Spring in October

Right now, it feels a lot like spring at Dancing Deer. It hasn’t been the weather, it’s all about renewal and new beginnings and the excitement that can come when you stand in a doorway.

There’s something almost intoxicating about coming off this cleaning and repainting of the house and starting in earnest on the landscaping and knowing that, with every clump of earth that is turned and every bush that is planted or replanted, we’re nearer to the place we want to go.

And even though it doesn’t look quite as pretty as it will look when we’re done, it’s already gorgeous here. Sometimes I laugh to myself about that. Landscaping! When you look out the window and see those rolling fields, see the stands of oaks and -- yes -- catch a glimpse of a deer grazing in one of the meadows, you know that, no matter what beautification we get up to around here, there are some things we’ll never try to improve on. We never could.

With the cleaning and repainting of the main house complete, we’ve been pleased to have been able to share Dancing Deer with a small number of other non-profit organizations. 

The Fire in Our Hearts

There are so many wonderful things happening here at Dancing Deer. The cleaning and painting of the main house; the landscaping that is ongoing and the permaculture that has been delighting us with possibilities for a beautiful, sustainable future.

All of these great things are in motion and we’re poised to tell you about them but, to be honest, it’s difficult to pull our minds from the fires currently still raging throughout California. It’s not because we have interests and loved ones in some of the affected areas... but that’s certainly not making things any easier!

And so, like so many others, we sweat it out. We do whatever we can and, no matter what it is, when we’re done, we realize it’s not enough.

I was heartened to hear more and more positive reports throughout the day yesterday. And Thursday night, FOX 6 in San Diego had some good news, as well as much that was bittersweet:

Shelters are emptying and thousands of evacuees are being allowed to return home in the fire ravaged areas of Southern California.

But the full extent of destruction is still being tallied and several new areas are being evacuated, including an area south of San Diego where rural communities on the Mexican border are under threat.

The same article shares all of the numbers currently in hand: it’s a heartbreaking tally that indicates acres burned, houses destroyed, lives lost. You want to turn your head, but there’s just no place else to look. As the San Diego Union-Tribune reported a few days ago, “Regardless of ZIP code, we’re all in this together.”

For the most up-to-the-minute information available, check the state of California’s Cal Fire Mission Web site. The site includes updates on the status of all of California’s fires as well as preparedness information and what you can do to help.

California Fire Continues

Those of us here at Deer Dance share in the shock and dismay that has gripped so many of us over the last four days at the fires that have been ripping through Southern Californian communities.

The news this morning has been no better. This from Firefighting News:

The dozen wildfires raging across Southern California continued to overwhelm fire-fighters on Tuesday as the greatest wildfire evacuation in California history continued. As more than 500,000 people fled their homes, the fires burned across 600 square miles from San Diego to north of Malibu, destroying more than 1,800 homes.

While fire-fighters from surrounding states and even the Federal government have joined the battle, things have yet to turn around:

“The fire has control right now,” said Rochelle Jenkins, spokeswoman for the [California Office of Emergency Services].

Forecasters at the National Weather Service said fire conditions in much of Southern California will remain “critical” today with near-record temperatures, sustained winds of 20 to 30 mph and gusts up to 50 mph.

As though the loss of homes and property weren’t enough, the impact of this fire on the environment will be impossible to fully calculate for a long time. From The New York Times:

A survey conducted by the California Farm Bureau Federation found that avocado and citrus groves, nurseries, vineyards, rangeland, and other farm and ranch operations were possibly damaged, with thousands of horses evacuated to shelters and livestock also possibly caught in the fires’ paths.

It’s difficult today to think of anything besides this almost overwhelming disaster. A family -- a single mom and her three children -- who has lost their home in San Diego is currently on their way to Deer Dance now. Helping her has made us realize that, with this amazing facility, there are other ways we can help. We are currently organizing The Center for Reuniting Families’ relief efforts. Meanwhile, if there is some grassroots way in which you think we can help, please let me know personally. You can e-mail me here, or call 805-434-3200 and ask for Dr. Peter Huber.

If you’ve come to us through a search engine and are looking for information on the fire, the California Fire News Blog is a good place to get up-to-date information on the fires as well as connect with other related services, emergency and other.

Between the Forest and the Deep, Green Grass

All the good stories -- the important stories, the one’s we’ve been telling for generations since time out of mind -- all those good stories begin with a garden, things growing, renewal and touching the earth. The knowledge of this was the single most important thought that steadied our hands and bolstered our hearts as we searched for the piece of land that has become Dancing Deer.

Searched and searched.

It took a long time.

During that search we didn’t know exactly what we were looking for -- we didn’t know precisely what the finished picture would be -- but we always understood that a rich and beautiful piece of land would be central. The land would become the basket that would hold the thoughts and desires and good wishes that would then grow to be the foundation of the dream that we were even then beginning to see.

As I write this, the dream has a shape -- Dancing Deer. And it has a foundation -- this wonderful property in San Luis Obispo, edged by an oak forest that surrounds the many undulating acres where the deer do, indeed, dance. And all of it is more -- so much more -- than what we anticipated as we searched; as we began to form the dream.

From the beginning, we knew we wanted -- needed, required -- a beautiful natural environment that would inspire choices for living a sustainable and conscious life. A place that would play a part in fostering community while supporting practices to help restore and enhance the Earth’s own systems.

What we desired was to be able to offer resources, support and examples of harmonious living in a sustainable way in order to inspire people to make positive choices with regards to their own health, their relationships, their skills as parents and partners and their overall practices for living.

These are the things we wanted the Center for ReUniting Families to be able to do. And these are the things that Dancing Deer -- together with our own various passions and energies -- will help make possible.

It’s early days yet. The journey has just begun. We invite you to travel with us, to add your voice to the chorus. And we invite you to visit us at Dancing Deer: to take a tour, a workshop or even just to spend a quiet half hour in the nurturing environment the property provides.

Between visits, check back here frequently. We anticipate that this blog will provide not only a conduit for information between CRF’s board members, but also a public sounding board for our ideas and thoughts on the direction Dancing Deer will take. We plan, also, to use this space to let you know about upcoming events and activities as well as sharing our thoughts on some of the technologies and techniques that we’ll be showcasing at Dancing Deer over the coming months and years.

And so it begins.