Ebb and Flow of Community

Still, I am capable of surprise. Still, I find myself intrigued by how communities form, change and ultimately evolve.

My daughter Mikelle's community changes and evolves we have discovered, growing and strengthening with each incarnation. Mikelle has a physical disability, she uses a wheelchair, a communication device known as Dynavox and lives on her own, with the support of her community, which as I have said evolves and changes in interesting and sometimes unanticipated ways.

Surprising to me is how organic communities are, even when planned and intended. People change in ways not expected, mostly for the good in our case, but not always. People fall in love, lose interest, gain commitment, need adventure, come back and ultimately everyone grows.

Some folks play a central role, like myself, although I see a day when my role will be left of center, on the fringes and other people with move into the middle of my daughter's life.

Right now, we are in a letting go and growing phase. A few people are leaving for short adventures, some moving on entirely and others just entering. It has a magical alchemical element, this community building. And, I love the view from this point in life, where I still can be surprised and intrigued.

Victory Gardens

So today the price of oil continues to escalate, driving up the price of food, driving and purchased goods. This rise shows no sign up stopping, if anything getting worse. As a concerned citizen how do you respond to this?

Well I will show you how some have chosen to combat the problem and turned it into an amazing solution. One that helps save money, increase health and potentially build community. Gardens, simple solution, yeah. During WWII they were called Victory Gardens, now they are called community gardens or just food gardens. They have begun springing up in yards, vacant lots and hopefully soon a rooftop near you.

What I love about community gardening is that the person growing the food, is out and about meeting the neighbors and friends and the kids are running around having a great time playing in the dirt or a nearby playground.



As a previous job I worked for Denver Urban Gardens (DUG), there I worked as an intern for two summers. While in the job I was greeted daily by people less fortunate having a hand in harvesting their dinner, children playing with worms and even an old man who because of his wheelchair had not been able to garden for ten years (until DUG built him a raised bed).

I know that gardens are nothing new or innovative, yet there is something awe inspiring in watching a community come together, especially because the one we fight we help build everyday driving through our daily lives.

I highly recommend checking out DUG's website: www.dug.org and in addition here is a great article from this weekends Denver Post: http://www.denverpost.com/lifestyles/ci_9544778