Rockin' Out in VA for New Years

So, today got back from my visit to the ol' Walkabout placement, Acorn community in Mineral, Virginia. It was a lovely experience all around, except for getting there and especially coming back. Buses are not fun, yo. Being told you have to go all the way down to Tennessee (which is further from Columbus, Charlottesville or Knoxville?) to catch a bus home because Greyhound can't send busses through West Virginia is just plain uncool. So is waiting in the Knoxville bus station for 8 hours. But that's not really the point. The point is, I got to go back to Acorn! :)

Apparently, I have the innate ability to show up right when Acorn's having a party, event though this hardly ever happens. In August I came to Acorn right before their rave, and this time around Acorn had a "New Years Eve Eve" party on December 30th. And after that, there was the infamous Twin Oaks New Years Eve Party. And while another person might see this as a blessing, I would usually be disinclined to feel that way. I surprised myself with the amount of fun I had at both of these events. By the end, I had gained a real sense of having become a part of the family, as it were. Even though I didn't truly know everyone, most people seemed at least familiar. And there was just love and goodwill in the air.

I've met some cool people in the past 10 days that I've been hanging around at Acorn, as well as reconnecting with old friends. There were a couple pretty awesome interns, as well as a pair of visitors from Eastwind. I've been thinking lately that I should someday visit some of these other FEC communities. But I haven't even begun plotting my next visit to Acorn yet, so that's sort of just something to hold in the back of my mind for now.

It's interesting, there hasn't been work to do in Bowling Green's community gardens for a time now, and I wasn't really expecting to find work in Acorn's either. But I wasn't entirely correct, there were a ton of carrots to dig up before the ground froze, greens to be harvested/thinned, and a fight to be had with some row cover. In all of these cases, it was amazing to me how refreshing it felt to be working in the dirt again. Particularly Acorn's dirt. Or just heading past the greenhouse with a garden cart filled with row cover... there was a rightness to it.

Of course, I did have to find other ways to entertain myself. I feel that my most significant project was helping to construct the temporary bedroom in one of the farmhouse living rooms by helping with covering the fold-out wall and constructing a bunk bed. And then I lived there for the rest of my visit. None of my other work was particularly note-worthy. Seed packing and the like. Really, the point of a visit like this, for all that I am ready and willing to work and be helpful, is to spend time with people and such. Which I did. Success!