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SCHOOL OF LIVING NEWS

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Welcome to our School of Living electronic newsletter where you can catch up on what is happening in our land trust communities and SOL committee work.

The newsletter archive lives under the "Publications" tab in the primary menu of the School of Living website. From there, you will be able to access each newsletter and use its link for sharing. Contact mvelicky@schoolofliving.org if you need any assistance in retrieving these newsletters.

STELLAR ROOTS!

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.Images courtesy of Stellar Roots Community

JULIAN WOODS COMMUNITY

OAN ZENDO

Presenting the new sign for the meditation hall in Julian Woods Community (JWC), constructed by Wayne Hansen, JWC community member. Visit their website: www.oanzendo.org. Personal and group retreats are available, as well as Sunday morning meditation and Wednesday evening Book Study on Zoom. Contact Meido Barbara Anderson: banderson@oanzendo.org for Zoom links.

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Image courtesy of Oan Zendo

AUTUMN GARDEN

School of Living member, Rita Jane Kiefert, shares images from her end of season garden in Virginia.

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One of my marigolds grew to 4 feet high at my garden gate.

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These are elephant ear bulbs. My brother sent me 25 last spring. I put them in my very wet bed with the stream underground, where nothing else will grow, and they loved it. They all lived, but they will not winter over so they must come in once the leaves die.

The Kiwi gave me only 11 fruit this, their second, year after 75 last year. Maybe it is cyclic. Next year should tell. They do not get ripe until November and they don't soften until the frost takes the leaves.

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My final pepper harvest was several weeks ago. They came in before the first frost.

This is our Thanksgiving dinner for two.

MOVIE REVIEW: KISS THE GROUND

By Mick Vogt

Kissthegroundmovie.com is available on Netflix and other venues. What a wonderful movie, a counterpoint to the despair we all feel when confronted with the deleterious impacts of climate change, and the death of our soils. The great prairie of the U.S had six feet of topsoil in the late 1700's. There is as little as six inches now, and in 60 years there will none if things go on as is.

The Zombie milieu of our times is again in play. We know instinctively within what is human within, what is the holiness of the hearts affections, and what belongs to the zombie, to the part within whose mind is engaged only in empire building, ignorance and consumption. That war goes on within us, and what we are shown in Zombie movies is only a reflection of a deeper truth.

We need mythic and allegorical minds to see that, to see “holy the air, the water and the fire” and this movie, uplifting and hopeful rather than despairing, offers a way to take it in and proceed.

Heathcote, where I am active, is trying to become part of that healing narrative, a sacred bond with the natural world, and we are not alone.

The movie is worth a view and an internalization of what might be for those who follow us.

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HEATHCOTE COMMUNITY

RESIDENT MEMBERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

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Heathcote’s main community building is a historic grain mill (c.1847). Photo courtesy of Karen Stupski.

Heathcote is seeking new members to live with us at Heathcote Community. We are a small intentional community nestled in a wooded valley just 30 miles north of Baltimore that is looking for new members to join us in creating a peaceful, happy, cooperative and sustainable community.

We have a Farmhouse and a small apartment in our main community building that are not fully occupied, so we can accommodate up to 6 new members. We welcome applications from individuals, families and groups; and we are open to creating special arrangements, including possibly with a small group of people that want to join an existing community together.

We are most interested in creating an economically and socially just society, and welcome the participation of folks from all ethnic and economic backgrounds and of all ages, particularly young people.

We are seeking new members who are in alignment with the mission statement included below that is emerging through our work with several partner organizations:

We support the development of healthy, just and sustainable communities. We operate farms and gardens where we grow as much healthy and nutritious food as possible for ourselves and others, improve soil health and agricultural productivity, sequester carbon and demonstrate the local to global transition needed to address climate change. We also operate training programs using a co-learning research based model and are striving to make our activities self-supporting for the people working on them. We strive to be economically, socially, culturally and ecologically sustainable and to cultivate urban-rural inter-linkages. We recognize that systemic oppression is a root cause of the problems we are striving to address. Therefore diversity, equity, inclusion and justice are integral to the solutions that we advocate and that we are striving for in our organizational structures and operations.

For more information:

Please help us spread the word by forwarding to folks who might be interested!

Thank you.

EVENT HIGHLIGHT:

MID-ATLANTIC PERMACULTURE CONVERGENCE

A Virtual Conference

December 1-10, 2020

It's not too late to sign up for this collaborative event hosted by Mid-Atlantic Permaculture!

From the Mid-Atlantic Permaculture website: "The 2020 Mid-Atlantic Permaculture Convergence is a collaborative virtual conference that brings together land stewards, dreamers, farmers, activists, educators and organizers, to envision a bioregional permaculture movement that represents the diversity of the Mid-Atlantic, honors traditional knowledge and lifeways, and enables deep collaboration between people, land, and organizations in this region."


"This convergence is taking place over a span of two weeks in December 2020, with a morning and evening session each day of the conference. The morning sessions are from 8:30-9:45 am ET, and the evening sessions are from 7:00-9:00 pm ET, so that folks don't need to take too much time out of the typical work day to attend this event. Join the sessions most interesting to you, or that are most relevant to your work. All sessions will be recorded."


Sign up at www.mid-atlanticpermaculture.com where you can get a complete schedule and details.

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Above image from www.mid-atlanticpermaculture.com

OPPORTUNITIES FOR SHARING

Flight from the City: A School of Living Documentary

Matt Tennyson is collaborating with School of Living (SOL) to create a unique documentary to spread the word about communal living. This way of life can be a revolutionary way forward towards a more sustainable, harmonious, and peaceful world. With your donation, we can support Matt to complete the production, editing, and release of this important film.

Stellar Roots

Stellar Roots is a collective of Black, Brown, and Indigenous people rooted in healing and in service of land based community living. They have been operating as a partner of the School of Living Land Trust since 2018 and are working and living on the Itsodi land, a School of Living land trust property. Learn how you can support this project. Note that Stellar Roots is not a non-profit organization and your donation will not be tax deductible.

Empower Project

Please, support our, most recent, fiscally sponsored project of School of Living. Your support will help them with start-up costs and materials for their farm as well as to secure their own land.

SOL RECOMMENDS:

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