Soon several young folks at Earthaven will be turning 18, an age we’ve often considered time to wonder about their relationships to formal membership.

right: Not long ago, three Earthaven teens—Bailey (now 15), brother Brandt (now 18) and Dylan (17 next month)—still had plenty of time to hang out together at home.

Teen-centered activities at Earthaven can be spare, especially with the call of social groups, academia and creative opportunities in the nearby population centers of Black Mountain and Asheville. Thanks to neighbor Griffin Abee’s leadership, most of the teens participate in her teen yoga classes at the Full Circle zendo next door.

 above: Teens at Earthaven now flip their lids for yoga.

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Recently the Village Terraces trampoline mat ripped. For some time, we all decided to jump around the hole. After a few weeks, the Village Terrace-ians decided to replace the mat so they could have their precious trampoline to its maximum bouncing potential. “Since the old mat had gotten stretched out, the new one will make the trampoline even bouncer then before.” said newly appointed V.T.-ian Matthew.

Four people, using ropes and muscles pull on a very tight spring.

So on July 3, 2011, at 5:00 p.m., all the V.T.-ians gathered by the trampoline to apply the new mat. “I thought it would only take one hour or two at the most,” said Dylan, the youngest V.T. resident.

As it pushed the second hour and they only had about half of the springs attached they realized it was a much more strenuous task then they had thought. Then they applied a series of ropes and risky positions pushing their strength to the limit.

Mae, Liz & Dylan happily jumping at the end of it all.

To their excitement, as it approached 9 o’clock they finished their endeavor with sighs of relief. Now to everyone’s great satisfaction V.T. has a bouncier trampoline for everyone to use.

Tessa Hovan-Bartalos is a 13-year-old, part-time resident of  Earthaven. She spends summers and holiday vacations with her dad, Mihaly, and the many friends she’s made over the last 11 years at Earthaven. When she’s not at Earthaven, she lives in Nashville, TN with her mom Dana. In addition to writing this article, Tessa also took all the photos.

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