Category — Arivaca

This has been one of those months where it feels like way more than a month’s worth of time and energy has been used up. In October I went to several potlucks and played a lot of music. I played at La Gitana, for the Mesquite Harvest Festival, and with various friends. I also have been practicing guitar and fiddle a lot more than I had been in the past few months, although I haven’t done much with the mandolin.

October saw the Mesquite Harvest Festival, an event that I put a lot of time and energy into. I made sourdough mesquite pancakes for the pancake breakfast at the community center and later played music for a few hours at the hoedown. Although we had less people than we expected, we still made quite a bit of money for the community center.

A lot more happened in October than I will detail here, much of that time spent with dear friends, building community and developing my sense of place for Arivaca. However, travel and exploration is in my blood and by the end of the month I found myself making plans to travel to San Francisco to work with an extremely creative woman on a conglomeration of web projects, including an internet radio show. Next month’s post will talk about that in more detail.

It has been a busy and hectic month as we moved out of the Birdhouse and onto the property that where we are now caretakers. This was perhaps the easiest move we’ve made since we only moved six miles away and we have greatly reduced our material possessions. We could move everything we own using the motor home and a utility trailer to pull behind for all of Sara’s art stuff. We do not even own a car at this point, although I have plans to get a scooter (or something similar) to get around the Arivaca area.

Our new place is beautiful and peaceful and we have an incredible 180-degree view of the mountains.

I have a feeling of peace and expectancy, like something is about to change in my life. Not an external change or another move, but something inside and spiritual. I’m going to relax and let it happen in its own time.

The big news is that my daughter Kasie has moved here and I am happy and thankful she is here. In addition to the joy of just having her spirit and energy around, she has also relieved me of my overnight work for Origins. This currently leaves me working two day shifts per week which is much more manageable considering all of my other work and activities.

I started a batch of prickly pear fruit wine this morning. In another few weeks it should be ready and I will bottle some as wine and make brandy out of the rest. Tomorrow morning I’m gathering more fruit and will make more wine. I also want to try making mesquite wine and brandy which should have an interesting taste. I also need to figure out how I want to distill the wine. I could buy a distiller or I could build my own from parts I buy. The kind you buy costs $500, so I don’t think I’ll go that route!

We had another great meeting/potluck for Arivaca Local. There was another big event going on at the same time, so we only had 10 people show up, but I enjoyed the smaller group and felt more connected to each person. We started by talking about the upcoming barter faire which then segued into discussing local economy in general.

Here are some of the things keeping us busy:

1. Eating freshly butchered (and roasted) chicken. The meat was tougher, but I realized that I liked it better that way. It tasted more like real meat than the mushy crap from the supermarket. It was also much tastier.

2. Making sourdough bread. I made the starter completely from scratch, so it is filled with native, wild yeasties. The starter took off like crazy, so I know I have some really active yeast. I have the first loaves rising as we speak and I will let you know how they taste.

3. We started drinking fresh, raw, goat’s milk and kefir… yum! I love the food scene here. We’re also part of a local CSA (community supported agriculture) and will be getting a load of fresh vegetables every week. Oh, we also get fresh, free-range eggs. Damn, we’re eating well!

4. The monsoon rains are here in full force. We got plenty of rain in July, right around the average, but now it’s here for real. At 4:00 p.m. yesterday afternoon there were a few fluffy clouds and by 4:30 it was starting to rain. Around 5:00 the wind started blowing extremely hard and erratic and the rain came down in sheets. We later found out that there was a microburst nearby and we were feeling the effects of that. For those unfamiliar with microbursts, they are large masses of colder air that suddenly drop to the ground and can create tornado-strength winds. There are places here where metal t-posts are bent almost in half because of a microburst. They are also responsible for a lot of the plane crashes that occur as a plane is just landing or taking off.

5. I’ve started working again… for now. I’m working a couple of overnights and a couple of days, working with people with developmental disabilities. I’m glad this opportunity is here in town, because there is no way I would drive 3 hours per day to work in Tucson. I have mixed feelings about the work. On one hand, I’m thankful for the chance to make some extra money, on the other hand… it’s work! I’m still doing my web design and have other projects going

6. The music scene is getting bigger and better here. Someone I met last year has moved to the area and he plays old-timey clawhammer banjo; along with fiddle, guitar, and mandolin. We’ve been talking about putting together a string band called the Arivaca Ramblers and I would play fiddle along with his banjo and our resident washtub bass player might join in as well. There are also three jam sessions a week going on and I’m working on having a fourth. I don’t make it to all of them, but it’s nice to have them available.

7. Sara paints every day and is currently working on a new, looser style that I love. Awesome colors and powerful style. It’s nice to see her feeling well enough to do this. Two days ago she spent the day making a butt-load of banana bread using raw coconut oil and agave nectar for sweetening.

8. I’ve joined a group that practices gentle hatha yoga twice a week and Sara plans to attend also. We meet twice a week and practice for an hour. Last time, my back felt sooooo much better and I was hooked.

9. After yoga class on Mondays, we have an hour-long quiet meditation. Although I practice meditation throughout the week and take moments of mindfulness throughout the day, it’s nice to sit with other people. The energy is different.

10. Twice a month we meet to watch a DVD of Adyashanti, a spiritual teacher from the Japanese Zen tradition with a practical and often humorous bent. I love listening to this guy because what he says makes sense, is helpful, and he’s very down to earth.

11. I joined a video club called Earth Cinema Circle where I receive a DVD bi-monthly with independent films related to environmental topics. I’m not sure if I’m going to simply pass around the DVD or if we’ll try to have a bi-monthly showing as a group. I think this will fit in well with our Arivaca Local group.

12. Speaking of Arivaca Local, the group is continuing. The website is up and people are participating in the forum and last week we had a very good turnout for the potluck. We have decided to have the potlucks the last Sunday of the month and the barter faire the second Saturday morning of the month. We have also talked about other ideas, such as Sara’s idea to have fundraisers and then use the money for such things as sending people to workshops, bringing speakers in, or even starting our own local Heifer International-type program. I’m excited to see how this all grows.

And that is a little taste of what has been going on in our lives here in Arivaca. This is such a difference from what we experienced in Las Cruces. Arivaca is alive, energized, vital, and… home.