In late December, Ezra and I were in Illinois, and our New Year's plans were up in the air. I was planning to move to Twin Oaks around the turn of the year, but I was afraid that arriving in the midst of the New Year's festivities might be a bit overwhelming. Ezra wasn't planning to come at all; he had this silly plan to spend the winter and spring in the god-forsaken locale of Urbana, Illinois, learning to be a computer programmer.

But a week in Urbana was enough to raise some serious doubts. It was miserably cold; I didn't have a place to live, and the job I had been counting on fell through. Meanwhile, Mala had been receiving regular communiqués from Pax, the head honcho of TO's millennial madness, along the lines of "If you miss this party you'll regret it for the rest of your life" and "Well, it's up to you. You can freeze your butt off in Illinois or come to the party of the millenium at the revolutionary center of the universe." I considered Mala's glowing descriptions of Twin Oaks, looked at the web site, and consulted with my wise big sister. Twin Oaks was sounding a lot better than spending the winter cold, lonely, homeless, and broke. Finally, with just over a week left before New Year's Eve.I turned my life an abrupt 90 degrees and decided to come on down to Virginia.

I was ecstatic about this turn of events. As we boarded the Greyhound, I was delighted and excited about arriving in time for the party, about having Ezra with me, about leaving frigid Illinois for slightly-less-frigid Virginia, about starting my new life! We were greeted in Charlottesville by warm hugs from Frodo and Sky. On our arrival at the farm, Pax's greeting was to the effect of: "I'm so glad you're here! There's so much work to be done!"

The potholes of Tupelo Ridge Road awoke me to my first sight of the farm. I will always remember those first few hours-seeing everyone welcome Mala to her new home, watching the kids skating on the pond and Jay sculpting his ice goddess, walking on the river. On our first night at Twin Oaks, we found ourselves in Tupelo, volunteering for a multitude of millennial tasks: setting up the hot tub, painting and decorating, re-wiring the Tupelo stereo, and building a death-defying slide on the stairs. After far too much idleness, it was great to be surrounded by fun, enthusiastic people in the midst of planning the social event of the millenium.

On New Year's Eve, after days of frenzied preparation, the house was ready! The hot tub, stereo and slide were all functional, and the theme rooms had been prepared: dance floor, art room, ambient space, cuddle loft, tea room, etc. The evening began with an Alice in Wonderland-themed talent show. Ezra and I delivered an unrehearsed but spirited rendition of "Jabberwocky." The rest of the Alice skits, interspersed with juggling and an unexpected bust from Animal Control looking for the Cheshire Cat, were similarly well received. Finally, it was time for the wild rumpus to begin.

The party, featuring Tim's home-brewed beer, lots of wild dancing, festive crowds in the hot tub, and plenty of cuddling, certainly lived up to its billing. Just before midnight, the dancing stopped and everyone gathered together in the living room, where we joined our voices to vibrate the room with a single powerful note as the clock rolled over into 2001. I was struck throughout the night by how happy I was that I had chosen — or been chosen — to spend New Years in such a "far out" place, with such amazing people. The party was still going strong when we left at 3:00 AM.

New Year's Day featured a very different sort of celebration - the room tour. In contrast to the night's wild festivities, the tour was a quiet, cozy, leisurely affair. We began by feasting on George's fabulous Black Forest cake in Harmony, then slowly snaked through the community, oohing and ahing over people's rooms, and nibbling on a variety of tasty treats. The tour felt like a perfect counter-balance to the party, a quiet sweet blessing of our space and celebration of our connection.

Arriving at Twin Oaks just before New Year's Eve felt like perfect timing. Stepping into such a warm, celebratory atmosphere gave me a delightful first impression of the community, and was an ideal way to welcome Mala to her new life here. With great enthusiasm, we look forward to the weeks, months, and years to come here at Twin Oaks.