Blowing Springs Commons Community Profile

Photos, videos and notes from a visit by Toby & Johanna Mommsen to this community just south of Chattanooga. NCN welcomes the participation of this group of community pioneers.

Enoch & Hanna Elwell and their children welcomed us to Blowing Springs Commons on March 4.

After a tour of the grounds and the steep wooded hillside (home of two elegant treehouses — we stayed the night in one of them) we gathered with nearly the whole group for potluck supper around a campfire in the beautiful warm evening.

A number of these folks had attended the Southeast Regional NCN Gathering in East Tennessee last September. A lively discussion sparked by my invitation to suggest for topics for discussion groups at our upcoming Y’all Come NCN Gathering in September, gave us some good input to take back to the planning team. “How to resolve conflicts?” and “In-depth discussions of various levels of sharing resources” were among the suggestions.

Our discussion began over potluck supper and continued into dusky evening around the campfire, while children built a fort of mud, rock and sticks

We were treated to a night in one of the Treetop Hideaways” treehouses—a delightful combination of wilderness and comfort with rushing streams as accompaniment.

Treehouses and Forts built of mud, Laying Hens and a sunlit backyard at Blowing Springs Commons

It was a thrilling taste of forming community among friends and seekers. If you’re passing through the Chattanooga area, get in touch with Enoch Elwell and stop by to taste all this yourself.