“Summertime, and the living is easy” (to quote the opening line of the Gershwin Lullaby from “Porgy and Bess”). Well, it’s almost summertime, anyway. The next General Meeting of Wolf Creek Commons is scheduled for Saturday, June 20th, the last full day of Spring. And the weather in the Sierra Foothills, right on queue, reached the low 80s yesterday, headed for the low 90s by this weekend. The birds are still singing, the wildflowers still blooming, and it was just last week that Gail and I watched a newborn deer take its first steps outside our study window. Although the signs of Spring are still rampant, the living is indeed easy.
Last Saturday WCC members gathered for a picnic dinner at Nevada City’s Pioneer Park. Gorgeous weather, excellent food and good conversation were all bountiful. We offered thanks for our circumstances, and with great hope we toasted the eventual completion of our new community.
After the picnic we headed for the nearby Off Broadstreet Theatre where we shared a riotously entertaining performance of the doo-wop oriented “Put Another Nickel In” in an intimate (maximum capacity = 79) cabaret environment. Many good laughs were had by all in attendance. As described on their web site, this year’s performances were chosen to promote the theater’s overall theme of optimism in the face of adversity – whether that adversity is a weak economy, a discouraging turn of events, or the effects of advancing age. Mori’s line in the play we applauded sums it all up: “If you want the music to keep playing, you just have to put another nickel in.”
The “optimism in the face of adversity” theme seems perfectly suited for Wolf Creek Commons at this juncture: our membership recruitment efforts seem to have taken a major hit from the economic downturn, difficulties with our bank loan have been discouraging, and a few of us are resisting the effects of advancing age (it sure seems like it’s taking a long time to heal from my recent whiplash injuries). But similar to the theme of the play, we keep recharging our efforts to make Wolf Creek Village a success (putting more nickels in) and as a result we keep enjoying the playing of the music of friendship, camaraderie, and hope that we’ll be rewarded with a new cohousing community. I may not have realized all those parallels on Saturday evening while laughing with the performers on stage, but in retrospect I can certainly see why we all enjoyed the play so much.
As we anticipate the coming of Summer, hopeful that the loan will be approved and construction of Wolf Creek Lodge can begin soon, planning for this weekend’s Wolf Creek Commons meeting and the beach/kayak/swim party afterwards, we look forward to the work that awaits us as we build our community for the future. As the second verse of “Summertime” so hopefully states:
