स्पेल्लिंग names

जय

reminder

When the Michigan winter is harsh, the wind bitter, my commute to work tedious and I don't get enough exercise or sleep or think about dried, sauteed green beans, I reflexively tell myself that this is stupid, illogical and pointless, and that we should move to a sane climate (Berkeley) and live without a car (Berkeley), be able to exercise outdoors year-round (Berkeley) without watching for icy patches, live in walking and biking distance of work, restaurants, Berkeley Bowl and a short BART ride away from Shalimar. I've served my time in Michigan, braving the weather and isolation from downtown, dependence on a car and far from the hill.

Yesterday, one of our neighbors said her husband wants her to move to California, but that though it would be nice, "it wouldn't be cohousing". I should have said, "I feel the same way", and tell her I've wanted to move Great Oak many times. In those moments I want to escape, escape the tedium of the weather, the petty indiginities of putting up with this or that less-than-considerate act, I ultimately get to this:

• People at Great Oak, and probably on the whole who want to live
  in Cohousing, are so reasonable, so much more so than the world at large.



• I want to do more and depend more on my neighbors,
  because I like them and I'd much rather spend time with them than
  living isolated in my home, as I might in Berkeley



• Living in community, especially this community is wonderful;
  most of the time we take it for granted, but it is so much better
  than not living in community.

Of course the fear is that we're missing something, maybe that other cohousing community that is in Berkeley would be the ideal place in the ideal locale and climate, and that's where we should be heading. But as a I learned so many years ago when travelling and looking for a better home than Berkeley, the memory is always better than the present, but being involved in the present community is the best of all.

what goes around...

Another idea that makes me love Berkeley -- the Karma
Kitchen.

My visited countries

A lot of landmass but not very many countries (at least two more than
when I visited them due to the breakup of Yugoslavia)



create your own visited countries map
or vertaling Duits Nederlands

my first limited cohousing head cooking experience

small over break meal 2 by aditya
Vegetarian option: Chole (garbanzo stew) Sprouted mung bean salad with cucumbers on the side to add Steamed basmati rice Yogurt to cut the spicyness Purchased kulfi (spiced ice cream) for dessert More Details (fill in or delete as necessary): Organic: 50% Dairy: easy to avoid Wheat/Gluten: easy to avoid Includes following allergens: Peanuts on the side

worked out to $3.66 per adult (scaled for teens and big kids as usual) capped at 20 diners

seemed to work pretty well