the mountains are always in the distance

Ahoy! Wow sorry I got distracted there for a week or so...denied internet's existence. Anyhow, now that I've got a new iphone, the group can be in better touch with everyone and everything. And find directions, because we keep gettin lost! Or at least I do.

New cities can be overwhelming for me, but I've taken a liking to this one. I find it much preferable to Philly with it's limitless amazing kind folks and creative beings and so many buskers that all the corners ring with melodious cacophonies. This is THE corner, the one that's most sought after for busking and we have made some good bucks here:

(That's Sarah in the black playing violin. She's joined us for jams and dinner-she's been playing violin for 21 years- awesome!)

I've also tried to sell crafts on this corner while busking, no dice so far, but I will prevail.

This is where we've been parking the bus for most of the last week. It's an unused gravel lot behind the music store. No one's asked us to leave so far, and it's right outside of the center of the city, so it's perfect for being in town every day. Not the most picturesque, but actually when I look out the window each morning I see a tiny sliver of mountains in the distance peering through a tiny alley. Did some laundry on the washboard here yesterday, hung the line to dry tied to the mirror and the engine. So much for not doing your dirty laundry in public...!

 Jack of the Wood, the first place we went when we rolled into town! Great local beers, I sampled a Green Man IPA, brewed here. Delicious. So far I've caught an old timey band, some bluegrass and some interesting uke-upright bass-dulcimer-drum kit music here. Nice place to chill out on week days, waaaay too packed on the weekend to even breathe.

 This is the center of town, the main drag. The little triangle park where everything happens around it. There was a free market here last weekend.

 A closer view of the little park. Nice rocks!

 I'm really not kidding when I say there's always mountains in the distance....

...always. We will hopefully get to them soon.

This is inside Firestorm, the cafe I'm sitting in now. Great vegan food and drinks!! Also a little book store and local art hangin on the walls. That's Chynna on the right in the hat. She opened her house to us for dinner the other night and it was so amazing. She lives in a communal house called the 40 house. It is sustainable, and beautiful, including a grey water system, composting toilet, solar shower in the works, community library and garden in the back. I just took my first shower in a week and a half there today, and did some laundry. Sooooo needed! I feel great now.

This is a drawing Jack did of the 40 house living room when we went over for dinner. Jay picking a banjo in front of the wood burning stove, me on the floor catching some flames, our new friend Hannah in the rocking chair, Max on the couch. The living room is also the library. It feels like an old, cozy cabin inside, it's beautiful. I hope to live in a place like this someday.

So all in all, Asheville has been good to us. I can't wait to get into nature, but for me besides the great community around us, I find comfort in my 5 best friends. I look forward to our dinners each evening which we've designated each day for one person to take care of so we can stop eating after 9. I feel happy waking up to them each morning, and happy saying goodnight each night. As we learn to live together, even when shit gets tough, I can always feel the love. There's just so much love and light. Yiiiizzzzzaaaaaaa!


loving these goddamn beautiful mountains,

rabbrit