Heartwood Co-housing, located on 360 acres in southwestern Colorado
QIF’s summer 2013 seminar brought together thirteen Friends to share projects and provide insights for future work. We met at Heartwood Co-housing outside of Durango, Colorado. The co-housing community embraced us by sharing meals, conversation and housing. We enjoyed the natural beauty of southwest Colorado and appreciated living and working in close proximity with each other for the week.
Housing at Heartwood
Houses seen from the dining hall
We met each morning in the community center, sharing each of our projects and sitting in worship together to provide guidance and insight.
Seminar participants listening to Dick Grossman’s presentation
Participants had afternoons free to work on their own. One of QIF’s Circles of Discernment decided to join the seminar this year to move forward with their work on a pamphlet about Climate Change, Food and Security.
Circle of Discernment members working together (Laura Holliday, Mary Gilbert, Leonard Joy, Judy Lumb and the photographer (not shown), Shelley Tanenbaum)
Much of our work gets done in informal discussions during the week.
Leonard Joy and Shelley Tanenbaum
As is our custom, we prepare some of our dinners together. Heartwood’s community kitchen was especially conducive to meal preparations.
Shelley Tanenbaum, Charlie Blanchard and Elizabeth Saria preparing dinner
Heartwood invited us to join their community dinners 2 evening during our seminar. We welcomed the opportunity to get to know some of the community members. Heartwood’s style of decision-making is very similar to the Quaker decision-making that we are all familiar with in our Meetings.
Heartwood Dining Hall and community dinner
David Millar preparing to bake bread
QIF seminar dinner (Shelley Tanenbaum, Laura Holliday, Elizabeth Saria, Judy Lumb, Jim Grant, David Millar, Katie Whitesides)
Seminar participants making plans (Jim Grant, Dick Grossman, Barry Zalph, Elizabeth Saria, Mary Gilbert, Shelley Tanenbaum, Judy Lumb, Leonard Joy)
Topics that were presented and discussed this year included:
1) Climate Change, Food and Security
2) Quaker Epistomology: Meeting for Worship on the Conduct of Research
3) A Future Vision: Ground Transportation
4) Evolutionary Quakerism
5) Ethics in construction
6) Making connections and strategic planning
7) Food ethics and veganism: a personal journey
8) Epiphany: a way forward