Cobb Hill Prom

The second annual Cobb Hill Prom happened last weekend - timed perfectly to break up the winter season. Cobb Hill teens Nora, Gretta, and Jenna invented the idea last year and brought it back this year, with glittery confetti, blue and white streamers, dozens of balloons, and a chocolate fountain! I think it's fair to say it was the first prom for Caleb and Maeli who are getting a jump on prom-going before entering pre-school! It was fun to see just how fancy my Cobb Hill neighbors can look when they shed their farm clothes and winter gear - check out a few photographic highlights:

Jenna, Nora, and Gretta (from left to right)  made the prom happen!

Sampling the chocolate fountain!

Fancy treats!

The prom was a family affair!

February Sunrise

Small House on Wheels

Cobb Hill member Jenna Rice, one of the group of young adults who have grown up at Cobb Hill, is on a gap year between high school and college. She's using part of that time to build a small, energy efficient home on wheels. After spending the fall months designing the house and picking out the manufacturer of the high energy efficiency panels the house is made of, Jenna visited the factory to watch the assembly of her house and made a time-lapse video.

A week or so later the house arrived, in the midst of a snowstorm.

You can read more about the house and Jenna's other projects on her blog.

Winter Woods Work

Cobb Hill member and forester, Bill Stack, has been working in part of our woods this winter. His project is part of a Natural Resources Conservation Service grant that is helping defray some of the costs of forest stand improvement. Bill is thinning out some trees in order to 'release' others, especially those with potential for providing timber, enhancing aesthetics, increasing biodiversity, creating wildlife habitats, or producing fruits & seeds that nourish wildlife. Some of the trees felled will be used for firewood, others for growing shiitake mushrooms, and the rest will eventually decompose helping improve our water and soil resources in the forest.  The two photographs below shows views of one small section of the six acre project, before and after the selective thinning.

Tending the forest in a community asks the forester to be teacher, naturalist, consensus-builder and listener, as well as tree expert. These few sentences from an email Bill sent round before getting to work gives a good sense of the many things a true community forester needs to keep in mind:

"Heads up if you are out this way and hear the chainsaw.  If you have favorite trees that you want to keep in this area let me know.   Happy to visit with you if you are out in the woods as well."

Before the thinning.

After the thinning.

Winter Scenes

This week we are having our first real taste of winter at Cobb Hill, with snow on the ground (finally!) cold sparkling nights and blue sky days. It inspired me to set out this afternoon with my camera to see if I could capture a little bit of the beauty of it all.

The 7 and 8 year old Cobb Hill members cook up a Common House Meal

This Sunday we had a great treat.  Instead of two or three adults volunteering to cook, the seven and eight year olds offered to cook a feast for us all (they had a bit of help from Jenna and Coleen). They planned the meal, cooked for a group of around 40 people, and helped with clean up.  it was a great meal of burritos with ice cream cone cupcakes!  Fun was had by all (in the cooking and the eating).  Huge thanks to the cooks!!!

Saint Lucia visits Cobb Hill!

On December 13th, we celebrated St. Lucia's Day with pastries for breakfast, a roaring fire in the den and a very special visitor.  This Swedish tradition comes from stories that were told by Monks who first brought Christianity to Sweden. 

Our first year at Cobb Hill

We moved in the middle of winter

We get to take care of the Chickens one day a week and help out with the sheep when we can.

I think Charlie has more fun than anyone

The Perennial Plate

Visitors often come to Cobb Hill and are taken by things here.  Sometimes, they write a story, or a song or even make a movie about us.  Here is a video for Episode 75 of The Perennial Plate. Not only did the filmmakers make us a movie, they also made us a meal.  

The Skills and Approaches of Multisolvers: Our Research Agenda at COP-21→

What is the secret ingredient behind some of the most innovative and promising approaches to climate change, approaches that protect the climate for the long term while increasing health, well-being and equity today?

We think it’s a particular type of leader – one who is able to implement solutions that solve multiple problems for the same investment of time and money, and I am off to Paris and COP-21 to test and refine our thinking.

COP-21 provides a focusing point for tens of thousands of change agents from around the world. Within the official venue – as well as at hundreds of events outside of it – these thinkers and doers are gathering to share their work with one another. Among these thousands of people, we know that there are very many multisolvers:

• Public health experts promoting climate-protecting policies that also improve health.
• Indigenous leaders who are showing how the management of their forests keeps cultures alive, provides sustainable livelihoods and sequesters carbon.
• City leaders creating low carbon cities and saving money at the same time.
• And more!

We love tracking and sharing these examples, and expect to bring many more back from Paris.

Climate Interactive in Paris for COP21→

The Climate Interactive team is heading to Paris for theUN climate talks taking place in the next two weeks. Drew Jones, Ellie Johnston, Travis Franck, and Beth Sawin from the Climate Interactive staff team will be there. Professors John Sterman of MIT Sloan and Juliette Rooney-Varga of UMass Lowell will also be joining us in Paris as well.

(note: two community members, Beth Sawin and Phil Rice work at Climate Interactive.  We are thrilled to share information about their upcoming work in Paris and invite blog readers to participate through webinars.)  

If you’re in Paris, it would be great to connect! Details about our activities are listed below. We would especially love to see you at our World Climate COP21 Simulation event and our COP21 exhibit booth.

If you’re not in Paris, join one of our webinars to follow updates.