Back at the Intentional Community

We got back to the Intentional Community two days ago.  We dropped in unexpectedly since I didn't know when we were going to get back.  We've basically just hung out in the RV and tried not to make a nuisance of ourselves.


Other than that life has been boring and windy.  My mom and I both have the sniffles from the drastic change in weather.  I'm trying to get out my next book installment, and might be getting involved with the theater here.  There probably won't be many updates from here on.

Intentional Community Day 2

I'm writing from a truck stop in El Paso, but I shall be reporting on the events of yesterday.  We are going to try for membership at this intentional community.  I made some awesome friends there who I want to have as a part of my life.

They're picky about who they let in, but I will begin going through the membership ritual in April.  I first have to live in the community for a few months for them to make sure I'm not any trouble.  Then they can vote, and it must be a 2/3rd vote to get me and my mom in.

We haven't started anything yet because we still have to be in New Orleans in March to fly to Puerto Rico.  After that we'll be heading back to New Mexico, and should be here by April.  So...we'll see how it goes!  This might change from an RVing blog to a living in a commune blog.  @-@  Exciting?

Just now I got a call from Shirley (my new bff even if she doesn't know it yet) and she's getting thing in the works to smooth over my integration into the colony.  This is so nice I'm almost brought to tears.  They really want me!!

All of the homes I'm sharing with you through the pictures are either vacant, or the owner gave me permission.  Isn't this place cool?!

One woman named Fran gave me the grand tour of her EPIC set-up.  She was super-nice, and I hope I can get to know her better once I'm in (if I get in).  She is like the uber-version of what I picture myself becoming.  She uses the sunshine to filter her water, lives on solar, raises veggies with her own compost, and has some amazing projects and out buildings.  She showed me so much I hope I can convey it all in this post.

Here's the outside of her main house.

The inside is kind of like a really heavily padded yurt.

Look at her car!  I don't even...!

She has lots of little RV trailers here and there.  The pink boots are for a celebration at the 'Pink Store' in Mexico

She has a bus converted to an RV in her backyard.  I blocked out Shirley because I'm not sure if she was okay with me sharing her picture.

Look at this steering wheel!

It has a stove!

So kewl!

Here's Fran's outdoor bathtub!  The barrel will heat the water with the sun in the summer and in the winter she can light a fire under it.

What the heck is this?!  She had it in her back yard too.

Inside is a giant pit!!  I thought it might be a root cellar, but it's actually a place to go during the hot summers so she can live without AC.

She has quick hoops with chicken wire to grow stuff without the rabbits feasting.

She also grows stuff in trows recovered from abandoned pasture in the desert.  The bottoms are all rotted out, so they drain for her.

 I was amazed and grateful she was okay with pictures.  She's a really cool lady!  Not everyone lives like this, but some of the long term residents have amazing set-ups.  They embody what you'd expect from a colony like this.

That doesn't mean everyone is living that way.  There are mobile homes and modular homes with all the modern conveniences also.  We would live in our RV with an electrical connection.  We might buy a home for sale here, but might not.  We really like our RV.

It was exciting, incredible, rejuvenating, and hope inspiring.  It gave me a destination for my chaotic life.  I will be away for a while, but I know I'll be back.

Day 1 At the Intentional Community

We're at an intentional community somewhere in New Mexico.  You're going to hate me, but I'm not going to tell you the name of the place or the location.  I haven't met my main contact yet, and I don't want to expose things about them until I get permission.  It's possible this may not happen...so, sorry.

They have an RV space with electric and water.  We're camping here while checking the place out.  Here's the bathroom assigned to the RV spot. 

Now, what I would really like to do is take pictures of all the amazing houses here.  Houses made out of bottles, mud, 'papercrete', a house that looks like a medieval castle, a pyramid, a house with a rocket in the yard, and this is just what I can see from the RV windows because I was asked not to wander around by myself.  As I sit here I hear chickens crowing, and one of the women to welcome me said she has ducks.  ;o;  I feel like I'm home!

Communities like these get lots of prospective members visiting.  I understand that there's not many people around to hold our hands and so forth.  I'm very lucky that a woman I emailed with was kind enough to show me her house and tell me more about things.  She has a 'normal' house, a modular home that she bought from the next town over. 

Behind her house is a half built foundation and an RV sewer, electric, and water.  This plot is available for a new member, and I thought MINE!!  The people who were building on it passed away.  (But we think we found something even better right across from her.)

So, in this community you go through a vetting process and if you're accepted you pay around $2,000 for a plot of land and put a dwelling on it.  My  mom and I started talking about building a house on the land we would get if we're accepted into the community.  I always knew we'd need something, because we need a place to take showers and do laundry.  My thoughts were a shed with a shower and laundry room in it.  We passed a place selling portable buildings in Deming.  These sheds were huge, and in our budget.  Now we started thinking about converting a shed into a tiny house.  Something 16'x32' would give us our own bedrooms, kitchen, living area and bath.  But now we're talking $$$.

The original plan was just to use our RV as our house since, you know, I still owe $65k on it. However we met someone who owns a really nice house in the community and wants to sell it.  It has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, RV hookups in back, a screened garden, a greenhouse, two sheds, and fruit trees.  I'm in love, and the price is right.   My mom really wants it too.

I've gone over my reasons for wanting to settle in a commune/intentional community in another post.  This house would give us everything I want, already built for us.  It's just perfect!

We've decided to take a gamble and put a $500 deposit on it to buy the house if we're accepted into the community.  We might lose our money, however, if we do get accepted here and don't get the house we'll feel bad. 

So far I've made a good friend and hopefully future neighbor.  She said to the man selling the house that we were solid and she was going to vote for us to be accepted.  Another woman on the board told us we had her vote too.  This woman owns a theater in the small town attached to the community.  We talked about me getting involved with the theater.  I'd like to write and act in plays there.  @-@  I love to act!

I'm not doing anything just yet.  I still want to get to know people and see how this place works.  It seems pretty autonomous, with lots of volunteer and community activities.  I think I could be happy here.  At the very least I could get back to raising my own crops and chickens.  (Rabbits are out because wild rabbits are spreading some disease.)

We've only been here a few hours and right now I'm in my RV hoping for another escort to come and take some time with me.  This is a really cool place.  Maybe it can be home?