Rain rain go away… come again another day.

While I usually adore the rain, this is just too much. I look out my window every morning and wish for the sun to shine down on our struggling veggies. The gardens are doing pretty well, but they need some sun love!

I was thinking about our Bike & Build friends that stayed with us a week ago and was wondering how they are holding up with all this rain. I imagine bicycling across the country in the rain and building houses in the rain is a much different experience than they anticipated.  So I wish for the sun to come out for them too. Perhaps they have ridden far enough by now that the sun is shining down…

I heard from Jody, one of the Bike & Builders, the other day. She is on this trek with her brother Matt and they are keeping a blog of their journey. They were so sweet– we wish you guys the best of luck and hope you will come visit us again soon!

So last Friday night Mike and Ruthy Merenda and Chris Merenda & the Wheel performed at Alchemy Initiative for Summer Solstice weekend.

And they rocked. I mean really, really rocked.

Like the torrential rains that have been non-stop, stopped. Like that’s how good they were. We seriously had perfect weather, a clear sky, an orange-blue bonfire, a delicious potluck dinner, and two rockin’ bands.

The porch of the Alchemy Farmhouse seems to be a perfect stage, tucked in between the former rectory and the former church, the music reverberating off the brick walls. And ofcourse Darren O’Brien (our official soundman) made the sound even better. He tweaked and turned buttons and moved amps and did soundman such things so that everything was just right.

And it was. Just right. That night. Everything was just right.

So we have these AMAZING folks from Bike & Build passing through Berkshire County this week as they cross the country– yep on bikes– raising awareness on affordable housing and — yep building houses. Such a cool group!

Alchemy Initiative is proud, giddy even, to be a host along their journey. Tuesday night we will have 32 Bike & Builders join us and we want to cook them a hearty dinner to welcome them to the county and get them cruising along. Soooo…. any chefs or wanna-be chefs that would like to cook up a pot of something delightful and join us in welcoming these folks into town?

Email me at jessiconz@gmail.com if you would like to join us!

On Friday, June 19th (mark it down, mark it down) we are throwing a Summer Solstice party with 2 bluegrass, folk, alt. country, rock n’ roll ‘n bands– Michael and Ruthy Merenda (of the Mammals- ah the subversive acoustic traditionalists) and special guests, Chris Merenda & The Wheel, featuring Dottie’s own, Matty Lamb (drums), Benny Fingers (piano), Evan Randal (bass) and Bruce Mandero (Mando and guitar).

Mike and Ruthy are a song-writing, harmony-singing, banjo and fiddle-slinging duo from the Hudson Valley. They recently joined Pete Seeger for his performance at New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and joined the incredible cast of musicians at Pete’s 90th birthday celebration at Madison Square Garden. A musical couple, Mike and Ruthy’s love was forged in New York City amidst a swirl of rock, anti-folk, and Americana enthusiasm. They harmonized from the first night they met, back in 1999 as their band, Rhinegold, played to pre-trucker-hat hipsters in the East Village. Ruthy recently gave birth to their son- William Puck Merenda.

Yup, Michael and Ruthy have been described as literate, political, organic, and inspired. (We like to think of Alchemy in a similar light.)

And if you haven’t seen Chris Merenda yet, I hate to say it but, YOU ARE MISSING OUT. They BRING IT! Just ask anyone who came to our seed starting party on Earth Day!

Michael says of his brother Chris… “They f’n rock. Besides drumming for The Mammals for past 3 years Chris has also recorded some damn fine solo records. Chris is also one of my best friends and one of my favorite songwriters. Tom Waits-meets-Chris Farley-meets-J Mascis! Check him out!”

We will be setting up the stage on the porch of our urban farmhouse at 50 Melville Street. We will have food and drink, some groovy lights and maybe a fire in the pit. There is a $10 cover charge that goes entirely to the bands. Yay- we love musicians!

So that is June 19th. Show starts at 7:30pm. Got it? Come on- don’t be a square.

We gathered at Alchemy last Thursday in front of a huge movie screen– some sitting on folding chairs, some snuggled on recliners and some laid out on Crispina’s handmade potholder rugs.  We  felt safe inside the old church, amongst friends, with the rain coming down hard outside giving our new little garden the fresh Spring drink it needs.

I silently sang my hopes  “Drink, drink, drink. Grow, grow, grow.”

Lucy snuggled up on her mama's rug.

Alchemy Initiative had acquired special screening rights for the newly released film A Sense of Wonder, as part of it’s 150 city tour.  It was the story of Rachel Carson, a writer and biologist whose book A Silent Spring unearthed the ecological destruction that petrochemicals and pesticides were reaping on America.  Her book led to the banning of the chemical DDT, the creation of the Clean Water Act and the Environmental Protection Agency— and the birth of the organic food movement.

The film was quite moving…  It had the feeling of an intimate conversation with Rachel Carson- as she was nearing the end of her life, battling cancer, and reflecting on her life and her work.

It hit a chord with everyone (except for Lucy who really didn’t like “that lady’s hair”).

It was inspiring.  One woman with a sense of wonder- she changed the world.  And here we are- more and more people coming together each day.  Could we change this community?