself driving to one farm or the other on my days off to pitch in and help out.

It doesn’t always work out, but John and I generally try to include the kids in our evening and weekend work activities whenever possible in an effort to preserve some semblance of family time while still meeting the demands of our jobs.

And this summer the kids and I will take our shared work to a new level when we work alongside each other one afternoon at a Farmers’ Market and later in the week when we will take our turn milking three Jersey cows (due any day now!!!!!).

I will be the first to admit that bringing my children to work with me is not always easy. And it has required me to (once again) re-evaluate my feelings about computer screens and portable DVD players, which on some days are a welcome relief to overtired, cranky kids (and their overtired, cranky mama) grumbling and growling at each other.

I also have one full day of childcare in place for the summer so I can do my writing and office work and will have one of our wonderful mother’s helpers with us for at least one of our shared work days. And the kids will be attending a couple of weeks of summer camp, both at their school and at one of the farms where I work.

(Just wanted to get all of that out there so as not to create any sort of illusion that I am “doing it all” without any help or without any struggle ’cause that’s just not the case.)

But…there are also these amazing moments that are happening more and more frequently. Moments where I am watching my children unfold into their lives as farm kids, working alongside the adults, caring for the animals, and taking pride in all that we are doing…

.

…and I’m am reassured that it is possible to co-create the life of our dreams. Together. As a family.

.

the big dig!

April 26, 2010 in at home, community | 7 comments

Welcome to a story about our water woes that has been in progress for a couple of months now. 

Here’s the quick re-cap: Air in the lines. Hissing, spurting water. Groaning pipes. We thought it was our holding tank so we replaced that but the problem didn’t go away. A couple of weeks later, we opened up the well cap and attempted to patch what we thought was the hole. That didn’t work either so this past weekend we brought in the big equipment and well…dug a little deeper.

Oh and just for the record, I am using the word “we” in a ridiculously liberal way, as I often do when it comes to our homesteading projects. There really wasn’t a whole lot of we – as in me – involved. Also, seems worth noting that our friend Steve is an engineer and an amazingly smart guy. We could not have done this (and would not have even attempted it) without his help!

Ok. So with that out of the way, let’s begin…

____________________________

Guess what we did this weekend? We rented a backhoe!

First Papa and Steve dug a hole by the well.

Then while Steve worked on the well pump, Papa took advantage of the half-day backhoe rental and went to work in the rest of the yard – filling in holes, turning the garden, and even knocking down a couple of small trees!

I yelled things like ”Watch the blueberry bushes!!!” and “Don’t cover up my rhubarb!!” from the back deck while taking photos.  (I’m very helpful like that.)

Papa avoided my rhubarb and amazingly (for someone operating a backhoe for the first time) drove right up to the blueberry bushes and dumped the load of dirt over them without hurting them at all!! Yay Papa!

This is what it looked like inside the house while all of the excitement was happening outside. (I was out teaching yoga all morning so no time to clean or make a fancy lunch for the hard workers. Luckily they seemed pretty happy with the bacon and egg sandwiches I threw together for lunch and the frozen pizzas I expertly heated up for dinner. ;-)

And as soon as we were done eating, the kids — our two, Steve’s four, plus a cousin visiting for the weekend — went outside and put the big hill, everything they could find with wheels, and those new mounds of dirt to good use.

I still have no idea what Steve did to our well, despite the fact that he attempted to explain it to me several times, but I know that when I turned the faucet yesterday water flowed freely and the pipes didn’t hiss or groan at me.

And we are so very grateful.

dream big!

April 18, 2010 in community, events, living our dreams! | 7 comments

The meeting room at the Cross’ Mills Library in Charlestown was bursting with excitement yesterday as two dozen people gathered to map out their treasure-filled lives.

We spent a few minutes getting to know each other and shared a little about ourselves. Our stories and our reasons for attending were varied…divorce, job loss, retirement, illness, needing something positive after the devestating floods, something fun to do on a rainy Saturday, and because my mom made me. But there were definitely common themes. Things like…being at a crossroads, looking for direction, wanting more, feeling stuck, and needing clarity.

There was also a shared desire for a fun, light-hearted, community experience.

And that’s just what it was!

Families worked together. New friendships were made. Lots of networking happened.

I played host, photographer and inspirational music D.J. (and learned that I really love these roles) and wandered the room listening to delicious bits and pieces of people’s dreams for themselves, their families, their careers, their communities and for our world.

It was a beautiful way to spend a day.

Thank you to all who attended, to Nancy who helped advertise, to Patty who wrote the beautiful article about the event, to Ulla who helped me stay focused and ”keep it simple,” to Miss Kerry who provided more scissors (and glue and paper) every time our group grew, to John who helped me get out the door with all my supplies and provided “A great day with Papa!” at home for our kids. And special thanks also to Astrologer Tracy Cook, who introduced me to Treasure-Mapping.

(Seriously, friends. It really does take a village.)

Have a great day! I’ll be back tomorrow with a very special Sponsor Giveaway.

,

deep cleaning + deep breaths

March 12, 2010 in community, everything else | 11 comments

Snowdrops the kids collected yesterday morning with our mother’s helper.

There’s nothing like having other people live in your house to motivate you to really get things clean. We’re getting ready to head out for a family trip and, as is always the case at our little homestead, we need to have someone here load the woodstove and keep the critters fed while we’re gone.

Luckily for us our house-sitters are also our favorite babysitters and so while I was deep cleaning the bathroom and sorting through the miscellaneous laundry basket of stuff on the floor of our bedroom yesterday afternoon, the kids were happily playing exuberant and elaborate games involving zoo keepers and an injured baby octopus and daring helicopter rescues. 

{Oh how grateful I am for our “village” of mother’s helpers, babysitters, teachers, neighbors, family and friends who are willing to engage my children’s imaginations long after I’ve maxed out on make-believe.}

As for deep breaths, I will be taking many of them as we embark on our first family plane trip.

I am, as they say, not a great flyer.

This trip will be the third time I have traveled on an airplane as an adult — and as was the case with the previous two trips (one to Nova Scotia and the other to Puerto Rico) the end destination and the people we will be visiting are my motivation to step entirely out of my comfort zone and onto a giant flying metal bus.

I’ll be sharing some postcards from our travels here and will likely do a little micro-blogging on twitter (that’s a new term I learned at the Kidoinfo Parents Using Social Media event ;-).

Oh and as for our March One Small Change, we will be focusing on staying green on the go. I think we do a really good job being eco-conscious at home, but I’ve noticed in the past that we often let a lot of things — recycling, reusable bags, sustainably produced and minimally packaged foods etc.  — go when we are on vacation.

This trip I’d like to strike a better balance — using some conveniences necessary to maintain everyone’s sanity but also looking for every opportunity we can find to stay true to our eco-conscious values while on the road.

I’ll let you know how it goes…

.

Happy weekend friends.

one small change :: our february recap

March 5, 2010 in community, farms + food | 12 comments

In February as part of the One Small Change project, we gathered.

We hosted potlucks and enjoyed after-dinner charades in our living room, which thanks to our One-Small-Change-inspired decluttering in January we could comfortably do.

We savored the beauty of relaxing among friends who are happy to pitch in and help tidy up toys and shoes that didn’t quite get put away before they arrived.

We showed up on friends’ doorsteps with a loaf of bread or a bowl of hummus and spent the night feasting on homemade cheese, salad, chili, casseroles and carrot cake.

We drank home-brewed beer and swapped sources for the free-range eggs and fresh milk. We talked about CSAs and summer garden plans and started planning a multi-family camping trip while our children laughed and romped and played.

We left our gatherings with full bellies and joyful hearts and then quickly made plans for the next gathering because pooling resources and spreading the work of cooking and child-minding around by gathering is One Small Change that makes a world of difference!

.

Happy weekend friends. Go forth and gather.

 

scenes from the weekend

February 28, 2010 in community, events | 5 comments

We’re back from a wonderful weekend of refreshment.

I am honestly not feeling all that refreshed at the moment as I seem to be fighting some kind of cold/flu. But aside from that, the event was a great success and we had a lot of fun!! Here are a few photos…

Setting up::

Mixing and Mingling::

Three generations performing together::

The KC Moaners Jug Band::

My favorite moment::

Sunday morning before we left to come home, we sat in the hotel lobby with our new friend Jim while he sang and played guitar. We also made plans to get our families together for some casual music-making. And I think there might have even been some talk of Papa joining in on harmonica at a future KC Moaners performance.

It was a lovely end to a really nice weekend.

« Older entries