We have the house of all houses. It's in Eliot (NE), a couple blocks from- well, just about everything. Can walk to downtown, NW, Alberta, ride bikes to SE, and it's also near the freeway...the garden is HUGE and I can't wait to get my hands in the dirt.
Bios of my three lovely co-residents  (and our canine mascot) will be along soon.

"It's 4:20. Do you know where your pot comes from?"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081012/ap_on_re_us/pot_environment

In this new year, I hope soon to build the Beit Kayam (house of Kayam). We are searching for a house, but it is a long and difficult process. We are encountering an interesting prejudice factor: many people do not want to rent to us, as they assume we are less responsible and/or less likely to care about the neighborhood and pay our rent than a family. I do not know why people have this impression, but it is a troublesome one, considering the fact that we will all be needing to do a great deal more space sharing- in the coming decades.

Little did I know that one can have goats in Portland (see Thursday's paper). Pygmy goats, up to three. You don't even need a permit.
I feel a project coming on...

Okay, so I've just come back from Maryland, moved to Tualatin, and started graduate school and a new job, all in the space of ten days. It's a little crazy but things are better than good.

I have not yet planned a Kayam solo event, but there are two shared community events coming up in September. I am working on arranging a visit to Hair of the Dog, a Jewish organic brewery with a really high reputation.

In other exciting news, a core group is forming for Beit Kayam (the Portland Eco-Jewish Cooperative). There are four people currently meeting together to plan, brainstorm, and look for housing! We are still looking for 1-2 more people.

If you know of a house available to rent with 4-5 bedrooms, garden space, and a large community space, which allows dogs, and which is on the east side, contact me!

Lucas, a new Portlander and the creator of an alternative Jewish calendar, will be running a Kayam shabbatluck this summer while I am gone. And there may be more events in the works. I will return August 17, but good times can happen at any moment!

The bonfire was a great success. Nine very interesting people (and one cute dog) talked, sang and munched our way through around 20 hours at the beach. We had everyone from an A&E assistant editor at the Oregonian, to a helicopter pilot, to a sustainable architect, to the editor of a poetry magazine.
I'm extremely excited about the kind of community that's developing already. What incredible people we have in Portland!

For those who don't know, I will be working in Baltimore at a Jewish organic farm and outdoor school for the summer. ( I will be blogging about my experience throughout the summer, on a blog which will be attached to this page.) Obviously I will not be around to plan Kayam events. Events planned by me will resume in mid August. However, KAYAM IS YOUR ORGANIZATION! Just because I made this thing up does not mean it has to be mine and mine alone. Other folks are in the process of planning Kayam events- you can too, and they can happen anytime. Consider running a Kayam event this summer! I'm available to help with logistics and so on if needed.

We have a hike with Bark (bark-out.org) this weekend, and a very exciting bonfire planned for the end of May. I'm really excited that the organization is finally "kicking" into high gear!

Check out the official Kayam logo on the main page.
I've been busy with grad school applications (just got accepted to an M.A.T. program!) so things have been quiet on the Kayam front; more coming post-Pesach.