Thank God They're Gone!

As the last visitors rolled down the driveway, I slid my non-waving arm around the unfamiliar waist of the woman beside me and pulled her close. We listened to the car drive down to the stop sign, then up the hill along the forested side of the property on their way back to Texas. Silence slowly seeped in to our busy ears and weary bodies. Home was ours once again.

July has been a truly blessed month - our cup of visitors flowethed over. Dear friends from Texas (3 weeks), New Mexico and Vancouver overlapping, a marvelous overnight 40th-birthday party for Sarah, multiple camping and day trips, late night hot-tubs and early-morning weeding binges, a cherry-picking jubilee, creative group meals (sometimes eating in shifts around the bursting table), a full 3 days of Island Folk Fest. I wouldn't trade a second of it, and wish they'd stayed 3 weeks more.

But there's nothing like a crowded house to make you appreciate a day off. With the kids at "Camp Grandma Dia" for the last 3 days, we have finished the garden's irrigation system, built an outdoor shower, built a cow shed and electric fence and put the cows out to pasture, gone out for lunch, slept in the teepee, finished our taxes, started learning a new song, harvested and processed zucchini and snow peas, swung together in the hammock, prepared a new garden bed for the final potato planting...

Not to imply that no work was done in July. While the guests inspired wonderful play, they also pitched in with an incredible amount of work - bathtubs full of cherries, bushels of garlic, most of a chicken fence, party prep and clean-up, gardening, and the lion's share of the seemingly endless food dance. Once again, rolling up our short sleeves to do some work brought our community closer together, and made playtime that much more refreshing in balance.

So thank you friends for the richness you brought to our world, infusing our Home with your lasting energy. I'll often stroll past that cherry tree and remember Laurie and Miks softly singing "Bring me a little water Sylvie" in harmony as they filled another bucket. And for inspiring the rebound activity and appreciation of being alone in our Home. This experiment, this community, is coming alive with that magical combination of individual and group input.

Now on to a day of finishing the chicken fence and harvesting raspberries before another family visits tomorrow night, a Quaker meeting and breakfast potluck here Sunday morning, then another family Sun-Tues. What a beautiful cycle/circle we ride.