Last Monday was definitely our last *cino volunteer staff meeting in the un-heated Huss Project building — in spite of the space heaters, I was shivering so much, I couldn’t write legibly. We are SO looking forward to having a heated room, hopefully by the end of this year!
In the meantime, we’ve continued to take advantage of the more temperate autumn days to do some work putting the grounds and the building to rest for the winter. Two Fridays ago, we gathered in the community garden to dig potatoes, put away the drip irrigation system, remove plant supports and pull spent plants for the compost pile. And last Friday, we worked so much longer than we’d planned that the moon was shining by the time we pulled out of the parking lot. We cut back the native plants in the front garden beds, cleaned the office of summer’s detritus, picked up some donated garden supplies from a supporter, fixed an outdoor light that illuminates the parking lot and cleared the drains on the flat roofs of the building. I was glad I wore my rubber boots for the last one where water had collected halfway up to my knees, though Jay and Rob got the smellier job cleaning off the roof of the old gym, which gathers a lot more leaves.
The best part of both days was getting to work side by side with friends who are also committed to this crazy work, including a neighbor kid who just started middle school this year. He’s on to another hair color and another girlfriend, and over some vigorous shrub trimming, we chatted about social groups and how we both like spending time with elderly people. I can’t wait for the day that these kinds of conversations and work can take place at the Huss Project year round. In the meantime, we patch things together and do what we are called to in each moment.
