Thursday, July 18, 2013

Intern Arrival

Last Thursday night, just before 10 pm, a crew of rumpled teenagers emerged from a Subaru covered with bumper stickers that read "Armed Liberal" and "Fuck the revolution, Bring on the Apocalypse." Crumbs stuck to their shirts, and hair pointed in the many directions they came from. They ambled down the wood chip path, whooping and hollering to announce their arrival. Entering the barn bearing the relief of arrival after weeks on the road, they greeted a rather perplexed Jo. 

For the past year Jo has lived in the barn as a caretaker, and rather than asking her to vacate her home to make room for the interns, we created a space for them up here on Dev's property. After about five minutes they gingerly stood from their places on Jo's couch, realizing they were in someone else's home, not in the intern house.

So far we built a low ropes course and then tried it out, went hiking and picked berries all along the way --service berries, thimble berries, goose berries and raspberries. We talked about communication, active listening, and what sustainability means. Then we got ready for camp, figuring out who would lead a wild edible workshop, a camp fire skit, a fort building activity. We spent hours bent over liberating onions and leeks from the tangle of ambitious weeds.

The interns are here to run three "sustainable" green camps, work on local farms, develop outdoor and leadership skills, but in all honesty, we have them here so we can live like we're at camp. We spin a chore wheel daily, dance at all hours, snort on our meals because laughter is constant. And if you were ever doubting your housemate's ability to keep a clean house, invite seven teenagers to live with you in a small space. It's an exercise in organized chaos.












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