Uncategorized BLOG POSTS

Sometimes breakthroughs happen because, well, you really didn’t know what you were getting yourself into. I suppose that’s one way of understanding the grueling process that my architects and I endured to have the Old Oak Dojo become one of the first 11* buildings in the world to be Living Building Challenge certified. (Eleven? I had hoped the Dojo would be in the Top 10, but it appears that LBC certified the final three all at once. Then again, maybe it’s even more magical to say, “Ours goes to 11.” Note: reference reserved for people over 40.)

The LBC is a building certification program, advocacy tool and philosophy that defines the most advanced measure of sustainability in the built environment possible today. It is comprised of seven performance categories called Petals (Place, Water, Energy, Health & Happiness, Materials, Equity and Beauty) which are subdivided into twenty Imperatives.

I can’t quite put my finger on why, but this year’s annual Planting Party and Skill Share was by far the best in the Dojo’s history. Maybe it’s because after a week of forecasted rain, the sky stayed clear. Or maybe it’s because a dozen kids ran around digging, planting, watering and tasting. There was rope-swinging, bee-feeding, stomp-rocketing, dog-tackling and movie-making. Somehow, after a few hours of hanging with friends and meeting neighbors, four big raised beds got filled up with flowers and food.

It’s feeling more and more like a village here every day.

We, the people of the Old Oak Dojo, love snow. Really we do. But even we can feel overwhelmed at times by snowdrifts big and round enough for us to wonder if we’d parked our cars on the patio.

In January 2005, Boston recorded its snowiest month on record at 43.3 inches. This February crushed all historical records with a whopping 64.8 inches of snow! Things have gotten so crazy around here, our mayor has even had to warn Bostonians not to jump out of windows and off of rooftops into these beckoning piles of snow.

(We confess: Aaron did just that only a few weeks ago. He said it was a blast. Don’t tell the mayor.)

Last night, GaBrilla Ballard and I were in the Dojo around 7 pm preparing the space for her concert. Aaron had just finished sweeping the patio and was around the corner putting something away in the basement. We’d just decided to host the concert indoors, since despite clear skies, there was a threat of severe thunderstorms. That’s when the wind started whirling and the sky went dark. Then… Crack! The sky crashed with an ear-splitting sound and a bolt of lightning struck the middle of the patio, leaving this blackened scar as a remembrance.

The Dojo is nestled beneath four mammoth oak trees, one of lightning’s favorite targets. The Old Oak must have said to Lightning, “No thanks. Not today.” And so Lightning obliged and blessed our center instead. In many ancestral traditions, the site of a lightning strike becomes sacred space, a place of honor and reverence.

We’ll take that.