Where There is a Will, There is a Way!
By Tom & Carol Braford
For the last 7 years now, we have been surrounded by a great wading bird rookery of 4 endangered species, including great white egrets, snowy egrets, night herons and small blue herons. Last year, they were joined a couple weeks after they arrived by a rookery of 40 or 50 grackles that decided the bamboo thicket just outside our side door was the perfect place to raise their young. This year they jumped the gun and are already here by the dozens in mid-March and the rookery is growing daily.
It was such a delight to head out for an early breakfast recently and be greeted by this ever expanding cacophony of sounds in the thicket as I walked out the door. It was not just grackles, but also pairs of cardinals and robins, as well. They provide a natural burglar alarm at our side door with a few taking flight at the sound of the key going into the lock and dozens exploding out of the top of the bamboo as the door cracks open.
I swear the wildlife must know that we are creating an Ecovillage here, because more and more of them keep showing up. During COVID, we were visited by a few deer and even a solitary coyote, in addition to regular visits from the usual squirrels, rabbits, raccoons and possum and dozens of long term and migratory birds, dozens of crows in the winter and even a dozen turkeys walking in single file down the middle of our street at dusk one evening last fall.
They say birds of a feather flock together, but we are seeing that birds of lots of different feathers flock together, as well. This is a good model for the Ecovillage, so whatever your feather, let’s start flocking together again and get this thing built.
You say that you would love to, but you do not have the money, or maybe you do not have the kind of job that would make it possible to pay a mortgage, even if you could come up with a down payment. Well, we might be able to manage both. We are out to create worker-owned co-ops to build out the community that, once your skill levels are built up over time, would give you enough income to cover a mortgage. So, if you want to live in community, but just do not see how it would be possible right now, let’s talk.
As the saying goes, where there is a will, there is a way, so if you have the will, let’s work together to find a way. You can find us at EarthDay in Forest Park on 4/25 & 26 and contact us at braford@sbcglobal.net or at www.ArizmendiEcovillage.com.