Echoes from Echo Valley Hope

Echoes from Echo Valley Hope's amphitheatre resounded during Saturday evening's 10th anniversary celebration.
AND you won't believe this...I didn't have my camera with me to capture the event. Reality is that maybe I couldn't have captured it anyway.

Imagine sitting in your lawn chairs/on a blanket in a grassy natural bowl bordered by apple trees, a 30 ft. yurt and fawns grazing amidst you while you have great musical performances which included some drumming, a solo guitarist/vocalist'Vanessa'and one of our favorite duos -'Patchouli.'.. There was even a scrumptious homemade chicken dinner and yummy desserts.

Echo Valley Hope sits about an hour from End of the Rainbow Valley outside of a town called Ontario in the Kickapoo River Valley. The first parcel of land was purchased by Dena Eakles whose Italian grandmother introduced her as a child to gardening. Through travel and life long learning from ancient cultures and healers, Dena learned that the land holds all of our answers, in particular our medical ones... Dena's vision included having a place to live sustainably and teaching its core values to others which have come to fruition after purchasing this parcel of land and moving from Chicago... Respecting the earth and its inhabitants is fundamental in the pursuit of peace. This land is part of a trust now between 3 friends who will leave its legacy to future generations 'giving back for what has been given.'

Now through its first decade, plans of becoming solar and selling back to the grid are in the works. There is always work to be done and 'volunteers' are always welcomed. You can come for a day/ a week/ whatever.

Classes are offered to teach sustainable living- animal husbandry, food preparation, canning, bee keeping, alternative building techniques such as straw-clay, earthen plasters and cob, etc... There is no charge for these classes.

Groups can hold retreats on the rustic grounds and even receive community building help.

The Cooperative also offers a myriad of reasonably feed services which include:

Green Projects-Cob & Straw-Clay Project Management
Earthen Ovens,Simple Greenhouses, Cold Frames,Chicken Coops,Animal Shelters,etc...
Temporary Farm & Residential Labor
Housekeeping & Organizing, General & Deep Cleaning,Uncluttering
Filing and more...
Elder Care Preserving Dignity
Assistance with Activities of Daily Living
Sewing

Private Lessons: How to Make Kombucha & Other Fermented Foods, Beading
Learning to Cook New Meals (basic, dairy free, gluten free, vegetarian, more)
and even purchasing Home-Made Soap...

"Echo Valley Hope recognizes and lends their support for organizational efforts towards peace and sustainability." This list is diverse but you the idea... Donations go to help continue their good work.

Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers
The Beehive Collective
The Boggs Center
The Cornucopia Institute
Driftless Folk School
Feeding America
Global Days of Listening
Growing Power
Iraqi-American Reconciliation Project and Water for Peace
Kickapoo Valley Reserve
Motherland Rhythm Community
My Lai Peace Park
The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF)
SOUL of the Kickapoo
Valley Stewardship Network
Walk For Tibet
Wildcat Mountain State Park
Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice
Words of Peace Global

People were so welcoming and I think you should definitely check out Echo Valley Hope http://www.echovalleyfarmwisconsin.com/since they share the same philosophy of why we are living where we do right here in the End of the Rainbow Valley...

Butter/Better in a Small Town

Natureman returned home with one of those stories that can only happen in a small town. Today he discovered the creamery next to where he works, actually it’s a butter creamery… Yep - They only make butter. I am sure you have one those next to where you work, right?

Natureman has never frequented this creamery since he moved into his new work environs but a sign grabbed his attention that said ‘ Hand Rolled Butter.’ So curiosity got the cat/ in this case Natureman because he wanted to know the difference between what we all normally buy in the store and hand rolled. He was told if you let the butter warm to room temperature, then it tastes a lot better.

Well Natureman compared prices and opted for the cheaper traditional pound sticks of butter. The store clerk insisted that he needed to try the 'Amish Coutry Rolled Butter’ and stuck a half pound in his shopping bag for free. WOW - FREE.

Now it’s time to pay and Natureman pulls out his bank card. “ Oh, Sorry" he's told, "we only accept cash/ checks. (Uh oh there's only a dollar in Natureman's wallet.) "Don’t worry you can pay me next time. “ But Natureman responds that he only works next door on Thursdays. "That’s OK ," answers the clerk, “ I’ll write out the amount owed on this piece of paper and you can pay me next week.”

Let’s be honest when was the last time you were given credit the last time you were in a store?
In this case it was 'butter' to receive than to give...SORRY I couldn't resist.

I just love smaller towns...

Boys Will Be Boys...

I bet there are other Moms besides me that think about what the kids would like to have for dinner when they come home to visit. Am I right? So it threw me for a loop when I returned home late afternoon Tuesday to discover hotdog buns on the counter. Natureman informed me that he had made potato salad and that he thought it would be a good night to have a 'cookout.' He has this thing about 'cookouts. I don't get it. I glanced over at Simon and he didn't seem vehemently opposed to the hotdog meal but it certainly wasn't what 'I' had envisioned for dinner. I was thinking of something a bit more substantial since the previous night's meal had been our soup canning project of the day.

Natureman had even mowed so I could couldn't use the excuse of snakes awaiting me in the mid calf high grass but don't think for a moment I wasn't visualizing being eaten alive by mosquitoes. Yes, I could see my way down to the picnic bench and campfire site. See it way down there? It always means 'schlepping'. Schlepping everything down there and back. Not to mention the forgotten item trips. I know, it's good exercise! And least it wasn't a 100 degrees and actually pleasant temperaturewise, BUT it had rained.(TRANSLATION: Rain equals BUGS)

And yes siree Bob the flies had a welcoming committee like they had never had anybody visit them before. You've heard of 'bar' flies, well these obviously were guitar flies. See all those dots on Simon's guitar case? Yep those are obviously music lovers. And we even had jean flies, although some mosquitoes just ate me for dinner.
Romeo didn't even want to stick around bugs nor the raging fire ... besides he would have become a (are you ready?) a 'hot dog.' SORRY farm humor.

As I looked through the smoke there were the 2 'big' boys happy as clams roasting their dogs after which they chowed them down accompanied by barbequed baked beans and homemade potato salad.

Simon even strummed a couple tunes before the mosquitoes drove me off. I guess boys will be boys. I didn't stick around to see how they were going to put out those fire coals.

Maybe my scouting campfire memories just aren't the same as these End of the Rainbow Valley guys...

Now you see it, now you don't...

After yesterday's entry regarding my new glasses I figure this is as good a segue as any to share what's been going on especially since I have been sharing my life with you on a pretty daily basis now.

About a month ago I snapped this pic of my Dad trying on his backpack being super excited and ready to embark on the longest cruise my folks have taken... 35 days with 17 of those at sea for my Mom to be able to play bridge, a bridge aficionado's delight.

Fast forward to one week ago as I returned home to a phone message from my Dad 'to call home.' First you need to know that my folks were supposedly still on their cruise but obviously now weren't...

On day 21 when they were to port in Amsterdam, my Mom awoke 'blind'. I can't even fathom how scary that must have been... much less being thousands of miles from home. Fortunately Little Rock friends who were originally meeting my folks to go touring that day could usher them straight to a Dutch hospital. There my Mom stayed for a week examined and consulted by both a opthalmologist and a neurologist. Apparently there was swelling around the optic nerve. Go figure just like that she had a 'blind' prognosis.

Mom received medication through a drip to relieve the pressure on the optic nerve and within 24 hours she felt that she had regained 'some' sight in one eye. There's white light when she looked down, and each day she says she seems to see more. Some sent by her memory. Actually some blob forms and colors in one eye. A neurologist will monitor her now that she's home.

Her positive attitude just wows me. She delights in talking about the attentive friendly nursing staff and how the Dutch hospitals functioned. How kind their friends were to travel from an hour away daily to visit... Every day she feels that she's improving. Well heck if she thinks she is seeing better - great. BUT the reality is that my folks are in their 80's and as independent as they want to be, they can't do it alone. My 87 year old Dad returned home over exhausted from lack of appetite, sleep and worry. My brother and family live in town but he can't do it all either.

It's going to take a community, that village of which Hillary wrote. From afar I have been making contacts, networking to find a support system of both professionals and friends that can help in this transition. And let me tell if you don't think Medicare and public programs are important at a time like this, think again.

You just never know when one minute you see it and then one minute you don't...

I Can See Clearly Now...

One of the things that broke in the rollover accident was my favorite pair of glasses that got tossed and pitted by all the windshield glass. This blog entry isn’t really about that I needed new glasses, ok? By now you know me, 'Think process.'

These Barcelona made Etnia frames had become my trademark so I am not only remembered for my curly hair, but also being the one with the red checkered glasses. Much to my chagrin those frames are no longer made in the same beloved red. I even super glued them for a temporary fix until they could be replaced. My search for a new pair was aided by my favorite Milwaukee optometrist, Lupe, from Innovative Optiques. I mention his business because if you live in north shore Milwaukee you know him and those that don't, should. He is one of the last of a dying breed... a people person who knows what looks best on each of his clients. As soon as Lupe heard about my dilemma, he quickly hand picked and shipped '10' pairs of frames my way. OK let’s be honest, how many businesses will hand over a couple thousand dollars of merchandise, ship them at no charge to a customer with no credit card/cash up front? AND 10, I repeat - ten pairs no less.

The next step was the decision making where friends and anybody who wanted to would voice an opinion to help me narrow down the choices. Lupe is that good to know not only what I would like in addition to what would look good on me... I really did like all the frames.

Since I also had been having headaches since the accident I figured that maybe my eyesight needed to be checked. When I returned to Little Rock, my concerned Dad got me an eye appointment with a leading ophthalmologist. I figured I'd maybe get the appointment sometime during my 3 week stay. Never did I fathom being ushered in within a couple days.. Can you imagine getting in in a big city anywhere besides a mall location? (The doc had been one of my Dad's students.) It turned out that my prescription was 'way' off. Really bizarre.

Equipped with a new prescription, I called Lupe’s office and provided the 'script with the frame choice. I now have new glasses thanks to 'so' many's input.

I love these glasses all the more due to all 'that' help and I can see clearly now here in the End of the Rainbow Valley and wherever else my travels may take me...

Get off the Highway...

Once it stopped raining... don't get me wrong I'm not complaining as we need that stuff called rain, I could think about taking the back way home and getting off the highway. I thought I should share some of my car window sights during the last 20 minutes of my return trip from Milwaukee. There's a reason they call this G-d's country... Need I say more?

Have a great weekend and remember to take a back road whenever possible en route to your End of the Rainbow Valley...

Need Mowing?

There is one thing that is a guarantee if you receive rainfall and that is that your grass is going to need mowing. AND If your yard is in need of mowing, I saw the perfection solution as I headed towards the town of Bangor today. What do you think? I have heard of horse power but cow power?

These calves look like they are doing a pretty good job and you don't even have to pay them. They really aren't slaves even if you have noticed the chains tethering them in place. Well you wouldn't want them eating your favorite flowers, would you?
I didn't think so.

I have mentioned that our land is 'au natural.' Translated it doesn't look like a suburban maintained landscape and 'Natureman' insists that he doesn't need to mow more often. Fortunately Sam, the eldest, mowed for us after the accident or heck you never would have found us. After my 3 week absence from the Valley that became super apparent in our mile long driveway. I even received a postcard from UPS saying that they couldn't deliver a package due to 'incorrect' address. Gee, the UPS guy couldn't even find us due to the overgrown weeds. OK, that's bad. We are tucked away but I do want to get in and out without an ATV ... Natureman obliged my mowing request and did get on the riding lawnmower this past week to uncover the road. I think we might need to borrow those calves...

You know our goats are our pasture 'lawn mowers' as they are 'browsers' by nature. The problem is that they have been known to polish off new growth of young trees/bushes besides the grasses if they get out of the pasture. For some reason just like people they think that the other side of the fence is always greener, even here in the End of the Rainbow Valley.