By Becky "Sha" Shamen
When one contemplates the workings of the universe, adjusting our
perceptions of scale and time, to view it in it's entirety, down to the
tiniest sub-atomic particle, we discover it is all controled by a single
fractal formula. This formula is the matrix of life. Everything is
connected and part of the whole. The universe is a living thing. It and
all of it's parts, for optimum health, act as one. Small lives gather to
form greater lives, with greater powers, from clod to god, as the
saying goes.
The Sunweaver group is founded by Rita Mariner and is about nine years
old, with 660 current members. The group's roots go back to a gathering
on the MUD sim, that came to be known as MUD's Women. As they grew in
size, the gathering moved to Pockwock and filled half the sim. The first
full sim was named Sunweaver Isle. I wasn't around, when they decided
on the name, but have always felt it inspires faith and hope in a
greater life. Over time, new sims were added around the isle. They were
all connected, up to 9-10 at one point. The included map shows an up to
date view of the cluster of sims, Sunweaver Estates. The six sims are
connected face to face, permitting ground and air traffic, from end to
end. Boating will involve a short portage on HV Community. A new roadway
allows ground traffic and has a single rail trolly to all the Sunny
neighborwoods. I'm a Sunweaver Highway Junkie. I'll walk, ride or fly
the length and back, several times a week, discovering new points of
interest and making new friends. We'll take that journey, checking out
some of the points of interest in a moment.
There are other sims which are tied to Sunweaver, but not "physically"
connected. A few sims distance to the East, we find Sunweaver Isle,
Rita's home. There are isles between her and the main group, but they
parlez vous Francais and little else is known about them. A few miles
west of the cluster, you'll find plenty of Sunweavers on the
Purrfection Estates, especially at theme parties, Tuesday and Thursday
nights, at the Happy Vixen Beach club. To the South, there are MLP
themed sims,which, at one time were connected to the Sunweaver sims. I
should mention that, although Sunweavers are predominately Furries, they
are open, friendly and helpful to all other avforms.
Hop on my jet hover bike and we'll take a quick tour of the six
connected Sunweaver sims. We'll point out some of the better known
points of interest. We could name many more, but a) after all this time,
I am finding new interesting areas and b) you should come and explore
them for yourself. We'll begin at the Southern end, my home in Second
Life. My life long involvement with family, friends and community carries into
Second Life. As I explore the grid, for new adventures, I always keep
an eye out for signs of evolved communities. I've found quite a few fine
communities and, for most of my years in SL, have lived in the one I
love the best, Sunweavers.
Sunweaver Bay
When I am not out exploring the SL world or dancing at the many local
theme parties, you'll find me keeping watch on the sim and teaching new
members how to build, make clothing and be good citizens. My two castles
are always open to the public and often have house guests,staying until
they get a place of their own. The bay has two large nightclubs.
Cutlass VI hovers above the bay and, as the name suggests, has a long,
successful history. It's open on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights,
for theme parties. You'll find plenty of friendly folks there. Bring
your funny bone and try to out-pun Bix.
On the N.E. corner of the sim, we find a dark castle, Primal Passions
club. This club is owned by Rayven Tentigo. The atmosphere is
"Noir" and attracts a different clientele than Cutlass, but also hosts
Sunweaver events, like the Kiss concert for RFL. There are also two
smaller, less known clubs, to gather with friends; the Drunken Parrot
Pub, located at the trolley stop and the Rainbow Club, hidden behind the
Fire Station, for those that like Reggae music to chill by. Two more
stops, before we leave the sim. To the East of the fire station there is
a large structure with a landing strip on top. The interior houses our
Sunbeamer RFL team meetings and a museum of Sunweaver history in
pictures and 3D models of sims. East of the air strip, be sure to visit
the Fimi Memorial Tree house. As we take a last look around, the Castle
towers, tree houses, air strip and Sunbeamer's HQ and flying night club
give us the impression, the inhabitants of Sunweaver Bay have their
sights set to the heavens.
Sunny Beach
This sim is still trying to decide what to be, when it grows up. For a
long time, it featured surfing and a beach club. After that, Club Fur
made it's home there, for about a year. Currently, it is available for
rent and wears a winter coat of snow. I call it the over the river and
through the woods sim. Although in reality I avoid cold climates, this
sim has always been a favorite place to chill. Those wishing to make
this homestead sim their home can contact Rita Mariner or Nydia
Tungsten, for details.
HV Community
As we head East, to this sim, we are greeted by businesses on both sides
of the highway, including Angel Creations, Alien Wise Enterprises,
Hidden Valley, Brandi's, Angel Beach Land Rentals and SL Newser's
office. There is far more to this sim than just the 9 to 5. As we pass
the Newser office, we thumb our nose at Bix and head for higher
elevations.
As we climb, we note that a good portion of the Northern part of the sim
is owned by RECoyote and his partner, Perri Prinz. At ground level,
it's a wonderful playground, for kids of any age. At the higher
altitudes, they have skyboxes and platforms for their lofty pursuits.
Perri's Spectral Shadows Art Gallery is a showcase of her story telling
talents. Higher still, we find the Vinyl Museum, a night club featuring
Perri and other master DJs. The club is currently dormant, but still in
the same location. I caught up with REC, in the club and was told it
would always be there. I noted that it had a new name over the door. We
look forward to when events will be held there again.
While we are thousands of meters up, notice there are many sky objects
to navigate around. Passing through this sim, the radar shows that most
of the residents are in the sky. Ahead, you will see a large, man made
moon. Within it's phantom shell, you might find Ranchan, building her
next generation star craft. Dropping altitude to navigate, we again head
East, to the next sim.
Sunlight Bay
This sim is mostly water, with the highway and trolly passing through
it. On the East side, there is a large castle, the home of Nydia and
Brandi Tungsten and friends. I understand the castle is open to the
public and, if your timing is right, they might even show you around. I
have written about it before, so we will move on with our tour of
Sunweaver. We are now heading North.
Sunweaver Space
This is one of the older sims in the group and has a large and varied
population. Space was the previous home of club Cutlass and right below
it is the Sunweaver Mall. There are also some cool venders on the S.W
corner of the sim. This reporter loves going shopping. You'll also find
me here, every Sunday night, at the Feral Fury, watching movies,
provided free by Shockwave Yareach, with my friends. There's even free
popcorn. From Feral, we head down and find ourselves lining up for a
landing on the final sim.
Pacific Waters
We come in for a landing at Farshore Field and taxi off the runway.
There are some vintage aircraft, lining the tarmack. At the Far end,
check out The Puddle jumper Mall. On the S.E. corner of the sim, there
is a seaport for ships and sea planes. Around the perimeter of the isle,
a race track allows you to test your latest hot wheels. In the hilly
woods, in the N.E. quadrant, there is an underground bunker/clubhouse.
There's no guard posted, so walk right in and take the elevator down.
This sim is the work of the well respected Cynthia Farshore. She and Shockwave built Cutlass VI, together.
In this article, I have given the names of a handfull of Sunweavers out
of the 660 total membership. Dividing the few by the many, I have
introduced my readers to the most notable one percent of Sunweavers. For
closing comments, I asked what people liked about Sunweaver. I'll end
with a few of my favorites.
Shockwave, "I like it here. That's why I stay here."
RECoyote, "Y'all are my kind of crazies"
Bixyl, "I've lived at a few places before the 'weavers. Most
didn't last very long. I've probably called it a "prac-topia" at times.
Not an utopia, but as close as one can practically get. Little drama and
level headed discussions on how to handle what issues we have."
The saying is true, "When you live in Sunweaver, you get more than land. You get a community."
"Sha"
Teleporting to the place, I appeared in a small welcome center building beside the parade street. There was a display of food on one side, and on the other masks one could pick up. There was also a bead thrower available to take. From there, it was just a short talk to the street, where one could see the floats passing. Many, if not most, had their own music playing from them. People could also hop on and dance on them, becoming part of the parade. In a few places, there were also cubic kiosks with a fox on top, where one could donate Lindens to Team Fox for Parkinson's research.
There were a number of avatars watching the parade, or taking part, when I arrived. Among those watching was Barbie Alchemi, the owner of the sim and the head of Team Fox. She told me this was the third year the Mardi Grads parade was here, and some of the floats were reproductions of originals from the parades in New Orleans a century ago. Each float's music was chosen to go with it's particular theme. 
