frogsong in cotati

while at rachels i read a little magazine called 'ripples', which is put out by this awesome organization called daily acts. in it i found there was a free permaculture workshop happening in cotati on saturday. cotati is between petaluma and sebastopol, so it worked out great for me to stop there on the way. i took my time, shopping for work clothes and tools, having a mug of mate at hardcore espresso, and picking up useful things like work gloves and a bandana on the side of the highway. so i didn't end up arriving at the permaculture site, a public park in cotati, until they were just finishing up. they had had plenty of hands there, so i felt alright about missing it. i was able to help a little bit with cleanup and during that time i met a guy who said i might be able to stay the night where he lives!

the cohousing community where this man lives is called frogsong. it an excellent example of more sustainable urban development and there are many wonderful people living there. i got to stay in one of their two guest rooms and was invited to dinner by another one of the residents. they served coho salmon, quinoa/rice, and vegetables from the garden.
the evening i was there was the night the man is burned at the burningman festival. at frogsong they burn a figure of a frog made by one of the residents and then project the streaming video of the burningman event. i drummed with them and danced around the fire. they also showed my short film, 'loopforms'! i got a lot of positive response.
people were so nice to me and i felt very comfortable and relaxed at frogsong. most of the people i talked to knew about green string farm because they had been invited to a dinner there and currently get a lot of the produce for shared meals from the farm.
ways i gave back included:
-pruning lavender and freeing some rose bushes from a choking ground cover
-giving a small package of dried bullwhip kelp to my dinner hosts
-sharing my short film
-tidying up in the kitchen and courtyard of the community building

this was a most wonderful final destination for this first leg of the HOOP TOUR!