Fire Update #1
Twin Oaks Fire Update #1:
March 31, 2024 – With some updates from April 12 posting
Damage Report:
Survived/Safe:
- All people, pets and livestock are safe.
- Oz, which is the spray varnishing building, survived the blaze and protected dozens of hanging chair frames and hundreds of hammock stretchers. (The original Oz burned down in 2008 after a lightning strike and was replaced by a concrete and steel building, which survived this fire.)
- No residential buildings were seriously damaged (despite the fireline being only feet from Tupelo)
- All other buildings & most critical infrastructure such as ZK, the tofu hut, aurora, the STP, the majority of TO’s vehicle fleet, and most of the other barns, garages, and outbuildings
- The Forest School site
- Grain bin site
Damaged or Destroyed:
- Emerald City warehouse, sawmill, woodworking shops and wood storage burned nearly to the ground. This includes the forklift and its shed
- Two kilns were destroyed, but the hoop house beside them largely survived
- Most of the conference site structures were destroyed, including showers, outhouses, plus pavilion, and outdoor kitchen with all equipment in them
- Gathering & Conference gear & other resources stored at the conf site, including tarps, pop ups, and other coverings for workshop spaces
- The retreat cabin
Smolder Patrol: There were hot spots on the property for several days after the fire, especially inside the burn frame of the warehouse. In the days after the fire, people kept checking the area around the warehouse and the neighboring woods to ensure nothing restarted. There was significant rain over the weekend and now we are pretty confident that all the small fires have been extinguished.
Planner Action/Quota: The planners have been pretty generous with relaxing quota obligations after the fire, before the fire quota was 42 hours a week . Quota was dropped immediately after the fire and for the entire labor week after the fire (March 22-28) to zero hours, giving members time to reorient and recover from the shock of this loss. This coming Friday’s labor week (March 29) will also have a reduced quota of 21 hours. As of April 8 Quota is at 36 hours per week.
Investigation: It appears that the fire spread from a burn pile on our neighbor’s property. The local fire department and the Virginia Department of Forestry are conducting an investigation to determine the cause and circumstances of the fire. At the same time, we are exploring our options for recouping damages.
Cleanup: In order to give ourselves the greatest chance of being compensated for those losses, we must give ample time for professionals to assess the burn site. This means we can not really start cleaning, let alone rebuilding, until this process is allowed to play out, which could take a couple of months. In anticipation of later clean up efforts, we are currently doing “pre-clean” work. This has been emptying and cleaning the recycling barn in preparation for accepting ongoing shipments. It is unclear if any professional cleaning support will be needed, for example if there are things that burned in the fire that need protective gear and/or skills to safely touch & move.
Rebuilding: The planners have made an exception to start rebuilding the Seeds hoop house because the growing season is about to start. The frame is in good shape and needs to be covered with plastic so this season’s seeds can sprout. We are still determining our needs around tools & equipment for rebuilding- if you have items you are interested in giving away and/or loaning to the rebuilding efforts please get in touch with keenan@twinoaks.org or phone 541-505-0803 to discuss possibilities and needs.
Onsite cleanup & repair work: We have already started a number of pre-cleaning tasks and have reached out to our neighboring communities to secure housing for folks who want to visit and pitch in. From early May on, we are looking for volunteers who can work a week or more. If you are interested in volunteering write to Keenan@twinoaks.org or call 541-505-0803
The Future of the Hammocks Business: The business by far hardest hit by the fire was hammocks and chairs. Especially the wood working equipment lost makes it unlikely we can restart the business. The general managers are recommending to the community that we close the business, but we will have a community wide process before making this decision. Here is the hammocks general management paper to the community on Phasing Out the Hammocks Business. There are still supplies for hundreds of hammocks and dozens of chairs in inventory, including hammock beds and yarn for rope that had been ordered and made for us but not yet shipped.
The return of Chairs? McCune disagreed with hammocks management and is conducting an analysis of whether we can return to the hanging chair business. McCune is working with Ex-member Philip on a proposal for rebuilding this business, which may be aided by the machines we will replace to make wooden seed racks. It is also possible that the new proposed chair business will be less vertically integrated, specifically purchasing rope and finished wood. Rather than spinning our own yarn and running our own sawmills and kilns as we did before the fire.
Reconnecting: As of this writing, Internet services have been restored by a borrowed Starlink system, which is about 1/4 our previous capacity. Mo Karnage of Cuckoo Compound has lent us their transceiver until our old service provider can replace our service which they estimate will take another month. At this posting (April 12) full internet connectivity has been restored.
Moving Forward: In 2008 after we lost the Pier 1 hammocks contract we did a “new business” initiative. That process resulted in the community agreeing to fund, develop and market Pam’s Book, wholesale organic seeds working with Acorn’s SESE and seeds growing, These are all on-going income areas today. We agreed on 3/27 that with the likely loss of the hammocks business we will restart this type of process of looking for ways to increase income. Currently, all the conference site events are planning on hosting their events, though possibly adapting the nature or location is still being discussed. Site clean up and modifications are likely necessary.
Fundraising: We have raised over $82K in donations for fire reconstruction (as of April 12). This money will go into the community’s general fund and be spent/allocated using TO’s normal spending policies. There is some discomfort in the community about asking for external support, but this fire comes on the back of a serious significant expenditure on mold remediation. While we generally do not want to be asking for support externally, this is an extraordinary situation.
Recovery Wish List: Here is our wish list. This list is broken into smaller (which you might find around your house) and larger items needed for rebuilding. Ideally, we are looking to get high functioning used items. Ideally, for these heavier items we are looking for donors who are relatively nearby. If you have something to offer but are unsure if it’s useful or needed, please write us at gifts@twinoaks.org.
Feel free to share this update. www.tinyurl.com/Fire24Update1
Thanks so much to all the folks who have already shown their support.
States in Consideration- Why Florida?
(This part of The Flip Project’s “States in Consideration” blog series. Click here to see the rest.)
One of the trickiest parts of the Flip Project is deciding where to take our merry band of data analysts, street performers, political activists and off the beaten path (laundromats, bus stops…) canvassers. We want to craft the biggest electoral impact we can make, and support as many voters as we can, but there are numerous factors involved. We want to go places that have close elections at many levels which we have a chance at influencing. Ideally this would be where there is a competitive US Senate race. A place where we know people who might host us, to cut costs and to ramp up training for our out-of-state volunteers. We look for places that have important referendums, especially where we think these might increase turnout at the polls. And last, but certainly not least, we look for states that might be close presidential battleground states.
These are most of the states we are considering
On April Fools Day, the Florida State Supreme Court made our decision much easier, and at the same time much harder (we wish we could be in three places at once, but sadly that is not possible). They decided that Florida will have a ban on abortion at 6 weeks, before most people even know they are pregnant.
This ruling, while not the most restrictive abortion ban in the nation, still guarantees tragedy and trauma for pregnant people and families in the state- as a similar ban in Texas has demonstrated. Florida’s laws don’t only impact Florida residents, it was also one of the few southern states where abortion was accessible at all. It is 1000 miles from New Orleans to the nearest abortion service provider, if FL maintains its ban. (For example, in Missouri abortion is completely banned with very limited exceptions. Missouri requires an “affirmative defense,” meaning a physician has to prove in court that an abortion met the criteria for a legal exception.)
However, they also decided to approve of the wording of, and thereby permit to appear on the ballot, a proposed amendment by referendum to the state constitution. Florida’s Amendment 4, Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion, says that “no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider”- if it can win 60% of the vote. The most recent state polling shows it garnering 62% of the electorate’s support [link]. But this is before anti-choice groups have invested millions in the state to block reproductive rights.
Florida Senator (and former Florida Governor) Rick Scott, who is up for re-election this year, favors the 6 week abortion ban. He co-sponsored legislation in the US Senate to require unnecessary ultrasounds, and a separate bill in 2021 which would imprison doctors who provide some types of abortion care. Only a year later, in his role as the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Scott released an abortion talking points memo for Republicans designed based on polling and focus groups (not policy or legality) that read in part, “Republicans DO NOT want to throw doctors and women in jail. Mothers should be held harmless under the law.”
It is 1000 miles from New Orleans to the nearest
abortion service provider, if FL maintains its ban
The last Democratic US Senator in Florida was Bill Nelson, who held the post from 2001 to 2019- he lost his seat to Scott in 2018. In the years since, the state has shifted more towards the Republican party, authoritarianism, and blatantly discriminatory laws such as the “don’t say gay” bill. Both Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis call Florida their home.
But Scott is a vulnerable candidate. In his three last general elections he has never won by more than 1.2% (though he did manage to win his seat during the 2018 blue wave midterm election). Voters will be reminded that Scott wanted to cut Medicare and Medicaid. They will be reminded that Scott was CEO of Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), which was forced to pay over $2 billion in civil penalties for systematically overcharging Medicare, which in 2002 was the largest fraud settlement in history.
The other popular proposed constitutional amendment on Florida’s November ballot is the decriminalization of marijuana. The 2016 medical marijuana constitutional amendment passed with 71.32% in favor and 28.68% opposed, and legalized medical marijuana. Scott as Florida governor did everything he could to block implementation, including a years long court battle attempting to ban smokable forms of medical marijuana. It’s only appropriate that he will share November’s ballot with another amendment- the Adult Personal Use of Marijuana Amendment which “allows adults 21 years or older to possess, purchase, or use marijuana products and marijuana accessories for non-medical personal consumption.” This amendment is polling at 67% (LINK).
Who is challenging Scott? Debbie Mucarsel-Powell is the current favorite in the democratic primary (while there is little polling, she is way ahead in endorsements). She was the US House rep for Florida’s 26th congressional district from 2019-2021, making her one of the more experienced candidates in the democratic primary. After leaving office, Mucarsel-Powell worked for Giffords, a gun-control advocacy and research group co-founded by former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
She is pressing Scott on his abortion stance, and is particularly well positioned to do so as the only woman running in the Democratic primary (thus far). Even with almost no statewide name recognition, Mucarsel-Powell is currently polling 3 points down from Scott (within the poll’s 3.5% margin of error). We recognize that a lot can happen between now and the August 20th Democratic primary, and that the filing deadline is still 3 weeks away (April 26, 2024). After the shock of Larry Hogan entering the MD senate race only hours before the filing deadline, we’re not taking anything for granted right now.
Flip is still watching and calculating, but currently Florida just moved to the top of the list as places where our efforts might just make the difference. Reach out if you have specific interest in Florida politics, could help the Flip Project on the ground in Florida, or want to tell us why Florida is the wrong choice and what the right one would be.
At this time the Flip project is actively seeking allies in the Tampa to Orlando region, especially folks who can provide low cost or free housing from the beginning of August thru election day in November. We will likely have a team of at least a dozen and potentially quite a few more.
Fire at Emerald City
Shortly after the equinox ritual called the element of air, wind blew hard enough to send plastic chairs flying around us. When we called water, clouds blocked the sun and it felt for a moment like we might actually get rain. And less than 15 minutes after we called the element of fire into the circle, brown clouds from the neighbors land started billowing overheard in the courtyard.
I broke from the ritual to check in with the office person. Kathryn had already dispatched Sabrina to the graveyard to see what she could see. When i got there half an hour later i took the above picture and was relieved to see the first so far form our property line. My relief was misinformed.
The picture above is about where the fire started but did not give any real indication of how far the fire had spread at that moment. Within half an hour of this first sighting the local Louisa Fire Department was here in force. They blocked traffic on W. Old Mountain Road. They told us to go across Vigor Road (which the Twin Oaks driveways are on) and wait for the all clear. And so almost everyone stopped doing what they we and went across the street. The preparation of dinner was interrupted, so Keenan and Kelpie went and got a bunch of pizzas for everyone. Things seemed to be improving and the fire department let us come back and eat our pizzas in the courtyard.
But things were not getting better. Before 7 PM, we were being told we needed to evacuate the entire Twin Oaks campus. A school bus was brought in and took people to Acorn and the Louisa middle school, where they waited out the fire fighting.
The fire spread from the neighboring land and took out the kilns, the warehouse and all the woodworking spaces (called ECW). It also spread to the conference site and destroyed the pavilion, the kitchen and all of the material storage up there. Miraculously, Oz (which is the spray varnish building that had burned some years back and had been replaced by a steel and concreate building) survived the blaze.
After some hours, after surveying briefly the damage i spotted a number of small fires in the woods between Tupelo and EC. I spent a couple of hours extinguishing these, while the fire fighters were working on bigger blazes. Perhaps most scary was their work on a fire which was quite near Tupelo, one of our larger residences.
The problem was several trees were still on fire higher up than could be reached and were dropping burning branches to the ground. But fortunately the cool night air was reducing the spread of the fire.
In all this tragedy there is some good news. No one was hurt, none of the various pets, many of which could not be found at the time of the evacuation, have been reported missing. No residences were harmed (though Tupelo had a close call).
At about midnight a young fire fighter came across me doing my small fire extinguishing thing and encouraged me to go home, saying these small fires in this cold night air were unlikely to spread and that the fire fighters would be monitoring the woods for any spread and would be there until the whole situation was under control.
Exhausted and covered with ash i returned to the courtyard where some of our members returned, while many stayed overnight at other locations in town.
You can contribute to the general Twin Oaks Community Fire Relief Fund, the Twin Oaks Conference Site Fire Relief Fund, or both.
You can contribute to the general Twin Oaks Community Fire Relief Fund via Stripe. This link has the lowest fees, and contributions will focus primarily on general repairs and restoration. You can contribute using a debit card, credit card, Apple Pay, Cash App, Klarna or a bank account. Contributions via this link are not tax deductible. Donate to the Twin Oaks Recovery Fund here, or by scanning the QR code.
If you need tax-deductible for you donation we will work via the Foundation for Intentional Community’s fiscal sponsorship. Contact us for more inform about tax deductible donations. Please email paxus@twinoaks.org
Thank you friends. I will likely update in a future blog post and updates will be added to the FB group as well, https://www.facebook.com/groups/TwinOaksFriends.
A reflection on the evolution of Twin Oaks
By Keenan
Dining:
Twin Oaks BETA version) Llano is crowded, noisy, and filthy and should be condemned.
Twin Oaks 2.0) ZK sets new standard in luxuriousness and cleanliness at Twin Oaks.
Twin Oaks 3.0) ZK is crowded, noisy, and filthy and should be condemned. Dining should happen in Llano, but only if it has a less offensive name.
Visitor program:
Twin Oaks BETA version) Visitors housed in SLG’s.
Twin Oaks 2.0) Visitors housed in Aurora.
Twin Oaks 3.0) Visitors housed in SLG’s and Ta Chenerates housed in Aurora.
Degania:
Twin Oaks BETA version) Degania is built for childrens’ program.
Twin Oaks 2.0) Degania abandoned.
Twin Oaks 3.0) Degania used for childrens’ program and then Degania abandoned again.
Technology:
Twin Oaks BETA version) No video allowed anywhere.
Twin Oaks 2.0) No video allowed in bedrooms.
Twin Oaks 3.0) No video allowed in public spaces.
Allowance:
Twin Oaks BETA version) Allowance is .75 cents a month
Twin Oaks 2.0) Allowance is $35.00 a month
Twin Oaks 3.0) Allowance is $115.00 a month
Behavior issues:
Twin Oaks BETA version) Behaviorism will deal with any problematic behaviors among members.
Twin Oaks 2.0) Behaviorism doesn’t work. Problematic behavior is dealt with through policy: feedbacks, support groups, process team, mediation, mental health team, and membership team.
Twin Oaks 3.0) nothing works to change problematic behavior—reject all visitors who exhibit any potentially problematic behavior.
A/C:
Twin Oaks BETA version) Air conditioning kills the planet.
Twin Oaks 2.0) Air conditioning protects equipment, but is not for people.
Twin Oaks 3.0) Air conditioning kills mold and saves lives.
What is offensive:
Twin Oaks BETA version) Makeup and shaving are offensive.
Twin Oaks 2.0) Having babies is offensive.
Twin Oaks 3.0) Wrong pronouns are offensive.
Buildings:
Twin Oaks BETA version) Naming buildings after past communal efforts is uplifting and inspirational.
Twin Oaks 2.0) No new buildings to name.
Twin Oaks 3.0) Naming buildings after past communities with problematic values is offensive.
Children:
Twin Oaks BETA version) No children until the community is ready.
Twin Oaks 2.0) The community raises children. Biological parents discouraged from caring for children. Censor children’s books to remove all mention of “mother” or “father.”
Twin Oaks 3.0) Pregnancy approval process to ensure that parents really want to be parents. Parents raise children.
Labor:
Twin Oaks BETA version) Variable labor system (members work too much).
Twin Oaks 2.0) Quota is set at 49 (members work too much).
Twin Oaks 3.0) Quota is set at 42 (members work too much).
Taking a break:
Twin Oaks BETA version) Don’t leave the farm during a hammocks push.
Twin Oaks 2.0) P.A.L. policy
Twin Oaks 3.0) P.A.L., Suspended membership, Emotional LOA, Sabbatical, and Associate Membership.
Building design:
Twin Oaks BETA version) Members reject mainstream building practices, like proper foundations. All building labor comes from Twin Oaks members
Twin Oaks 2.0) Members accept mainstream building practices and most building labor comes from Twin Oaks members.
Twin Oaks 3.0) Building labor is hired.
Income:
Twin Oaks BETA version) Hammocks is main income source. Concerns about Pier 1 as main account eventually prove accurate.
Twin Oaks 2.0) Tofu is main income source. Concerns about cost of upgrading tofu eventually prove accurate.
Twin Oaks 3.0) Seed Racks is main income source. Concerns…?
Decision-making:
Twin Oaks BETA version) Members involved in all decisions of the community.
Twin Oaks 2.0) Decision-making happens at the managerial level after much community process.
Twin Oaks 3.0) Members are sometimes, but not always, informed of decisions.
Ex-members:
Twin Oaks BETA version) Ex-members are treated like traitors to the values of Twin Oaks.
Twin Oaks 2.0) Ex-members are treated like old friends and welcome to come to parties.
Twin Oaks 3.0) Ex-members buy adjoining property.
Cleanliness:
Twin Oaks BETA version) Cleaning is a bourgeois middle-class affectation that focuses on appearance over substance.
Twin Oaks 2.0) Cleaning with chemicals is bad for the planet.
Twin Oaks 3.0) Mold kills! Scrub everything! Use bleach!
Trees:
Twin Oaks BETA version) There are no trees near newly built buildings.
Twin Oaks 2.0) Plant trees to provide coolness and shade buildings.
Twin Oaks 3.0) Fight mold! Cut trees near buildings down!
You are a long term member after…:
Twin Oaks BETA version) 2 years
Twin Oaks 2.0) 5 years
Twin Oaks 3.0) 10 years
Longest term member at Twin Oaks:
Twin Oaks BETA version) McCune
Twin Oaks 2.0) McCune
Twin Oaks 3.0) McCune
Communal networking:
Twin Oaks BETA version) Twin Oaks is isolated and focused on survival.
Twin Oaks 2.0) Twin Oaks helps build a national communal movement (Communities magazine, builds FEC, Leaves of Twin Oaks, welcomes national media).
Twin Oaks 3.0) Twin Oaks helps develop a local network of communities in Louisa County.
Leaving Twin Oaks:
Twin Oaks BETA version) You get nothing if you leave Twin Oaks.
Twin Oaks 2.0) You get $50 and a hammock.
Twin Oaks 3.0) You get nothing if you leave Twin Oaks.
Death:
Twin Oaks BETA version) No need for a cemetery.
Twin Oaks 2.0) Cemetery in the woods on a hill.
Twin Oaks 3.0) Can’t keep track of buried bodies.
This is mainly satire, please don’t message the blamer…also…make your own additions to the evolution of Twin Oaks.
Saving Democracy, again
Back in 2018, a group of communitarians went to Florida to work on an amendment to the state constitution which would restore voting rights to ex-felons. In a close race we won this election which would have turned the state blue with over 1.4 million state residents being able to vote. Sadly, Ron DeSantis was also elected in that cycle and with his keen disregard for the will of the people of the state, he gutted the referendum, blocked felons from getting their vote and set up an election police which was specifically designed to intimidate BIPOC voters and maintain the Republican majority of that state.
Flip Team in Florida 2018
Despite DeSantis meddling, this idea of out-of-state volunteers helping in state wide elections with national significance was compelling to a number of communitarians. In 2020, we went to Maine to try to unseat Republican Senator Susan Collins and then went to Georgia for the two run off elections which we helped win and secure the Senate for the Democrats. In 2022, we came back to Georgia for another runoff election and were successful again.
Our specialty is choosing close elections, recruiting creative and enthusiastic communitarians and helping tilt the balance away from authoritarianism and voter suppression. In the 2024 cycle we also have reproductive rights on the ballot in many states and if there was ever a time to fight the country’s drift towards tyranny it is now.
I would encourage you to read the brand new Flip 2024 Prospectus and support this project. There are 3 ways you can help:
Air Team: The Air team provides support for our efforts on the ground, providing key analytical
and logistical support to the ground team(s) in the target states. We recruit air team members
through our blog posts, social media posts, Democratic party newsletters, and more. Air team members are typically volunteers working from home.
Ground Team: This team includes the volunteers who are physically in-state. The ground team is flexible in its approach and always looking for opportunities to attract voter attention. We lean in to the skills of a given team on the ground in a given area. For example, when our team consists of analysts and
policy wonks we tend to do more GOTV efforts like developing and distributing free ride share
to the polls info. When the ground team consists dominantly of musicians and street
performers, we are likely to be out staging a performance, create a video, a flash mob or some other type of event. We pay our canvassers and we also organize paid canvassing work sponsored by
affiliated groups to help compensate them (e.g. SEIU, PTP, Planned Parenthood, etc).
Angel Team: The Angel team focuses on finding & providing resources for the other teams this includes everything from finding free housing to cash contributions to grocery store gift cards. We have historically funded our work via crowdfunding and community support. We have had a good mix of larger angel funders and small donations. This style of funding maximizes our freedom and flexibility.
If you would like to make a donation please visit our GoFundMe crowd funder.
Funology Rule #1B
Very slowly i am building a collections of “funological rules”. The first rule is “move the furniture“, which while it sounds trivial, i believe, it is quite rich.
When we are creating a party or celebration we are trying to create an extraordinary space. Clearly repositioning the physical environment is a requirement to create a new space. But more important is to think about the furniture in the largest sense. What spaces have been used for in the past need not dictate what they will host or frame for a current celebration. The common example of this rule is clearing a dance floor to make more space for people to dance around in together. A step up from this is building a temporary flying lounge.
Deep into the preparation for this year’s Twin Oaks Communities Conference we created a number of different spaces: domes, gazebos, carport tents, pop ups, as well as upgrading our conference site structures. We are also clearing a number of spaces.
The happiest image in my recent pictures is this one below:
I am thankful to Ogtar, who disassembled this very heavy, slightly smelly couch.
Turns out there is a subrule to the first funological rule. Funology Rule 1B – sometimes the right place to move the furniture to is the dump, which is where this ex-couch ended up.
Quink Kids
There are lots of different strategies for taking over the world. Keenan’s is to keep building larger and more elaborate play spaces until we finally accept that we should take ourselves less seriously and unite the kids we love with the kids inside us.
Keenan is the manager of the Twin Oaks Conference site, which will be busy for 4 different events this summer.
- QuinkFair – July 20 – 24, 2023
- Queer Gathering – Aug. 4 – 6, 2023
- Women’s Gathering – Aug. 18 – 20, 2023
- Communities Conference – Sept. 1- 4, 2023
This site is in the best shape i have seen it in for the last 25 years. And one of the big improvements is the space designed for kids.
It was in Europe, traveling with Victoria, Hawina and Sky that i first realized that there is no such thing as a “general playground”. Instead, public playgrounds are designed to accommodate kids of specific ages. There are different pieces of play space equipment based on the expectation of the agility and balance of the kids who are going to use it. The way around this age limitation on equipment is to stock the space with lots of different pieces of equipment designed for different levels of physical strength and kids capacity to operate them.
But well equipped space is only part the first piece of what you need to have a great kids program at an event. You also need great staff and planned activities. And this year’s QuinkFair is lucky to have several pros helping run our kid program. Saman (aka Macaco) has been practicing Capoeira for many years, and teaches the songs and moves of Capoeira to all ages. Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian cultural practice – simultaneously a fight and a dance – that can be interpreted as a tradition, a sport and even an art form.
Saman often teaches Capoeira to kids
Faith Acorn will also be guiding the QuinkFair kid program
(see here with her own kids, Taozen and Rhyzley)
Several parents have been coming to QuinkFair since we started in 2019 and for them this year’s event will offer the most support and focus on kids.
Tinkering a Quink
This festival, QuinkFair, starts with two unusual challenges: embracing a new word and a dare.
The first idea is that there is an opposite of trauma: a specific event occurs and afterwards you experience healing or a shift in your life in a more positive direction. We have invented a new word to describe this phenomenon: a quink. Falling in love is often a quink, giving up a destructive habit or toxic relationship is a quink, finding a new hobby you love can be a quink. Spiritual enlightenment is almost always a quink.
The dare is that you will open yourself to experiencing this quink thing. You can increase the chances of experiencing a quink by talking about them, by listening to other people share their transformative experiences, or by putting yourself in an environment that’s different from your usual day to day life. We don’t pretend that this search for quinks is a scientific endeavor, it is far more mysterious than that, we don’t really know how to create quinks, they are more elusive than that. But we do believe there is potentially great value to experimenting with these stories and ideas. This festival is designed around tinkering to spark a quink.
Artwork by Dalle2
One of the tools we are using is the Dream Alliance. This small group workshop is where you tell a small group of strangers what you really want in life and they give you their advice in two forms. First, they share their advice as though they are your best friend – concerned for your welfare, wanting you to succeed and thrive. Then you get the reckless advice – out of the box thinking, break things and move fast – less concerned about being safe or sustainable. It turns out in post-Dream Alliance interviews, participants say the most useful advice is often a modified version of the reckless suggestions. This is likely, in part, because people can often forecast what the best friend might say. Thus reckless is novel and with novelty there is breakthrough. We are daring you to opt into this type of experience.
You don’t have to be actively on a path of self discovery and improvement to have a wonderful experience at QuinkFair. You can look at the quink idea as a type of frame. Experienced workshop facilitators are asked to discuss their own transformative journey that inspired them to share the content they are offering.
Books that changed people’s lives will populate our tiny library and someone you have connected with might press one into your hands. Because of its proximity to many intentional communities, including income-sharing ones, a piece of the festival is introducing participants to this unusual and sustainable lifestyle.
Artwork by Dalle2
We believe that the more we recognize quinks and we talk about quinks, the more we create the opportunities to have them. In this way our lives can become richer and deeper and far more satisfying.
It is important to point out this is a celebratory event. We are not serious folks. There are parties, dances, bubble machines, riddle gardens, bonfires, and adult high consent spaces. There is great food (we feed you!), fun kid activities, spiritual readings, and drum circles. Dedicated volunteers help usher in a safe, joyful, and supportive environment for the weekend.
Who is making this happen? Artists, transformative festival organizers, and folks who live in intentional communities. We are organizing the fourth QuinkFair event, which starts July 20th at the Conference site of Twin Oaks Community in central Virginia. [Get your tickets here, and join us July 20-24, 2023]
Come for the ideology, stay for the food.
The joke at the commune is “Come for the ideology, stay for the food.” And so it is with this July’s QuinkFair near Louisa, VA.
At QuinkFair, from the time you arrive as early as Thursday lunch until you leave on Monday, we feed you. Not just basic sack lunches like some conferences, but tasty, nutritious, home-cooked meals and healthy, yummy snacks.
Our kitchen crew is an amazing group- they include past professional chefs, community kitchen honchos, family heirloom recipe chefs and maybe even YOU! During the weekend, some of the participants will volunteer to help peel, chop, wash and whisk to make the magic happen. We have even heard that some quinks have started with relationship building right in our QuinkFair kitchen – it is a special place!
We offer options at every meal so everyone can find something yummy and safe to eat. We offer standard American diet choices, but also a ton of vegan and gluten-free options and safe choices for those with food allergies. By default we plan for the “Big 9” food allergens: Milk, Eggs, Peanuts, Tree Nuts, Fish, Crustaceans (Shellfish), Wheat & Gluten, and Soy. We also cover most common (and several uncommon) preferences or intolerances like no onion, no garlic, no red/mammal meal, no white sugar, and more. If you have other food allergies or sensitivities or want more details, get in touch with us at QuinkFair@gmail.com and we’ll be happy to help.
We are planning our QF traditional Saturday night taco and burrito bowls, a baked potato bar, and some great summer-y cold salads and light soups. Breakfast choices will include hot, hearty dishes, as well as, more summertime options such as fresh fruit, cereal and yogurt. Each meal we plan for some basics, including some kid-friendly options, like salad fixings and nut butter for sandwiches.
We offer organic and locally-sourced ingredients when we can. The organic fair trade coffee has already arrived and we would love to share a cup with you at QuinkFair! Get all the info on the weekend, buy tickets, and apply for work exchange or scholarships at https://quink.fun
June is Espionage & Conspiracy
Regular readers of this blog know i occasionally name months, following the Slavic inspired tradition. Sometimes i do predictions of things i think might happen in the month, but mostly something famous drives my selection. It might be someone passing, it might be a new child or a historic first.
As you can likely guess from this blog title, this month is named after the federal indictment for the previous president on Espionage and Conspiracy charges. 37 felonies in total, representing a maximum sentence over 400 years in prison. Yet most people don’t think Trump will do a day in jail.
But despite this understandable skepticism about Trump facing justice, it is important to note that these charges are very significant. Not because they have a long maximum sentence, but because they are clearly provable charges, a well crafted speaking indictment and they give the GOP yet another exit ramp from this candidate who is responsible for so many losses.
The case Trump needs to worry about most is the Georgia indictment (which is expected in the first half of August). First, it is immune from a Federal pardon, avoiding the annoying situation where a convicted Trump might be able to pardon himself. But more importantly, Georgia’s DAs do not have the DOJs restriction that they can not convict Trump near an election. And Fani Willis of Fulton County has made it clear her RICO Conspiracy Trial of the former president is going forward.
DALL-E on Espionage and Conspiracy Surreal
your passport to complaining 