Shooting Stars

i recruit for an egalitarian community

but i am not an egalitarian recruiter

i have favorites

Some of them are easy

my community has a huge fixed plant

with many things to fix

tool turns who are not chauvinistic are highly sought after

some members wish we were more stable

and that we would encourage prospective members

who will come and settle down

but i am oft on the look out

for shooting stars

for members i know we cant hold

because there will always be attractive other options for them

because their charisma or charm or capacity

adventures unfold before them

but like the meteor overhead we are enchanted and pleased by their presence.

if we are wise, and emotionally nimble, we will appreciate them while we have them

and remember them fondly when they are gone

The original shooting star in my experience with Twin Oaks was Sugah.

She is now called Tegra, but we called her Mario Andretti when she lived on the commune

i ran into Tegra at my old friend David Goldsmiths birthday party in Eugene.  David has done all manner of exotic and wonderful things in his life, perhaps the most interesting of which is he taught the Dali Lama slam dancing.

Tegra was called Mario Andretti for much of the time i lived with her on the commune.  She was capable with tools, doing acrobatics with nail guns atop ladders while we were putting the finishing siding on the new warehouse extension.  And she was another Ruby Tuesday character, not to be pinned down.  She seemed most likely to go off an learn lion taming or something equivalently exotic.

i did not recruit Tegra, she predated my arrival at the commune, but i did explore if we could keep her longer when she decided to leave, failing utterly and watching her vanish and break myriad hearts on her way.  And still being glad for our brief dance.