Where's Community?

What an amazing December day. It's 60' outside and beautiful sunshine warms my back. I'm hanging out my 3rd load of laundry. It's one of my favorite chores. I find it very meditative. I listened to birds and to what I thought for a minute was a lawn mower....a leaf blower. Well, I'll save the world by hanging out clothes and the leaf blower takes us back down a notch. But the noise! Irksome especially because in between the roar I can almost hear the little community of musicians who are jamming on the front porch of the house. (That would be my nephew Duncan and his friends...who I think are playing at the Grey Eagle Contra Dance on Jan. 5. )

So imagine the idyllic scene of hanging out laundry to live music. Ahhhhhhh. You gotta love it. "WHIIIIIIIIIINNNNNE", goes the leafblower.

I used to hang out laundry when I lived out in the country near Holland, MI. When I moved in town I had trouble with the shade in the yard, the ear wigs and the dust from the metal recycling plant down the street. I really missed the smell of sundried bed sheets.

Here in Asheville we seem to have had a lot of rain and my previous load of laundry ended up out in the rain overnight. When I took that load down the smell was so wonderful...rainwashed and sundried.

Today I've been thinking about community. I still floating out there wondering where the heart of this community is.

I'm living here in Asheville in a way that's purposefully trying to reduce my "foot print". I'm renting a room from my sister. Cost-wise it helps her and it helps me. But I'm trying to adjust to other eco-friendly ways that I've given up by moving to a city.

I'm driving a whole lot more than ever. Taking a highway to get to teach my Kindermusik classes. Can't walk to church. Can't walk to library and college concerts, the movie theater (miss you, Knickerbocker). Can't find what I want at the local farmers market so I end up driving to two or three different markets...and their farmers market season is pretty short.

I had high hopes for what's on Haywood Road. I walked to my mom's house via Haywood Rd. with my sister and the kids. You know, I'd say the sidewalks on Haywood are a joke. You can't walk next to a friend, the phone poles are right in the middle of the walk. Every so often you have to turn you body sideways to walk between the building and a control box that's hanging about shoulder high on the telephone pole. There's no green grass strip between the sidewalk and the street so the cars whiz right by....CAREFULL KIDS!!


I was looking forward to being part of the Haywood Road Food Coop. That has been a struggle from the beginning. The cost of living for food here is pretty high compared to Michigan. And they seem to be very sluggish about selling their veggies. I wish I could find out when they get them in so I could buy them FRESH. I tried to volunteer there and the person in charge at the time took my email saying they really weren't set up for that. I haven't heard back yet.

Our local neighborhood has had a once a month potluck which I am really enjoying. But getting to know real people around town is slow work.

Maybe everyone's just blogging and facebooking....(I've found "West Asheville" on an online social network)...I know I am really liking my laptop!

Gotta go check on the laundry.
Peace,
Yvette