The Rookery

Things have been busy in Way Down South and Anville.  Many houses are now out on the land and the shingling classes will be filling up quickly in the coming week.  Often, as students focus intensely on their houses, their is a lull in governmental action (and intrigue).  I sense that lull is about to end.  

On Friday, the students in Anville's town meeting decided to fine anyone who did not come to the town's mandatory picture day — anyone except for those people who were in the meeting, that is.  It was the first glimmer of an abuse of power that the group had shown.  Another proposal was to fine anyone who didn't come to the meeting one delta per minute the meeting went on.  This proposal was defeated, in large part because the ARTech citizens knew trouble when they saw it and voted against it in a block.  So, it looks as though the days of the "come if you feel like it" town meetings may be nearing an end.  A few bad decisions and citizens begin to realize they have no one to blame but themselves if they are completely laissez faire about their government.)  We shall see.

Friday was also Halloween in Anville, the first time in my memory that there has been an official Village holiday.  It spurred a lot of excitement and commerce (surely Peep appreciation day is right around the corner…or perhaps "Love your Big Person" day).  I especially enjoyed seeing decorations going up in people's yards.  Now all we need is 1/24 scale rubbermaid containers to keep everything tucked away neatly until next year.

While it's fun to talk about the unique aspects of this year of Village, there are some things that happen every year.  In the video below — you'll see people building their houses.  Everyone learns to use saws, hammers, drills, vises, clamps, T-squares and screw drivers.  "Lefty loosey, Righty tighty" and "Measure twice, cut once" can be heard often in the workshop as students talk themselves through the problem solving necessary when constructing anything.

You'll also see a few students spending some quiet time with their checkbooks.  Everyone learns how to write a check and how to record it in a check registry.  Believe it or not, we have a bank in which all transactions are entered and students are notified (and fined) if they bounce a check or don't fill something out correctly.  When they open their accounts, students learn about collateral and interest (and the importance of reading and understanding any contract that you sign.)

Both towns now use Deltas (their money) to simplify commerce.  However, they're learning the hard lessons of a cash economy, too.  Several have lost money and many, many have found it way too easy to spend a day's worth of income on rubarb soda.