A Healing Circle

On Sunday night we held a healing circle at Pacific Gardens to express our many feelings about the death of Murray Rogers, our dear friend.

We gathered together in the dining room to talk about the emotions that had surfaced since we heard the news - shock, sadness, guilt, anger, and frustration that we couldn't help him.

Carla, who had not known Murray, but saw how those of us who did were affected, kindly offered to provide refreshments, because, as she said, "I believe food nurtures more than the mere body" - and she was right.

Roz had decorated the room with soft-lit electric candles and arrangements of dried plants from our gardens.  There was a pensive photo of Murray and Susana's beautiful tribute to him displayed on a table.

Several in the community who, like Carla, had not personally known Murray, came to provide support and help us deal with our grief and sense of loss.  That meant a great deal.

We talked for almost two hours.  At times we wept as we recalled how Murray had struggled with his anxiety and depression.  At other times we laughed as we remembered Murray's offbeat sense of humour.

We remembered his incredible generosity, his willingness to tackle new projects, his creativity, his skills as a master electrician and a scuba diver, his passionate concern for the environment.

Murray was a unique shining star, a man like no other.  He could be bombastic and in-your-face, tender and loving, argumentative and then accepting.  We will never forget him.

We'll be holding a gathering for his family and his many friends on Saturday, Nov. 23rd from 2 to 5 pm at Pacific Gardens, where we will celebrate his life with music and food and share our stories.

Here is a picture of Murray as we like to remember him, taken at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Pacific Gardens a little more than four years ago.

Kathryn

Murray Rogers, centre, with Pacific Gardens co-founders, 2009

These days, I am feeling really overwhelmed with community love for my Pacific Gardens Community.

It’s just been a great and crazy week.

Some craziness here made me decide (after months of thinking about it) to step down from my role as chair of the Happy Kids Committee. The circumstances are not really something worth repeating but I was very pleased by the number of people who wanted to use it as a learning opportunity about what went wrong and why and how other committees can be better supported in the future.

It is so inspiring to me that a community will acknowledge that something isn’t working and work to fix it.

I am also having a great week Community wise.

I had a little cocktail party to celebrate my newly dressed balcony last Saturday. We listened to a nice mix on Songza and chatted by the light of the lanterns until midnight.

A friend dropped by a big bag of salad from her garden for me yesterday.

On Tuesday I shared pre-dinner cocktails with some lovely ladies on the back patio.

And last night we had a birthday potluck. My kids were the only kids who attended this week and they loved being able to be the helpers who wheeled out the Birthday cakes.

Then after pot luck (and the clean up) five of us snuggled in for a movie night on the Dining Hall couches.

And now I am planning for the Olympics this weekend as a Community building activity that also doubles as a celebration of the first day of Summer. Happy Litha everyone!

Tonight was supposed to be our opening ceremonies aka. our Bon Fire. But we are pretty rained out right now so I am turning it into a community game night instead.

I was sick on Wednesday and lost a whole day of prepping and am now scrambling a bit to accumulate the articles needed for the weekend, but it’s all good because I am happy and excited.
 
I hope we get a good turn out and some sushine!

-Myriam

Party Central at Pacific Gardens!

Maybe it's because of spring, but people at Pacific Gardens have been partying hearty this last month, and it shows no sign of stopping!

First was the Green Party party May 5th with munchies and great dance music provided by a local  acoustic rock duo, Paul and Jess.

Next was the birthday party Tara threw for herself the last weekend in May, with all kinds of good food, a bonfire and general merry-making.

This was followed by Susana's birthday party two nights ago, which featured the same great band, Sharon's super-delicious, gluten-free cake (yes, there is such a thing!) and even more food.

Having a dance band made it extra-special for Susana, who loves to kick up her heels on the dance floor.  As she says, "It is hard to dance and have a sad face!"

But the best is yet to come. Two weeks from now we will have our very own PG Olympics, with a bonfire Friday night, a potluck breakfast the morning after, and a day of races and fun.

Here is the beautiful poster that Myriam designed for it:

We end the month with a Magic The Gathering party for Trey, where we will commemorate his arrival on this plane eight years ago, and feast on cake!

Trey's talented Mom, Myriam, designed another fabulous poster for this event:

Myriam is the creative force behind these last two events.

This is why I love Pacific Gardens!

Kathryn

How Community and a Tree-Climbing Cat Cured the Post-Election Blues!

It's hard to believe that it was more than a month ago since I've posted here...but fortunately Myriam has kept everyone up-to-date with what's happening with her beautiful pics of Pacific Gardens in bloom and its newest residents!

I could tell by the number of viewers that politics is not the favourite topic of those who read this blog, so that's a cautionary note for me that not everybody shares my passion for this topic.

I will say that I was both happy and unhappy with what happened, mostly unhappy.  I spent a few days trying to avoid feeling depressed about the election results, without much success.

It didn't help that Nanaimo city council had voted five to four to destroy Colliery Dam Park, one of the jewels in this city and certainly of the Harewood neighbourhood.

So I decided to give up and just wallow in negativity and get it out of my system.The best way to do this, I thought, would be to catch up on all the housework I had neglected during the election campaign.

I tussled with the dust bunnies, tossed out the garbage, sorted the recycling, and scrubbed the ring out of the bathtub. And you know what?  I started feeling better.

It was a case of if you can't clean up the world, you can at least clean up the grunge in the kitchen sink. And while I was vacuuming the grit out of the patio doors, I noticed something.

It was a beautiful spring day, and outside my window, the kids were swinging on the hammock and playing on the lush green grass, and the flowers were starting to bloom again in Susana's garden.

Some robins had built a nest in one of the old apple trees, and their song filled the air of the early evening, fragrant with the smell of grass and blossoms.  But something even  better happened - although it didn't seem that way at first.

A few months go Mykl and Laura had acquired a little tabby kitten, who is now at the stage of prowling outside.  The cat saw those robins, and immediately made a bee-line for the tree.

Up the trunk the feline scooted, tail switching, while the robins flew about in terror trying to protect their nest. The little cat went higher and higher until it was almost at the top of the tree, and then the robins began dive-bombing it.

The cat couldn't go down, and the robins wouldn't give up.  What to do? I rushed outside and got Mykl, who with the help of Kaj, put up the long, tall ladder we use for pruning and gleaning.

Mykly quickly clambered up the tree, and stretched his arm out as far as he could to haul down the recalcitrant kitty, who, despite the dive-bombing birds, was still determined to get at that nest.

So what was it about this little tableau that heartened me?  The coming together of the community members to rescue a cat up a tree?  The determination of the robins to protect their young?

I'm not sure. But it made me happy, and banished those post-election blues.

Kathryn

Our Community...in bloom!

What an understatement!

 

 

 

  

-Myriam

Living in the Land of the Big Cheese

I have been learning a whole lot about mice lately - more than I really care to know.

We thought we had solved the problem of the marauding mice at Pacific Gardens, but now they've come back.

To put this all in perspective, when I first heard that we had rodent guests who had stayed too long at the party, I checked out the internet.

When I typed in, "Mice in Nanaimo", the names of two major local hotels topped the list - so we're not the only ones!

But it hasn't been much fun. We've spent hours filling holes, cleaning, meeting, setting traps, and checking crawl spaces and duct work for entry points.

And then Chad took control of the mouse patrol. He definitely likes to use humour to get his point across.

Chad's our strata council vice president, and as the one coordinating our efforts to get rid of the pesky varmints, dubbed himself mice president (MP).

He was quick to explain that as the royal Mice President he was just a figurehead that oversees everything in this land of the Big Cheese.

He called the group tackling the problem the Rodent Response Team, or the MLA (Mouse Liberation to-the-afterlife Army).

The people responding to questions and concerns from residents were MEOWs (Mice Extermination Outreach Workers).

And if people wanted to contact the MEOWs directly, they could e-mail them at mice@pacificgardens.ca.

With the humour, however, came a detailed plan, and community members willing to carry it out. And it's working!


I just received the first report from the Rodent Response Team logger, Doris.

According to her splendid spread-sheet, 18 of our units have had no sightings of mice, and three have, but only sporadically.

That leaves four with serious problems, and these are being dealt with by having holes blocked to prevent entry, traps, cleaning, etc.

Round one in the fight against rodents!

Kathryn

Musique de Pond

We knew spring was coming for sure when we heard it. It started out as the occasional peep, then grew to a chorus, and now, it's a roar of sound.

The frogs in our pond are giving us their annual spring performance.  At night it's so loud that if you're talking to someone on the phone, they'll ask: "What's that noise in the background?"

I can even hear it from my bedroom on the other side of the building.  It is powerful, yet soothing - a harbinger of the warm days to come, an annual ritual of the season, and somehow, strangely romantic.

It is, as Mykl calls it, the "Musique de Pond". He's made a recording of it, but to capture the full effect, you need to hear it in person, preferably late at night, when the moon and stars are out.

The frogs join the mating ducks, the budding trees, the growing grass (and weeds!), the sporadic showers, the crocuses and yes, daffodils, in celebrating the coming of spring.

Time to put away the woolies and the wellies, clean out the garden shed, look through the seed catalogues and the gardening books, clean off the patio, and take a sneak peak at your summer wardrobe.

There may be a few more weeks of intermittent rain and gloom, but we know the days of sunshine, seeding, and new life will soon be here, serenaded by the Musique de Pond!

Kathryn

Busy, Busy Bees at PGCC

I'm feeling really creaky and stiff today, but not because I went nude bungee jumping! :-) No, it's because I was one of the many busy, busy bees participating in a spring work party at PGCC yesterday.

In usual Pacific Gardens fashion, we started it off with a potluck brunch, featuring yummy pancakes and waffles, with all kinds of scrumptious toppings, including Mykl's tasty banana syrup, as well as raspberry preserves and organic maple syrup.

Add to that some good strong hot coffee, a fruit smoothie, Sharon's excellent scones, and we were well-fueled to tackle the spring cleaning inside and the gardening and landscaping outside.

And we did a lot in a few hours. Sharon and David steam-cleaned 52 dining-room and office chairs.  Bill and Norah cleaned out the bugs trapped in our dining-hall lights, and replaced bulbs.

Trey, Joel, Braeden and Soma leaped, tumbled and ran through the building, watering the many plants both upstairs and downstairs.  As Braeden said, looking at all the plants: "No wonder it's called Pacific Gardens!"

I vacuumed the floors in the music room, the office, and one of the guest bedrooms, and mopped the floors in the kitchen and the elevator, and cleaned the ovens.

Chad and Kari led a team of enthusiastic volunteers who did everything from filling in the potholes on our gravel driveway to shovelling several loads of topsoil donated by Dirk Becker.

Of course we finished off the day's work with another delicious meal, this time featuring a hearty vegetable lentil soup made by Sharon, and homemade bread baked by John using wheat grown on Vancouver Island.

When I went home to do my own housework, I found myself humming the lyrics of that old tune: "Oh, we ain't got a barrel of money/Maybe we're ragged and funny/But we'll travel along/Singin' a song/Side by side."

Kathryn

With A Song In My Heart

Yesterday began as one of those days that epitomize the February blahs.  It was cold, rainy, grey, and miserable.

A friend from back East who telephoned to chat accused me of lying when I said the crocuses were out (really, truly, they are!).

I had nothing more exciting for my day's plans than laundry, list-making, and compost-dumping (which I didn't do, because it was too awful outside).

Even the usual Pacific Gardens potluck karma was out of whack.  The food was good, mostly vegetarian, but only about 10 people showed up.

Bleah!

But the evening soon had some fun and sparkle with our very own version of Canadian Idol, using the cards from a game called Encore.

Each card had a word on it that we had to use in a song.  Sounds easy, but it wasn't always. Trying to find that elusive musical word was a challenge at times.

It could also be very funny.  John had us laughing till tears ran down our faces with his comic rendition of a song with the word "finger" in it.

David tried to convince us that his multi-versed sea shanty with the word "landlubber" in it was close enough to the word "lover".

We also found that our neighbours had some wonderful musical talent. Bill revealed himself to be a crooner to rival Michael Bublé.

Susana had an impressive knowledge of African-American spirituals from her participation in the Everybody Sings group.

Ron was able to recall they lyrics to those top 10 hits we thought we'd all forgotten, while my specialty was Broadway musicals.

Jasson chimed in, too, and Chad came up with some creative choruses.

After an hour of singing, jokes and laughter, I went home in a much better mood and with a song in my heart.

This is why I like living in community.

Kathryn

Mouse in da house

Eeek - we have mice at Pacific Gardens!  Actually, we've always had mice at Pacific Gardens, so you can get off the kitchen chair now.

It's only that we have just become aware as a community that we have several of the little critters living with us.

Folks here were happily - or unhappily as the case may be - dealing with them on an individual basis, before they found out that this was a collective problem.

As usual, we were alerted to it by an e-mail from our intrepid Mia. "I have the distinct feeling that our building is over run with mice. Mice getting ready for a mating spring ritual with babies, " she wrote.

"We need an all out response to get rid of those lovely little creatures and send some to heaven, wherever that may be."

And as usual, that resulted in a flood of e-mail responses.  It seems the mice had infiltrated almost everywhere, all the way to the top floor and down again.

I learned more about mice demise than I had ever learned before.  With traps - wood, dollar store or sticky?  (Wood not good; dollar store effective; sticky effective but icky.)

Peanut butter or cheese?  And when and where to place the tempting tidbits?  One strategy was to place them on a trap a couple of nights in a row before setting them.

Others swore by the mousing ability of cats.  Michelle offered the loan of her feline friend, whose favourite nighttime pastime was capturing the pesky rodents.

Then the heavy-hitters from the Building and Maintenance (known as BAM) weighed in.  People should clean more, keep food in containers, block off all holes where they may enter.

Chad pointed out that while preventative measures were good, they obviously hadn't worked. And since we believed in shared resources, we should buy good traps and loan them out.

The debate raged on while the mice played and people at PGCC borrowed cats, filled holes, bought containers for food, and became fanatic crumb-sweeper-uppers.

The final words of wisdom came from our elder Doris. "I think that mice are a fact of life, at least when you have all the close to nature features that we are so proud to show to prospective residents.

"People who live in the country have always had to use both prevention and control.  But all control measures have their limitations and neither prevention nor control can ever succeed completely.

"We just have to be watchful and use all reasonable measures in their proper context."

And my view of the solution to the mice conundrum? I'm not sure. I don't have any mice in my unit - yet!

Kathryn

Artistically litter-free at PGCC!

John tries out our new art bin!

If you drive by Pacific Gardens, you'll see something different attached to the traffic sign at the entrance to our driveway - a brightly-coloured garbage can.

This is a gift to our community from the friendly folks of the South End Community Association, and it's designed to reduce litter in the neighbourhood.

The idea of providing the colourful garbage cans - or art bins as they're known - was dreamed up by an imaginative SECA member. If people had something to put garbage in, she reasoned, they wouldn't drop it on the ground.

And if the bins were funky and attractive, with designs made by anyone who wanted to paint them, they might even become a fashionable household accessory.

Turned out she was right.  The bins have become so popular that even people from Nanaimo's posh north end are clamouring to buy them.  But they're not for sale.

In return for giving an art bin a home, which comes fully-equipped with a chain, lock, and free garbage bags, all you have to do is take care of it and dispose of the garbage once it's full.

Our art bin is particularly special, because it was done by a youth group as a service project, and has a striking colour scheme - as you can see in the photo.

We're hoping that in addition to bringing a splash of colour to the grey days of winter, the art bin will also spiff up our section of  Seventh Street, and start a clean street trend!

Kathryn

Car Catastophes at Pacific Gardens

I don't know what it is about Pacific Gardens that makes cars blow up, die,or have nervous breakdowns, but they do, on a frustratingly regular basis.

Now, you'd think with all us environmentalists living here, that wouldn't be such a big deal.  We'd all get the bus or ride bicycles or use some other form of green-weenie transportation.

Alas, Nanaimo is almost impossible to get around in without automotive wheels.  The transit system here is, as I've noted before, one of the worst in B.C., if not Canada.

Our city rivals San Francisco in its hills, and since much of the road engineering was done in the early days of its history, there are gradients that I'm sure would not be permitted today.

Add to that a rainy climate, a community dominated by widely-separated shopping malls, and a car is an evil necessity.

That can be real problem if your vehicle packs it in, as it did for three different sets of people at Pacific Gardens, including two families with working parents who travel all over the city and the island for their jobs.

But this is the great thing about living here.  One of the families put out a call for assistance when their car felt poorly, and had to go their auto mechanic to get fixed.

Then another family's van - purchased only a year ago, after their first one went to car heaven - died.  How were they going to get the kids to and from their French immersion school in another part of the city?

After just one e-mail, they each immediately got offers of rides and car keys from their neighbours who were happy to lend their vehicles to help them out.

I'm lucky enough to have a reliable old car that gets me from point A to B, but it's good to know that if it ever conks out, or I decide I shouldn't drive any more, there will be friendly neighbours willing to give me a ride.

Kathryn

The Gift of Community

Just before we moved here, my husband’s boss back in Alberta told him that his sister-in-law had recently moved to a city South of where we are now and that she was depressed and lonely as she didn’t know anyone there.

We felt confident that our experience would be different as we wouldn’t have to work so hard to develop a social network out here, but would instead, be moving right into one. And I am ecstatic to say that we presumed correctly.

Anytime to you live so closely to other people there are challenges. There are weeks that make you wish you had more space from your neighbours and friends. But, I now see that Community is very much a reflection of me. When I am depressed and feel isolated, I withdraw and isolate myself. And when I am happy and outgoing, people seem to be that way too.

Sure, there are times when I put myself out there and feel little acceptance or encouragement. But there are times when I  organize something and it leaves me feeling a lot happier and the whole community feels friendlier.

My Ping Pong tourney was quite successful. We amassed a fair amount of  participants and reawakened a love for the activity in many of the residents here. I tried to go out and play a bit today and the table was always occupied!

And there are times when I am sick and someone comes by with some soup. Or when someone has a bumper crop of tomatoes and comes to share some with me. Or a friend brought by a bunch of bananas because she had gotten a good deal on them.

I have been working on a little secret project for our Christmas Pot Luck meal. Being pleased with it, I went down the hall to share it with my co-conspirator. She wasn’t home (or didn’t hear me knock) so I went a few doors down for a visit with a  friend instead. We both talked about how wonderful this place is. About how the atrium helps us feel like we are getting “out.” Even without having to put shoes on. And the comfort in knowing your neighbours.

And I appreciate the workout room that keeps that giant home gym out of my living space. And that my husband’s tools are in the wood shop. So, if he wants to build something, he has a nice, cozy, contained place to do it.

There is also the freecycle which has been really great for parents who use it as a means for “swapping” clothes. Just as it snowed here I realized I couldn’t find Anna’s mittens. And later that afternoon? I checked the freecycle and found blue mittens just her size. It saved me having to go and buy her some.

The yard is fantastic here. And people love to garden here in the summer. The kids love the covered atrium when it is rainy, snowy or just plain cold. And the conversation lounge is great for a cozy movie night or a conversation and some wine with a friend.

It’s amazing how much love comes back when you start putting it out there.
Community…I heart you.

-Myriam

Solstice Community Style.

It was fabulous to see the community gather for Solstice. Being so far away from family, it means a lot to me to have people to share this time with.

Some gathered to do some caroling. Some gathered to chat and some gathered to battle for the title of PG Ultimate Table Tennis Champion.

After a little misadventure, our ping-pong table was crippled and lopsided. But Kaj was kind enough to work tirelessly to get this dead beetle back on its feet just in time for the tourney. And since this was the table's first Community tournament, we had to have a ribbon cutting. And who better to cut the ribbon than Kaj?



Many people showed up to take a stab at the title!  Everyone, even the children, had a chance to play.




Our local Tennis pro played six or seven matches undefeated and won the whole tourney.



Kara made a labyrinth for us all.

She made it out of branches and candles and it was dimly illuminated. A wonderful way to recognize the Solstice.  It was in the dark which made it hard to take a photo of it.

This shot shows the mood a bit better.



And this shot shows the labyrinth a bit better.



-Myriam

O Christmas Tree, O #$%^&* Christmas Tree

As you can tell from the photos Myriam posted last week, we have some very talented Christmas tree decorators at Pacific Gardens, both adults and children.

This is a good thing, especially for people like me. Each year I strive to make my little tree look good, and each year it ends up looking like it was decorated after I drank too much rum eggnog.

Last year I thought I almost had it perfected.  I had two functioning strands of Christmas lights that I spent hours carefully winding around the branches of my somewhat scraggly artificial tree.

Alas, this year, one of them was kaput, and so I had to unwind and untangle it, which I did, using some very un-Christmasy language.  If Santa were listening, there would definitely be no presents for me!

Of course, after removing those lights, all the branches were askew, the ornaments hung lopsidedly, and the remaining lights were on one side. My little tree looked forlorn and unkempt.

And then I went into the dining hall for our weekly potluck.   Two beautiful, tall Christmas trees, with bright angels on top, and strands of lights looped around them in perfect symmetry.

And with at least a hundred ornaments on them, in gold, red, green and silver, more angels, a teddy bear, a heart, ornaments made of felt and paper by the children - what a wonderful sight!

And here's a lesson in community for me.  Maybe I'd be better off next year joining in the Christmas decorating fun at Pacific Gardens than trying to do my own tree.

That way I'll be sure to get presents from Santa!

Kathryn

Good friends. Good tea. Good life.

In life there are always going to be those special people that just get you and you get them. Like a magic that makes hours seem like minutes.  Where conversation is honest and honours the other person. People who don't judge but accept. Who give and share without the expectation of receiving in return.

Today I got to spend an evening with one of those people. I was able to share some tea, some Josh Groban and some hand-crafting with a friend in the Community Dinning Hall. All the while enjoying beautiful Christmas carols and snacking on little gingerbread men cookies and grapes.

And as it can be in Community, we had five people stop in for small chats throughout our visit.

These are things I am grateful for. Good friends. Good tea. Good life.

-Myriam

A little sparkle...

So, It was that time for PG to get a little festive.

I lead the children's activities. We glittered up pine cones and made small snowflakes for the children's tree. Then Gloria made about a hundred cookies and the kids decorated them. They stayed out with the veggies, popcorn, tea and hot chocolate for the showings of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and The Grinch. And then the kids took the left overs door to door to hand them out to our neighbours.



This is the adult tree with paper snowflakes.



And this is the kids' tree:



 In true PG style the baking, hot chocolate, decorating, cleaning etc. was all a team effort.

That being said, after all of that chaos, I am feeling a bit burnt out. Maybe it would be nice to split up the decorating and the crafts and make two special and fun days instead of fitting it all into one.

But kicking back and watching a funny movie was just the thing I needed. Thank you!

-Myriam

Community and Non-Community in Vancouver

I was in Vancouver (or the Big Mango, as I like to call it) for a Cohousing Fair held Monday night to an over-flow crowd in the Heritage Hall on Main Street.

Cohousing groups, both developed and forming, came from the lower mainland and Vancouver Island to set out their stalls and hear architect and cohousing guru Chuck Durrett give a presentation.

Each group had a table with displays, brochures, pictures, and enthusiastic cohousers eager to talk about their own communities and cohousing in general. The response was fantastic!

The organizers, members of the newest cohousing group in Vancouver, Cedar Cottage Cohousing, had to open the doors early because people were lined up outside in the cold, waiting to get in.

A crowd of 250 or more, including several families with children, listened attentively as Chuck explained the principles of community living and while each group made a short presentation about their own cohousing community.

It was an amazing event to be part of, and it certainly left me with a warm, fuzzy feeling about what we have accomplished here at Pacific Gardens. It lifted up my heart when I heard the emcee say, "What we're trying to do here is change the world!"

And then I left the hall and went out into the world of Vancouver.  What a contrast! People talking on their cell-phones, but not to each other.  People standing grim-faced on the bus.

People glaring at a mother with a cranky baby on the bus, or avoiding the glazed eyes of people begging on the street (and there were lots of those, sadly). People so focused on getting where they wanted to go that they practically knocked you over.

And everywhere, cars, and noise, and somebody selling something in a thousand-and-one stores and on a thousand-and-one signs.  I was so glad to get back to the relative peace-and-quiet of Nanaimo!

And I was especially glad to be back at Pacific Gardens, where our community nurtures and supports us, and a smile or hello is more important than a text on a cell-phone.

Kathryn

Atrium Bustle

Reading Kathryn's post made me think I should repost one of my posts from my personal blog.

There is a reason why my kids look at the exterior of this building and tell me that they are SOOOO glad that they live here. 

It's because they have so many friends. And knowing that this is a safe place to play means that I can let them have those growing opportunities of trying and failing while knowing that they will know (or someone will know) where to find me if something happens.

And the community, especially the yard, plays such a big role in their growth as social beings. But, as the leaves turn yellow, the air gets chilly and the rain starts to flood our playground, our atrium comes alive.

It is no longer just a simple walkway to the outside. No, it becomes transformed into a blank canvas where our kids can use their imaginations to amuse themselves for hours.

There are pillow forts, pillow cars and more:



And train sets:



And pokemon battles:



And playing house and dressing up:




And making giant forts:

And board games and so much more.

And the kids flow from home to home, and spill into the atrium. Gone are the days of keeping my kids cooped up because of the weather.

I don't know if everyone appreciates the kids running through the halls, gleefully screaming while being chased by one child in a Darth Maul mask during a game of tag. But it sure makes me happy to see their bodies being active while they make important friendships.

I am very grateful for this place. And I know my kids are too.

-Myriam

Pacific Gardens is Kidville!

Children at Pacific Gardens are especially blessed.

It's not just because we have a great outdoors play area where they can run, jump, dig, climb trees, play on the teeter-totter, ride their bicycles and tricycles and wagons and swing on the swings.

It's because they never have to go on a play-date. It's total kidville - they just tumble out the door, and there's always someone ready to do magic tricks, or learn break-dancing, play table-tennis, have a tea-party, or pretend to be a Ninja Turtle (who would have thought they're still in style?).

I always know when school's out, because there's a crowd of weans (as the Scots would say) roaring through the atrium playing games or running in and out of each other's homes as they plot their next adventures.

Now some people my age would really object to that, but I don't.  To me, it's the sound of happiness, the sound of children playing as they should play, free to explore, to come up with their own ideas for games, and to have the extended physical activity they require to grow up strong and healthy.

When I see the way the children here are free to roam, safe in a community where we all look out for each other, it reminds me of my childhood more than a half-century ago, when I would leave the house at nine in the morning and come back for supper - and nobody worried.

The children at Pacific Gardens are experiencing the best of both worlds - the freedom of unstructured play, within the protection of a cohousing neighbourhood where they know they are welcomed and loved.

Kathryn