A group of 11 of us from Woodstock and nearby towns gathered on July 22 for our Ninth Annual Radical Joy for Hard Times Global Earth Exchange. This gathering was particularly poignant because one of the participants who had been with us every year passed away unexpectedly last September. This was the first time without him.

We gathered by the enormous fountain near where the water from the massive Ashokan Reservoir leaves the reservoir on its trip to New York City. It is a beautiful, manicured park, so would not register as a wounded place if we didn’t know that seven viable, working towns were destroyed over a hundred years ago to build the reservoir, and earlier the native communities that stewarded these lands and waters were driven out in order to create those towns.

We sat around two picnic tables in the shade and expressed our feelings about the current state of the world, the environmental crises this summer, the loss of wisdom and community to corporate capitalism, and the dangerous situation as the overflow waters from the Ashokan affect downstream communities. It was a ninety-minute discussion which included disagreements among us that were resolved. We ended up with each person meditating about the healing qualities of water, and its importance in each of our lives.

Then we wandered about the premises, owned by the DEP of New York City, to gather material for our RadJoy bird. The process was fun as usual, and the bird came together quickly on a flat rock near our picnic table.

The pleasure of the afternoon inhered in the reconnection of the people in this little community, which only meets once a year to create ceremony.