Welcome to this magical window into our world: Our little Quayside Village world of 19 families living in North Vancouver on Canada’s Pacific Ocean. And this, first ever for us, window into the world’s global nervous system we call the internet. Launching into our 60’s now and brought up during the 60’s too, we would not be opening up this website without our daughter Mira. It is her web skills that are really bringing this all to you.
What’s the point of living a green life? Other than drinking green beer on St.Patrick’s Day?
One answer is to make room for our neighbours. Across the lane, across the hall , across the political divide and across the globe. What do we have to do to become sustainable? We all need to balance economic affordability, with social connectedness and yes, using the bounty of the earth in a way that preserves that bounty for generations to come.
What that comes down to, so often, is achieving more with less…..
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/news/7-billion/ngm-7billion
Linda in our back yard from the 4th story roof, circa 2008.
Here is our ‘doing more with less’ backyard, one of 5 urban food gardening areas on our property, overlooking Vancouver’s harbour and our North Shore mountains. The above image was taken from the 4th story roof of Quayside Village. It depicts one of our rain water barrels and Linda, harvesting magical compost that appears from under the green composters. Thanks to our hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of worm worker friends. Are worms even more important to us than bees?
The wind, one brilliant day, called
to my soul with an odor of jasmine.
‘In return for the odor of my jasmine,
I’d like all the odor of your roses.’
‘I have no roses; all the flowers
in my garden are dead.’
‘Well then, I’ll take the withered petals
and the yellow leaves and the waters of the fountain.’
the wind left. And I wept. And I said to myself:
‘What have you done with the garden that was entrusted to you?’
-Antonio Machado, translated by Robert Bly
Here begins our journey…and the task ahead…to transform that last line of this poem into beauty. Inner and outer.