New Alpenglow Members: Abby and Steve

Abigail

I grew up back east in the mid-Atlantic area. I came out West after college to be a ski bum in Telluride. On my way to get a “real job” as a geologist during the gas exploration boom in Wyoming in the early ‘80s, I well remember driving through Ridgway saying, “THIS is where I will live someday!” Long time coming, but I hope the time is NOW! 

When that boom busted, I went to graduate school in Arizona and obtained a master’s degree in water resources. I did my thesis in Sri Lanka but subsequently pursued a career in domestic environmental science, mainly addressing water-related issues. I worked in government and private industry in Arizona, and volunteered with Water For People, building low-tech domestic water systems with community participation in Mexico and Honduras.

I moved to northern California in 2001, to lease a bed and breakfast on the Sonoma coast, just in time for 9-11. I continued to work as an environmental scientist, grant writing to help fund environmental education, land conservation, renewable resource projects, and community-based wastewater infrastructure development. I also got into importing traditional woven textiles from a collective of weaving villages in the Andes, and bought and sold organic cotton for bedding. 

I moved on to the Bodega Pastures Intentional Community in 2008, after meeting and marrying Steve. We share a dedication to environmental conservation and have helped the Bodega Land Trust acquire conservation easements in our local watershed. We are advocates of low-impact living on the land. I have learned to cut wood, herd and care for sheep, and work with and market wool and meat. My life at Bodega Pastures has been rewarding and wonderful, but we feel that the time has come for a new chapter back in our dear Colorado.

I play the fiddle, and especially love bluegrass, Celtic and Old Timey music. I would love to play much more. I love to backpack, canoe, kayak, swim, hike, travel, play tennis, and ski (downhill and cross country). One of my proudest accomplishments was walking the 560-mile Camino de Santiago in Spain. I would say I tapped into my spirituality on that walk. Two other feats in retirement include earning a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and buying a horse.

I have learned so much by being a member of an intentional community. I have learned about the wisdom of a group and the benefits of the slow process of consensus. I hope to continue this trajectory of growth at Alpenglow.

Steve

I was born in Iowa in 1950, the oldest of three brothers. I lived in various states in the Midwest until my junior high years, when my family moved to Colorado. I attended high school in Colorado Springs and college in Fort Collins.

I moved up to Aspen, and lived in various areas around the Aspen-Glenwood Springs valley. Both Abby and I have also lived in Southwest Colorado in Telluride and Silverton.

In 1972, I moved to Western Sonoma County, California where we live now. I worked in a Redwood/Douglas Fir sawmill, and then became a carpenter and had a 30-year career as a builder. I built residential as well as commercial including Round Table Pizza parlors and Cattlemen’s Steakhouses.

In the mid-nineties, I became involved in computers and the internet. Around 2000, I began working in tech for local nonprofits. In 2007 and 2008, I got laid off like many folks did, and also had open heart surgery. Since then I have been pretty much retired with occasional building and consulting projects.

Abby moved here to the ranch and we were married in 2009. We live in an intentional rural community on a 1,000-acre sheep ranch. I also have a son and two daughters and five grandchildren. I love fly fishing and travel. 

Regarding the meaning of community: 

Steve found a great quote in the Flyfish Journal (a surprisingly erudite and philosophical magazine) that we think captures what community means to us.

The article in Volume 12, Issue 1, entitled Sangha and written by Jimmy Watts, describes the fishing camaraderie of shared purpose similarly. He writes: "...[it] reminds me of a Sangha - a word found in the oldest known Buddhist texts. Translated from Sanskrit, it means a community or order that encourages you and helps you grow: it's a crew that takes you farther than you could otherwise travel alone.”

That really does sum it up for us.