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Thursday, June 2, 2011
In the morning, we had an extensive house meeting with all the regular agenda, plus the Permaculture class logistics. We got everything worked out, though, so it was fine.
Then, I went outside to help Patricia compost what was left of the seedlings that never got in the ground. I got about halfway through the task, and then got distracted. First, by a frog that I found under one of the trays. I was so excited! I took him inside to show him off (no one but me was impressed), and then took tons of pictures of him until he hopped into the shelter of a rotten log. (I forgot my camera, so I'll post the pictures later.) I found another baby black snake under a different tray, but decided to leave him alone.
Then, Joe asked for my help in taking down two trees that Patricia asked him to remove. It was really fun, but I don't think I actually did much. Being the offspring of Hercules and Tarzan, Joe didn't need all that much help. First, he shimmied about ten feet up this skinny, limbless black locust with nothing but hands and boots to tie a rope around it. Then, he hacked down this easily thirty or forty foot with nothing but an axe. Twice. Well, Chynna and I did help pull them over, but he dragged the darn things out of the canopies of the trees that they fell into.
Anyway, when I was done assisting Joe with tree removal, Chynna, Patricia, and I went into town to go shopping, which was actually pretty fun. Perma-girls day out!
After supper, I couldn't really gather the energy to go to the moon circle, so instead I joined Joe, Michael, and Taylor in some live, local music. The music was awesome and really relaxing – an incredible experience. I had a really excellent evening.
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Friday, June 3, 2011
Friday morning I was up fairly early, as usual, but the weirdest thing happened in the night. About 3am, I woke up hearing these weird squeaking noises. As I slowly gained degrees of consciousness, I realized that those were bat noises. Still half asleep, I thought that a bat had gotten into my room, and I was a little disconcerted. I couldn’t decide whether to turn on the light, thinking fuzzily that I might scare it into biting me. Rabies isn’t fun. Finally I woke up enough to realize that the noise was coming from outside my window. I turned on the light and made sure everything was kosher, and then rolled over, trying to ignore the high-pitched sounds and go back to sleep. A few hours later, I got up and went outside and sure enough, there is a bat house right outside my window. That would have been nice to know when I was moving in to that room. However, I am now appreciating my close proximity to such awesome creatures. I think of them as my familiar spirits! And I slept through their return this morning, so it’s all good.
Permaculture class has been so incredible. I knew some stuff before, but this is a whole new level. Patricia is a really good teacher, as are the co-teachers, Zev, Dylan, and Nikki. They have been able to clearly and concisely build an excellent foundation and provide a well-integrated “whole picture” of permaculture. Patricia and Zev, in particular, give great examples without getting bogged down in the details – always holding the whole systems view in focus. Yesterday, we opened with a lovely opening ceremony at the future home of Medicine Wheel’s forest garden (which is now the campground). Back in the classroom (the oh-so-versatile second floor living area), we honored the problems of the world before moving on to the solution-oriented format of permaculture, which was really powerful. We did a class on pattern understanding, and ate lunch.
It’s been a little bit challenging – well, actually “exhausting” is really the term – being a student and a work exchanger. My brain is processing so much all through class, and then I have to immediately get up and run to get a meal served, or prep a meal, or find something that someone needs, or play courier, etc. I’m really glad that I get a chance to participate in the course, though. I’m really happy about that.
After lunch we had more a couple more classes on fundamentals and ethics and basics and such. Most of it was review for me, but it was still very interesting, well-presented, and an excellent refresher.
Dinner was potluck and Steven already had the meal prepared, so that was easy. I had a nice chat with Dylan, Chynna, and some other people. Another music evening. It is so fantastic to be able to listen to (and even participate in… working on some improvised vocalization) really excellent, live music in the comfort of my own home. I can’t help but smile and laugh and sing when Joe gets going with the crazy, improvised bluegrass jams. It is SO MUCH FUN! Then Taylor will lead up some funky jazz beat on drums, which lends itself perfectly to jumping in with some improvised vocals. I can’t imagine a better way to spend the evening!
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Saturday, June 4, 2011
Today, we started class with permaculture principles, or what Patricia called “the heart and soul of permaculture.” A great deal of it is just (un)common sense, and I think Patricia said it best when she told us, “You can’t so much ‘learn’ or ‘teach’ permaculture. We’re just reminding people of their common sense.”
The primary design principle is OBSERVE! So much happens when you stop to notice things! We did a really excellent observation exercise in which we were sent away from the house to find a spot to observe for 15 minutes. I went down to the Red Tent area, and sat on a rock overlooking the creek. It was so peaceful, and I noticed so much. The spiders floating on the water looking for other bugs to eat. The shadows that those spiders cast on the sand on the bottom of the creek. How clear the water is. The patterns in the debris and the sand in the creek bed. The incredible way the light reflects off of the moving water… then onto the trees… and back onto the water. How the leaves floating downstream allow one to see the otherwise invisible water currents. The bird songs, which increased in number and volume after I had been still a while. The babbling of the creek and how it sounded different when I looked upstream than when I turned my head downstream. It was a really excellent exercise to get me to stop and look more closely.
Then, after lunch, we talked about site analysis and then went on a long walk to analyze different areas around Medicine Wheel neighborhood. It was really incredible how very, very different microclimates that were just a few yards apart could be! One tree of a very specific variety, one rotten log at just the right angle, one tiny patch of sun can completely change the type and amount of life that springs up in an area.
When we returned from that lovely hike, we actually got into design. Unsurprisingly, Americans do everything completely backwards from how it makes sense. We didn’t get too deep into it, but I’m looking forward to getting more substance tomorrow.
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Sunday, June 5, 2011
Today was the last day of permaculture class. I started off the day kinda sleepy. I had breakfast duty, so I had to get up at 6:30. Had a minor crisis when I realized we had no regular potatoes, but I switched the plan to sweet potatoes, which turned out delicious, so it was all good. Chynna made eggs for the crowd, and that went well, too.
Class was cool. We went over ecosystems, water, and soil. A lot of it was review, but I did pick up a lot of really interesting information, too. Also, the physical demonstrations that went along with Nikki’s soil talk were really neat for a tactile person like myself.
After class we went out in the orchard to do some sheet mulching, and I apparently stepped on a nest of no-see-ums. By the time I realized I’d ticked them off, they were already attacking me. What an odd sensation! It is a really sharp little pain with no apparent cause that continues to have stinging pulses for about an hour. I had them all over, too. It was really uncomfortable, but Lyndon gave me some salve and reassured me that it would go away fairly quickly.
After dinner, Nathanial and Joe started jamming on guitar, attracting me, Chynna, Marissa, Clara, and Theresa to the second floor living room. We danced and sang, stopped and talked, Marissa sang a cool ballad that she wrote, I performed “Jabberwocky,” and we danced and sang some more. It was SO much fun. Really chill, awesome atmosphere – just two candles for light and guitar and bliss. We all really connected. Awesome!
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That's probably enough for today.
Love and peace to all!!!
Mollywog
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