Posted by marylupien on Nov 15, 2011 in
Uncategorized I first learned of Ant Hill about 5 years ago while I was married to my ex-husband. I signed up for the wiki and had a passing thought that “Hey, this looks like a nice alternative living situation… but my husband would never go for it.” Fast forward 5 years and I’m living a completely different life. I’m divorced, have a Guatemalan boyfriend that I met while living off and on there and am a week away from my departure to the Peace Corps in Panama … and PREGNANT. That last part let’s say, was a bit… “unplanned”.
With my future in the Peace Corps now cancelled (apparently going to a 3rd world country where access to medical care is limited while pregnant is a liability)… I was living with my parents trying to absorb everything that had happened and imagine a new future for me and now my impending bundle of joy.
I had read a book called The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical, by Shane Claiborne which details the life of the author who lives in an intentional community in on of the worst neighborhoods in Philadelphia. Through this book, I learned to really love the idea of intentional community and realize how necessary it is in this world of ours. Sharing resources, and building community… yea that sounds more like it.
Living at home wasn’t terrible, but it was isolating and something about being pumped full of extra hormones and being under the same roof as my parents was reminiscent of being a drama filled teenager. After a particularly nasty fight with my dad that was mostly hormones but was clearly not instigated by me, DAD, I decided to take another look at Ant Hill.
I sent in my application which has questions on it like “If you could have any super power, what would it be?” but really didn’t expect them to want to eventually live with a screaming baby in the house. They invited me over for a Thursday potluck which happened to be in celebration for Chinese New Year. The house was PACKED. It was such an exciting atmosphere with lots of diversity and I knew that this was what I was missing. After dinner we talked about what it would be like living at the coop and what the possible affects my baby would have on them and vise versa. I left that night thinking “Hey… this might actually happen”.
I heard a week or two later that they had accepted me and provided me with a few options of how to provide a quiet, smaller atmosphere for me. I decided on living at the main house until I gave birth, then moving to the bakery (2 houses down) after that. I moved in soon after and that now seems like ancient history.
Being at Ant Hill is exactly where I needed to be. I suffered a lot through my pregnancy and the energy of this place kept me sane. One particularly bad night, I left my room really upset and found everyone in the living room with the lights off, candles lit… chanting OHM. There are frequent spontaneous sing-alongs, back-rubs and cuddling. What a wonderful environment for an expectant single mom! Part 2 is to come about how it’s been raising my daughter at Ant Hill. Stay tuned!
Posted by peaceandrainbows on Aug 10, 2011 in
Uncategorized As you may or may not be aware this year has been notable for the various critters who have chosen to temporarily or permanently share their lives wit us here at Ant Hill.
First we, along with our near neighbors, were adopted by Max the Orange Cat, an ancient and virtually toothless friend who seems to like our company almost as much as he likes our food, and who (we were told by a neighbor) was driven off his “home” street by a vicious Siamese.
Then there was Angel the husky/shepherd mix who decided to couch surf one afternoon until we were able to find her owner and get her safely home. She was as sweet and kind as could be but very large and active and a bit overpowering for a long term guest. We enjoyed her visit but were happy to see her returned to her proper place.
Then about two nights ago we received a visit from a single baby raccoon (I’d guess three to four months old but I’m not a raccoon expert). I was concerned because it is very rare to see such a young one away from it’s family. It ate entire heaping bowl of cat food and was clearly very hungry. I was concerned that it was sick or hurt or had gotten separated from it’s family before it could really look after itself. Well the next night (last night) I went out at about the same time and lo and behold there were THREE baby raccoons out there eating dinner. (HOW do they tell each other that they’ve found the mother load -animal communications fascinates me). Still no sign of mom but I am somewhat relieved that there is still a family unit. Waiting to see who turns up tonight. If you want to see them I recommend turning up quietly sometime between 10:30 and 11.
Just thought some of you would enjoy seeing the pics and sharing our friends.
Kat
Posted by peaceandrainbows on Apr 15, 2011 in
Uncategorized Reporting in from Ant Hill Cooperative, I’m Drew Langdon. 
As part of my duties as Ex-Co, I’m making it a priority to get involved with the local neighborhood association. Our co-op community is great, but I think could can be even better if we interacted with those outside of our houses more often. Our houses are located in the Plymouth-Exchange, or PLEX, neighborhood of Rochester, which has some funky boundaries but basically runs along the southwest riverfront of the Genesee between the more commonly-known Corn Hill and 19th Ward.
So what are my plans? Well, first off I went to the first association meeting of the year this past Tuesday. The meeting was held at Carlson Commons, which looks like a pretty cool space for gatherings. Beginning with a prayer threw me off a bit, as I’m not used to that outside of my spiritual community, but it does help me understand the community around us. We heard a report about a work day that pulled over 400 tires from the land down by the river trail. Nobody is quite sure what to do with them, but they made sure to let the City know what a mess it was down there. Maybe they’ll force some clean-up by the property owners down there.
One of our landlords, David, taking a break.
This is the area of the former Genesee Valley Canal, and at one time was home to the Vacuum Oil Company, and as a result is also a brownfield. I’m not sure I really want to know what’s in the soil down there. Good news, though. The City and the State have begun the process of brownfield clean-up! They’re in the very beginning stages of planning, so it was mentioned at the meeting that there would be Neighborhood Forums to get the input of the community into the process. What method of clean-up? They could replace the soil by digging and shipping. They could use more natural processes of bio-remediation and cattails. And then what happens to the land afterward? Do we want parkland? an urban farm? a commercial development? All I know at this point is that they better pay attention to the PLEX neighbors. There is also the conversion of a railroad bridge into a pedestrian one going on at the moment, which will link the neighborhood to the University of Rochester. Which means that the University is going to have a huge say into what goes on over here. So definitely something to watch out for on this front.
Also, in the workings, I’ve got a block picnic in the works for June 5th. Either in our backyard or in our garden lot, I hope to be able to bring as much of our immediate neighborhood together as I can get. We need to start building relationships with these people. I’m looking out the window right now to the house across the street, and I know that I’ve never even spoken to the people that live there. That’s sad. Yes, is a problem with the way our wider society is structured. And I don’t expect us to be good friends with every single person on our street. But maybe I should at least know their names, and how to get a hold them if I need to. How can I expect them to look out for me, if I’m not doing the same for them? How do I work with them to make the neighborhood a better place to live, if I don’t know what that means to them?
Hopefully the meeting and picnic will just be the beginning of our interactions. I’ve requested that Ant Hill join the Neighborhood Association to lend our support to building community in this part of our beloved City. We’ve already got a good start on this within our co-op. Let’s expand on that to all those around us.
Posted by Lyla on Apr 3, 2011 in
Guests!,
Uncategorized This will be my first blog post EVAR.
So, what’s been up at Ant-hill you ask? Well, we’ve started planning and even planting stuff for the garden, had a big discussion on rodents and the compost, and are expecting a lovely
new addition to the Lupien clan (who has an
alarmingly large number of facebook friends for someone who’s not born). But what’s probably caused the most ruckus recently was our April 1st masquerade party.
The fact that it was a little chilly and could of been an elaborate april fools prank didn’t scare away our lovely friends and we had a pretty rowdy get together Friday night. In addition to cleaning up the attic, Alex also booked us a local band called
Sonar Mail.
Sonar Mail, live at Ant-Hill
For the occasion, I spent some time fashioning a black bird mask and figured I’d post a little information about the construction for those interested:
——————————
The finished product
Tags: Making Stuff, Mask, Masquerade, Party
Posted by Jen on Mar 24, 2011 in
Uncategorized I’ve been asked to do a post this week but without much prompt. Drew has asked me to write about anything having to do with life at the house, and for possibly the first time since moving in, I can’t think of much to say. The garden got buried under some more snow yesterday, so thats going to have to wait, the house is moderately in order, and we have no big plans for the week or weekend. In order to fill this unusual lack of subject matter, I have decided to share with you all a brief roll call of the people in the house and how they are doing.
Read more…
Posted by Jen on Feb 5, 2011 in
Uncategorized This week at Ant Hill we have been very concerned about ushering in the New Year as according to the chinese lunar calender. Why we were so concerned about a holiday none of us celebrated as children is a puzzle; perhaps it has something to do with Gabby’s job at the Chinese noodle shop. But on Tuesday I took Gabby to the asian market to pick up some special ingredients before our predicted snow storm. While we didn’t get the storm we were expecting, we continued to prepare ahead of time. (Completely out of character for us.) On Wednesday Sarah folded chinese dumplings and I made paper lanterns in the colors of the rainbow. With all this planning, this had better be a great potluck.
And it was! Read more…
Tags: Chinese New Year, Potluck, Update
Posted by admin on Jan 30, 2010 in
Uncategorized Marc Charbonneau has been living with Ant Hill since June 2009. He is currently studying computer science major at RIT. Prior to moving into Ant Hill, Marc lived in a one bedroom apartment with his cat near Village Gate in downtown Rochester.
Why Ant Hill? What first interested you in moving into a housing co-op?
I first learned about Ant Hill in 2006, but circumstances weren’t right for me to consider living here until last year. Recently I left my job in IT and went back to school full time. In addition to the economic benefits of shared living, I liked the idea of socializing with new people and sharing in responsibilities like cooking.
How has living in a co-op improved your life?
Living at Ant Hill has introduced me to some great people I wouldn’t have met otherwise. I’ve made a lot of new friends, and had plenty of new experiences I wouldn’t have done on my own. It’s great having people from different backgrounds I can learn from and go to with questions.
Out of the contributions that you have made to Ant Hill, which one makes you the most proud?
Even when everyone else said it couldn’t be done, Erik and I single-handedly moved the pool table up to the attic.
What skills/interests do you hope that you will be able to use to improve Ant Hill?
As a long term resident I hope I can help Ant Hill continue to grow and strengthen its place in the community, as well as contribute to house improvement projects. I also plan on putting together some music events in the house attic once the weather is right.
Posted by admin on Jan 17, 2010 in
Uncategorized Over the past week, Ants have come together to plan and cook a meal for the Ronald McDonald House. This is an amazing house, providing families a place to stay while their children are in the hospital. It is located minutes away from Strong and has 20 bedrooms. Thank you to Kate, Kat, Kara, Krista, Saul, and John.
Posted by admin on Aug 12, 2009 in
Uncategorized Sadly, Reina is moving away from Ant Hill. Thankfully, we were able to throw a party for her before she leaves.
Posted by admin on Aug 11, 2009 in
Uncategorized This past week, Ants made a pilgrimage to Niagara Falls. This was the first visit to the falls for Reina, Brandon, and Marc. A delicious picnic was packed and everyone enjoyed exploring the area around the falls.
