Back in 2022, with an eye to imminent retirement, Jeff acquired 80 rural acres in Columbia Falls, feeling that it would be a nice place for his family to camp. Much to everyone’s delight, camping and retirement actually followed.
Trace, his brother, was also anticipating retirement… albeit not the camping bit, as such.
Certain conversations ensued:
- How do makers spend their time when the saturated intensity of conventional school and work are behind them? How do diverse adults occupy their lives beyond the school framework? How do they actualize their self-determination skills?
- How much of that daily occupation (at any age) is equitably accessible to everyone in their authentic self? How much legitimate belonging is extended to everyone without masking?
- Where are we going to put all of our stuff when we pull up stakes and converge on Maine?
- What if we shared that stuff with the community, like the tools, gardening plots, activities, animals, maker space, and contact? What sort of entity would that be? Could we create an actual empathic education environment? What already exists in the area?
- Where did we hear the phrase “Great google moogly”? (I mean, we don’t always talk about changing the world.)
Although it was a grand idea, there was no way to ignore the obvious: we had both already spent our lives largely in service to others, and we were no longer “firm and young, like two firm youngsters.”
Faced with that stark reality, we could only come to one sobering conclusion: it was about damn time (after so many decades in harness) that we finally put ourselves first and, well… just kept on serving others, really.
Why? Because a community focus helps the world to be a better place, which is cool, and it’s just sorta what we’re designed to do. We like it.
Only now, how much better will it be with our own facility, where we are not beholden to the oppressive dictates of hollow rulers?
Of course, all of these discussions occurred in the following context: our family is Autistic, often with VAST in the picture (among many other things). That’s the tip of our iceberg.
So, in a nutshell…
Jeff and Trace decided to do that thing that they do.
And here we are.
We hope that you will join us.
