You just never know! Sometime there are six people present, which last time resultedd in an intense, single topic focus as we ate together; and  sometimes, like yesterday evening’s Community Dinner, twenty people!  Some of whom we’ve never met! Another one, Dan, is an old friend who lived here for four years, and whom I haven’t seen in eight long months! In fact, I accused him of cancelling me! Joking, of course.

I tried to take a picture of “the aunties,” Sophia and Wanda, both in their lare 80s, and dressed very colorfully, but somehow it didn’t register on my phone. Sophia, a Canadian, is only in the U.S. to be with Wanda for two months every summer, so we hadn’t seen her in quite a while.

And the food, as you can imagine, with so many present and everyone contributing, was both varied and delicious.

Last night, for the first time,  I took pics of us standing in a circle on the platform (which used to hold a yurt). Our practice of “circling up” before hand, thanks to the platform, is gradually helping us shift into ceremonial solemnity while we stand there, hand in hand, sharing names and something of our lives, one by one, in order around the circle.

In fact, for our next twice-monthly Thursday Community Dinner, August 20, we will pass a talking stick as each of us speaks.

Jeff, , here uncovering his offering, chicken legs, who has been coming for eight years, is once again with us, after teaching kids martial arts on Thursdays for several months.

That’s Wanda behind, with Canadian) Sophia behind her, next to a new person, who came to Elisha’s recent trellising workshop, Mark is I think is his name.

Same table, opposite direction, with Joseph, who has lived in the first DeKist house for many years.

Notice the homemade fermented veggies.

After dinner, as usual, Elisha led a garden tour for new people and others, some of whom ended up with tomatoes.

Tomorrow, big plans:  A canning party with two friends at another location equipped to handle our massive hundred pound tomato harvest.