EXCITING TIMES

[Paul Coleman]

PHOTO: Leaving the valley after our last trip with our neighbours.

Konomi is at home, drawing the plans of the four dome home we plan to build with Yuji. he loves it here in Patagonia and we took him to Valle Quinto where we have a four hectare patch of wilderness. The valley is vast and glorious with only eleven families spread over many kilometers of woods, rivers and mountains. our friend took us to see some of his land, but the price was not for us, so we decided, why not let him have some of our land and then came up with a plan to enter into a partnership that recognises our investment and lets go fifty fifty, so we can now develop the community of friends that we`ve always wanted and build. The design is of four domes and a courtyard and when people see it I am sure they will be reminded of a fairytale world. It will fit in with the view and will dissapear among the surrounds. Most of the materials will have to come from very close by. We have two rivers to cross, one by a two person, hand over hand cable car and the other on a 28 meter log that acts as a bridge. More challenges ahead, but it`s nice to see our plan - going to plan, without having the stress of thinking about it - amazing how things work out - not even fished one, yet already designing another - we love buiding things with the Earth. Very hard, but very rewarding. Looks like we`re going to take the concept to Vietnam in the spring - Yuji is working with a hotel owner to create an Eco-Park where low income families and orphans can learn to live with nature - the first building will most likeley be earthbags,

On the not so good side, the extremely damp weather, has damaged my PC - during our trip to the Valley it rained all the time and I guess inside the cabin got damp while we were away. Some info lost, but fortunately backed up everything last week. Will travel back to Japan with Yuji.

[Karen Strawn]

Is that you and Konomi on horseback?

[Cliff Spenger]

Exciting times indeed!
How wonderful, a four dome house for Yugi.
And your community is growing, fantastic.
Go well.