You may have noticed Dana Price, a tall and friendly cashier who joined the Co-op team a few months ago. Dana came to us by way of the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee, where he served as a hiking and backpacking guide for five years. He and his wife, Andrea, recently moved to Moscow.

Destiny seemed determined to draw Dana and Andrea together on a British Virgin Island over six years ago. Dana was living there as a massage therapist. Andrea was there on vacation from her job as a geologist in Mongolia. They first ran across each other at a vegetarian café on Tortola Island where, along with Andrea’s mom, they were the only three customers there. “That time I mostly just spoke to Andrea’s mom,” Dana says.

Then their paths crossed again as Dana was swimming in an isolated bay, and Andrea and her mom just happened by. Once again, they were the only three people there. They simply waved at each other on this occasion. But fate was determined; they each attended Bomba Shack’s Full Moon party alone. They were walking in opposite directions through a crowd of hundreds of people, when they spotted each other and stopped instantly, an experience that Dana could only call a “true full-moon moment.” They spent the rest of the evening getting to know each other. It was Andrea’s last night before heading back to Mongolia. They kept in touch as best as they could over the next six weeks, at which time Andrea could once again go anywhere on the company dime for a two-week vacation. She chose to go back to the Virgin Islands to see Dana.

Soon thereafter, they decided to quit their jobs. They answered an ad on an “intentional communities” Web site to look after a hundred-acre farm in Tennessee. They took care of a menagerie of animals including a horse, two mules, two cats, seven dogs, and thirty chickens. They also became guides with A Walk in the Woods, an outdoor adventure company.

After five years in Tennessee, Andrea acquired a position with Sand Creek Consultants which resulted in their move to Moscow. The Wisconsin-based company’s Moscow office serves farms throughout Idaho. They respond to pesticide and fertilizer spills, often using plants, like poplar trees and mushrooms, to draw spilled material out of the soil.

Dana and Andrea are enjoying living in Moscow. They often take their two black dogs, Miva and Elo, to the dog park. Dana is an avid listener of jam band “Grateful Dead” style music, which I imagine is good accompanied with some of his home-brewed beer. They both love to snowboard and are looking forward to discovering the areas in our region to hit the slopes.

With so much travel in their history I wondered how long they plan to stay in Moscow.

“We really love Moscow’s sense of community. I hope to eventually open up a massage practice here. We definitely feel a few roots sprouting and taking hold,” says Dana.

Amy Newsome had grown accustomed to using every one of her 700 words, making the new 500 word limit a big challenge! With this article a “snapshot” approach felt necessary as opposed to the usual “life story” approach.