How LAEV came to be at Bimini and White House Place
- First fruit tree planting on northeast corner of Bimini & White House Place,
Earth Day April 1993. Tree was named “Percy Persimmons.”
It was a Wednesday afternoon. I was sitting in my living room with Lottie Cohen working on the book we were co-authoring: Cooperative Housing Compendium. (Email me if you are interested in getting the on-line link to this book).
I lived in the four-plex across the street from the Bimini Apartments where the White House Place Learning Garden is going. Mine was the lower east unit. My front door was always open, weather permitting, and I didn’t use curtains or shades on the windows, so
there was a clear view out to White House, the intersection and Bimini Place. Lottie and I were sitting at a round glass table in the living room/library/office facing the windows and open door.
I had just returned two days before from Adelaide, Australia where I had been invited as a keynote speaker at the Second International Ecocities Conference and was full of enthusiasm for finishing the book and starting to focus more heavily on ecovillage planning.
There were always pedestrians on Bimini, and there were pedestrians that day. But suddenly, Lottie abruptly interrupted our work: “Lois, there’s rioting out there. We need to leave now. Grab what you need, I’m taking you home with me!” (more…)
