Tiny Human

Sunday: January 24th

Sunday was very different yet exciting. Christian, Alley and I were assigned the task of picking up our weekly vegetables from Living Roots Ecovillage. To get to the farm we had to drive into French Lick in a crazy red farm truck. To turn on the truck you need to use a screw driver. Need to roll down the windows? Simply reach into the door panel to find the correct wires. It was awesome. When we arrived we thought it was just like any other farm. We were completely wrong.

We met Michael, the owner of the farm, on arrival. He offered to give us a tour as he gathered our vegetables. Inside of a large normal looking farm building was a community center for the ecovillage. There was a kitchen, tons of books, tapestries hanging from the wall, couches and tables, and a yoga/healing room. We exited through the others side of the building to find a village of multiple two story tiny houses. They were larger than your average tiny house, more like a studio apartment with a second floor.

Michael gave us a tour of the green houses while he picked us fresh kale, bok choy, and cabbage. He then showed us the Eathen Dome that is under construction. The dome is made almost entirely from the earth. The walls are made of straw and clay with a finishing mixture of sand, clay and flower. The walls look like drywall painted with a clay paint. Inside the Ether Dome he began talking about the programs they offered and what the ecovillage is all about. Living roots has lots of different learning programs including healing arts, organic gardening and farming and natural building and energy systems.

Michael was so welcoming and even invited us to join his weekly yoga class, the monthly community potluck and the annual seed exchange. It blows my mind that these communities and people even exhist. We left the farm with fresh organic local produce and a refreshed souls. The Living Roots Ecovillage may be another adventure we have to add to our list of life goals.

Dinner was something we were all looking forward to now that we had so much fresh produce! Alley, Yen and I worked together to make a vegetarian masterpiece for dinner. I was in charge of the salad while Yen and Alley created veggie burgers with a mustard yogurt sauce and a butternut squash soup. Working in the kitchen with these two fascinating women has been such a special experience. Before dinner we all stand in a circle holding hands. We take turns sharing where we are from today and what we are grateful for. Today I was from the kitchen and thankful for this fresh produce and meal. After everyone shares we take a moment of silence and then sing "yum" they way om is chanted in yoga. Our nightly gratitude circle is one of my favorite things about dinner. When we all sat down for our amazing meal I felt proud, inspired and thankful.

I spent the remainder of my evening hanging out with Li. We tried to play his game lazer maze but the lazer piece was broken which made the game impossible. We began talking about his life in his home country and his time in America. He told me about his best friend Edwardo who still lives in Venezuela. Li told me that he had not met another friend worthy of being called his best friend. He had met people who came close but it was not the same connection. He said kids at his school would say someone was their "best friend" but didn't really mean it. He told me about bullies he had encountered at school and how ugly their personalities were. He expressed that some people can handle bullies but since he is sensitive being picked on really gets to him. I asked him why people picked on him. He told me it was because he is different. The whole car toy and action figure craze really never made sense to him. He would rather create art or read a book. When other kids went home to watch television he was watching documentaries. He told me all of the documentaries he watched in first grade really paid off. We talked for hours. I told him I didn't want him to leave in a week. I said I am probably going to cry when he leaves and he responded "Oh, I am definitely going to cry!" I have known this tiny human for five days and I have so much love for him already. Secretly I am glad the lazer did not work and that we spent the night talking instead.