A civilization comes into being long before its public opening day. First there is a way of seeing life. Then there are habits, tools, designs, records, working systems, real sites and the people who have chosen to carry the work. We have all of those in motion. The vineyards over our compound routes, the Care-Ports receiving tired parents, the Tideechi birthing rooms, the food networks, transport families and winter districts remain physical work to be realized at the scale we envisage. The family, the published designs, the functioning media software and the living-ground experiments already exist.

We are building with the seriousness of people who have travelled enough to recognize capacity. I know that a Jamaican can learn to swim in nine weeks and become a professional lifeguard. I know a couple can meet, marry before God a week later and create a life that keeps renewing its joy. I know that a little family can publish across the world from apartments, shelters and borrowed connections. I know that a sandy strip of land in Bahia can grow food when someone studies it and gives it what it needs. None of these things teaches me to think small.

Our commitment is to make the work physical and examinable. A house must serve a real family. A food route must deliver edible nourishment. A travel system must move people safely. A clinical setting must support actual patients and care teams. A software release must run. A neighbourhood must be beautiful enough to enjoy and intelligent enough to maintain. These are the standards of a living civilization.

The story began with love, engineering, God and a decision to act. It continues with five family members alive and building together, one son remembered, a widening body of collaborators, and a planet full of capability. We are fitting the pieces into place. How marvelous it will be when every family can enjoy the world we have been learning to build.