A year ago today I was about 6 months pregnant and we were packing up the white schoolbus for our open-ended exploration of Northeast Missouri. Since that time many things have happened.Today we made a list of the major events of the year which I am going to post here to share. Following this list, I will post a second list that lays out the completed tasks on our home renovation project (which began in April 2011). Amazingly, these two lists occurred in the same span of time! Yet, neither of these lists begins to account for the interpersonal reality of raising four children, the chores and care needs of our many animals, the challenge of procuring and preparing meals and even tending our own needs and hygiene!
This year was astounding for me. There was a frame of abundant beauty that held all of these events and accomplishments so that, though looking at it all at once it might seem to be "too much", for me this year has been like a gift. It has been the most incredibly vibrant year of my life and I am deeply honored to have had Gavain dancing it with me so gracefully.
The short version is that Gavain and I are super-heroes. Here is a longer version:
- Drive Texas-Missouri in schoolbus motorhome
- Stay in trailer park in Kirksville for one month without car (riding bicycles)
- David has random freakout and takes legal action to dominate Dana's parental rights
- Shop for homes in NEMO
- Purchase Edina house (close April)
- Dana to Oregon to scoop up Simon(and David) (gone 6 weeks (stayed extra month to accommodate David).
- Dana unwelcome at Reba/Kara’s community. Tension.
- Dagny gets sick (whooping cough or otherwise)
- Dana served papers to cut off her parental rights
- Dana plays the politics assuring David that she will meet slander with slander in court battle
- David changes his mind and decides to become her lover again, turning on charms, retracts legal action.
- Gavain’s father discovers he has cancer and undergoes treatment
- Reassert ownership of van and revive van
- Dana and David establish written and signed Baseline Simon Co-parenting Agreement.
- Drive Oregon-Missouri in blue van pulling trailer packed full
- 3 months of supporting David financially and otherwise
- Dana to hospital for getting baby-belly squished between trailer and van (gravity issue)
- Gavain spends 8 weeks without family initiating house renovation
- Ducklings/goslings arrive
- Grandma Terri visits Gavain (April 2-7)
- Gavain turns on water to house
- Run out of vegetable oil sources for fuel
- Dana dives into flurry of house renovation for final 6 weeks of her pregnancy
- Adopt 3 kittens from Larry
- Gavain gets hot water supply to house going
- Grandma Terri visits (June 16-July 2)
- Andrew, Andria, Yaya, Bodhi visit
- Egon and Nana Debby visit in May; Egon decides to stay in Missouri
- David one-week Possibility Alliance visit (we keep Simon most of visit)
- Children fall in love with “Lucy” (aka “Missy”), stray dog washed up during storm
- David and Simon train trip to east coast and back (Amtrak debacle)
- David asks us to support him getting work done and neglects to respect others’ boundaries at crucial time
- Huge windstorm (rolls chicken house, blows down turbine, etc.)
- Tillwyn is born at home
- Drought begins
- 25 chicks arrive with goslings
- Various natural deaths of various baby birds
- Freak accident slices open Gavain’s arm -lifeflight to Quincy (cut through artery, 4 tendons and half of nerve)- Emergency surgery- David tends three kids and animals
- Visit from Gavain’s father
- Larry teaches dressing river bass
- Second surgery (reconstructive) on arm with Dr. Philpot (and numerous trips to Quincy for doctor visits and therapy sessions)- David holds down the fort again
- Chicks/predator massacre
- Pick up drunk and desperate Jason (a new friend)
- Egon trip to New Jersey
- Many visitors (Terri (July 21-26), Anala and family, Sarah, Ted, Liat, Peter and wife, Brian and partner, Debby and John (with Cammy)
- David gets letter from “Heartaculture” ousting David from community government into “renter” status
- Dana and Gavain host own wedding at Edina house
- Dana and Gavain get married again (legally, at a church)
- Gavain and a loved one experience passion and tension
- Dana completes recovery from birth
- Gavain relearns how to use his arm as he heals
- Jason as housemate and projects co-manager for 3 months
- Make offer to Karlene for side lot (rejected)
- David begs us to keep Simon while he returns to Oregon, claiming that it would facilitate his rapid follow-through on shutting down his life in Oregon before his intended ASAP move to Missouri (but he refuses to commit to a specific timeline for this transition)
- Jason develops parasitic theft behavior to support his alcoholism
- Flies!
- Gavain begins demolition of neighboring greenhouse/materials glean
- Jason asks children to hide/lie to their parents
- Dana and Gavain have their process of trying to help Jason, reaching their limit, and asking him to leave
- Send Jason off to east coast
- Jason steals camera and netbook and neglects to repay debts
- Dagny and Egon start new school
- Simon begins head start
- Grandma Terri visits Oct 4-14
- Adopt 15 retired laying hens to be food
- Eden visit for 5 days
- Missy (the stray dog) discovers the fun of poultry torture
- Andrew/Andria/Yaya/Bodhi visit
- Egon stuff and pets delivered (3 Muscovies and more chickens)
- Halloween of Vampires
- Dagny continues to cough/chronic runny nose. Take her off of dairy.
- Gavain slaughters many birds, a couple geese go to Possibilty Alliance.
- Family attends Harvest Festival at Possibility Alliance, meets neighbors
- Dagny spins out of connection culminating in her removal from kindergarten.
- Begin keeping fishtank and many fish deaths
- Ongoing tension with David’s abandonment of Simon and his own integrity
- Fail most of fall and winter to find a source of seasoned firewood (burn lots of wet green wood!)
- Gavain travels to Oregon to visit Kite, Mariner, and kaseja
- Host family Christmas in Edina (Debby and John visit)
- Missy is officially abandoned to us, we are unable(after many efforts) to rehome her, we take her to animal shelter
- Gavain surprise Christmas visit to Florida (stomach sickness attack again)
- Aurora the rat dies (illness), 3 new rats adopted, Astra the rat dies (cat),
- Predator picks off many birds one by one
- Dagny Bloom begins to go by alternate name “Poppy Vespertine”
- Dana delivers Poppy to Houston for her two-month stay (Gavain stays home with boys)
- Barter exchange trades goose trio for “bred” rabbit doe (not pregnant, it turned out)
- White tent blows across yard in windstorm, taking out new wind-turbine pole installation and destroying tent
- David "gets stuck" in Oregon, in defiance of the terms of the Baseline Simon-Coparenting Agreement. Document rendered impotent and void.
- Grandma Terri visits (Feb 1-9)
- Locate source of seasoned wood South of La Plata
remove old furnace from basement
new rain gutters installed
outside of house scraped and primed
clothesline installation
inner fence installation
outer fence installation
compost bins set up
quilt insulative curtains for bus
paint bus
put bus down into yard
install solar panel
install windturbine
establish electrical system in bus
dig trench
build roof over back porch
repair roof over laundry room
install duck weathervane
install cat door
move in piano
reinforce kitchen floor
paint laundry room lavender
greywater diversion install
rainwater catchment install
repair/replace rotten/broken boards (front porch)
build garden beds
construct kitchen pantry
kitchen cabinet demo/re-install
install mosaic tile countertop
plumb bathroom
plumb kitchen
install water lines
new wind turbine assemble/paint
repaint kitchen oranges
install front door threshold
plant pear trees
repair screen doors
construct front gate
install bird yard fencing and gate
new electrical wiring of entire house
remove plaster (two rooms?)
lathe/insulation removed from three rooms
drywall, tape, mud, finish mens room
drywall, tape, mud, finish warm room
insulate men’s room (cellulose)
insulate warm room and women’s room (fiberglass)
install six new double-pane windows
paint men’s room tealish
paint warm room butterish
remove all trim from three rooms and label
replace trim men’s room and warm room
establish wood piling systems
install large white outdoor tent
build/obtain chicken/duck house
construct winter goose shelter
cart up and lay insulation in attic
hoist up and install hotwater tank in attic
solar hot water panel built
install chimney for kitchen stove
install tile hearth and walls for kitchen stove
install tile hearth warm room
hardibacker/tin wall warm room
move in and install wood cook stove
move in and install jotul wood heating stove
install chimney liner, etc.
re-point chimney
furnish home
create recycling system
plumb two thermosyphon loops
repaint play room (blue)
paint bathroom (green)
install attic lights
install basement lights
demolish drop ceiling in kitchen
create pot rack
strip bus of installations and furniture
rebuild basement door
strip lead paint/prime/paint/re-glass back door
begin demolition of neighboring greenhouse/harvest lumber/supplies
re-frame west wall men’s room
paint and install large bookshelves in warm room
construct 11 foot Christmas tree
create rabbit home and gates for kitchen
restore james washer
tung oil finish kitchen cabinets
install knobs kitchen cabinets
Install kitchen sink, faucet, drains
recast front walk paver
install wide variety of outlet covers/hooks/shelves/racks/etc.
take down inner fence
construct goose nests/spring-ize duckhouse
