Several people have mentioned that it is a little confusing as to who is actually a part of Vedrica so as the year comes to a close I want to take some time to do a little member profile. These people are Vedrica's pioneers; they found the land and were the first to move out here and begin creating their future. Several of them even chose to spend the winter here, not really knowing what it would bring. All of them are eagerly awaiting the arrival of their future community members who will help them achieve the future they see for all of us.

First, we have the three people who found the land:
Yuri Kazantsev
Yuri is originally from Kazakhstan. He has lived in several parts of the United States and has traveled to many other parts of the world such as Canada, Peru, and Bolivia. He has now found his home in Idaho. He has formerly worked with a Ringing Cedars community in California (Shambala-Shasta) and in Colorado (Colorado Kin Domains). He is an avid adventurer and enjoys spending many hours outdoors just trekking around the land. Yuri wishes to build a strong community where people can live together with nature and with each other. He and his brother, Oleg, along with Oleg's family are staying on the land this winter.
You can contact Yuri by sending an email to kzn3@aol.com or calling 303-908-1841.

Joanna and Willow Castro
Willow, born in 10/2009, is Joanna's inspiration for creating a family space of love. Willow is learning to follow tracks in the snow and understand animal's signs in the soil. He enjoys walking on logs in the woods, walking in silence to listen to the squirrels and birds. Willow is an avid climber and will no doubt be scaling the valley walls of Vedrica by age five.
Joanna, born 1970, grew up outside of Bend Oregon on an 80% self sufficient family farm. She has lived the modern life for the last 20 years and is in the process of reclaiming her homesteading skills as well as finding her ancestral knowledge of relating to all of creation in harmony and balance. Being a mother to Willow is her greatest joy and inspiration for developing herself. She envisions a simple, small living structure, orchards, gardens, donkeys and chickens as part of her and Willow's family space. The Ringing Cedar Series, the Continuum Concept, writings of Tom Brown Jr, and Daniel Quinn have all been very influential in her process. She is currently in California helping out a friend on their farm, but she plans to be back to Vedrica this spring.
You can view her personal blog at joannasecotravels.wordpress.com or send her an email to adadelbosque@gmail.com.

Second, we have the families who have joined them to help achieve the Vedrica Vision:

Leo and Tatyana
Leo and Tatyana are originally from St. Petersburg, Russia. My family was lucky enough to meet them back in Colorado through my father's business. Since then, they have read the Ringing Cedars books and have decided to join us in our creation. They are hoping to live sustainably in order to leave something behind for their children: on a small scale, their domain and on a large scale, the planet. They also dream of living without relying on things that they can't control. They have three sons, one of whom is finishing high school. They aren't currently living on the land but they have set up their plot and visited often throughout the summer and fall to work and plant on it. We expect to see them back here in the spring and hopefully sometime next year they will be able to move here permanently. Leo is a master with all things technological and is currently working on putting together a website for Vedrica and finding us good deals on all sorts of supplies. Tatyana is also good with various types of plants and herbs. She had raised several beds in the lasagna method in preparation for spring planting. The clover she planted in the summer to help prevent erosion had already come up. She has also planted numerous raspberry bushes and is taking care of a small plum tree.
You can send an email to both of them to Leoruss7@gmail.com.

This is just a short member profile to give our readers a glimpse of whose who. We will post full answers to the future settler's questionnaire once the members have a chance to update them. That's everyone for now; I can't wait to see what the community will look like in the New Year. To all of our readers: We wish you all lots of happiness, health, and the fulfillment of those wishes closest to your heart.