The indoor activities East Winders enjoy participating in are nearly limitless.  Music making, game playing, and hand crafting are just a few of the ways to pass the time at East Wind.

Music

Our recently completed music studio is one of our most popular hangout spots for musicians recording their own albums and people who like to jam. The studio has a three LCD monitor setup with a computer that has all the software necessary to record music and create all types of electronic music. A drum kit, piano, keyboards, multiple guitars and bass guitars, hand drums, a sitar, and other percussion instruments are free to be used by anyone who would like to start groovin’. There is usually a jam night on Thursdays encouraging musicians of all skill levels to come and play together and simply have a good time.

Of course, music is not exclusively found indoors! In fact most music played at East Wind is outside around a fire or in a secluded part of our gardens. All over community you will find impromptu performances with acoustic guitars, accordions, ukuleles, hand drums, and spoons. The porch of Rock Bottom and small hangout spots along the pathways are popular places for people to perform and practice throughout the day and night.

Games

Card and board games are immensely popular at East Wind.  Commonly board games such as Settlers of Catan (and its many variants), Dominion, chess, Go, Pandemic, Carcassonne, Eclipse, Risk and others are played. Board games and card games of various kinds collected by members or purchased by community can be found stacked in Rock Bottom and the Music Room. Poker nights are common, sometimes up to four times a week. Some poker nights are dealer’s choice with typically a five cent ante and others nights are more organized tournaments.  Spades is also a frequently played card game. Magic cards are quite popular and there is usually a monthly draft tournament. There are many different card games that people enjoy, just ask around if you are looking to play!

Crafting

East Winders often use the community’s wood, clay, and metal working equipment to satisfy an artistic urge. You can find the results of their inspiration all over the community. We have a well equipped woodworking shop and metalworking shop. Both spaces are primarily used for practical projects necessary on the farm, but they are available to be used by anyone to make something special. We have a small pottery workshop with a kiln, clay, and glazes. Clay is sourced from our own land as well as particular clay varieties from craft stores.  Sewing, knitting, hide tanning, bag making, and notebook making are all handcrafting activities you will commonly see the many artists of East Wind working on.

Bert is just one excellent example of how East Wind is an exceptional environment for the creative mind. A member of East Wind for over two decades, Bert enjoys meshing his carpentry skills with mathematics to produce beautifully precise polyhedra. His unique blend of mathematical and artistic intuition had Bert invited to the 2015 Bridges Math Art Conference.

Library

The community library in Annares hosts an impressive amount of books of various kinds. Odds are most anyone would find what they’re looking for, either for learning or entertainment. There is a large concentration of science fiction and fantasy novels and other fiction. Community also has a great collection of non-fiction with scientific textbooks as well as practical guides on gardening, beekeeping, and other agricultural pursuits. Anyone is free to ‘check-out’ books (with the expectation that some day they will return!) or leave books at will.

And if you are interested in learning in-depth about intentional communities and their history, you will find a much greater concentration of books on that subject here than in most conventional libraries.

Hammocks

The Hammocks building houses a large open space that has a HD projector mounted in the ceiling that can be used to display movies and games on the wall. This is often used recreationally for groups to watch movies or TV shows together. The Internet is available on a computer connected to the projector and members can also dive into the digital library of movies and shows available to all. Hammocks also has Wi-fi, so the projector can also be hooked up to a laptop and used to watch streaming content. There are four desktop computers for general use—two in the gamer’s loft and two in the computer loft. There are also a number of computers available in the office, but members doing work get priority on these computers. The internet out here in the rural Ozarks can leave something to be desired, especially when used by multiple parties simultaneously, but it can usually meet most people’s needs and handle large downloads with a little patience.

Weight Room

The weight room has benches and dumbbells. The room also houses mats and a punching bag. There’s no shortage of East Winders who enjoy working out and teaching others how to do so safely and effectively.