Micro Transitions and Happy Solstice!

Well established fruit/nut trees and a 400ft elevation drop on land just 18 miles from where we lived proved to be enough incentive for our *Ka-tet to uproot (literally) and move our headquarters to new pastures.  A nice barn for our 5 horses and 4 goats was also a factor in our choice to relocate but above all else the universe sometimes simply catapults you to where **Ka decides your purpose can be best served.  In other words:  We moved....

Most people hate moving and during our 30 day exit strategy we thought a great deal about how strenuous the transition could have been had we not embarked upon it with a spirit of adventure and a dash of voluntary insanity.  Upon deeper contemplation our team realized that our move had to be somehow connected with the larger planetary transition and we were carried through the tougher parts of the move by a sense of heading toward our 'right place'.  

During one of our load hauls we pulled over to pass the cell phone between our two vehicles and an SUV pulled in next to us and asked us if we knew how to get to 'right place' - we laughed and said, 'we hope so' and the folks laughed with us and then gave us the spelling - 'Wright Place'...just one of those moments.  

It is Solstice eve and we have finally got our wireless connected to all of our computers and we will be catching up now with all our online efforts that have been neglected.  We wish all you Transition'ers a blessed Solstice and Happy Holidays...

*Ka-Tet: Literally speaking, ka-tet means "one made from many." Ka refers to destiny; tet refers to a group of people with the same interests or goals. Ka-tet is the place where man's lives are joined by fate.

**Ka: Like many words in High Speech, ka has multiple meanings and so is difficult to define precisely. It signifies life-force, consciousness, duty and destiny. In the vulgate, or low speech, it also means a place to which an individual must go. The closest terms in our language are probably fate and destiny.

Fall Transition California Community Network News & Updates

This summer's garden growing season here in Caly was seriously cut short by late season rains and cold weather and in many ways the summer ended all too soon.  The summer was riddled with a great deal of crises energy that is being experienced globally and locally as well which made this season tough of folks.  

Now that fall has officially settled in the global picture is still rocking and rolling with the 'Occupy Wall Street' movement getting stronger by the day and folks everywhere feeling not just the upcoming election year hype getting jammed down their throats but the whole '2012' phenomena beginning to sound its horn.  

This must be what TRANSITION is all about right?  The 12 steps that were originally published in the Transition Handbook forgot to include the 13th Step and now that we are all in it we have to pretty much hold onto our cool and common sense as we proceed into this historic and sometimes hysterical unknown territory.  

So on the cool side the old Zen proverb: "Before enlightenment...chop wood, carry water.  After Enlightenment...chop wood, carry water." comes to mind.  And right now for many people October is still harvest time....

FALL HARVESTS AND GARDENS:
How many of you transitioners have had the experience of planting a garden thinking you were going to have help and found yourselves all alone and way over your head?  Nothing is worse than having a garden that is too big to manage except flaking individuals who failed to rise to the occasion especially when you would not have planted such a large garden had you known they would not be good on their words right?  

If you find yourself in such a position this fall and harvest season take heart and do what we did:  

• Pluck all those tomatoes and can them without all the fancy spices or seasons - you can add to them later when you open the can for whatever use they are intended for.  
• Pick all those pumpkins and find a nice dark cool place to store them - they can keep that way for many months as long as they are away from moisture and sunlight - we had one of our pumpkins keep for a whole year! 
• Let it go to seed!  It is super easy to seed save and letting them go is sometimes the best option when you are overloaded.  Start your own line of Heirlooms and share with a local seed bank.  The Seed Savers Exchange is just one (founded in 1975) resource for learning more and many towns/cities now have their own seed banks. 
• Rotting vegies? THEY ARE GOLD IN YOUR COMPOST - just add worms and you have a beginnings of the best soil you will need for next springs potted starts!

Just one of many books on this subject

COMMON SENSE 

Common sense is a funny one in these days when our culture is at the end junction of over a century of intended separation that glorified the individualist and worshiped 'independence'.  The 'commons' were destroyed in favor of 'mine'.  Values and principles, if not extinct in some collectives, have been so varied that even married couples find it amazing if they have even a handful in 'common'.  

The events that are happening in the world during this transition though are not necessarily completely foreign to us as a species despite the multitudes of opinions that make it seem impossible for us to imagine we hold a 'common view' of reality. 

For example:  The current 'Occupy Wall Street' definitely has a thread of 'Common Sense' in the coming together of the self proclaimed 99%...if Thomas Paine were alive today he would have published darn near the same manifesto albeit a few linguistic adaptations to fit the times. Check it out for yourselves...

DOWNLOAD PDF HERE 

1 Year with Transition California

July marks our one year anniversary managing and sponsoring the Transition California Community Network.  We had hoped to launch some kind of fireworks or at least have some kind of a spectacular online extravaganza but for now this first post to the new Transition California blog will have to suffice.  

So what has happened in the 12 months since Bob Banner handed the reins over to the SeThInk Media team and how has the network grown and changed?

Because we are not a 'non-profit' or officially sanctioned, recognized, or even approved of by the Transition US officialdom we are not really under any obligation to impress Transition California members with major milestone reports (to justify donations) or give any long list of successful projects/programs that will satisfy any grants we may have received. When we first began this endeavor we had but one intention - to help the community evolve.  This blog is our anniversary present to ourselves and the community - a place where we can openly share with members stories from this past year and visions for the coming years. 

Has the community evolved?  

In our opinion and judgment yes it has. 

Has it evolved along lines that will allow the Transition Town groups here in California to achieve their missions and goals? 

That can only be answered by individuals who are part of those groups.

During the early stages we did a blog post called 'How's Our Driving' where we asked for feedback from the community.  Some folks responded and we appreciated their comments and feedback. 

Now a year later we ask once again - "How's Our Driving' and there is no need to start a new blog post - let's just build on the old one.    Please take some time to let us know how this online community has served you or 'not' and share with us whatever ideas you think would make this network evolve into the kind of online resource you would like to have access to. 

We cannot promise we will be able to deliver and in some cases we would expect you to be willing to put some steam into the engine (we don't get paid for this and we only have so much time available so if you want to see something cool happen you will have to be willing to help out if possible) We also want to let you all know that we are aware of the obstacles and challenges that we all face during these times and the contact and conversations with various members over this past year have seeded good groundwork for us to be able to assist groups and individuals and we want those of you who we have made commitments with to know that we have not at all forgotten those conversations.  We are working to secure more team members and resources to follow through with those ideas and plans.  When you do long term planning you have to weave patience into the tapestry of your designs!  
Cheers
D&D

Transition to Spring!