A Month in the Life

There’s always something to work on here! The ruralness, large acreage, old barns, number of projects, and the fact that, for better or worse, we don’t hire out for much in our community means that we have a lot of work to do. Work and the various aspects of community life come in all shapes and sizes. There’s something for everyone and everyone assumes important roles – from caring for the chickens, maintaining our website, doing our accounting, operating our water system, coordinating the snow plowing, leading committees, facilitating work day or community meetings, organizing Garn teams, coordinating the inventory of firewood, and so much more. We organize much of what we do in several committees; ideally, everyone is an active member in at least one committee.

New railings for our steps - one small example of a shared community project!

This is a very hands-on place to live and we advise prospective residents to take stock of the fullness of their current life. Is it already more than full with work obligations, family needs, household chores, extended family, hobbies, volunteer duties, etc.? It can be overwhelming to add another significant aspect to your life without giving something else up OR it can be just what you’re looking for - something to dive into with gusto - or anywhere in between!

We’re often asked how many hours a week or month we all spend on community stuff. There is not a set number, that’s not how we track things, and it varies widely depending on the person and tasks to be done and roles they take on. However, to give you a better sense of what some months might look like, we’ve created a calendar with example people’s community contributions.

We're looking for potential new neighbors who want to be involved, have space and time in their life to lean in, to show up, be present, to engage, interact, be active participants & contributing members in various ways, help keep this place functioning, make our shared home even better, build relationships, teach us, and learn from others. There are times when we all have busy periods with our careers, raising kids, and other parts of our lives and we’ll take a temporary step back from community life - that reality is acknowledged and accepted - but generally, are you willing and able to step up where and when you can?

Our community is only as good as each of us makes it!

Click and peruse the example year here to get a feeling for some of the “work” to be done, meetings to attend, and some of the celebrations and social gatherings.