springtime is coming in boston

springtime in boston means that the frigid, up and down winter is leaving for several months and will allow the other extreme of hot mid-summer temperatures in a few months. its true four-season territory up here.

there've been shifts of passover clean-ups galore around moishe house boston over the past few days. teams of 2-3 people have come every day to clean, straighten, purchase food, and tomorrow to cook second seder meal for the house. its certainly the cleanest ive ever seen the house. its been an incredibly show of organization, teamwork, and a desire to be a part of a community ritual (we couldnt allow everyone that wanted to come to the seder to come). its also a sign of warmer weather.

we're also running a series of bike mechanics workshops to get people up and on working bicycles. there's been a tremendous amount of interest to get back on the road (for commuting and recreation) but also to learn the tools to sustain one's own bike so as not to need to rely on a bike shop for maintenance. itll be a fun and team-building activity for the community.

and our winter csa's shares have been running for a few weeks now (partly a result of the local foods tu bshevat seder in february). the produce is a mix of local conventional and not local/organic. but its been an amazing way to reconnect to food in the off-season. given that, we're all excited for warmer weather and farmer's markets.

last summer the community was fairly quiet. to some extent i imagine the same will be the case this summer, with a focus on the outdoors and working on some ongoing projects that the house has established.

which all leads me to the question: is colder weather a harbinger of community building? if so, what does this mean? and given that summer is also a time of being out of town for students and young professionals, how can communities find ways to engage community members during the summer?