That Happy Feeling

You know that happy feeling? When everything clicks and you know you're on the right path? I had it this weekend.

A few days ago, this flyer appeared on the door of our "new" house.

Since some of the reasons we're moving are to be in a neighborhood that is more interested in, you know, BEING a neighborhood, and also being able to engage in some small type of urban farming, I made up my mind right away that we were going, even though we haven't officially moved yet!

The event was held at the property of a lovely man named Vincent. Vincent moved to the neighborhood about 11 years ago, and is essentially as happy as a pig in a pile of mud. He has a horse. He has gardens. He has a chicken coop as a special project for himself and his granddaughter.The horse was a jumper in his younger days, and is now living a peaceful retirement as a companion for Vincent and his granddaughter.

There's Vincent, in suspenders, talking to Jon about his cistern.

Cisterns are great, when it rains. This is what Vincent's cistern looks like this summer.

Then a lovely Welsh gentleman named Geoff Thomas gave a talk on sustainable gardening, good gardening practices, and other stuff. I wish I could have heard more of it, but I was off chasing my curious 3 year old around Vincent's property.

There was a pretty good sized crowd.

I was secretly a little worried that we'd all gather 'round, and then be ambushed with an Amway sales pitch, or something like that. Fortunately, there was nothing of the sort. The event was exactly what it was advertised to be.

This is my new neighborhood. Yes, the houses are 30 years old and a lot of them need work. Yes, SOME of the neighbors need to do a better job maintaining their lots. But what we found on Saturday was a group of friendly, like-minded people who are interested in knowing who their neighbors are, and in sharing what they know. We met more neighbors on Saturday than we've met in 10 years in our McMansion neighborhood; in fact, trying to imagine an event like this taking place in our current neighborhood is unfathomable.

Now I have a new resource for horse manure and fresh laid eggs. And Starbucks is still just down the road. :)