Fairfield 9 & 10

This post combines two visits to Fairfield, in November 2014 and March 2015.

November 2014
Usually I arrive in Fairfield in early November, but this time I decided to stay at home until after my birthday, so I was a good week later than usual -- just in time for the first "polar vortex" cold snap of the winter. Here, snow lingers on the men's dome.

Two days later parts of the snow had given way. If you're inside the dome when this happens, there's a whooshing sound.

What's changed since November 2013?!

Last summer, downtown, the roof collapsed into the printing shop at the corner of Main and Briggs, and that end of the building had to be torn down. The adjacent restaurant, Ila, had closed for a few days until structural inspections could be made, but opened again soon.

The tea house now offers wine as well. Haven't made it back in yet.

Walker's office supply store was having a going out of business sale.

The Top of the Rock grill and the tavern on the first floor were for sale.

A new Italian restaurant had opened.

The newly renovated theater, the Orpheum, was having SF special events, including our favorite classic that barely was, Firefly.

A new arts and crafts store, to me at least, was also on the edge of downtown.

New grain elevators are being built on the east side of town. Just on the other side of the road from the city limits, it turns out, very convenient for avoiding all sorts of regulations. Behind the trees in the center of this photo is the house of the Leahy family, which owns Overland Sheepskin Co, located just outside the photo. Despite opposition, lawsuits, and the loss of some tax incentives, the construction goes on.

Back on campus, there were signs discouraging the parking of bicycles in the patios of the Argiro student center. The number of bikes has been reduced but they still persist.

Among the bikes properly parked, outside the vastu fence, is an electric-assist model. The black boxes are batteries.

Here is a glimpse of the open interior of the student center, facing east from the second floor.

Towards the end of my visit the weather relented enough for me to take a short walk to Pleasant Lake, which was crowded with geese.

Some of the geese are swimming in water, and some are standing on ice.

March 2015
In March I returned, and one of the first events was a visit to Steve Nolle's new house just outside town. It's a sthapatya vedic house built by Vessey Vastu Builders on a 36'x36' square plan. (I first met Steve over a decade ago in Fairfield and discovered that we both had worked for Bell Labs, he in the Chicago area and me in Columbus.)

I took this panoramic shot, facing west and encompassing both the south windows of the dining area (left) and the north door (right). The open space can hold lots of folks at once without feeling crowded.

The home was built with a full basement, mostly finished, with lots of available space. Steve is standing in front of the door to the walled-off equipment area.

Back on campus, another somewhat futile exercise in signage.

I was spending a lot of time at the Raj, taking seven days of Ayurvedic treatments, an experience I've described before. This limited my roaming-about opportunities, but one day Cary Davis and I visited several spots. First, we swung by an art exhibit in the arts building (old student center). These objects are all made with cardboard, except for Cary, who is standing next to the telescope.

In the Unity Gallery, a room in the library, was a collection of Lovey Town displays (click on the image to enlarge).

People send in small artworks, or photos of themselves in artwork-admiring positions.

I took a picture of the sustainable living building from the north side of the library. Look at all those solar panels!

Next we visited downtown, where I didn't take any photos. Sad to say, the newly reopened Orpheum theater closed after only a couple months of operation. Either the audience wasn't there, or the financial reserves to buttress the startup period were insufficient, or ??

A meditation hall has been opened downtown to supplement the activities of the men's and women's domes on campus.

One night I saw the moon and Venus side by side.

As I left Fairfield, I took another picture of the grain elevators mentioned earlier. There are now eight metal silos looming over the Leahy family residence, in addition to the central concrete towers.

That makes ten visits documented. Perhaps this November I'll make pilgrimage #11.

A Visit to Purushaland

At the end of March, 2014, I attended an 8-night WPA (World Peace Assembly) at the Maharishi Purusha Capital of the Western World, also known as the Global Capital of World Peace, and which I informally refer to as Purushaland. That's less of a mouthful.

This visit was in lieu of another trip to Fairfield, Iowa, and the Maharishi University of Management and the Invincible America Assembly. I've been going to Fairfield once or twice a year for over a decade for intensive meditation getaways, and I've documented eight of these visits, mostly recently here. I thought Purushaland, in West Virginia, would be an interesting change of scene, and it's four hours closer.

When you drive onto the property, the first thing you are presented with is the main dining hall. The lower block of residences are visible behind and above.

One of the residence buildings was used to house all but two of the nine course participants, and also provided a room for our extended group meditations. This is the one.

Here is your blogger in front of the building on the first day of the course.

I lucked out and got an upper corner room, very desirable. Here it is in panoramic view. The far doors lead to the bathroom and a closet.

The room was very comfortable, with lots of light. However, as one course participant noted, it was obviously designed by men: there is no light fixture next to the bathroom mirror.

The buildings are all of modular construction, custom designed for and by Purusha. Each accommodates 10 residents in single housing, plus two meditation rooms and a communal kitchenette.

Near the top of the hill is an upper block of 5 residential buildings.

From up here the already panoramic West Virginia view truly unfolds. 

Every building on this campus follows Sthapatya Vedic principles, including facing east and receiving morning sunlight within 12 minutes of dawn. However, I learned, the shadows of temporary objects such as trees and buildings don't count against the 12 minute limit. Only truly permanent obstacles, such as mountains, need be taken into account.

Most people go from place to place on campus by foot, but if needed electric carts are available.

Walking down the road from my residence building to the dining hall, I saw the following view.

Here is a panoramic view of the dining hall, complete with flags of the world.

The dining area uses only about one-third of the building; the remainder is kitchen, mail room, and Purusha meeting room.

Off to one side, a somewhat larger building is being finished. Having four additional modules (two up, two down) it will accommodate 14 course participants. Availability is slightly delayed due to a last-minute decision to excavate a full basement.

A closer view, with panoramic curvature.

A look without curvature. With this new building, Purusha hopes to offer other course variations in the near future, including Creating Coherence (afternoons are free) and TM Teacher Training.

Walking around, I noticed a few things. For one, erosion barriers are strategically placed on the roads.

In several places orchards are being started. They are surrounded by an unusual double electric fence.

Having two fences a foot or two apart thwarts the deer, whose depth perception is reputedly poor. They are reluctant to jump over something they can't suss out.

The gardens in front of the dining hall were being prepped for spring planting.

Walking back from the dining hall one evening, I took this twilight photo.

Down the hill, before reaching the campus, there is a tennis court.

From this court I tried to reach the Purusha lake, but a creek blocked my way. It's necessary to go out to the road first.

From a site a few feet higher the lake comes into view. Purusha do swim there.

The course itself was wonderful. The rhythm of life in Purushaland, with its lack of bustle and distraction, is settled and sharply different from that of Fairfield. There is no wandering downtown to visit restaurants and shops, for instance; the closest "downtown" is twelve miles away. Each location has its strong points, and I suspect I will continue to visit both.

The morning is spent following the meditation schedule. After lunch there is some time to stretch your legs. The afternoon and evening course meetings featured videos of Maharishi from the early 1970s, when he was bubbly and outgoing -- the so-called "giggling guru." His replies to questions were vivid, heartfelt, and candid. These early videos are cherished, as Maharishi's talks became less and less ebullient during the 1980s and 1990s.

If, after too much of an intensive meditation schedule, you're not sure what these hard objects are, there's a helpful sign.

Fairfield 7: You Won't Go Hungry in Fairfield

Early this spring I returned to Fairfield, Iowa for two weeks, as has been my wont. I'd like to start this entry with a picture of the Easter Pig, who lives a couple of miles east of town on Highway 34.

In comparison to last spring, which was extraordinarily warm, the spring of 2013 was chilly and seemed to go on forever. Here, along the crest of Dr. Robert Keith Wallace Drive, are some of the buildings of the Maharishi University of Management (MUM) after yet another light snowfall.

From left to right you see the Dreier Building, the Henn Mansion (nestled behind some trees), the Veda Bhavan, the McLaughlin Building, and the Argiro Student Center. In the map below, the order is reversed, because I'm taking the picture from the northeast towards the southwest.

A couple of sunny days melted the snow.

But not all mornings were sunny. I've never taken a photo of a fog-bound Argiro before:

The Sustainable Living Center is finally 100% complete.

Walking around campus, I came across an interesting homemade tricycle. I'd like to see how well that steering mechanism works: it appears that the pedaling plane would change as you turned.

The deer still love to visit, especially in the small valley between the Student Center and the Domes.

I decided to document the abandoned south entrance to the Maharishi Patanjali Golden Dome of Pure Knowledge, also known as the Men's Dome. It was built well before the rules of Sthapatya Ved -- auspicious architecture -- had been revealed to the TM (Transcendental Meditation) community, and it turns out that a south entrance is about as inauspicious as you can get. It's been padlocked and out of use for at least 16 years.

This post won't linger on campus, for not much changes over a few winter months, but I did get a couple of photos with good evening light, such as this one.

There was also a standout cumulus cloud one evening.

Zooming in,

One night there was an informal hip-hop (or was it rap?) class in the lobby of the Student Union. Here the crew is setting up and testing their colored lights.

I also captured some downtown scenes. Here, a woman is test-riding a new trike outside AJ's Bicycle Shop.

The Co-Ed movie house had closed in 2011 after 102 years; it was part of a regional chain. Now a group of local investors is completely renovating it.

It also includes a performance and rental space, the Orpheum Theatre. This sign faces the parking lot behind the building.

Here are the courthouse and convention center together in one frame.

Prowling around the alleys between downtown blocks turns up unexpected discoveries. If a building has an inauspicious west entrance in front, just use the back door instead!

On the side of Finnywick's is this safari painting.

I briefly checked out the First Friday Art Walk, whose April theme was song. Here is a photo of one of the performing community groups.

But now it's time to move on to the main theme of this post, which is ... eats! Fairfield, with the influence of the University and an influx of people from around the globe for almost four decades, has an impressive number of restaurants for a town of just under 10,000. The Iowa Source magazine's reader poll for 2013 includes many Fairfield establishments.

We shall take a rapid tour of the eateries at or near the town square. Please note that due to the challenging nature of the restaurant biz, some of these establishments may be gone if you visit Fairfield in the future. There will be new ones. Also, I'm sure to have missed a few.

Traveling from the campus to downtown, I often pass by the sign for the Crepe Escape Café, located in the same building as Everybody's Whole Foods.

There's a concentration within a couple of blocks of the town square. Next to each other are Ila

and the venerable Revelations.

Across the street from Revelations there's the Earth and Water Tea Lounge and Artisan Pottery Shop. (They also have homemade baked goods.)

Inside the Earth and Water, the atmosphere is quiet and soothing. The owner says she wants to create a genuine teahouse experience. I hope she can sell enough tea and cookies to make a go of it.

On the corner of the square is the Cafe Paradiso (mixed coffee shop, cafe, and performance space).

Around the square itself, we have, on the north side, George's Pizza and Steaks

and Johnny's Place.

Along the west side -- difficult to photograph because of the sunny day's reflections -- are the Chocolate Cafe,

Gupta's,

and the Noodle House (Thai).

On the south side of the square are the newly opened Gardens Seasonal Kitchen

and the India Cafe.

Within a block or two of the square, you can choose from the Thai Deli,

Shokai Sushi,

Torino,

the Top of the Rock Grille, on the second floor above the Red Rock Tavern,

the Green Gourmet,

the Istanbul Grill,

which is housed in the old Fairfield Telephone Company building,

and the 2nd Street Coffee House.

Just beyond the two-block line is Aranda's Mexican restaurant.

Interestingly, Aranda's also offers a buffet in the BP service station across the street from Everybody's.

To the south, walking from the square to the town library, was the Doc's Inn Café, the place for local organic buffalo burgers.

Still within walking distance, if you've got the hankering, is the Sweet Spot.

Going further afield, my friend Cary and I drove to Washington, Iowa, for a luncheon at Cafe Dodici, on that town's square. I had a pizza with black olives,

and Cary had a veggie burger.

We shared desserts, each a smaller size category whose name I forget -- they were larger than samples and smaller than full-price. Cary had a coupon from the previous month's issue of the Iowa Source for free desserts of that size; when Cary presented it, the waiter said he'd have to check. It was now April and the coupon had expired. The owner came out and exclaimed that she "just had to honor it" because we were the First Persons Ever to redeem one of those coupons!

You may be a meat-eater, or you may restrict yourself to organic ingredients, or you may be vegan, you may prefer tea or you may prefer beer, but you won't go hungry (or thirsty) in Fairfield.