Ferries and Fairy Wings
Greetings from the Blandford Nature Center in Grand Rapids, MICHIGAN! Mark, the grounds keeper and host for the village, is helping us tremendously as we offer our people power to projects on the land. One project Mark is coordinating is the cleaning and maintenance of a bobcat cage while the cat visits the vet for the first time. Village volunteers report that they dug out a pipe that was supposed to keep the pond from overflowing, but that wasn't working. Yea village volunteers!
Meanwhile, as the cat's cage was being tended to, other volunteers worked with Kelsey in the gardens at the nature center. We pulled out a whole patch of weeds in the center of the garden and Mark, one of our rider volunteers, forked the rows in the beds.
I have heard word from Mark, our host, that mutually beneficial relationships are indeed happening and that our community service is not merely good intentions.
Having said that, the local TV stations came out and captured shots of volunteers in the gardens and of our rigs, including Mary Jo's. Hers is the bike and trailer that is carrying her stuff and two of her children. The image we created of bikes, gardens and community building for the camera is staying true to the facts on the ground of smiling faces, good food and happy hosts. We are taking care of ourselves, our logistics, and being helpful and responsible to the people helping us as we go. Cooperation and mutual aid are more fun in practice than in theory and I am so glad to be here. I only got one hour of sleep the night before last, but feel well-rested and strong as we journey on.
Low points of yesterday's journey to Grand Rapids:
* 1/3 of the village is reporting knee problems and being physically challenged by all these miles!
Delyla, not just our lead cook, but also part of the permibus medic team, called a whole village meeting this afternoon to teach folks how to take better care of their knees while riding.
Highlights of yesterday's journey to Grand Rapids:
* We mobilized 21 adults and 3 children at 3:30 in the morning to ride our bikes, trailers and gear 7 miles to the ferry dock and get on the ferry to Michigan. Once landed upon the shores of Lake Michigan, we rode from the ferry dock to Kruse Park and jumped in! The sandy dunes were soft and gentle on tired, sore feet tingling with excitement from the cold water and good spirits. I found my personal peds jumping and leaping for joy while refreshing ourselves before the long stretch ahead into Grand Rapids. Anjel attached my fairy wings with safety pins and I have heard curious bystanders say "nice wings" twice now, as I fly by on my bike. They feel real and I am reeling from the fun and flow I feel in this tight community emerging on the ride to Motown.
Three locals met us at the ferry with their bikes and took the lead for our 35 mile ride into Grand Rapids. We arrived an hour later than the schedule published in the ride guide so we went directly to the potluck that the Bloom Collective arranged at the 4th street Oasis Gardens. It is a small garden thriving on a city lot where a house had burned down. We shared food and stories with locals and then rode over to the Blandford Nature Center where we currently are residing. I am writing this report from beneath a tarp at the indy media center, set up on one of the picnic tables outside. It is sprinkling, but no hard rains today.
Tonight, the permibus is performing their puppet show and the puppetistas from the Caravan will perform theirs. We are expecting 25-50 locals at our variety show this evening that will take place in an old barn.
All is well and everyone is accounted for in our mobile village of resilience! Stay tuned for reports from the Leaven Center in Lyons and two abandoned lots where the village will set up in Lansing.
If you want to see us on TV, you can search these Grand Rapids sites using "Madtown 2 Motown":
If you get there fast enough, it may just be on the front page of their sites.
WZZM 13 at wzzm13.com
Wood TV 8
WMMT TV3