My vision has changed many times over the years, but now I’m 99 percent sure I’ve settled on my main vision: a think tank of animal rights activists building an umbrella network, with local chapters that support every person and group working for animals without competing with any of them. The heart of it is a cooperative community on land held in a land trust. People who share this vision and live together can be far more effective, because we’re together so much and can get more done. We can also model a vegan cooperative community, which is much needed. It will start with me living on the land or nearby and reaching out to people who share my vision and values, who will eventually join me in living here. As we live and grow together, the vision can evolve. These articles, written over the past thirteen years, let you get to know me and my history along the way.

This is the amazing and wonderful thing about networking and the internet. I had wanted to visit the Thirdway Community www.thirdwaychurch.org but the timing was not good. But I was told by my contact there that Natalie is one of the founding members of Thirdway and she is visiting Plow Creek for the summer. I just found her email address that Jen from Thirdway so graciously provided me, and I decided to write her. One half hour later, I receive an answer and invite to lunch. Don’t you think that is awesome? But still, kind of weird, too:)

So here I am at a community, emailing someone because she was recommended as a good person to talk to about Thirdway. So even though I don’t get to visit the physical site, getting to know Natalie will be a great way to get to know those folks. It seems that Plow Creek serves as a wonderful way for other communitarians with similar values to get away from the city and still have community experience. This community network is much bigger than I thought. I am so happy to be plugging into this most inspiring group of communities and people. I can’t wait to write more about Plow Creek!

My social calendar is filling up and I am glad of that for I want to have the richest possible experience here, although one part of me feels like being lazy after all my activity in Chicago town. At Reba Place Fellowship, I stayed with the director of the community and her husband. Sally arranged almost my whole schedule for me which was wonderful. Here, I am more on my own. So I am looking at their website and getting to know people, many of whom I definitely want to talk to. I think I will try to contact some more people now. People actually have time for you when they live in community, it seems!