Minnesota / Wisconsin Gathering 2019

My good friend, Info Karen, put together today's guest blog post -- not to confuse anyone but there are two of us living in San Diego. Karen with an "E" and me - Karin with an "I". Since Info Karen has kids, she graciously agreed to put together today's guest post for those of you coming home with kids. If this helped you, please stop by Info when you're at the gathering and thank her. Bringing babies and small children to the Rainbow Gathering can be quite a chore, but it is also very rewarding, and a wonderful growth experience for them. But deep woods camping with your kids can be quite a challenge. Being a Rainbow Mom myself, I was asked, a few years back to pass along some helpful advice for folks who are bringing their kids for the very first time. The following article sprang from those requests. I wrote it when my eldest was 6 and my twin boys were three and potty-training. I’ve been to the annual Gathering with my first when he was an infant...

The Earth Is Our Mother For family who are more musically included, we have a long tradition of chants and songs not for performance, but for participation. Many of these songs are call and response or chant type songs. We use these songs to create community, help people be more peaceful and create the energy we wish to see in this world. If you do not already know some of the rainbow songs, there are on-line websites that have the information.  If you play an instrument or even if you do not, try to learn these songs.  Then when you are at a gathering, I'm sure you will find a moment that is calling out for family singing and you will be prepared. Thanks to family who have taken the time to make this information freely available.   Bliss Fire Website Welcome Home Website Singing is one of the best tactics to improve the vibration of the gathering. I've even seen people sing to break up hostile situations, calm the anxious, and create community among rando...

Now that spring is here and the gathering is still months away, what's a home sick gatherer to do? Now is the perfect time to start getting ready for the gathering.  So here's a random list of steps you can take now to create a positive gathering for yourself and others this summer. Make sure your car is 100% legal. All brake lights, turn signals, seat belts, registration, insurance and nothing hanging from your rear view mirror.  The cops seem to like to pull people over and write mandatory court appearance tickets for the littlest thing.  Who needs the hassle of a mandatory court appearance ticket just because you forgot to fix that broken tail light? Make sure your camping equipment is in good shape. Check your tent for leaks. I'm sure we'll see rain this summer and camping is much more fun in a dry sleeping bag. Check out thrift stores, garage sales and swap meets for things you can share with others at the gathering: tents, 60 quart cooking pots, sl...

Sounds From The Rainbow Website The essence of America lies not in the headlined heroes…but in the everyday folks who live and die unknown, yet leave their dreams as legacies. ―Alan Lomax Featured within the site are a collection of field recordings a long time gatherer has made at a variety of rainbow gatherings over the last 17 years or so. There are over 1100 songs, poems, sounds, snippets, and stories for you to listen to and/or download. They are live, rustic, and spontaneous recordings made out in the forests of the world. More often than not, they were recorded in a rugged and unpredictable environment – each of these tracks are a one source recording and no additional studio elements have been added.  Feel free to listen to, download and/or share these recordings, but please ― No Sale or Commercial Use. Visit Sounds From The Rainbow .

In my humble opinion, the gathering needs more kitchens like it needs more dogs, but for some  reason, everyone wants to focalize a kitchen. That being said, being part of the kitchen provides an amazing growing, learning experience on working collectively and provide safe and healthy food in the woods. However..... The reality of focalizing a kitchen goes something like this. Main Supply won't provide all the food for cooking if you're feeding the gathering at large - either off-the-rails or at dinner circle. This means you provide much of the free food in the woods. While some kitchens have a donation can on the counter for after people have been fed, in reality most of the cost of food is born by those running the kitchen. Bring 500 to 1,000 pounds of food to get started. You'll need to provide pots and pans for cooking, 5-gallon water buckets for dish washing, filtered drinking water for you and your crew and hopefully for all gatherers. You'll need to c...