Clearwater Commons

Yellow Brain Fungus, Water Ouzel & Snowberries

noreply@blogger.com (Shawna) — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 03:17:00 +0000

After many hours of rain, North Creek was overflowing its banks again, although it was not as high as it was a few weeks ago. Bob and I walked down to the creek edge this morning to see it. The power of that much water always feels exciting, and it's fun to see how the bigger volume of flowing water has changed and shifted the contours of the banks and stream bed, not to mention loose objects beside the creek like the logs of the fire pit.

Looking upstream

Cinclus mexicanus

A cute little American Dipper was bobbing up and down at the flooded edge of the creek. It is such a soft gray and blends so well into the background of gray water that I didn't see it until I had gotten fairly close to it. I stayed still and with no alarm, it continued to bob and poke into the shallow water for aquatic insects, their larvae, and maybe even tiny fish.

The Salmon Return

noreply@blogger.com (Clearwater Commons) — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 05:18:00 +0000

We recently heard that salmon were spotted in North Creek downstream from the Commons in Bothell. The water levels were a bit low and we were concerned that the fish would have a hard time swimming up to our neck of the woods. This last week, we finally saw some good rain and the stream levels rose.

Early in the week, Eric sent out word that he spotted one on the property. The next day, Tom reported seeing five in the quieter part of the stream on the west end of our part. Saturday, Shawna took me down during her regular Salmon watching time. (She is a volunteer "Salmon Watcher" for a multi-juristictional partnership of local cities and King County). Armed with a camera and some very silly cardboard salmon watching glasses -- they are polarized and actually help cut glare on the water -- we went down to the west end of the stream.

It was not long at all and we were rewarded by spotting 3 Coho salmon. I turned on the camera and even put one of the polarizing lens from my glasses in front of the camera lens. Take a look at the video below:

It is exciting to see them after all the restoration work that was done last year. The creek is now well suited for Salmon spawning. It is hopeful to see so many this year.
-- Bob

A New Home at the Commons

noreply@blogger.com (Candace) — Tue, 01 May 2012 19:12:00 +0000

I recently moved from my home of 24 years in Wallingford (in Seattle) to Clearwater Commons. My unit (#15) is finished and beautiful. I have a large, well-designed kitchen, a dining area, a generous living room, an office area and a powder room on the first floor. In addition the living room opens onto a nice deck and an expansive view of the wetlands. Upstairs are two moderate sized bedrooms, a full bath, laundry and storage. The floors throughout are a light bamboo (honey-colored) and lend a welcoming warmth throughout the house. There are lots of large well-placed windows including a skylight in the upstairs hallway.

I had a lot of questions before moving here including: How would I make the adjustment from city to suburb? What will living in community be like? What will I lose/gain by making this move? How about my two cats? How will they like make the adjustment? Will I regret making this big change in my life?

I've been here almost three weeks now and there have been some rough spots and some pleasant surprises. Finding my way around a new community and figuring out where to run errands (shoe repair, library, copy center, groceries, etc.) can be challenging. Especially when I used to easily walk to all these places. Also, it seems there's a never-ending list of chores that need doing. (Mulching , weeding, watering, planting, stacking scrap wood, host open houses, etc.)

However, there's a feeling of cooperation, growth and surprising results that comes of working together. We're learning just how much a small group of committed commoners can accomplish together. People roll up there sleeves and make slow but undaunted progress on laying floors and putting up lighting in their new home, planting, weeding and mulching the many gardens, painting walls and floors, maintaining the Mini-B as a welcoming center to the Commons, and turning out for open houses.

Day to day life is also full of pleasant surprises such as the chorus of frogs that sing a gentle lullaby each night and the sound of the bubbling creek that comes in through open windows. There are already many moments of communing with nature that I will always treasure. The other night I was sitting on a log next to North Creek and I asked myself "How do I feel about living here?" I looked around at the towering trees just beginning to grow new green leaves, heard the sounds of the creek, and inhaled deeply the fresh clear air, and thought "I've never had it so good." Just then a bald eagle flying low and slow, following the course of the river, flew straight toward me. Indeed! I've never had it so good.

Ditzs in the "B"

noreply@blogger.com (Shawna) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:42:00 +0000

by Martha Hurwitz
April 11, 2012

We’re the Ditz Family: Eric Dolven and Martha Hurwitz (parents), Arlo Dolven (12) and Vera Dolven (9). We’re the ones building the red house (#5) at the Clearwater Commons. On March 9, we put our little Seattle home on the market and moved to the Commons to live in the Mini-B for a week or two. It’s been over 5 weeks now…and we finally and reluctantly are about to leave.

The Mini-Bungalow (“Mini-B”)

The Mini-B is the 300sf passive solar bungalow built by Joe Giampietro and a group of students at South Seattle Community College. The Clearwater Commons bought the small green cottage and set it up as the start of our common house. You can see pictures of the move and read more about the Mini-B here and here.

The Mini-B is already serving its role as Common House. Several afternoons or evenings each week, other kids and adults now or soon to be living at the Commons (or nearby) come over and hang out. As a family we have a sense of having moved to the Commons already—before our Seattle house has sold and our Commons house is built.

Arlo and Martha on the couch/bed next to Eco-Heater panel

Living in the Mini-B is like spending a long vacation in a cabin in Mazama or a small lodge at Sleeping Lady. Sharon Garrity of unit #14 outfitted the B with a double mattress in the loft and a comfortable futon couch in the main room. The kitchen is fully functional with a combo convection oven/microwave, small fridge, two burner stove and more pantry storage that we can use. There’s a large closet, desk nook and bathroom with shower.

Eric in the kitchen

The space is working remarkably well for us, given that our Seattle home felt way too small at 1000sf. The kids have gone from sharing a room to sharing a bed. The small space inside is mitigated by the vast space outside. Coming from a Seattle house lot, moving to 7.3 acres is thrilling. Arlo and his friends practice soccer moves in the pervious pavement parking lot (in the rain, no puddles to worry about); Vera and her friends check out how much the creek swells with rain. Eric is thrilled to go from his desk job (upstairs in the shop loft) to his prepping projects (downstairs in the shop) to his installation projects (throughout the new house). I love falling asleep to the nightly frog opera.

Vera on the best ladder ever

One clear night, the temperature on the B’s deck was 32 degrees: inside was 70. The single Eco-Heater had been on for a couple of hours first thing in the morning—over the rest of the day the sun’s heat and the B’s design that kept the temperature balmy through the day.

Tuning up the Heat Recovery Ventilator with Joe Giampietro

There’s been something surprisingly sweet about being so close together as we make this transition from our Seattle home of 15 years into the Clearwater Commons community. Once we’re in our new home, I’m sure we’ll think back to our time in the B with fondness.

Looking at our new red house from the loft bed

Unit 5

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 06:21:00 +0000

Framing for unit 5 is finally wrapping up and we're beginning the finishing phase of construction. Final framing inspection happened today, 2/22 and a preliminary blower door test was scheduled for today as well. I wasn't on-site for either, so I'll have to update on that at another point.

This is getting ahead of myself, but I'm really excited about the floors I have going in. We're trying to source all of the flooring and trim from reclaimed or local hardwood. I just bought the last of the flooring. It's stacked and waiting in our storage shed.

About 700 square feet of Brazillian cherry I got from Second Use (www.seconduse.com) is slated for the downstairs: kitchen, dining room, living room, and den. It was reclaimed from a house, but they didn't know details of where it was or how old the wood is. Also stacked with it is about 400 square feet of beautiful reclaimed fir. That is destined for the upstairs. The master bedroom, closet, hallway, and the office/nook. This stuff is really a gem and there is a story behind it.

Apparently in 1897, some Norwegian in Poulsbo, WA decided to cut down a huge old growth fir tree, mill lumber from it and build a house. He did that, and built the house around the stump!! He even had to notch the stump out so the floor joists would not run into it. I'll get a picture of that in a day or so, but here is a photo of the house:

Even though this was Poulsbo in 1897 and electrification wasn't slated to occur for decades, the builder had the forethought to pre-install nob and tube. That way, when electricity did come, all he had to do was pull wire and plug in the lights. That's not unlike our units that are being built solar-ready. When timing is right, we will be able to install solar tubes or PV panels and tie that right back into the grid. Hopefully we won't have to wait decades before solar is in our price range.

Over the years, the house converted to a rental and it slowly went downhill, as much of western Washington did mid-century. To the point where it was occupied by crack addicts and the place got really trashed. The county condemned the house and sold it at auction. A young upstart bought the land and building for a song and had high hopes of restoring the Victorian house to it's former glory. But when the structural, environmental, and electrical engineers along with Kitsap county got done with an assessment, the tally came in way over the new owner's budget. He moved into a double wide and was about to call the demolition crew. I'm not sure exactly how, but somehow he heard about a fellow named Rod based in North Bend, OR who has a fledgling business as a materials reclaimer. A deal was struck; Rod would demolish the house and get to sell all of the building materials he could. I got some of the floors.

Back to our house, here is a close-up of that Brazilian cherry and fir:

The cherry is red, the fir is yellow. The cherry will be matched with a locally grown and milled madrona trim I just found on Vashon Island; the fir will be matched with other fir. Some of it from that same house, but there wasn't enough for the whole house, so I'm still searching. The photo doesn't do the wood much justice but they are really quite stunning. That's it for now. Until next time.

New York Times Permaculture Article

noreply@blogger.com (Shawna) — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 23:49:00 +0000

Construction will start on the first four new homes in late August or early September. Those of us who will be occupying those homes are excited to finally live at the Commons and have daily interactions with the land and all the plants and creatures that we will be sharing it with, as well as with each other.

Several of us are interested in permaculture and will use many of its principles as we continue to discourage invasives and encourage the growth of diverse organisms, including us humans.

Urban Bee Company, a local beekeeper that placed and maintains a thriving hive in our Seattle backyard, posted a great NY Times article about the growing interest in permaculture philosophy and practice.

Speaking of hives, I plan to get some beekeeping training from Bob Redmond at Urban Bee Company so we can have a hive at the Commons. It will be fun to learn more about this ancient farming practice.

Passive House Prototype Available for Viewing

noreply@blogger.com (Shawna) — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 21:52:00 +0000

Today I went to the official opening for the Mini-Bungalow Passive House prototype at the Phinney Neighborhood Association (PNA). It's a 300 square foot dwelling built by students at Seattle Central Community College's Wood Construction Center. The building was designed to conform to City of Seattle requirements for a "Backyard Cottage" as a Detached Accessory Dwelling Unit (DADU) on a single-family lot. It is one of the first passive homes to be built in Washington State.l By contrast, over 20,000 have been built in Germany and Austria.

It is a lovely little space and is very quiet and tight. It includes an air exchanger that captures the heat and moisture of outgoing air and warms incoming air, ensuring a continuous fresh air supply. It also has R-52 insulated walls and ceiling, R-70 insulated floors, high performance windows that allow more passive solar gain than heat loss and almost complete airtight construction.

It was fun and encouraging to see an actual livable building using high-efficiency standards. I hope this is the beginning of a much bigger trend in the U.S. It certainly needs to be.

The Mini-B house will be on display for four to six months. It will be open from 10AM to 4PM on Sunday, January 30, as part of the Home Design and Remodel Fair at PNA.

Thanksgiving Weekend Work Party and Potluck

noreply@blogger.com (Shawna) — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 22:31:00 +0000

On the weekend following Thanksgiving, several Commons members got together to do some work at our property, and then shared a delicious potluck meal. We gathered for the meal in our first common building--the shop.

A number of Commons members worked with a contractor over the summer to build our common shop. By Thanksgiving it was completely enclosed, although not yet insulated. Tom found a great wood-burning stove on craigslist, which provided warmth and cheer for our potluck and those working inside.

Our excellent wood stove

The space looked especially festive because Tom also put up some holiday lights.

Several people worked in the shop stringing electrical wire and installing electrical boxes. Special thanks to Asa, Tamara, Ben, Nathie, Arnold and Marilea, who won't be Commons residents, but who are friends and supporters. They participated in the work party and then joined us for dinner. We are so grateful for your help.

Arnold drilling holes for wire

Ben and Nathie sawing wood for the electrical project

Asa swinging a hammer

Bob and Arnold reviewing the wiring plan

Other people grubbed out blackberries near the parking lot in preparation for planting shrubs. Some of us who arrived later stayed after the meal to plant baby alders and willow stakes near the north end of the property. These trees will grow quickly in wet soil and begin to shade out the reed canary grass monoculture that has crowded out any other plant over a large part of the wetland.

We all made progress on the built and natural environment and enjoyed the time together. Plus, the food was delicious!

Nikos enjoying the shop's loft

The Complex Story of Salmon in North Creek

noreply@blogger.com (Shawna) — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 00:43:00 +0000

I was inspired by our Clearwater sockeye salmon, returning in much larger numbers this year to spawn in North Creek, to find out more about their story. I turned up information that I found surprising and fascinating. If you'd like to know more, read on.

A few weeks ago, I took a video of some salmon swimming upstream in North Creek.

Clearwater Commons and The Clearwater School are working with Snohomish County Surface Water Management to extensively restore our portion of North Creek to improve salmon habitat for spawning fish, eggs and fry. Thanks to a $75,000 grant, restoration work will begin in earnest next spring.

Around the same time our salmon started returning (descendants of salmon that spawned in 2006), the Seattle Times published an intriguing article . From that article I learned that sockeye that swim from Puget Sound up the fish ladder at Hiram Chittenden locks in Ballard to spawn in the rivers and creeks flowing into Lake Washington are not native to that system. They are descended from sockeye planted from a Skagit River tributary in 1935 and from a temporary hatchery on the Cedar River. North Creek is part of that system, flowing into the Sammamish River, thence to Lake Washington and the ship canal and out to Puget Sound. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife website briefly describes how sockeye came to be introduced into the Lake Washington watershed.

The salmon that are native to our rivers and creeks are chinook, coho and kokanee (a freshwater sockeye relative). However, unlike juvenile sockeye that are adapted to spend a year in deep-water lakes before heading to sea, chinook and coho need to mature in rivers and streams. Native salmon species are not doing well at all because our urban lakes and streams are befouled fish habitat. As a population we are not effectively enforcing the laws we created to preserve and restore stream habitat.

More after the jump...
Sockeye survive in larger numbers because they don't need to spend as much time in creeks before heading to sea. They also benefit from being reared in a hatchery. We are all spending $45 million to build a permanent sockeye hatchery on the Cedar River, then tag and track sockeye because of their value as a fishing resource. These non-native fish are not endangered, so there's little incentive or political will to clean up streams and rivers in which they spawn. Despite the fact that we're spending lots of money to preserve a non-native sockeye fishery, the returns have not been good enough most years to even open up fishing, beyond the treaty-guaranteed rights of local tribes.

For a short time, two dead salmon were easily visible near the foot bridge across North Creek. There's no way of knowing whether these two fish completed their mission successfully by laying and fertilizing eggs.

Washington Fish and Wildlife counts the sockeye that return through the Ballard locks each year. The counts since 2000 are available on their website. In 2006 a large number of sockeye returned through the locks--418,015, in fact. In 2007, only 60,117 came back. In 2008 there were 33,6259, and in 2009 only 21,718 returned. On Clearwater's section of North Creek, we did not see any sockeye during the past two years. Despite the fact that we saw more fish in our creek this year, the total return (156,752) was little more than a third of the parent population that spawned the current generation four years ago. Chinook and coho numbers are more dismal--10,565 and 3,608, respectively.

An animal dragged a dead or dying salmon onto the creek bank and left a lot of it there. This photo shows the very end of this fish's life cycle. Its flesh has become food for other creatures, including maggots. Little is left but a few thin bones.

There is one more wrinkle to this story, as I know it so far. At least one person knowledgeable about the history and practice of salmon management in the Lake Washington watershed believes that many of the fish spawning in our little local creeks are in fact native endangered kokanee, not introduced sockeye. If that were proven to be the case, it would become necessary for counties and municipalities to enforce stream habitat preservation laws. That is something various public and private interests would find at least inconvenient, and at most extremely expensive.

There is obviously more to this story and more research to be done. We know our current urban living style is not healthy for fish or the wildlife that depend on them. It is easy to feel overwhelmed and discouraged by the scope and complexity of the problem. To solve it requires consistent, informed action and a commitment to live sustainably by us, the inhabitants of the Puget Sound area. Our Commons restoration efforts may be small in the scheme of things, but I treasure being part of a community that is actively working to create better habitat for salmon, other creatures and humans.

End of post.

Native Plants

noreply@blogger.com (Shawna) — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 16:00:00 +0000

Post by Lisa Port, Commons member and landscaping expert.

At the Clearwater Commons, Low-Impact Development community, we are planting native plants in our wetland mitigation and landscaped planting beds because they tend to be hardy in cold weather, tougher and more resistant in drought conditions, and they provide a stable, suitable diet and habitat for our native birds and mammals.

Native plants are relatively easy to acquire from reputable nurseries in our region or propagated on site. They can be planted in native soils and while many homeowners are encouraged to amend their gardens with compost, native plants do very well in undisturbed native soil without special amendments or accommodations. Native plants, once given an opportunity, will overtake invasive plant species. Invasive plants create unhealthy monocultures, limiting available food and habitat for animals in the area and creating dull, uninteresting landscapes.

Ribes sanguineum, Red Flowering Currant

When planted in the fall, natives take advantage of cool, wet, fall and winter seasons to expand their root structures, digging deep into the soil to establish what will become essential root stock to weather our typical summer drought season. As with any newly planted garden, supplemental water is necessary through the first year, especially for trees and shrubs, but native plants actually thrive without special coddling or attention, and usually without supplemental water after their first year in the ground.

Salmonberry flowers

Native plants such as Mahonia provide nectar for wintering hummingbirds even in the coldest of winters. Rushes and sedges along a stream bank or seasonal pond provide essential habitat for amphibians and insects, which also provides a food source for salmon. Diversity in a native plant garden also creates a diversity of food and habitat for many of our bird, mammal and raptor species, thus supporting a diverse and healthy eco-system from the ground up.

Site Construction and Crazy Thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (Shawna) — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 17:03:00 +0000

Post written by Lisa Port who is a Clearwater Commons member as well as a landscape designer and master gardener.

Site construction at the Clearwater Commons is well underway. The pristine meadow of billowy seed heads flowing in the breeze and picturesque red barn in the background has been replaced by a lively scene of activity with deep trenches, heavy machinery, cowboy hardhats, and piles of upturned soil.

Commons members Shawna, Tod, Tom and I have been meeting to discuss our next steps for landscaping the site once all the trucks and tractors have left the scene. One of our consultants, the Watershed Company along with my company, Banyon Tree Design Studio, constructed planting plans for areas of wetland mitigation and general landscaping that were approved with our Administrative Site Plan Permit Set many months ago—all good!

But now comes the time for the construction and installation of said plans, when mere lines on a piece of paper become reality in every aspect of the word. Although this is my favorite phase of any job—finally seeing the idea come to fruition!—big, round, juicy questions have come to our attention:

How do we manage the invasive reed canary grass that covers our site so that we can install over 1000 plants
Where do we actually find 100 healthy salmonberry shrubs and 600 willow stakes
Who is going to install all those plants
And how pray tell, will we manage to weed and water it all once it is installed??!!

I get overwhelmed at the size of my current single-family lot in Seattle and the lack of time to deal with weeding, watering, pruning and harvesting, to shape it into a beautiful, tended space, and this creates a big question in me: How can I possibly move to this 7 + acre location full of weeds, invasive grasses and blackberry? As a Commons member I will be expected to contribute to the community on an ongoing basis in a landscape that is 65 times larger than the space I now struggle to spend even 1/10th of the required time in. What am I? Crazy?

I then recall the notion that every journey begins with a single step, and the age-old adage ‘One day at a time’ and I take the deep breath and pull out the bunch of reed canary roots and plant the tree. I know that one day the trees will be large enough to shade out the grass, thus rendering the insidious weed a piddily tangle of inconsequential stems and there will be joy and pleasure, gratitude and satisfaction, at being but a small part of something bigger than myself and helping to create a green, healthy space for families and individuals for many years to come.

Overwhelming? Yes. Alone? No. Crazy? Maybe just a little. :-)

Not so Common Holiday Party 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Joanne Lane) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 06:08:00 +0000

Well, we did it! We got together for a holiday party with no agenda other than to sustain ourselves and our relationships with each other. No weeding, planting, updates or decisions. Simply a group of friends and families gathered together for the holidays and to welcome in the New Year. We celebrated our first “Not so Common Holiday Party”.

The absence of a common house in the middle of winter didn’t put us off. We used the kitchen at the Clearwater School and with a few candles, flowers and food we were able to create a cozy cheerful environment.
It was warming to have a relaxed time together as a group and reflect on how far along we’ve come with the commons project and celebrate the growing relationships and deepening commitment to this joint venture we’re on.

In the time we’ve been meeting together as a group over the last few years, we’ve all faced various challenges either personally, within our immediate family or in the wider community. Having the perspective of the group moving through these twists and turns of life helps deepen our desire to build and live as a community.

Here’s to many good things for our community in 2010, the start of construction in Spring and many more gatherings both productive and otherwise. May we not forget to sustain ourselves as we forge ahead on our mission of sustainability.

Living at the Clearwater Commons

noreply@blogger.com (tomcampbell108) — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 00:47:00 +0000

Our family moved to the Clearwater Commons on New Years Eve, 2007 and have now been living here at the Commons for 18 months. We remodeled the old farmhouse on the property and so are the first to move here. After living in Seattle for the past 20 years and in beautiful urban neighborhoods, I’m happy to report that I love living here.

Perhaps what I love the best is coming back from a run on the trail to North Creek Park and quickly looking up books for new birds or animals that have been discovered.

With all of the snow we had this winter (we get more than Seattle) we had our own “groomed” cross country ski track – complete with a jump or two.

It’s not often that you can ski right next to a creek surrounded by beautiful frozen snow.

I thought I would miss the easy access to Puget Sound Consumer Co-op and its great selection of organic foods – but I’ve found that Central Market in Mill Creek – 5 minutes away has almost an equally good selection of organic foods and generally at better prices.And our Commons chickens give us more eggs than we can eat!

I thought I would miss all of the urban amenities of music, plays, and great restaurants. (Ok, I do miss the restaurants in Seattle) But, frankly the trip into Seattle is only 20-25 minutes and actually is more accessible than the cross town commutes we had in Lake City. And, the Mill Creek Town Center is a pretty cool place with 23 restaurants, U.W. Bookstore, and many shops people pine for. You can check it out at:

http://www.millcreektowncenter.biz/

But I love that we can walk on a path all the way to Mill Creek and then up the North Creek trail that connects to the Interurban Trail which goes all the way to Everett and south to Seattle which connects to….the Burke Gilman, etc. You get the picture. Walking and biking are pretty great.

Alright, so what don’t I like. Well, this is the season that Reed Canary Grass LOVES. And it is a noxious weed that we are trying to contain in our stream restoration effort with Snohomish County. It grows so fast – seems like over an inch per day. And it is very difficult to keep mowed for our paths – especially when you use a scythe like I do.

Other annoying things include cleaning up for the teens that hang at the back of the property and managing our overflowing artisian well that provides us with terrible water that requires 5 levels of filtration. Can’t wait for the public water to get here!

Mostly, I look forward to the community. We regularly have kids up here from The Clearwater School and you can see the vision: Sitting by the campfire at the creek, using the sweat lodge, sports on our grass field, playing music, capture the flag, and other spontaneous games, or just relaxing and not having to go ANYWHERE else, because it is already here.

Tom with Son Nici runnin' the Commons!

Earth Day Cleanup Party

noreply@blogger.com (Shawna) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:00:00 +0000

On Sunday, April 19, Clearwater Commons members, plus neighbors from a community across the street and families from The Clearwater School worked for two hours to pick up and dispose of large and small objects that were discarded along the approximately 1500 foot-long stretch of 194th St SE, the Commons' northern border. We had lovely Spring weather and enjoyed great conversations while we worked.

Among the larger objects collected were seven vehicle tires, a water heater, a car fender, a vehicle door and fender, two TVs (includng a 42"), a bicycle, fencing and large amounts of lumber.

Several children enthusiastically crawled under blackberry brambles and large bushes to retrieve hard-to-reach litter. A couple of them brought robot claw hand toys, which proved to be invaluable to kids and adults, especially in deeper pools of water in the low spots and thick bramble patches.

We also removed a large pile of debris that someone dumped onto the Commmons property a few months ago.

We filled a small dump truck to the top with garbage and recyclables. A big thank you to Odyssey Builders for lending us their truck. Without it, we would have had to round up a small fleet of pickup trucks to haul everything. Thanks also to Tom, Vera, Arlo and Eric for the unexpected glass-sorting job they had to do once they reached the dump.

After two hours of dirty, but satisfying work, we were all happy to sit down to a great potluck meal. We hope that our presence cleaning up the road and the sudden lack of litter will encourage travelers on the road to dispose of their trash more responsibly. In any case, we look forward to working with our neighbors on future efforts to clean and enhance our neighborhood.