many moments of learning

Due to a series of unfortunate events, I had to remain separate from most of the group this week to avoid the bright sunshine (great for all of young and growing plants but not for me). In that time though, I got to experience many little moments of learning while by myself working in our common house or work space. Attached are some photographs from my own little personal indoor/kitchen adventures (making biscuits and kombucha for example).

Feeling better these last couple of days, I decided to join our group in attending a community potluck at the Highland Center in Monterey. We all have been so devoted to learning and observing the layout of the land on our farm, getting to know each other, and laying down initial infrastructure that we haven’t had much time to get to know our greater community of Highland County. The potluck was wonderful (as most tend to be). With full bellies and big grins we settled into scattered chairs amidst many new faces and got to hear some stories of the area, wishes and hopes for the Highland community, of programs that the Highland center offered, and much more. No matter what the dialogue was about, I appreciated the opportunity to meet people who have come to love this county and who are devoted to this region and community.

In our work coming up in the following year – after we finish our time here at the Allegheny Mountain School – we will be entering into new communities and need to have the skills to know how we can learn from the community we are working, how to best fit their needs, and apply the skills that we got from this school. It was great to get a first hand experience of that at this potluck as well as be able to learn more about the place we are living that we are all coming to call home (at least for these next 6 months).