Our Common Unity Alexis Burton

This episode is a flashback to a timeline that almost feels like another life. When I sat down with Rachel Vasak from the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association, it was summer 2021. The world has changed so much since then, the way we interact with each other and how we expect those around us to care for our personal pockets of communities. Rachel and I talked about building communities around work parties and how the pandemic had altered NSEA's work. It's a short but sweet and inspirational discussion around how even while the world feels like it is falling apart, there are so many ways we can keep our hope present and continue to care for this land and each other. We recorded on NSEA's campus, at a picnic table tucked at the roots of happy Douglas Firs and red cedars.

Hello Folks and Faes!

Today we meet Heidi Chandonnet, a Lydia Place case manager on the Rapid Rehousing Program team. She is a people collector, amateur improv performer, and open to being helped by her friends.

We talked about learning what it means to be a friend, how to navigate and maintain connection during and in spite of covid, and completing the stress cycle. We had a very honest and open conversation, touching on challenges and learning moments of the past few years and the ways we have found space for personal growth.

This episode’s soundtrack is brought to you by Cornwall Park Ambient Noise, featuring Squalicum Creek, a Squeaky Swing Set, and Helicopters. Enjoy!

Links from our conversation for those who are curious:

Lydia Place

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily and Amelia Nagoski

Feminist Survival Podcast

Parkscriptions in Bellingham

Laura Plaut’s goal was that by the time her son graduated high school, she would feel great about him eating school lunch any day of the week, because she knew the quality was high enough. In 2007, she created Common Threads, an organization focused on healthy food access for all. Today, her team has placed community gardens in 22 Whatcom County schools, and her core passion to provide common language around healthy food and access for all backgrounds has not waivered. “Food is universal,” she shares, “Food is something we all have in common.” Common Threads has always existed to address the needs that many haven’t realized they need to have met yet, and the importance of this work, like that of so many other nonprofits observing community needs, has been heightened. We covered growing conscious consumers, comfort foods, and planned organizational obsolescence. “The Key ingredient is joy!”

At one point, we mentioned food nostalgia, so here are a few articles that dig a little deeper into the science:

The Science of Food Nostalgia

Comfort food: A review

Want to learn more, volunteer, or donate? Check out the link below:

Connecting Kids to Healthy Food with Seed to Table Education

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Drew Whatley, the Lead Museum Educator at the Whatcom Museum not long ago, to learn about the roles and responsibility of the Museum as a pillar of Bellingham's community. We talked bridging divides, finding our niches, and playful projects that keep our current realities relevant in history. 

Check out some the Story Dome project here: https://www.whatcommuseum.org/story-dome-project/

Join Drew's Whatcom Squared: https://www.whatcommuseum.org/whatcom-squared/

Summer Camps for the kids: https://www.whatcommuseum.org/learn/camps/

And last but not least, my favorite Wally the Museum Mouse video: https://www.instagram.com/p/BiajbLpAGnh/?utm_medium=copy_link 

Jack Eiford is the Lead Teacher at Cedar Tree Montessori in the Children's House, and has become my friend in our work together as teachers during the Pandemic. We hung out for an afternoon at Larrabee State Park, a place that is dear to Jack as a human that grew up in Bellingham in the Chuckanut Mountains. We covered Jack's "Nerd-dom" and how his experiences in and around this city and the land have created the draw that pulls him back to this location. We started with family and micro-communities before branching out to how learning philosophy and education theory have continued to inspire Jack's long-term ponderings. 

In the background, you can hear all the sounds of the park, a couple of eagles and a robin, a few thrushes and a swift, and in the end, our audio was cut a little short by a passing train. 

For more on Cedar Tree Montessori, check out http://www.cedar-tree.org/. 

This podcast is for the huemxns who live around and in Bellingham, WA, as well as those who are looking to move here, visit here, or who have loved ones here. We will explore our common threads, the roots of our attachment to this place, how we gather, and what some aspects of our community are like. My hope is to create a space where community voices are heard, acknowledged, and asked for. I want to help foster a sense of connection for those who are feeling unconnected, and record real-time pieces of social evolution as we seek to reintegrate our society. Together, we will highlight our strengths and weaknesses as a regional community, and find ways to encourage connections in places we didn't expect to connect. Together, we will define Our Common Unity.