This is a collection of the songs and poems, stories and updates, essays and dreams that make up the our Minnesota Ecovillage Almanac -- a living history of the village of SOLIS and the community of beings who call this place home.
While we are united in shared mission and values, each author's spiritual, political, and philosophical perspective is unique to them, and may not reflect the vies or experience of each member of the community or the organization as a whole.
Nature Journaling: The River
Nature journaling with my feet in the river, almost out of water but still singing, still cool, still alive. Wonder is nature journaling too, standing on the flat dry rocks where the river used to be and will be again. Nature journaling usually involves drawing but today I am content with words. How do…
April 2026 Update
This past weekend, we hosted our second volunteer work day of 2026. Our main focus was finishing our greenhouse construction and getting our garden ready for planting. The weather was perfect for working outside, and we had our best turnout yet! We had over 20 volunteers, representing all generations from ages 3 to 60+. Last…
Minnesota Ecovillage Fall Newsletter
Hello friends and neighbors of Minnesota Ecovillage! This Fall equinox has proved an extremely busy time here at the ecovillage with lots happening and lots to come, including upcoming volunteer weekends. We celebrate this equinox by appreciating how far we’ve come in the last year and half since our arrival on this land, as…
Empowering the Artists of the Ecovillage
Who am I? “I knew who I was this morning, but I’ve changed a few times since then”. – Alice in Wonderland I would like to introduce myself, and then express my hopes and dreams in regards to my role in the MN Ecovillage Project, also known as Solis. My name is Alexis Krauss, and…
End of Summer in the Ecovillage
.It’s been a very busy spring and summer here at the Minnesota Ecovillage Project. Since acquiring our parcel of Land in March, we’ve felt the urgency of preparing to spend winter here. When we’re not stuck in the mud we’ve often been in a mad dash to get land cleared, trails cut, structures built,…
Summer in the Ecovillage
The story that was just a story six months ago has become a real and living thing, living with the other animals in the woods on a hill of oak and aspen
April in the Ecovillage
It’s April in the Ecovillage. Today we are not in the Ecovillage. Today we are in the city. Soon we will be in the Ecovillage again. We are in the liminal space between Winter Solstice and Summer Solstice — the half-orbit of our Earth that seems to be carrying us into a new world at…
How to Worship the Sun
The sun has been giving me clues. The sun is the primal religion. I have got to start worshipping the Sun.
Come to the River
If get tired of the city, come to the river. There is wisdom here older than anything you can imagine, and deeper than any words.
Sparks and Embers
If you look down You will see rising fire If you look up You will see fire even higher Stars and embers Sparks and moons Wishes and dreams And hopes and truths Joining us now In a great cloud Sparks and embers Stars and moons NUMERIC MELODY FOR MUSIC NERDS: If you look down 3333…
How to Get to the River
It’s negative eight degrees outside my window. Inside my window a handful of houseplants lean toward the light, despite the frigid temperatures on the other side of the glass. There are oak trees growing in the houseplants, oak trees almost six inches tall, sprouted from acorns buried by squirrels last summer when the houseplants were…
How to Return to the Garden
In the beginning was a garden. Whether we consult religious myths or natural sciences, we can trace the roots of our species to complex ecosystems of biological life pouring forth in generative relationships within the web of existence. Humans, like all other life-forms, once participated in these ecosystems according to the constraints of their environments;…
