Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Dancing with Wolves (in Cohousing)

[pattymara (pattymara]

At Tierra Nueva, we are bordered by agricultural fields on the north
boundary, a green belt of eucalyptus groves on the east, and encroaching
development-housing-on the south and west.   

We have had a few coyote sightings, the most recent being on the morning
one of our chickens disappeared!  Coyotes are present here, with the
proximity of the dunes to our south and west....I'm glad they are finding
a way to stay here, in the face of so much building.  We've seen them
walking down our pathways in the early hours of dawn, or at twilight. 
I've seen possums, raccoons (they love snacking at our outdoor fish
pond), and a huge raptor population of owls and hawks.

>Given the shared environmental and sustainability goals many of us have,
what is it ACTUALLY like for a community to live in balance with
"nature." What experience have any of you had with so-called wild
creatures who may choose to inhabit the environment with you?

Our most recent attempts as a community involve forming a neighborhood
coalition with three other distinct neighborhoods to fight the spraying
and illegal drift of pesticides that drench the bordering strawberry
fields.  We are still in the planning stages of a campaign to stop the
drift *and* provide an assortment of alternatives to the landowner.  Our
homes were built on an organic avocado orchard, and we hope to be
instrumental in creating an economically feasible option to the farmers
to try non-pesticide options and hopefully transition to no-spray and
organic fields.  

This will help us all, human and critter alike.  

It has been amazing to me to see the bordering neighbors, who originally
balked at our developing housing next to them, now welcome and embrace
our presence on the coalition.  Some of them have been fighting the
system (there's BIG money in agriculture) for 14 years with little
success.  Then we come along with our skills at process, running
meetings, getting things done, and the shift in manifesting goals has
been astonishing.    We "came along" because our children are getting
sick.  We've managed to prove that drift is occurring (illegal), and have
used the established system of filing official complaints, attending
public meetings.  We are planning a full neighborhood informational
meeting and even have a few "direct action" options up our sleeves.  

We have been noticed.  Now the officials are calling us to set up
meetings.  We've found alternatives to the poison sprays and are meeting
with the farmers on Monday....synchronicities are happening.  

Our biggest challenge may be to convince the land owner of the farm
fields to transition to organic.  But we are hopeful that with our goals
of bringing everyone to the table to create win/win options we can find
many ways.  All these long years of practicing consensus among ourselves,
is creating waves in the larger community.   It blows me away.

Wish us luck,
PattyMara
Tierra Nueva, cen CA coast

 


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