making a move

Faber is shifting - more to come soon!

Nov. 2 Entry

Yikes!  I feel like I inadvertently abandoned my Blog.  Maybe it's a case of "the busy's", or the ever present nature of Facebook.  

I was sitting in church tonight and suddenly realized it was November 2.  This was the night my father passed away 18 years ago, and I hadn't given it a thought all weekend.  Usually on Halloween I have something happen that clues me in, but this year it just never came to mind.  So while sitting and listening to music in church I was thinking that it was sort of nice.  Partly because I thought about my dad 2 times today, regardless of the anniversary.  

First was when I put Levi down for his nap for the second time.   My dad would always make me take a nap on Sunday afternoons at the same time he did.  Our neighborhood had an unwritten rule that kids stayed inside until 3pm on Sundays so that everyone could enjoy their dinner and take naps, etc.  Obviously, the kids hated this rule, and I always attempted to find ways to sneak out.  Knowing this, my dad would always make me take my nap on the top bunk of our bunk beds, and he would snag the bottom bunk.  I would always wait for his breathing to slow down and then try to ease myself down from the top bunk, across the wood floor and out the closed door.  9 out of 10 times I would get caught or end up falling asleep before he did.  So as I caught a couple Z's next to Levi, I thought about how great those Sunday naps really were.

The second time I thought about my dad today was when Levi was eating lunch.  Nora and I have a really hard time getting our menus and lunch times to match up right now, not to mention Levi's schedule.  Nora has several food allergies and needs to eat pretty often.  It's not unusual for me to look at the clock, see 4pm, and realize that I haven't eaten anything that day.  So we were both talking about how we need to try to line up lunches or dinners better and eat them as a family.  My parents did a great job of this, and I know Levi will miss something if we don't do it.  But I was remembering when he was diagnosed with Cancer and was on a special Macrobiotic diet, that we still ate together.  My mom was probably more to thank for that, but it still was a great memory of our family around a dinner table talking about the day and laughing about something inappropriate for dinner conversation.

So, sitting in church, I didn't feel a lot of sadness - just some additional gratitude.  Miss you dad, and I'm trying.

Family Reunion Pics

The family at Sleeping Bear Dunes

Levi "swimm'in" in Little Glen Lake

Levi wearing his Real Salt Lake soccer kit from Uncle Garth

Visiting the other cottages in Grandpa's boat

The family arrives by boat to the Little Glen Lake cottage

The boys look for crayfish on the doc with Uncle Nathan


Cousin Pic A.K.A. "Chad and Kim renew their vows"

bubbles

With State of Michigan Data (big circle)


Without State of Michigan Data

off the grid

Sorry folks, I went "off-the-grid" there for about a month. I've been working hard to finish up a project and my eyes are just able to start focusing on distant objects again. A life spent 18 inches from a computer screen all day is not good for the soul. So as I come out of the haze, here are some fun things I'm working on around the hood.

1) We've been working with Calvin to see what the viability of wind energy is up at Newberry. We are meeting with the city tomorrow to check in to see what other barriers might be in place. I'm really enthralled with the idea of a Wind Energy Community Co-op where members buy in and offset their own power use. Like most things in my life, Denmark is the source of inspiration.

2) Coit Bridge reconstruction is moving forward well, and the final designs should be coming out soon. The new design has big sidewalks and native plantings. It has a hefty price tag, but I think there is an opportunity to raise some money for this thing.

3) Jon and I have been testing out geocaching and have found a couple locations in the neighborhood. I'll let you know what these modern-day treasure hunters find.

4) My neighbor April has just started up a great new blog called my-grandma-was-green I'll also post a link in my sidebar. But I encourage folks to surf over and check out the story of her living this year like her grandma did 40+ years ago.

what I'm reading

Inspiring stuff...

"Modern society is characterized by isolation and a weakened social fabric. The various sectors of our communities—businesses, schools, social service organizations, churches, government—work in parallel, not in concert. They exist in their own worlds as do so many individual citizens, who long for connection but end up marginalized, their gifts overlooked, their potential contributions lost. This disconnection and detachment makes it hard if not impossible to envision a common future and work towards it together.

We know what healthy communities look like—there are many success stories out there, and they've been described in detail. What Block provides in this inspiring new book is an exploration of the exact way community can emerge from fragmentation. How is community built? How does the transformation occur? What fundamental shifts are involved? He explores a way of thinking about our places that creates an opening for authentic communities to exist and details what each of us can do to make that happen.

"My intent" he writes, "is provide structural ways to create the experience of belonging, not just in those places where people come to just be together socially, but especially in places where we least expect it. This includes those places where people come together to get something done. These are our meetings, dialogues, conferences, planning processes––all those occasions where we gather to reflect on and decide the kind of future we want for ourselves."

Citizens have the power to change the community story and bring a new context into being. Block shows us how we can overcome isolation and anxiety and create communities alive with energy and possibility. This book is written to support those who care for the well being of their communities. It is for anyone who wants to be part of an organization, neighborhood, city, or country that works for all, and who have the faith and the energy to create such a place."  from www.peterblock.com

hold the day in your heart

Perfect weather!  We Michiganders know that in the middle of February your thoughts go to Spring.  And yesterday's weather almost makes a winter like this year's tolerable.  The layers of green are starting to fill out.  From our roof deck we look over a small valley that is now popping with lime and hunter green.  It feels like being in a tree fort when you blur your eyes.   And with good weather comes happy cohousers.  We were out in force getting on top of Spring projects.

The landscaper just finished up this winding path to connect out to the park.  Kids just can't resist it and it pulls them in like a tractor beam.  Their eyes get all hazy as they get drawn toward the park.

Most of the dads found themselves watching kids in the park on Saturday morning.  Mother's Day inspired actions I'm sure.  

Marty, Lou and Jim took on another project.  We agreed to put up a screening wall between our parking wall and the neighbors.  We had some trees planned for this area, but space is such a premium on the site, that we renegotiated the site plan and carved out a space for some future composting or storage.  The trade off was 11 posts and some lattice work.  Many hands make for quick work though, and the posts are all in and steady.  

Ian volunteered to take Levi around for a couple laps as Levi pronounced, "Hold on tight, yeah!" 

coho weekend

Last weekend my mom was in town from Washington so we went big and celebrated Levi's birthday on Saturday and Baptism on Sunday. Both events were awesome and special, but by Sunday night I was pretty spent.

I headed into the weekend with no plans. I can't remember the last time this happened, so I tried to take full advantage.

Friday night Nora's dad watched Levi for a couple hours while we went out for a drink and some dinner.

Saturday I spent most of the day wandering cohousing with Levi and picking up random conversations. We headed out with some Newberry folks at night while Jon and Lisa picked up Levi duty. (are you getting the theme yet)

Sunday was another day at home with a quick bike ride to church in the evening. I got home around 6:30 and just in time to beg for some scraps from the coho potluck and snag a burger from Jon's BBQ.

Coho dreams do come true!

first dinner and a movie

Last night marked the true beginning of Newberry Place as we celebrated our first community meal. It was followed by a kids movie. We ate some spicy enchiladas courtesy of Linda. This place is starting to feel like home.

Dr. Day

I'm currently part of Leadership Grand Rapids, a 9 month leadership development program in Grand Rapids.  As part of the experience the class works on Community Trustee Projects for local groups and organizations.  My small group is putting together a project for Michigan State's new Med School.  The school is interested in hearing from the community on what skills, in additional to the technical understanding of medicine, they should be training or adding to their curriculum for new doctors.  Over the course of the past couple months we've interviewed several people that work closely with doctors and the health care system.  But we wanted to add one more element to the study so we set up at my neighborhoods "Dr. Day" to talk to people that either don't have health care coverage or at least might not engage doctors on a regular basis.  We asked them "What makes a good doctor?" "What has disappointed or impressed you about doctors you visit?", and "What skills should new doctors have upon entering their practice?"

The first response was always, "They need to be a good listener".  Everyone shared their frustration with health care feeling like it has turned into a fast food restaurant instead of a nice family meal.  There were also a lot of comments about wanting to engage in their health care with the feeling like they were on a team with their doctors, nurses and care providers.  There were several stories from people that felt like they were put down by their doctors, being told that they just need to stop being fat or stop some behavior that they don't feel like they have control over.  On a positive note, several people had a lot of hope for younger doctors  that demonstrate better bedside manner and felt like female doctors where much easier to work with.  

sculptures

Yesterday I facilitated a board retreat for the Community Media Center.  I tried something new as the icebreaker and team building portion of the day.  I gave each table a mess of raw material (modeling clay, wood scraps, paper, tape, pipe cleaners, paperclips, etc.) and had them work in teams to create a sculpture that represented the identity and character of an organization that "Builds Community through Media".  Needless to say, the results were as wild and diverse as the participants. 

 

We then gathered around the various table's art work and performed an interpretive art critique of the concept trying to be communicated.  The creators had to sit silently while the rest of the group tried to decipher the meaning of their creation.  We then gave the creators the chance to describe their creative process and the resulting product.

It was really fascinating to see how some groups took a very literal and linear approach their sculpture, while others worked on abstract concepts and interdependent ideas.  Some individuals really struggled with having to put more conceptual thinking into tangible objects.  Overall, the activity really brought the staff and board together around the common themes between the various discussions.  There was also the added benefit of having some tactile learning going on.  Several people continued to sculpt, configure, draw and color throughout the day.

Obama Time

http://www.yeswecansong.com

Two guys named Dan have recommended this to me in the last day. The Dan's can't be wrong.

Enjoy!

the persuaders

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/persuaders/

This has been out for awhile, but I'm revisiting it after some conversations about community. Check it out if you have time between trips to the store.

pics of the new digs

we're in!

Well folks, the Fabers are officially moved into Newberry. In flurry of force a group of friends pushed to get us moved in by Friday night. Who knew that canceling a U-Haul truck would elicit such a euphoric feeling. Thanks to their hard work, some great organizing by Nora and some caring people to watch Levi, we had all day Saturday and Sunday to actually turn the place into a home. I'll post some pics soon.

no christmas card this year

Well Christmas and New Years Day have come and gone, and we just didn't get around to writing a Christmas card this year. Here are some more recent photos that might have made there way into a card, had we created one.

Levi on maiden voyage in snow suit

Levi and Sam Magnus Venema meet


pinch those cheeks - I know you want to


high-speed trains at the mall


his very own low-speed train from grandma Faber and the Wynstras


levi "gettin' learned" by grandpa Lagerwey

the wire

With our move-in date postponed until next week; I filled my vacation time with other pursuits. Watching the first season of the HBO series The Wire was a welcome distraction from the half-filled boxes scattered around our house.

Over the last couple years I've heard countless interviews and reviews about how great the show is, but just couldn't commit to another serial TV show that I knew would eat up 12 hours of my life. So the holiday break, in combination with feeling a little under the weather, provided the excuse I needed to blitz through the show.

The Wire is set in present day Baltimore and depicts the attempt of a small, assigned police task force to take down a major organized drug cartel in the city's projects. Part of the case is getting a listening device (wire) put on public telephones in the projects, hence the series name. The story has several side stories, but is essentially one detective's crusade that gets a lot of other reluctant people involved. But over the course of the case, many of them get inspired and care about the case in different ways.

I've never seen a better show at depicting urban street life and government politics at the same time. Aside from the great acting, gritty drama, and crude violence, it was interesting to view the show through an organizational theory perspective. From this perspective, it paints a great picture of two different organizational systems trying to counter one another. The drug system is a highly fluid and open system that protects itself with a series of norms and values. People are highly disposable and the system changes rapidly in response to threats. The government system is very hierarchical and functional and protects itself through a chain of command and control. Any attempt to circumvent that chain of command is met with fear and resentment. The show demonstrates the pitfalls and strengths offered by each of these organizational approaches. And, I think more importantly, how at every corner both systems, and their people, try to protect themselves. It is also interesting that in the end the more organic system adjusts to change more willingly and ultimately wins out in the end. The show really speaks to the differences in organizational culture as well.

On a local level, I think there are lessons in this show that transend the topic of the war on drugs and how pointless it is from many perspectives. The show also speaks to how government and the private sector interact and to how systems do or don't change. We can look at our local systems, like public schools, healthcare, police, etc., and see how incapable their structure is for dealing with root causes and systems associated with poverty, which are too fluid and cultural for a control and conquire style to make any difference. The hiararchical systems also tend to destroy innovation and swallow up anything that will make it uncomfortable. In Margrett Wheatley's terms, the best we can do is "purturb the system" enough, and in multiple places, so that it can no longer afford to remain the same. Then it will make incremental changes that may add up to a broader systems change.

merry christmas

The Faber family is in a holding pattern, restless in their seats and circling their nearly completed cohousing unit. After frequent delays throughout the last year, the final countdown has begun. We were told a couple weeks ago that we might be in by Christmas - no such luck. But we are hoping for New Years.



About half of our current house is in boxes. This makes for the awkward,"Where is the spatula?" Response, "In the bottom of the box underneath all those other boxes." But somehow, I'm still tripping over just as many of Levi's toys every day. Someone must not be respecting the rules of packing.

There are about 1/2 of the families into their homes now over at the cohousing site. So some of the fun cohousing stuff is starting to happen. We had a small birthday party last night and then some spontaneous poker. We can't wait to be just a small walk on a pathway away from our friends and neighbors.

r/c fun

In 1994 my brother proceeded to rip up our back yard to create his own Remote Control race track. 13 years later, and I'm seriously debating whether I should do the same thing in my back yard. On a fluke a won a truck on EBAY and now have it to the point where it can race with my brother's truck. We brought the trucks over to my relatives for Thanksgiving. My nephews had fun pretending to be busses that the cars could jump (or not).

on the farm

We just bought a share in a cow (her name is Penny) at a local CSA (community supported agriculture). So now we can get raw milk straight from Penny on the weekends. Here are some pics of our kid with the calves down on the farm when we went to pick up our first gallon of milk.


We also inherited a breadmaker from Nora's Grandma and have begun experimenting with some home baked, whole wheat creations. The Fabers are really returning to the earth here folks. We'll let you know how the first attempts at making our own yogurt and cheese go...