preparing for Spring

Over 30 folks joined together this past weekend to work on the land, including members of "Cakalak Thunder," a radical drum corps based in Greensboro; new friends from the local Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation; and friends from Durham.

Rose and Vivette finish painting new trim for the windows in our new practice space.

Moving mulch from the truck...

... to the garden.

Will paints our tools blue...

While Rachel paints the walls green.

By lunch, the morning's work was coming to an end but the music was just beginning. Cakalak played their incredible rhythms, inspired by Brazilian samba and collectively created as music of resistance. Check out more about this unique and potent group on their website.

Community Feast for MLK Day

For the past five years, Gita and Edd Gulati-Partee have gathered people for a Community Feast in honor of the Martin Luther King holiday. (Those are Gita's proud parents in the foreground!) It's a unique gathering; everyone brings a dish to share from their cultural background and the entire group shares some about this history with each other. After many years of hosting the event in Durham, we were thrilled when Gita and Edd chose to have it this year at The Stone House.




Next time you come by, check out the fabulous "I Have a Dream" banner on the wall, made lovingly by hand with Edd and still hanging on our wall. The banner displays this quote from King's "Beyond Vietnam - A Time to Break Silence" speech on April 4, 1967 at Riverside Church in New York:

We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered. A nation can flounder as readily in the face of moral and spiritual bankruptcy as it can through financial bankruptcy.


Lovely host Gita shares a moment with Q Gaynor, friend and awesome building and maintenance person at The Stone House.

winter wonder land

winter begins

photo by willie davis

Well, with the thermometer at a toasty 77 degrees- it doesn't exactly feel like December [at least to the Yankees among us] but we at the Stone House have prepared ourselves for the colder months anyhow.

At the end of November, a bunch of friends- new and old- came by to help out with our volunteer work weekend. We had a blast time painting cabins, caulking windows, clearing forest brush and gathering firewood -among other tasks- all the while, keeping warm, eating good food and having fun. For those of you who missed out- Don't Worry!- we'll be having monthly work weekends beginning next season.


Then, just a couple weeks ago, North Carolina Public Allies held a day-long retreat at the Stone House. Public Allies is an awesome program designed to help strengthen communities, nonprofits and civic participation by advancing new leadership. By all accounts, they had a great time and were able to settle right into the space and make it their home for the day. Margie had fun leading them through a morning workshop that had them talking, walking, reflecting and doing some art!

Open House at The Stone House

On a gorgeous late October Saturday, we had our first Open House at The Stone House. Sixty folks came for a self-guided tour of the land and buildings, to carve a pumpkin or make a prayer flag, and eat some delicious chili. There were kites to fly in the pasture and meditation cushions in the pavilion. People came from near and far to see what we were up to, inquire about bringing a group, tour the space, and hang out. Good times, good times.


Solita welcomes our neighbor Verena back to the land.

Jesse and cousin Joanne dig into some pumpkin carving and get caught up on family news.


Deva and Emi show off their pumpkins.

Communion in the trees - a conversation between first-time visitors Usha Gulati (far left) and Beverley Francis (far right), and long-time Stone House supporters Gita Gulati-Partee and Omisade Burney-Scott.

Margie prepares for our first big crowd!

We loved welcoming back our friends from the Human Kindness Foundation. From the left: Claudia, Kevin Desert (who still lives with us here on the land, with his wife Lizzie and son Ryan; we'd be kinda lost with out them!), Sita and Bo Lozoff, Catherine Miller and Jesse.


Nicole takes a well-deserved break from her awesome efforts coordinating the event. (And only two weeks into her time with us.... bravo....!! )


Armand Lenchek (real estate agent extraordinare and blues musician to boot!) and Jerry Hull reunite at The Stone House.



Pumpkin Sangha...

wisdom and compassion at The Stone House

On Sunday the 21st of October, Michele McDonald- a longtime meditation practitioner and teacher, came to The Stone House to teach a daylong retreat entitled "Compassion as Vehicle for Liberation."

Our first public event at The Stone House brought in 25 wonderful beings to the land- eager to spend the day in silence and contemplation. They arrived just in time to break in our new meditation cushions and explored each and every corner of The Stone House.

It was great to see people doing walking meditation in the open fields and under the pine groves and eating lunch in silence under the warm sun. A refreshing fall breeze would pass through the meditation hall every so often and help keep people awake after lunch!


A number of folks stuck around for a potluck dinner and a beautiful sunset. At the end of the night we watched a slide show that Michele put together on monastic life in Burma. It was a chance for people to learn more about the country and how they can help foster democracy and support humanitarian work going on there now.

Check the stone circles' website to find out more about our work to purchase and distribute video equipment in Burma. The military regime is trying very hard to prevent images and news content of the situation from leaving the country. One of the best ways we have to supporting the effort of the Burmese people is to make sure the lines of communication to the outside world stay open and up-to-date.

A Feast of Thanks

On Saturday, October 20th, Claudia and Jesse prepared a meal for all our friends in the area who helped make the move to The Stone House a success. The first of what we hope will be an annual "feast of thanks" to appreciate those who have given so much.
Of course, we had a wonderful time with our peeps- eating, drinking and being merry. We fed ourselves on local harvest-season goodies like stuffed squash and cranberry sauce. Claudia pulled off a great sweet potato pie and we ended the night full of food and good vibes.

At the end of the evening, we roamed down to the pond for a little ceremony to bless the land and ask for rain. We all connected with the goodness in our own ways- some frolicking in the water, others contemplating the starry night on good dry land!