Several weeks ago Wolf Creek Commons co-sponsored an open house day at Nevada City Cohousing, a nearby cohousing community that’s been in existence for several years.  We invited interested guests to join us for discussions about cohousing, and to take a tour of the Nevada City Cohousing site (which includes many similarities to our future home, having been designed by the same green-focused architectural firm that specializes in cohousing communities).  A good time was had by all present.

The most amazing part of that morning for me was listening to the children who spoke to our guests.  Several 10-12 year old residents of Nevada City Cohousing volunteered a portion of their Saturday morning to talk extemporaneously in front of a large group of mostly adults about their experiences living in a cohousing community.  They all seemed genuinely excited about the lifestyle — the safe environment, the extended family, and especially the ability to easily find someone in their peer group with whom they could share homework tasks or play time at a moment’s notice.  I suspect there must be some downside to spending your childhood in a cohousing community, but all these children unabashedly made it sound like the greatest thing since peanut butter and jelly!

A young mother from Nevada City Cohousing also spoke that morning about her experience living in a cohousing community – the tremendous support she had from other families and the eagerly volunteered assistance helping out with her home and family while she was challenged by the latter stages of her pregnancy.  She explained how once she and her newborn child were at home and ready, they posted a sign on their front door saying they would be ready for visitors at 10 a.m. the next day, and by 9:30 the line had started forming, resulting in a steady stream of smiling faces (both young and old alike) who came to greet the latest member of the community.  What a nice, spontaneous welcoming committee!

Some of the guests at the open house brought their kids with them for the Saturday morning event.  Providing child care while the adults were inspecting floor plans and talking finances became a moot point when the current juvenile residents of the cohousing community welcomed the young visitors into their playgroup with open arms.

Gail and I won’t be bringing any children with us as primary residents of our new home at Wolf Creek Commons, but the experience with the kids in a cohousing community on that morning helped reinforce our decision to move into a family-friendly community where all of our lives will be enriched by the various stages of life evidenced around us.  We’re looking forward to being part of a community where kids are an integral part of the experience.

Visited the Wolf Creek Village construction site again late on Saturday afternoon.  Gail and I had driven into town to do grocery shopping and other errands.  (Sure will be nice to simply walk to the grocery store from Wolf Creek Commons, rather than having to drive 20-25 minutes to get there!)  We stopped to poke around our new home site for a few minutes, just to get the “feeling” of what it’s like after the logging.

We hadn’t necessarily planned this stop on our trip to town.  Since it was a very pleasant summer day, we were both wearing sandals.  The dirt turned up by the logging operation — and lack of rain for several months — was very “fluffy” and we quickly sunk in, our feet, ankles and sandals turning reddish brown as we plodded down the slope toward the creek.  We noticed the traffic noise fading and the creek noise increasing as we approached the approximate location where our new home will be.  I think we’ll like the view too, surrounded by tall pines, cedars and oaks.  (The logging operation has also, at least temporarily, obliterated all the poison oak and Scotch broom – another plus!)

When we got back to the car we stopped to wipe off as much of the dirt as possible — didn’t want to leave a trail in the grocery store — but somehow it felt like we had “bonded” that afternoon with the earth that will provide the foundation for our new home site.  Anticipation continues to build…

Last night the Outreach & Marketing Committee had a potluck dinner and meeting at John & Claudia’s.  Although I’m not officially an O&M member, as Claudia so aptly put it (paraphrased) ”we’re all marketeers for Wolf Creek Commons” at this stage of the project.  Plus, I’m married to an O&M member so I was invited to participate in the potluck from that perspective as well.

I was tired last night, with work responsibilities and postponed home maintenance tasks weighing heavily upon me.  We left home about 5:30 p.m. for the lengthy drive to John & Claudia’s.  Somehow the act of physically separating myself from my work/home responsibilities caused a minor but immediate improvement in my spirits.  The attitude buoying continued once we met up with our cohousing compatriots.  I was able to relax and laugh and explore what’s going on in other people’s lives instead of being so worried about my own bloated to-do list.

In the end, we enjoyed a good meal together, got some good work accomplished on our Wolf Creek Commons tasks, and had a good time doing it.  It was a long meeting (ended about 10 p.m.) so I was still tired when we returned home, but I was also rejuvenated about cohousing in general and Wolf Creek Commons in particular.  I can’t wait to join these folks in our new community full time!

We had an excellent Wolf Creek Commons general meeting on Saturday.  All households were represented except the family that is on extended vacation in Alaska.  (Where do I sign up?)  Everyone’s demeanor was reasonably cheery, and we had some good discussions.

Following the general meeting was a WCC social event that involved panning for gold in the nearby Yuba River.  How nice to have such scenic and historic activities so close by.  Gail and I were unable to attend due to a prior out-of-town commitment.  I haven’t heard the result (which probably means nobody found their dream nugget) but I suspect the participants had a good time frolicking in the refreshing waters of the Yuba.

An interested guest observed Saturday’s general meeting, and then went on a tour of our new home site.  Word is that she’s very interested in joining our community.  Maybe that was our gold nugget for this week!

I’ve been out of town on business all week.  The driving, the tough decisions our management team at work is faced with, and being away from home all made for one of the more stressful weeks of my life.  I did, however, manage to get together for dinner on two different nights this week with friends from where Gail and I used to live — friends I hadn’t seen for many months prior to this week.  Having them to converse and share with helped me stay grounded, and helped provide an outlet for the huge amount of work-related stress I’m feeling.  Thank goodness for friends.

This helps me realize — and look forward to — how much healthier it will be for me to live in a community where there will be constant interaction with my friends and neighbors … where that stress-relief valve will be present on a daily basis without requiring extraordinary efforts to make it happen.  I can’t wait!

We have a Wolf Creek Commons general meeting this morning and it makes me smile just thinking of getting together with the WCC folks that I’ve built relationships with over the past 9 months.  That’s the kind of smile I’d live to wake up with every morning!

Now if we can just recruit more like-minded people to join our community so it can continue to push forward towards becoming reality…

Yesterday’s plant moving party was a big success. Seedlings that had been started over a year ago for Wolf Creek Commons landscaping had been stored at Mark & Lisa’s house (and cared for by them) ever since, but they’re pending move to Nevada City Cohousing prompted us to have to relocate the plants. Bob & Gail volunteered their property, and built a deer-proof fence to protect the plants. It took 11 of us from about 2 p.m. until 6 p.m. to load all the pots into trucks and trailers, drive about 10 miles, and then cart them downhill to their new home. The weather was great, the company was good, and the task got accomplished. I must admit I’m not necessarily looking forward to carting all those pots back up that hill once we’re ready to move them to their permanent home, but yesterday was a task well done. We even had participation from prospective new members who volunteered to help out!

After a much-needed shower, the ensuing barbecue and potluck was a very pleasant way to rest my tired body while conversing with my future WCC neighbors. The food, as always, was excellent. The camaraderie was even better. And we got to gaze down on our future landscaping, below Bob & Gail’s deck, while enjoying a very pleasant Nevada County evening.

The opinion page in today’s issue of The Union (the daily newspaper for the Grass Valley & Nevada City areas) contains a piece by our dear friend and partner, Katie McCamant (president of CoHousing Partners, developer of Wolf Creek Village). Katie does an eloquent job of explaining why the removal of trees for the construction of our new homes is an environmentally responsible act. I’ve copied her article below for readers of this blog:

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It is hard to watch trees being removed from our land. So it is with mixed emotions that we watch trees being cut from the site of Wolf Creek Village — torn because we are sad to loose some trees, but excited because it marks the culmination of three years of collaborative planning of this new green-built cohousing community.

Everyone knows the land here has endured a lot. Native American Indians called this beautiful terrain home, and then settlers mined and logged it for hundreds of years. Considering this land’s arc in history, our leftover property, now surrounded by other development, is still so beautiful.

The next phase of its history begins as a walkable, infill neighborhood with 3-1/2 acres permanent forested open space. Wolf Creek runs the length of our property, and we feel the obligation to be good stewards. While I have no doubt that this will be the most sustainable new development built in Nevada County, it is still hard to cut the trees and watch them fall.

We make the sacrifice of the trees, in order to accept the challenge of creating a beautiful sustainable community that models a much more energy-efficient and satisfying way to live. Beginning first with Wolf Creek Lodge, a community for active adults, and then, the intergenerational Wolf Creek Commons, our vision is about to begin taking physical form.

Wolf Creek Village is located at McKnight Way and Freeman Lane. Next door are most day-to-day shopping needs including grocery stores, pet food shop, a veterinarian, a range of restaurants, cafes, ice cream shop and even a gym. Residents can bicycle to the Farmers Market at the fairgrounds or walk downtown for an evening out.

The future residents of Wolf Creek Village look forward to greatly reducing their dependence on their cars and driving much less. Claudia and John Martin, who currently live in a custom home on acreage, and Virginia and Butch Thresh, who now live on 15 acres out in the Bitney Springs area, say that reducing the miles they’ll need to drive for everyday errands is one of the many attractions of WCV. And by building on infill town sites, where infrastructure already exists, we can save more valuable habitat in rural areas.

There is no more important step to reducing our carbon footprint and our dependence on foreign energy sources than reducing the miles we drive. Wolf Creek Commons future residents, Claudia and John Martin, say it’s not usual for them to make three to four trips into town with their busy schedules and active involvement in many local organizations. “I expect we’ll cut our Nevada County driving miles by 80 percent when we move into Wolf Creek Commons,” Claudia notes.

Building highly energy-efficient homes will further reduce their carbon footprint. Project architect Charles Durrett explains, “We design the homes to work with the climate to reduce heating and cooling needs, while optimizing natural daylight. We expect these homes to exceed the State Title 24 energy requirements (the toughest in the country) by 35 percent.” Careful choice of materials with attention to conservation of resources and indoor air quality creates healthy homes that make you feel good. And at the completion of construction, the property will be replanted with regionally appropriate landscaping to further enhance the 60 percent of existing trees that are being retained. Residents have already started 500 ground cover seedlings to jump-start the replanting process.

But communities aren’t about just buildings — they are about people. This community is co-developed with the future residents themselves. These Nevada County residents not only want to build energy efficient homes, they share a vision of a cooperative neighborhood where people know each other and pitch in to help each other out. We can do so much more in creating a more sustainable lifestyle by working together with our neighbors than we ever could on our own.

So it’s tough to see the trees go. But we take on that challenge that comes with it — to create a beautiful sustainable community that models a much more energy-efficient and satisfying way to live lighter on the planet.
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About a year ago, prior to Gail and I joining Wolf Creek Commons, the members got together and planted seedlings to be used for future WCC landscaping. I think this was done as both a social/work event and as a means of saving money. Since our new community was still a couple years off, it was much cheaper to plant seedlings now, and have them ready for landscaping when needed, then to purchase mature plants later.

The seedlings have been stored and cared for by Mark & Lisa for the past year. Mark & Lisa are about to move, so this Saturday we’re having a “plant moving party” to relocate all the seedlings to Bob & Gail’s home (where they’ve graciously built a fence to protect our plants from the deer that frequent their property). Although the plant moving will involve some physical labor on a warm summer afternoon, it will also provide good socialization time with other community members, and we’ll feel like we’re accomplishing something towards the completion of our new home.

We’ll also have a barbecue afterwards, and have invited members of Wolf Creek Lodge (the cohousing community for adults only that’s building their new home on the same property as our family-friendly Wolf Creek Commons) to join us. It’s wonderful that we can get to know our neighbors before we truly become immediate neighbors.

Working on the landscaping plants also provides a nice contrast, at least for me, to seeing the trees being cut down at our new home — with assistance from us, the regeneration cycle continues.

Having been away from Grass Valley for the past 12 days, due to vacation and out-of-town business engagements, today was my first opportunity to visit the Wolf Creek Commons building site since the timbering began. Although wonderful smell of fresh cut pine and cedar was in the air, I viewed the felling of a couple large trees with some trepidation. I’m sustained, though, by the knowledge that all our planning included saving as many trees as possible, including over 3 acres being left as permanent open space, and that the remaining trees should be much healthier and have more room to grow once our community is settled in.

My excitement is building now that actual visible physical work toward our new homes has begun. It will be fun to share this excitement with other Wolf Creek Commons members and members of the public who stop by our booth at the weekly Thursday Night Market in Grass Valley this evening.

Finally — my first post for our new Wolf Creek Commons blog.  So many things to do and so little time to blog…

Although I’ve been out of town on vacation and for work for the past 10 days, I understand that timbering of at our new home site began this week.  Although it will be a shame to see some of the trees go down, the site is beautifully treed and our design team has worked dilligently with the architects and landscape designers to save as many as possible.  I’m looking forward to seeing the changes to the site, and to the excitement that comes with knowing that the physical work preliminary to construction of our new community has finally begun.  The creek frontage site will still be gorgeous even with fewer trees.

I’ll be back in town Thursday, in time to help staff our booth at Grass Valley’s weekly Thursday night market.  It’s open to the public, free, and included lots of good good, crafts, fresh produce, etc. I hope you can stop by and say hello.

—Frank—