My Blog

Washington State Permaculture Convergence

Kelda — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 18:25:08 GMT

I'll be going! I'd love to see lots of friends there! More info at the link below: http://www.friendsofthetrees.net/images/wapermconvergeinside.pdf Washington State Permaculture Convergence, Sept 12-14 2008 at Sahale Learning Center, on the Kitsap Peninsula. Camping or rooms available. Contact Christy 360-312-3928 The convergence is a way to strengthen information flow and cooperation between permaculturists in the state of Washington; and to work on a vision of how permaculture can better serve the people and land of Washington state. How are permaculturists making their living doing consulting, installation, teaching, etc? This convergence will have some aspects of an organizational meeting for the permaculture community. The convergence will also be an educational event on gardening, water catchments, forest gardens, terra preta soil, wildcrafting, bio-diesel and other topics of interest for seasoned permaculturists and interested members of the general public. The final format of the event will evolve depending on who shows up. We expect that there will be advanced as well as basic level workshops. The convergence is for professional permaculturists, permaculture design course graduates and people newly involved.

Bellingham Permaculture Course

Kelda — Mon, 19 May 2008 20:27:07 GMT

Puyallup Herald guest columns

Kelda — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 23:30:47 GMT

August 28: Come Downtown During the Fair This week Puyallup will be gearing up for its annual metamorphosis: cozy small town turns into money-making car-parking extravaganza that smells like a barn. Yes! As a local, what’s my favorite thing about the Puyallup Fair weeks? I love that fences come down and kids set up lemonade stands. I love the diversity of people in town, the free music, and mostly, it’s just so easy to get around! Seriously, as a bicyclist it’s fun to speed by all the vehicles that are inching slowly, painfully along. Bike-riding just feels a little bit safer and a whole lot more satisfying than usual. Plus, it’s the only sane way to travel. The car traffic just sits there. For longer distance travelling, the Pierce Transit routes during the Fair are exquisite. Express buses are going back and forth all over the county straight to downtown. Yes the buses are for fair-goers. But I can always lug around some cotton candy or an exhausted child, and the bus drivers won’t know the difference. So don’t be scared of downtown during the Fair. It’s a secret treasure for locals who know how to get there painlessly. All the stores are still waiting to serve you pie and coffee. The parks are sunny and relaxed. And the farmers at the market, good grief, that’s when all their food is ripe! It’s harvest time! There are apples, beans, blackberries, blueberries, corn, carrots, garlic, onions, tomatoes, basil, peppers, potatoes, spinach, squashes galore. Imagine that you’re a farmer with bushels of this stuff, who must every September shake your fists at the sky, cursing the traffic that keeps your customers away from market. What’s the best way to say yes to Pierce County farms? Go to the Puyallup market in September! As a bonus, there are some fun events at the Farmer’s Market in the next few weeks. There’s going to be a food preservation/canning workshop, also with a mason jar swap (for anyone needing to get, or give away, extra jars). There will also be a very exciting salsa competition. I’m just so excited that tomatoes are actually beginning to ripen this year! I’ll even be at the Farmer’s Market one day, teaching families how to use worm-bins for composting food scraps. We’ll build clear bins that kids can take home. The worm bins will even be small enough for the bike rack or the bus. Don’t forget: during September there’s plenty of good times, not just in the Fair but in the town around it. CALENDAR: Aug. 30 Mother Earth Farm workparty, Sep. 5-21 Sustainable Puyallup info available at the Stream Team booth at the Fair, Sep. 6 Make your own worm-bin at the farmer’s market ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- August 7: Showing Pride in our Bioregion I love this town, and, in all honesty, that’s no easy thing to say. Through my years here I’ve had plenty of complaints. Like at the library or with the city council, or the hospital, planning department, county, train station, school district, any corporate store or that hilarious run around at the fair. But I’m proud of this town, and I’m fierce defending it. It must be the forests I’ve known before they were subdivided, or the feel of soil that is richer than gold. It might be childhood roots: sneaking out of church to watch chickens in a nearby garden, smelling every September the constant smell of greasy food or climbing with friends up the ivy in Pioneer Park. (It’s a pity it won’t be as private with city hall looming over it, eh?) This is a pride of place, the pride of knowing the region’s cultures, quirks, foods and wild things. There’s a fancy word for it called ‘bioregionalism.’ Why does it matter? Places are different from each other, and when we honor what makes our place distinct, we are much more likely to celebrate and defend it. Take the Daffodil Parade, which has been in the news lately. Honestly, it could be cheaper, a lot more regionally based, and at least a little more fun. My two cents: Nix the out-of-town floats and the statewide travelling. Instead, I want to go to the parade and see valley farmers who grow my food waving at me; that’s something I’ll cheer for. I want to see the city council mud wrestling. I’d like to see cute little kids dressed up like salmon and hopvines, berries and daffodils. I want to see local business owners naked and painted on bicycles, encouraging us to spend time downtown but not drive there. I, for one, would be proud. The bioregional possibilities are endless. How about a restaurant that serves local, in-season foods? Or for music, a locally-grown bluegrass band could sing about our poor river, polluted from Crystal Mountain to the Superfund delta. Also, why read fantasy adventures about far-off lands; we have a dire need for elves and druids defending our fields and forests right here. And when it comes to athletic mascots for our schools, I’d sure like to see pumas take the stage or red-tail hawks. Tomorrow I look forward to being at the opening of Puyallup City Hall. And I wonder about this town: Is our culture defined for us by the latest corporate taco store or weekend sales at the mall? Or do we celebrate something more? CALENDAR: Aug. 8 City Hall, Aug. 9 Raingarden installation Pack Forest and Edgewood picnic, Aug. 12 Environmental Health meeting, Aug. 16 Community garden picnic. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ July 18: Creating a Food Co-op For the readers out there who buy organic foods, bulk foods or food from local farms, I have some exciting news. There is a group of Pierce County volunteers working to create a Tacoma Food Co-op. What is a co-op? In this instance, a food co-op is a store that will sell natural, local foods. But, you say, can’t we already buy natural foods at a variety of big box stores, or at Marlene’s Market and Deli? True, but a store set up as a cooperative (a co-op) is different. Co-ops are created by members, the people who “buy shares.” Member participation make co-op stores that reflect a community’s needs. For example, Fred Meyer carries health foods, but lacks local foods or support for local businesses. Marlene’s is locally-owned, which is great, but the customers hardly participate in the shaping of its policies and values. A co-op, on the other hand, is a collective vision. The store is not just a store, but a focal point for community desires. A co-op’s structure can be based around local food security values: healthy food from local growers available to all. What does this vision look like in other food co-op examples? Many food co-ops have a “working member” program (someone can volunteer in the store to receive discounts on their food). In Seattle, the PCC co-op not only sells locally-grown foods, but generates money to preserve farmland. In Olympia, the food co-op actively engages with community needs. They’ve helped create a low-income credit union, participated in local alternative currencies, offer anti-oppression trainings to their staff and organize for local disaster relief causes. One co-op I know of even took the bold step to just lower their prices after making an unexpectedly high profit. Lots of towns throughout the country have a natural foods co-op. Eatonville and Yelm even have tiny co-op stores. When I’m travelling I tend to stop by a town’s co-op to educate myself on their great local food, joyful community projects and diverse bulletin boards. Co-ops tend to be a focal point for sustainability and social justice work. Tacoma needs this. I’m hoping that one day Puyallup will be able to have their own co-op too. Until that time I’ve been happy to learn from the Tacoma group’s process. If you’d like to learn more too, or even buy a membership, come to an event this Saturday. The Tacoma Food Co-op folks are hosting a free educational celebration in Wright Park in Tacoma. It sure beats lurking around the Fred Meyer bulk foods hoping to make some friends. CALENDAR: July 17 – Tacoma Green Drinks at the Tempest Lounge. July 19 – Tacoma Food Co-op event is 4-9 p.m. at Wright Park. July 23 – Puyallup River Watershed Council meeting in Sumner. July 27 – Sustainable Puyallup potluck. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- June 27: Green Building For Everyone Last week The Herald published a prominent story about green building in Puyallup. That’s awesome! What I’d like to say is this: Building green is really easy, much easier than is conveyed in mainstream knowledge. Right now I’m at a farm outside of Bellingham. For two weeks we’ve converted a greenhouse into a classroom for the teaching of a permaculture design course. It’s a crash course in sustainability: Food forage systems, wild plants, natural building, appropriate technology, animal husbandry and general revolution. Basically, I learned ‘green’ skills in a very backwoods, low-tech way, just like this. I’ve learned smart, fun conservation techniques that anyone can use. And now I help teach it. I compare this to a tour I got of the envirohouse last spring — remember the green building demo that used to be near the fountain at The Puyallup Fair? Now it’s a walk-through model at the Tacoma dump. During the tour we saw high-tech insulation, sustainably harvested materials and fancy worm bins and at the end of the tour my stomach was sick with sadness. Why show only the expensive sustainability techniques? Many of the products in green building are things you have to buy, keeping you in the consumer part of the food chain. They may be better for the earth, but combined with shipping and installation, may actually not be. Here’s some good news: You can build a worm-bin for free with scrap wood. You can build a micro-hydro generator using a few parts and a plastic bucket. You can teach your kids how to find food in the forest. You and some friends can easily build a house mostly with clay, sand and straw (it’s called cob, and it’s really fun to work with). Only for freaks, you say? Or hippies who live in the woods? Well maybe, but not totally. Just face your house to the south. Or finish cooking meals in a hay-box, an insulation box built for pots. Maybe let some perennial edible plants grow in your yard; lots of them are delicious. And if all of this sounds boring, there are even plenty of parties and concerts that are powered with solar panels. It’s really so easy. And there’s an exciting community of elders and geniuses and woodsmen and revolutionaries who are toiling away making it easier for the rest of us. Take heart. You don’t have to be rich to go green. We’re doing it already. CALENDAR: June 29 Sustainable Puyallup meeting, July 5 Mother Earth Farm work party, July 12 Tacoma Food Co-op fundraiser. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Also June 5, I'm interviewed about the gardens! Kelda Miller has a vision — to teach people about sustainable gardening which is a growing trend as gardeners look for ways to enjoy more organic fruits and vegetables. Kelda, a Puyallup native and Rogers High graduate, loved to grow and enjoy edibles, but lacked a garden plot of her own. She decided to think outside the box and found small plots of land to grow everything from fava beans to parsnips, kale, garlic, rhubarb, strawberries and more. Kelda first became friends with an elderly neighbor who was willing to share a portion of her garden. "Glenda is my good angel", Miller says, and she enjoys sharing with her neighbor what she grows. When Kelda house sat for a Puyallup friend during a 6-month period, she planted vegetables in the homeowner's garden, then harvested and enjoyed them during her stay. She continues to share that garden, visiting regularly to water and tend to the space. Miller then spotted a space behind Drainage Works, a Pioneer Street business, and approached the owner, Dan Villwock, about planting on his property. Villwock was agreeable to the arrangement and Kelda now tends to that plot, practicing organic gardening, using rye crop rotation method, to produce asparagus, broccoli and other delights. When Kelda met Adama Blackthorn at the Puyallup Farmers' Market, they enjoyed a conversation around their mutual interest in organic gardening. Kelda bartered to provide computer help to Blackthorn in exchange for using a portion of his front yard to plant an herb garden. Kelda travels by bicycle between each of these sites, to water, weed and harvest. "I have never known anyone else who can keep vegetables growing all winter long. Kelda's ability is amazing", Villwock said. "Sometimes when I get really busy here and can't sneak away for lunch, I go out back and grab some broccoli, and an apple or two from the tree." Every week, all year long, including through the winter, Kelda can harvest a grocery bag full of produce. She uses the Salad Forage System to grow different varieties of edibles. The plants keep reseeding so the only work involved is transplanting. She boasts that part of her success in harvesting vegetables all through the year is that she has no trouble with some of the pests that can typically invade a vegetable garden. "For example, I have no maggot problems with my carrots, so I harvest them 12 months of the year." Kelda's method of gardening is catching on around the Puget Sound region — there are organized groups teaching the technique in Seattle, Bainbridge Island and beyond. Kelda's hope is to share her knowledge, with a long-term goal of helping Puyallup-area families grow much of their own organic produce all throughout the year. "I want to see a sustainable Puyallup. I'd especially love to help low-income families plant gardens and to empower people to tend the gardens, teach their children the techniques, and enjoy a year-round harvest of healthy food." by Nancy Draper ---------------------------------------------------------------- June 5: Party for the $4 Gallon At a time when gas prices are causing much teeth-grinding and profanity, it may be a bit audacious to suggest something else: a celebration. First off, I'm not that much of an arse just to party while I watch others suffer. So let me put this in context. It's true that segments of society should not have to worry about the price of gas: medics, firefighters, hospitals, police, anyone struggling with poverty. For example, a single-mother friend recently laid out to me her plan to save money by biking to work. It was painful to listen to all of her very difficult obstacles to doing so and yet she's financially strapped but feels like she must. It galls me that transportation activists haven't been able to do more for people like her. On the other hand, I have little empathy when I see drivers of huge shiny SUVs and trucks complaining at the gas tank. They made an expensive choice, now they can pay more for the resources they use. If I've raised the ire of some SUV drivers, let's turn to something more fun: throwing a party! Who would come? Attendees to a gas-price celebration are anyone who likes to eat food, enjoy sleep, and occasionally have fun. Okay, nearly all of us. .. How do we get there? Really, the choices are infinite: horseback, rollerblading, biking, skateboarding, tango-dancing, or hang-gliding from some tall place, etc. .. What will we do there? Celebrate anything and everything that supports a less oil-dependent economy. Eat homegrown food. Swap seeds. Wear locally-made clothing. Build earth-sculpted houses. Make music. Assemble solar ovens and water filters. The easiest part is kid's activities since the absence of plastics can ignite their creative ingenuity. The highlight of the event will be creating a skill-share map that shows what neighbors do for a living. We may discover we have no need to get in a car to visit a nearby accountant, hairstylist, or engineer. True, petroleum is tied to nearly everything in this culture. We're in a nasty predicament; why not celebrate some solutions? PS. Some friends and I are looking for a house to rent where we can: garden, sleep on the porch, host potlucks, and walk to Pioneer Park. Long-term we'd like to have chickens, wire solar panels, and maybe even buy the house. Please contact me with any leads on the right place. .. -->[endif]--> P.P.S. Will the 'vote freedom!' guy please resend that email? It's lame of me but I lost it! CALENDAR: All Saturday nights at Bumpy's: Puyallup Bike Pirate 'meeting', Jun. 5 Green Drinks at Patty Coynes, Jun. 18 Solar Group, Jun. 19 Environmental Health Priorities. ------------------------------------------------------------------ May 15: Solving the Hunger Crisis This time of year my dinner plate is loaded with purple broccoli, asparagus, leeks, carrots, eggs, and plenty of fresh salad. My friends or I grow the food. As I sit down to eat, I turn to my other evening ritual: flipping on the computer and listening to the world news. I hear the reports of food crises around the planet; I hear hunger in the voices of people on the street. All too often, I just have to put down my fork and weep. I'm frustrated, and I bet I'm not the only one. The author Paul Loeb makes the analogy: Imagine you are standing on the edge of a river, and coming down this river are drowning children. Of course you must run in to pull the children out, but at the same time you must also run upstream to stop whatever is causing the children to fall in. Therein lies the frustration. Though religious thoughts vary, no spiritual tradition would argue that a person should stand on the side of the river and do nothing. I applaud those organizations and churches that run into the river to stop the immediate crises, which, in this situation, is to send money and food to the hungry. My path often leads to the 'run upstream to stop' tactic. A good solution resolves many problems at once, and I find that working on solutions is what heartens and nourishes me. Of the many solutions for the food crisis abroad, I see the biggest one would be the cancellation of third world debt. Can we afford to cancel debt with our slow economy? You bet. Right now, instead, we're paying for hunger relief and political instability. (If you're interested, lots of info is available through Jubilee 2000). As for hunger closer to home, that solution comes back to the broccoli and asparagus on my plate. I consider myself a somewhat novice gardener, yet I can harvest a grocery-bag full of food from my gardens every week of the year. I buy grain in bulk, though this year I'll be growing quinoa. I spend maybe $30 a month at a grocery store. We can wait for the proverbial 'poo to hit the fan', or we can decide to support, just for the fun of it, local farmers, underemployed geeks like me, and neighbors who have sustainable skills. A sincere offer I extend: if you're wanting to put better, fresher food in your belly regardless of income, contact me and I will help you. CALENDAR: Thursdays in May, Natural Yard Care at South Hill Library, May 17 Livable Communities fair, May 18 Sustainable Tacoma-Pierce 'Rainwater' workparty, May 21 Self-Reliant Graham field trip, May 24 Mother Earth Farm workparty (fresh food goes to local food banks!), May 25 Sustainable Puyallup potluck. ------------------------------------------------------------- April 24: Cars Cause Sprawl in Puyallup As a child growing up on South Hill, I naturally wanted to escape it. As an adult who returns home after living in sustainable communities across the globe, urban sprawl just saddens me. What a sick, consumerist, apathetic joke about life. For all the resources it uses, it doesn’t even feel good. To clarify, I have nothing against suburbs (small towns outside of cities). What is frustrating is suburban development that leaves healthy, beautiful towns empty and creates instead homogenous wastelands of ‘growth’. Urban sprawl begs many questions. What kind of community can happen in a land dominated by parking lots? Who does this benefit? Why do people choose it? And the biggest question: How did good intentions go so wrong? Well, for an answer to some of those questions, there is the automobile. It’s an experimental technology creating experimental settlements that just aren’t working out so well. When towns are designed for people, they are just that: towns, or villages, or shires even. When towns are designed for cars foremost, they may be easy to drive into and through, but they lack the most important things. They lack identity, community, life. At this point in the conversation, many people may throw their hands up in despair. “So what! We need cars. That’s just the way it is!” Well, is car culture making us happy? Think of all the land, money, stress, and precious hours of time that are poured into going from one place to another. On the other hand, think about sleeping in, doing business with neighbors, biking the kids to soccer practice, and being proud of your small house and beautiful town. Villages start to not seem so bad. If you take out some roads and driveways, and throw in gardens, gathering spaces, or solar panels, all of a sudden living on this planet may start to make more sense. Too impossible? Pedestrians, bicyclists, and bus-riders are voting with their feet for towns we can love. It is happening all around. We are voting yes for small local stores, yes for happy children, yes for the protection of our forests and farmlands, and yes to the global community that would breathe easier without our dependence on oil. It feels indescribably good. No one wants to be trapped inside a cage on wheels that is creating endless headaches and resource wars. Don’t take my word for it, instead try a day a week of no car. Try biking around downtown on tree-lined streets with the kids, then see how you feel. Liberate yourself. CALENDAR: Apr. 26 Stream Team workparty or Mainstreet Clean Sweep, May 3 Puyallup Farmer's Market Opening and Tacoma Native Plant Sale, May 10 Master Gardener’s Sale and Mother Earth Farm workparty. April 3: Listen to Each Other I think I began to understand the world, truly, when I began to hitchhike. Did I learn how violent and full of weirdos the world is? In fact, no, just the opposite. I learned of the loving kindness of the human race. (Of course, I’m also a young white woman who people treat kindly, so take it with a grain of salt.) Let me describe my quintessential hitchhiking experience: I find out the driver of the car is a very gracious, totally random person who has views on life that are wildly different from mine. There are hours of conversation ahead, and you bet I’m grateful to be safely on my way. This leads to amazing conversation. From the ruminations of Italian men, to tea-time with Indians in Auburn, to the truck-driver hauling redwoods from California, to the loving Montana family who trusts George W. Bush, I’ve had wonderful conversations with all of them. This is what I’ve learned: everyone has a good point, when the listener can hear it. It’s not like it’s easy, and I’m no shining example. Sometimes hours on the freeway helps, as does studying non-violent communication, consensus meetings, or from Quakers. The situation of the world’s most compassionate listener, the Dalai Lama, illustrates the difficulty: repressive governments or people sometimes don’t listen back. (“What was his actual request again? Sabotage and selfishness?” I don’t think so). I’m continually amazed that listening is not a prerequisite to adulthood. I guess some adults are just more comfortable with blame and anger. While Puyallup City Council members bicker with each other, or neighbors hate each other because of a big toy or a stage, I ponder our future on this planet. While a war wages on that no one is really fond of, we stand on either side of that Freedom Bridge, divided by name-calling and finger-pointing. Shouldn’t we be listening to each other? Whether I’m hitchhiking or not, a question I’m often asked abroad, is “Why aren’t the American people ending such-and-such atrocity?” “Well there’s no clear answer”, I say, (or struggle to say if I’m not speaking English). “In the U.S. neighbors are more comfortable calling the police or a lawyer than setting up time to work through tough issues together.” How ridiculous that makes us sound! Come on, Pierce County, prove me wrong. CALENDAR: Apr. 3 Tacoma ‘Greendrinks’ at the Harmon, Apr. 4 Walk-to-Work Day, Apr. 12 Daffodil Parade, Apr. 16 Graham self-reliant meeting, Apr. 17-20 Spring Fair, Apr. 19 Puyallup parks day, Apr. 21 Sustainable Tacoma-Pierce ‘Rainwater’ talk, Apr. 22 Earth Day, Apr 23 J.H. Kunstler (urban-sprawl-solutions author) speaking in Tacoma. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Are You A Terrorist? (actual Feb. 20th column) A few hours before deadline I changed this column. For anyone interested, I have also written what I think is a very beautiful column about the caucuses on the 9th, and how exciting it is to engage in neighborhood conversations. Feel free to email me for it. Instead, I've chosen to address a current events story. The News Tribune watered down its version. They omitted this: in Europe, grandmothers destroy genetically modified crops in full daylight. In the U.S., due to such things as the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act, people do it at nighttime and get no less than thirty years in prison. I will try to summarize genetic-modification in general, as well as what happened at the UW arson in 2001. Here is a crash course. Hybrid plants are seen as traditional whereas genetically modified plants are considered new-fangled and untested in real ecosystems. Why care? Ecosystems support life on earth. UW dabbled in genetically-modified trees. What happened? A group of people carefully watched the building to learn when no one would be there, and then set fire to the lab. It was a desperately flawed tactic; no grandmas were involved. Instead of encouraged to ask tough questions about other tree experiments (say at the WSU extension or at the end of Pioneer), the general public just got angry, for understandable reasons. Instead of worrying about mutant trees in our native forests, attention turned towards who had committed the arson. The two people who were prosecuted "have named as many names as they can in order to reduce their own extremely harsh prison sentences." One of the people they named is a mother now on trial in Tacoma, who faces a thirty-year minimum sentence if convicted. The important point is not if she is guilty, or even what exactly the UW was up to. A sentence of thirty years is well beyond what many rapists and murderers serve. In the U.S., we can thank the Patriot Act, Section 802, which says that a 'terrorist' is anyone who tries to coerce the civilian population or the government. If you're like me, you'll do a double take. Basically, that means all of us... Here are some things I've done this week that could make me a 'terrorist': four letters to Congress and an email to Calvin, the caucus, two community garden meetings, the two columns, and all general phone calls and email. CALENDAR: 2/23 two choices for restoration workparties, Surprise Lake (Edgewood) and Braget Marsh (Nisqually), 2/25 Sustainable Tacoma-Pierce meeting, "Living in Community", 2/26 Environmental Health meeting, Graham, 3/8 L'Arche fundraiser auction. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Conversation Leads to Revolution (written for Feb. 20) Wow, I bet I'm not the only one lately who has been excited about our presidential prospects for the future. We really could have a _____ president. Awesome! Between press-time for this column and print-time, many things could happen. One thing is clear, whether it's pleasant or not: we are doing something amazing. To see a large room packed with neighbors on the 9th brings a tear to my eye. And I'm not even a democrat or a republican, I'm an anarchist. To clarify, my anarchist friends and I like to bake cookies, create bike collectives, and go to consensus meetings. We're rooting for the slim possibility that humans need only be governed by love, respect, and stellar communication skills. So we try to create those things. Pretty scary, huh? So, why would a caucus cause me to choke up? A favorite anarchist hobby is to geek out on neighborhood communication, without trying to seem too weird about it. (To have agreeable friends is one thing, but to be friends with neighbors who could totally disagree with me seems more revolutionary.) And what, at caucus I get to ask my neighbors point-blank what their dearest values are, and their hopes for the future? Sweet! To give some history: as a child on South Hill I watched a lot of TV. It created the mindset that the people on TV, and in the newspaper, were like the 'people in charge' and the rest of us were like the 'audience'. I thought maybe the 'people in charge' knew more than the average person, or were better at communicating. My first attendance at a council meeting quickly dispelled those myths. Luckily for me, my life unfolded into crazy beautiful scenarios that taught me the joy of engaging with communities. It struck me: you either participate in this thing called life, or you don't really live. My saddest part about returning to mainstream culture is to see that many people never question that they are the 'audience' and would frankly rather be watching TV. Why? You can easily find higher-quality entertainment at the local park and ride. For example: free-styling, hippie dance parties, knitting lessons, food-sharing, iraq war stories, and relentless love and support from strangers. The funny thing to me about this technological age is how the human spirit is insatiable in its quest for human connection. The popularity of youtube, myspace, facebook, etc, is hilarious: we are intrigued by each other. I would like to see what happened on the 9th happen more often. I want to sit on a bench somewhere and have neighbors stop by and tell me how they feel about politics, or any decisions that the community is trying to make. I'm listening. CALENDAR: 2/23 two choices for restoration workparties, Surprise Lake (Edgewood) and Braget Marsh (Nisqually), 2/25 Sustainable Tacoma-Pierce meeting, "Living in Community", 2/26 Environmental Health meeting, Graham, 3/8 L'Arche fundraiser auction. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- January 31: Climate Adventures I recently made a family discovery which sparked a good-hearted email debate and is best summed up with: "Mom, your husband says CO2 isn't causing climate change." She groans audibly, shakes her head, and says "Well, Kelda, he could be playing devil's advocate, he could be sincere, he may be listening to that guy on KIRO, who knows?" What a revelation, some folks believe differently than scientific majority, the IPCC, and every other developed country that signed the Kyoto protocol. Fair enough. In response, an analogy: deforestation and development did not cause the recent flooding of the Chehalis. No, rain did that. But, the deforestation and development didn't give the rain very many options, right? The same thing can be said about greenhouse gases and the sun's heat. What the climate issue boils down to is: the economy, land-use/transportation, and the potential that the global poor who live in drought or flood-prone regions may have to carry a great injustice. ..[endif]--> So, about the economy, here's a new phrase I heard about healthy-for-earth jobs: "green- collar workers". A fancy name! It's better than 'hippie tech geek, useful in backwoods or during economic collapse" kind of title. After all, investing in neighborhoods and fruit trees may not be such a bad idea. People want these green-collar jobs (though they are under-funded, under-paid, barely legal). And Puyallup School District, I love you, but we seem woefully ill-prepared. I continually meet young people wanting internships building passive solar homes, or installing graywater systems. Who here will teach them? In the last year I've found no environmental clubs, no green technology teachers, and often a blank stare. If there are teachers out there who know what I'm talking about, please email me, as there's a potluck I'd like to invite you to. And, to move on to land-use/transportation, that's an easy one to fix. Who wants to drive a car all the time, or be surrounded by roads and asphalt? It sure doesn't look like fun. It's also worth mentioning that many non-vehicular women agree: 'real men don't drive.' I dream of seeing a guy biking downtown Puyallup while hauling a trailer full of such heavy items as: a sack of local potatoes, a happy toddler, and a marine battery (for the home solar panel system, of course). Now, that's hot. Or, if you're bad at bicycling, like I sometimes am, bike-related injuries are great conversation starters while riding the 402. Sure, it's better for the environment. But more than that, one doesn't even notice any South Hill traffic if you're heartily engaged in a 'gnarliest bike scar' contest with new friends. Calendar: TONIGHT 1/31 'Focus the Nation', Evergreen-Tacoma. Exciting conversation about climate change with Ladenburg, Baarsma, Farrell, etc. Bring friends, it should be a fun evening. 2/6 Graham farmer's market discussion 847-4614. 2/7 Tacoma 'Green Drinks', Engine House 9. 2/9 & 10 Sustainability Summit, UW-T. Also 2/9 Democratic caucus, Ballou Jr. High. (Kucinich or no, I'll still be stumping his excellent platform). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sample Column Chevron and Myanmar's Military Junta What news of Myanmar/Burma? A couple months ago we were aghast at the news: peaceful activists led by monks were brutally arrested, beaten, killed, 'disappeared' in the night. Their crime? Taking a non-violent stand against the military junta that runs their country. It's stomach sickening. And since the military regime has clamped down on communication coming out from the country, it may still be happening. There is no news because there is no news getting Out. In September, I received an email from a friend to sign an online petition. I hesitated. Signing a petition to the U.N. isn't alone going to make me feel much better. That night I found the source of the deeper hesitancy: I had a nightmare that U.S. forces were bombing Burma in order to liberate it. And true, that's not likely to happen, but it put a bad taste in my mouth nevertheless. I'm not really a 'fight the bad guys' kind of person, I'm more of an 'attract others into harmlessness' kind of gal. Regardless, what Can we, living in the U.S. do to help? Aung San Suu Khii, nobel prize winner living under house arrest in Burma, has formulated very simple requests of the international community. Among them "do not financially support the military junta". Easy enough, right? Not quite. Here's the scoop. There's a big petroleum pipeline running through Burma. A French company owns 1/3, a Thai company owns 1/3, and Chevron owns 1/3. To be even clearer, one article about this is entitled: "Chevron's pipeline is the Burmese Regime's Lifeline." And since I'm not living in France or Thailand, I look to Chevron. Chevron pays the military junta, which coincidentally, destroys villages and forces the villagers to work on the project (aka Slavery). Chevron, or the military junta, says things like "well, we're not exactly forcing them to work on the mumble mumble, and as far as shooting them down mumble mumble." I'm inclined to believe the villager's side of the story. So I told my friends about this, and about my plans to boycott Chevron in disgust. My friends said "Well, that's easy enough for You to say. But you can't boycott something you're already boycotting." (I don't drive a car. Chevron hasn't seen a dime of mine in years. Since it's open 24 hours though I guess I could Potentially break down for a 3am bag of sunchips, but it hasn't happened yet…). Nevertheless, I put some sidewalk chalk in my pocket and walked over to chat with the Chevron cashier. He wasn't exactly thrilled to hear the Chevron-Burma connection, as you can imagine. Or to see me chalk it out on the sidewalk, though it was may have been his biggest entertainment that night. (I wrote "Help the Burmese People, Boycott Chevron", and since it's the sidewalk it's a legal kind of interference.) Anyhow, How your neighborhood Chevron works: Each store is a franchise that may be owned by the person behind the counter. I'm not upset at that person at all, I'm disgusted with the Chevron corporation. Luckily, the franchise owner gets 98% of their profit Not from the gas but from the snack shop. So, potentially, boycotting gas but still buying snacks doesn't really harm them. I envision the franchise owners sending an email to their Chevron guy saying: "Noone is buying gas! They come in for beer and tell me they don't like Chevron's marriage to Burma's military regime, and I can't help but agree!" Or we could send that email ourselves too, say at comment@chevron.com. (Boycotting only works so far as the right people know what's happening. There are currently tons of reasons to boycott gasoline, and it gets confusing for the CEO's maybe). And sure, this is only one town, or a few, as far as this boycott goes. But the thing about the Chevron-Burma connection is that a lot of U.S.Americans just don't know about it. Why isn't that in the news? (I could begin speculating, but that's a separate column…) Well, we could just start spreading the word to people who won't see this article. A government that goes into monasteries in the middle of the night to beat people up has something Seriously wrong with it. And, blue-red politics aside, I think we can all agree on this, right? I mean, I haven't Heard anyone saying they think the junta is doing a good job or being awfully nice or anything, right? Hm, Chevron. Is getting oil through a lousy pipeline really important enough to warrant killing, arresting, and silencing hundreds of innocent people? If it's So important that you must do this in order to get gas into our tanks, then I say "We don't want it!" May it harm none. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sample Column, What is 'Buy Nothing Day?' Among the holidays in the U.S. there is one that stands out for it's practicality, correct? The day after Thanksgiving, otherwise known as the Biggest Shopping Day of the Year. What kind of people make a holiday out of shopping? The ones who consume the grossest amount on Earth. Gross as in Big, and gross as in the most disgusting display of plasticky, upgraded, knick-knack, climate-altering, throw away crap the world has ever seen. In response to that, the Adbusters magazine has for many years helped organize Buy Nothing Day on the day after Thanksgiving. In their words: "thousands and activists and concerned citizens in 65 countries will take a 24-hour consumer detox". Now, now! NO shopping on the biggest shopping day? It's a family tradition. Should I sit at home twiddling my thumbs in the dark? Heck no! It's actually much more fun Outside the mall than in it. But first, the long view: Any garish advertising, by its very nature, is of something we don't need. Otherwise the message wouldn't need to be shoved down our throats. On my South Hill bustrips, as I gaze out at all the billboards, I am reminded of how lettuce will get hot and bolt in the heat of summer. They're dying, so they need to flower and set seed. The same goes for advertising "our flowers are Super big because we need you to buy things really, really badly". That being said, I am an avid consumer of local products, or products from locally-owned stores. That's right, Tienda La Pequena, I make my little bike trip to get your tortillas because anything I don't buy from Safeway makes me happy. And you know what, Golden Rule Grocery? You start carrying organic milk and I'll be there in a heartbeat.(Buying local keeps the money here in the community, you kind of say it's like 'sticking it to the man'). One thing I tend to enjoy just as much as local stores though, is local Freestores. That's right, Olympia and Orcas Island have big fancy examples. Or it can be as humble as a box or a shelf somewhere that people can leave things at, or take things home. It also happens to become a hoppin' community hangout, for obvious reasons. Free stuff! Seattle has it's own variation. End-of-the-month furniture shopping out on a nearby sidewalk! (look for the sign that says 'free' first). This activity is also tons of fun with friends on a Saturday night. Throw in Craigslist, or college dorm move-outs, and it's almost too easy. Additionally, I must say a few words about what it's like to live in a 'Gifting' Economy. Hey, if a bunch of naked, heat-stroked hippies in the desert (at Burning Man), can pull it off, why can't a town like Puyallup? Smoothies, jewelry, toys, clothes, music, bikes, massages, meals, and of course health care, all given enthusiastically with no strings attached. Enough food and water and good times for everyone, as far as I could tell. The thing about being given something is that you want to give back. To take a clue from our Indigeneous teachers, there is the Potlatch. Picture this, it's your brother's birthday and he throws a big party, gives stuff away, and gives to you half his pantry, two cars, a laptop, oh and his retirement savings too. How would you feel? Yes, momentarily giddy. Until the weight of it settled on you. You Bet you'd take his family out to fancy dinner whenever they came to town. And, you'd eagerly look forward to your birthday, wherein you could match his gifts, and, like any good sibling, top it. Or, to avoid that 'guilty-you-just-gave-me-something' feeling, there's always the 'Barter' economy. My first trip to a barterfaire was kind of a surprise, so I showed up with no food, no money, and nothing to barter. By wit, and some creativity with found objects, I came away from the weekend with a full belly of delicious meals, and a backpack full of clothes, jams, smoked salmon, jewelry, herbs, and twelve dollars. I have a friend who is currently, through a few rounds of barterfaires, turning his pocket link into a biodiesel bus. He's almost there. I work at Terry's Berries part-time, and just recently turned my employee vegetable share into a chiropractic adjustment. And the doctor thought He got the better deal! So, this November 23rd I may not see you in the mall. I may be biking around with friends helping neighbors mow lawns or rake up leaves. Imagine their delight as a group of eccentrically dressed strangers roll up. Strangers no longer!Seriously though, there's a lot of packaged crap out there. What really is the gift we want to leave to future generations?

Healing Suburbia

Kelda — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 19:59:35 GMT

The topic, you have probably heard me talk about ad nauseum (!), But if you'd like to pass the info along to anyone who might be interested... :) Friday, November 9: A Permaculture Approach to Healing Urban Sprawl and Bringing Back the Village with Kelda Miller 7 pm - 9 pm Fertile Ground Community Center, Olympia, WA $10-$7, sliding scale (in conjunction with Autumn Olympia Permaculture Design Course) Urban sprawl is the many-headed monster eroding the region's ecosystems and encouraging lifestyles of consumer apathy. What can be done? Join Kelda Miller, from nearby Puyallup, as she talks about her experiences as a sustainability activist in a city with no food co-op, bike lanes, or free-boxes. For more information, contact Marisha Auerbach, (360) 943-5262, mailto:queenbee@herbnwisdom.com (This will also be presented the next week at Fairhaven College, Bellingham. Contact Kelda for more info.)

Harvest Moon Party!

Kelda — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 19:14:14 GMT

Puyallup friends and others, come to the first annual and Ancient tradition of 'Eat Yourself Into a Stupor' party! On Sept. 25, next Tuesday night, the moon will be fullest, and right after the Autumn Equinox. Yay! Bring food and drinks! (unless you're a food Grower, than bring veggies and you REST while someone else makes the food) Bring musical instruments! Yes, the backyard firepit will be blazing away*!*!*!**!*!*! Bring kids! So they can eat grapes, hide in the garden, and take home some gerbils! Sept 25th (the fair will be over) 6pm to Stupor-time (hammocks available for slumbering) 1018 7th Ave SE, Puyallup (also called Southsound Veggie-oil-car Oasis) my phone still is: 206-375-1269 also, in related news: <a href="http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LnN1c3RhaW5hYmxlcHV5YWxsdXAuYmxvZ3Nwb3QuY29t"> brand spanking new Sustainable Puyallup website! </a> what! (not like there was an old one...) We'll call this a little zygote of a website...

Burning Man pictures

Kelda — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 19:51:12 GMT

http://s52.photobucket.com/albums/g31/keldaoen/green%20man/ here they are thus far. i kind of have them in backwards order....

Wise Earth Weekends 2007

Kelda — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 01:07:55 GMT

Permaculture-topic Weekends at WiseEarth 2007 March 24-25 Introduction to Permaculture April 14-15 Mapping and Design May 19-20 Edible Abundance June 9-10 Healthy Soils July 7-8 Appropriate Energy and Housing July 28-29 Beneficial Animals August 11-12 Living in the Forest September 8-9 Water and Clean Watersheds September 29-30 Community Design only $75 if registered 10 days before class. Take all 9 classes for $600. Held at the Wise Earth Ecological Landtrust in Maltby, WA (25 miles from Seattle) More info at www.wisearth.org, it will be updated soon! Also, email kelda@riseup.net

Puyallup Sustainability Project

Kelda — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 19:12:15 GMT

The Puyallup Sustainability Project Summary This is an announcement of the creation of a sustainability demonstration site in downtown Puyallup that will show a living example of abundant design that encourages vibrant community. Although it will have a café/coffeeshop component, so that in time it can become financially self-reliant, investment is needed for startup. The natural building, holistic gardens, and inspired education outreach of this project may be quite revolutionary in bringing about walkable, functional community that people can be ethically proud of and dearly love. Background Puyallup is a Western Washington suburban town in a fertile river valley that is nestled in the foothills of a would-be temperate rainforest that climbs into the Cascade Mountains. The town and its region have a rich history of food gathering, salmon fishing, farming (berries, hops, daffodils), fairs, and most recently is typified as having car dealerships, big corporate stores and rampant urban sprawl. As settlement money goes to the outskirts, the downtown (civic offices, bars, antique stores, fairground and associated parking lots) have been struggling to remain economically and socially viable. Although the city and county have many planning departments and citizens groups working on developing the health of their specific jurisdictions, cohesive regional planning has been largely absent, resulting in no apparent solutions, and more-of-the-same sprawl extending into the mountains. Needs Towns such as Puyallup need examples of sustainable development (environmentally, socially, and economically) that strengthens the community's already existing infrastructure, in order to create a viable alternative to urban sprawl. This is a huge topic in itself. Specific needs that exist in Puyallup are: * An informal gathering space for people and groups in the community working on sustainability and social issues; a place to be supported without structured meetings. * Solutions to address the class/race/economic disparities in the area, especially as they are exacerbated by community disintegration/urban sprawl/gentrification/corporate economics. * Support for local people and economies. A locally-run business that sells goods from cottage industries and projects in the area. * Interesting destination for downtown residents and pedestrians. * Hope and community. Especially for the youth of the area, but needed by everyone. Daring beauty that encourages conversation and connection. Resources * Revitalization of downtown has been tremendous in the past decade. Active Main Street Association, Sound Transit station, thriving Saturday Farmers Market, new Puyallup Library, and encouraging sustainable design from the city's planners in the Pedestrian Oriented Commercial designation * Many vibrant projects and people in the area: local organic farms, watershed and conservation groups, the Puyallup Fair and its plethora of challenges and opportunities. * Regional connections: Many inspiring projects in Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia could connect with community work in Puyallup. Specific examples are WSU Puyallup extension, Evergreen State College Tacoma campus, Traditions Cafe in Olympia, etc. The Proposal To build in Puyallup's downtown core a permaculture demonstration site that functions as a coffee shop/ community garden/ resource library that can support itself (monetarily and technologically) and most importantly, be an example of community needs and environmental needs met in a beautiful and easy way. Functions of the Site: To demonstrate the appropriate technologies/ natural building techniques best suited for this climate, and in an urban application. Many of the City of Puyallup building codes will need to be amended, following example of other jurisdictions. Also, some technologies may need to be dual to comply with code (i.e. one toilet hooked up to sewer, another one composting). Building Beautiful building will be vital. Round shapes, cozy design, imaginative nooks, welcoming. Remodeling an existing building can also be possible. * Underground root cellar * Northside earth-bermed * Southside salvaged wood, steel, glass * Solar orientation of building for passive heat gain * Indoor cob seating and spaces. Technologies The aim would be to incorporate as many of these technologies as is appropriate financially and otherwise. * Photovoltaic array: * Solar Heated Hot Water: * Passive Refrigereation * Passive Solar Cooking Technologies * Onsite Greywater Processing: * Composting Toilet: * Greenroof : Point Defiance Zoo, Tacoma * Water catchment: King Street Center, Seattle Gardens Outdoor rooms that will inspire abundance and playfulness. Focuses will be on: * Fruit trees/berries/perennial greens/mushrooms for community members so that people will feel welcome to come onto the site and eat off of the trees. * Herbs for the kitchen * A few larger nut trees, for larger harvests * Native plants and wildlife habitat * Ecosystem components and plants that will keep the garden healthy and demonstrate low-maintenance * Composting of kitchen scraps, etc * Chickens and ducks (at a sanitary distance away from food prep, etc.) * Possible pond and aquaculture * Earth-oven and fire-pit for pizza feeds and community celebrations * Community garden plot/greenhouse space for apartment dwellers. * Organic nursery to sell useful, locally-adapted plants As a demonstration site there will be very clear signage on all of the interesting technologies and techniques so that self-guided walking tours with cup of coffee in hand can be encouraged. Functions of the Building These are ideas that may or may not be needs in the neighborhood. Design will follow on-the-ground specifics. Coffeeshop/Cafe To be the central economic focus which will bring in resources for the other functions of the site. · Coffee-shop components: Organic, fairtrade coffee and espresso, comfortable atmosphere, Wifi internet, open late to provide non-alcoholic and youth space downtown at night. · Food: small and easy at first, expanding if there is money/staff to do so. Buffet style daily soup, grain, salad bar (with raw food component), dessert. Self-serve. · Local organic and seasonal foods. There are a handful of organic farms in the area to work with, and with greenhouses they have possibilities for salads, etc through the winter. · Wildcrafted foods and teas: berries, spring greens, mushrooms, herbs. This, and selling locally-made goods, may be a market for members of the Puyallup Tribal Nation. · Other functions of the retail space: clothing racks/displays selling local goods, stage area for open mics, etc., events bulletin board, bulk buying club, commercial kitchen available for rentals/trade. Community Library Separate upstairs room that has sustainabilty/community/political literature available in one space. Possibilities for catalogue/loaning to be intertied with the city's, while the collection retains easy browsing ability for those interested in the above topics. * Binders on hot conversation topics in which everyone can add articles and information. Peak oil, land conservation, economic justice, local referendums and politics. An informal forum. * Meeting and classroom space. Tables and equipment in library for study groups, classes, community meetings, etc. Space for possible elective classes for Puyallup School District students that the schools do not have the resources to teach. Housing Lofts Upstairs with separate entrance. Small, but sufficient for the caretaker/interns to live on site. Allows for greater flexibility in open business hours and easier maintenance of site. * Caretaker: full kitchen unnecessary, cozy living space * Intern housing: Could be flexible to also be rentals or B&B type lodging (although for renting the full kitchen would be necessary) * Shared toilet room (composting) and bathing room (solar hot water, greywater) for all upstairs residents. * Laundry could also be done onsite but closer to greywater processing. Could be available for neighbors as well. Economics Startup Needs Land (although ownership may not be necessary) $1,000,000 Building Materials and Resources $75/SF Photovoltaic System $16, 000 City-provided infrastructure Toilet System: Sewer Composting Kitchen Equipment $4,000 Café Furniture/Equipment $2,200 Plants for Garden: (cheap, bareroot) Foodstuffs for ___ months</P> Labor Insurance TOTAL Maintenance Needs The goal is that the amount of money coming in from the retail outreach will be able to support these needs after a few years. Ideally, this project will one day be run by a collective of people sharing living wage salaries and returning profits back into the project. At the startup phase, a collective may not be possible. The project could start small by paying the caretaker a yearly stipend, as food and lodging are included in the job. Interns and volunteers may be available to work for food, board, and education. The following table assumes yearly maintenance needs Caretaker Stipend Wages $11/ hour Tools and Repairs Supplies Food TOTAL Sources of Revenue: Food/Coffee Sales 1st Year 2nd Year Sustainable Equilibrium Workshops and Tours (advanced, many workshops will be free) Rental of Commercial Space (kitchen, garden, parties, etc.) Apartment Rental/ B & B (when not intern housing) Donations TOTAL Conclusion The above proposal outlines a project that is sorely needed in Puyallup and as an example around the world of what can be done by a community to counteract urban sprawl and promote sustainability in a region. On the neighborhood level though, this project can immediately start to correct the wrongs of an extensive asphalt and poor human design that literally drives people away from each other. Without community spaces that people love, many issues (economic justice, corporate responsibility, supportive neighborhoods) will never be able to be resolved by the people themselves. Conversely, with a place that inspires hope and involvement, long-lasting sustainable solutions are possible. Appendix 1 Aquaculture: Using a water ecosystem to gain food harvests (fish, water-plants, etc.) Cob: A natural building material made up of clay, earth, sand, straw, etc. Very strong, and very easy to mold into beautiful, interesting shapes. Collective: A group of people having co-ownership of a project. Composting Toilet: A toilet that naturally breaks down human waste through having the correct balance of carbon/nitrogen/oxygen, etc. Earth-bermed: Building up soil, etc on the northside of a building to increase insulation efficiency and conserve resources. Greenroof: Also called 'Living Roofs' these roofs are built up, with an impermeable membrane, atop existing roofs to grow plants, hold stormwater, insulate the building, etc. Greywater: Water from sinks and showers that is separate from 'black' water (toilets). Greywater can be safely cleaned and reused in the landscape through natural reed-bed ecosystem functions. Natural Building: Building with local and/or renewable resources in an easy to maintain and non-toxic way. In this region, examples are building from salvaged wood, cob, strawbale, etc, 'Passive' Technologies: Technologies that use renewable resources to directly get a job done without the need for electricity. Examples are using the sun to directly cook food, or using cold below-ground temperatures/water to keep food cool. Perennial Plants: Plants that live for many years and thus create food at much lower maintenance than many common vegetables. Permaculture: A design system for creating sustainable human habitats. The 'how-to' that many non-indigenous cultures have lost knowledge of. Photovoltaics: Solar panels that create electricity from the sun's light. Solar Orientation: In the Northern hemisphere, orienting a building to the South to optimally gain heat and light. Sustainable/Sustainability: Lifestyles and technologies that are able to support humans as well as healthy ecosystems; i.e. can be sustained. Wildcraft: Food, medicine, materials etc. that are gathered from a wild ecosystem rather than grown. Appendix 2 Other Resources: The author of this proposal assumes that as initial caretaker and/or member of a collective working on this project, her skills and resources are highly pertinent. *Skills: networking, growing food, markets, cheffing/wildcrafting, organization, familiar enough with basics of many appropriate technologies, building techniques, business, and teaching to be confident taking these tasks on. *Money: Reliable with good credit and zero debt. Able to support herself during the construction phase of this project. (???!!???) *Labor: Able to give 100% to this endeavor for the first few years of its existence, and wanting to share responsibilities with others who join on. Very driven and quickly able to pick up new skills. *Community Connections: This is a strong point and the reason why the project is feasible in Puyallup. The author has grown up in the Puyallup area and has done extensive anti-sprawl research in the community a few years ago. Through that work she knew well the areas farmers, activists, county and city planners, politicians, librarians, business owners, etc. Though not as focused, she also has many connections in the Puyallup area to churches, schools, neighbors, friends. *Regional Connections: A huge support network through the Puget Sound of farmers, non-profits, business owners, nursery growers, engineers, accountants, lawyers, technicians, designers, teachers, chefs, builders, public health advisors, etc. While many may not be able to financially support the project, all are more than willing to give time, and share skills and resources.

River of Magic

Kelda — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 19:09:59 GMT

*Dedicated to the 'longtermers' at Hands On Gulf Coast, may you never doubt the possiblities that guide you* <a href="http://s52.photobucket.com/albums/g31/keldaoen/biloxi/?sc=1&addtype=local"> pictures! </a> --> --> Once upon a time, there was a land of swamps and songs, of huge trees and birds, of lands and water in such infinite variations as to boggle the mind. The land was abundant with life, and sang with each damp, sweet sunrise. And as time went on the land gave birth to, and called to itself, many variations of humans. Some lived in huts, some lived in forts, some awoke in fragrant gardens, some awoke in chains. As humans are wont to do, they make mistakes, some small mistakes, some huge. And as human pride finds such difficulty acknowledging wrongs and stopping them, oh my how the mistakes begin to flourish and diversify as many seedlings under the sun. Some of the humans became dwarves, some became wizards, some became monsters. And they all liked to dance and go swimming, they all had hopes and dreams, they all liked to sit down at the end of a long day, or make love under the cypress. They all ate crawfish, except those who were allergic.... And time marched on. The beginning of this story truly starts at a quite remarkable moment in this land of marshes. Varmint-like humans had gone to town on earth-shaping, as it was their latest new 'thing to do'. Happily they had bulldozed and dredged and pushed-over and probed until they could see nothing but their own nauseatingly dysfuctional handiwork all around them. What had started off as some middle earthling's high school prank had turned into a world of hardness and garbage. And, as if the joke wasn't enough, their own sarcastic language permeated the air: "Did you hear? Martha Stewart handtowels are on sale at Walmart and I'm going over to stand in line as soon as that show 'Plastic Surgery' is over", until the darn things actually started to Believe it. And the Earth lay below them, not so much distressed as much as thoroughly exasperated. Until, that is, something strange was felt coming through the air. Some say the banshee was caused by the meeting of too many carbon particulates with a warm atmosphere, some say it was caused by white ride-the-short-bus cowboys and the buttons they like to push. Some say we were just shit out of luck because one sunny morning a butterfly in the amazon decided to beat it's wings backwards... Whatever the reason, the banshee, the storm, definitely hit. And she, like a toddler in a tantrum egged on by high-strung parents, whirled and screamed and whirled and screamed until she could whirl and scream no more. And all the garbage that the varmints had been tinkering with spew and flew and fell and flopped. The levees and the poisons and the palaces and the trinkets pierced into the earth like a thousand broken dreams. And the marsh's humans, whether they be genie or junkie, they were pierced as well. And all of their precious hopes and dreams, loves and longings, and even the sanity of their own minds, wavered precariously, as though that too could float away in the deluge of the storm. The Earth felt the pain of them all, and with a great broiling breath that has rarely been stirred in this land for generations upon generations, she let out a wail that grew in waves over and over the land. Some folks were at dinner safely away from the storm, some were listening to the radio as they worked, some were shopping or at bustops or at a picnic with friends. Their breath stopped, they looked to the horizon, for the great wailing went straight into their hearts with an intensity that nearly knocked them over. And what did these people Do? Most went back to work, or finished their shopping. Others shuffled their feet and looked at the ground. But for some, no matter how hard they tried to live their lives, the sound of suffering had entered their hearts and they could not sleep soundly. So, with a shake of their fists to the sky they said "Fine! I'll go." and they packed their bags and headed towards the land of the bayous. Somehow their steps led them to each other. And somehow when they looked into each other's eyes the aching in their hearts was allowed to be real, and allowed to be washed away. They stood in the puddles of the dried-out flood, looking at each other, looking around them at the preciousness of lost dreams, of human lives, of the living. They had heard the call, and they began to work. They fed the survivors wiht their dreams. They gave sweet, clean waters of hope. They brought laughter, they brought release of tears. They moved mountains with their faith, and they built temples with their prayers. And they had no fucking clue what they were doing. All they knew was that *something* was possible and it was pouring through them, through their breath and their sweat and their hands. Pouring through them like fire from the center of the Earth. And they were beginning to change, to speak a new language. It was simple really, the work and the love happened because the humans had space for each other, space in their hearts. And there is no potion more magical for growing new kinds of humans than the precious nourishment of space in a friend's heart. They had no way to contain, to define, to guide the *something* that was growing within their circle. And so the magic gurgled out of them happily, carving its own course. It came out in stories and songs and games, in teases and tickles, in work in the morning they could hardly wait to get started on. And it worked. And at night they would gather and recieve nourishment from one another. They would go to a grove within which burned a fire they all grew to know as Sister. As this was happening, the oaks pushed forth again, the critters returned to their wallows, and the gators to their slow gaping. Those humans who had suffered so much under the banshee's lashes, they felt their skin, felt their faces and their hands, their loved ones, and breathed a sigh of relief that they were still here, still human in all their diverse forms and still had so much love to give. Piece by piece so many things became possible. The humans returned, the elves and the angels and the warriors. And the self-proclaimed royalty followed on their heels, yipping at any nourishment they could gain for their sad, spoiled hearts. "We'll build palaces!", they said to each other. But the neighbors who had weathered the storm had a secret inside and laughed at the foolish well-to-do. The survivors knew what it was like for in one moment all of the power structures, all the mistakes, all the meaninglessness, for it to fall away. They had swum out of their houses and known that human is human, that human is flesh and blood and bone, and that they are all equal. They all cry for their loved ones and sing upon finding safety. They all wake up in the morning and reach out for what is sacred to them. And, most importantly the neighbors knew that all the chatter that says otherwise, its just so much garbage floating in the flood....That even without the water's urgency, all of the mistruths can fall away at the clap of the hand. We just stop believing in it, and know instead that we are all equally, beautifully human. Back at the grove, the new kinds of humans were chewing this over like cud every night. Breathing in goodness and breathing out beauty. We are all here equal and we love and support each other, and, and, this is a hell of a lot of fun. Until, again, something shifted. Noone knows why it happened. It was a coincidence some say. It was a conspiracy, say others. A gathering of demons, maybe even from a house white as snow, didn't like the new language, the new human, and found a way to stop it subtly. What happened is that a new name unleashed a new set of rules. This is not so peculiar, names are always loaded with unspoken rules, we know. What was strange is that in this group, this group that was so close to something new, people believed the new rules. Many didn't at first. Who would think that a new name, a set of words, would ever undo a fire, a grove, a spacious heart, a loving tongue? Who whould ever think that a name makes it's own rules, it's own power and meaning? But in this case it did. The namers didn't know about the magic, and so they didn't live that magic, and thus their rules didn't make space for the magic to continue. The rules stated "Some of us have more power than others". It was old-world thinking. It was the way of hardness and garbage. It wasn't the way of the grove at all. In the grove everyone had different power, different but equal. And they looked into each other's eyes to see and develop the power that lay there. They had known arguments, of course, differences of thought, but not hierarchies of Power, that was ridiculous. Because the fire and the flood say that it's not so at all. But there it was. First one person's laughter is silenced, and hearts harden. Then another person leaves, afraid for their own heart, and the nourishment they had recieved from each other weakens, but does not break. Slowly, subtly something began to fall apart, to change. It may have been an inevitable change, some say. Homes were still being rebuilt, a community was being nurtured, but it wasn't the grove anymore. It wasn't joy that breaks bounds and holds space for each other's hearts. And people began to scratch their heads and speak that the new human they were birthing may not come to be. And maybe, if that's possible, maybe the grove was just a dream, maybe the earth's cry that brought us was just a delusion as well. And doubt goes deeper than the enemy's sword ever can. What if hardness and garbage is what the 'real world' is about anyway, and we're all just here because we don't know what to do with ourselves in that reality? Is there a river of magic coursing it's way through us or isn't there?

first week in biloxi

Kelda — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 21:13:20 GMT

Greetings from Biloxi loved ones! pictures! I'll keep updating them too... http://s52.photobucket.com/albums/g31/keldaoen/biloxi/ I am super well, and to be honest, a little unsure how to put words to the reality I've walked into down here, as it's such a different reality from October in Seattle! After four relaxing days on the train, and a day of exploration in N'Orleans, I landed myself in the camp of the 'Hands On' http://www.handsongulfcoast.blogspot.com disaster relief non-profit in Biloxi, MS (pronounced: b'lucksy) I've heard that if someone wants to see damage that a flood does, go to New Orleans, but if one wants to see what a hurricane does, go to Biloxi and the Gulf Coast. Picture a miles-long 'strip' development such as S. Tacoma Way, but in an area like Alki (so with waterfront restaurants, hotels, casinos, bars), and that has been Completely wiped out except for a few skeletal remains of structure or road sign. And then, to follow the comparison, all the random barges and debris of the Port of Tacoma have slammed against the trees and the houses that somehow remained standing. A mess, and after cleaning up for more than a year, debris is still everywhere. But Biloxi is on a peninsula, and as the ritzy waterfront strip was being shredded, the hurricane also pushed a wall of water from the north that flooded homes more than halfway across the peninsula. And now a year later, while the beachfront casinos are being rebuilt, many of the lower-income residents of the town are still living in FEMA trailers as their houses literally rot. eek! Anyway, so the 'Hands On' camp is maybe a mile inland from the coast, mostly housed in the rec-hall of a methodist church. I'm used to encampments like this being tree sits, or design courses, or festivals, so joining up here has been really funny in a way I can't put my finger on. Peppy, mostly white folks from all across the country. A lot of them younger than me and 'in the A' (Americorp), very good-intentioned kids who must like being told what to do.Or, older working folks who are using their vacation days to come down for a week or so. Most of the folks my age work on the logistics of grants and projects, have a wide range of perspectives of their joy in being here, and in their love and frustrations with each other. (yes, tongue in cheek, thank god i'm not part of the politics). There are dorm beds, food-bank quality food (white rice, hot dog, and iceberg salad anyone?) and nightly pop-music competitions! hahahha. I quickly moved into the tent village in the lot, took over the garden and compost, and even got roped into teaching t'ai chi to an Americorp group for morning P.T. (!) There's a beautiful wilderness area (aka post-apocolyptic golf course) I go for walks in. And always the oppurtunity to party at one of the casinos at night if I manage sometime to have energy for it. The camraderie here is really growing on me though as I get to know people, and it's really funny to be shocking and confusing people by asking for bulk quinoa for the kitchen, or that people please pee on the compost pile. We work 6 days a week, mostly on Mold. It amazes me how a flood that lasted for a relatively short time could cause so much damage that a year later there is no end in sight of gutting, mold-scraping, and mold-killing, let alone the rebuilding that needs to happen afterwards. Fun with sledgehammers, crowbars, wire brushes, and respirators! So far I've been happy with the anti-mold workdays, as I'm learning something new, but next week I'm doing some construction or defecting to another non-profit. We eat lunch everyday at a Salvation Army tent (Salv-o), set up in a high-school stadium-turned-volunteer-village. Groups from all over Biloxi come for the free meal, so it's kind of an ad-hoc 'mixer' of volunteer organizations, I think all the others with some religious orientation. I also investigated another group called the 'Turkey Creek Community Initiative', http://www.turkey-creek.org/ and may at some point jump ship and help out with them over in Gulfport. They want to be focused on green building, cultural preservation, and watershed restoration, and most-likely 'permaculture' (without the word). But at this point it's 3 guys, a couple somewhat finished structures, and no money for food, so it sounds like too much of a project for me at this point. I may change my mind though... It's really interesting this whole 'volunteer' community I'm now a part of. Lots of politics, grants, corporate funding, and expectations about certain kinds of results. One troubling point some of us have mulled over is 'are these non-profits really helping Gulf Coast residents, or just disempowering them?' When enough of the houses are fixed up and the non-profits move out, will the community here be weaker or stronger? One house at a time we're trying to bring people home but on a bigger scale I ask myself 'what exactly are we rebuilding?' Walmarts, fast food restaurants, and strip malls have already been rebuilt. And we work on homes in the lowest-income neighborhoods that will probably remain so after we leave. And it's all Very racially divided. Yesterday we finished protecting every square inch of wood from mold, in a house where a single mother and her kids are waiting to move in. It's exciting to know that the faster and better we do our work, the easier this family's life will be. And yet the whole system is corrupt. Another example of this is the revival of the trees here. I don't understand much about the ecosystem here: very sandy soils, huge live oaks, pines, small poplars, bushes and flowers that remind me of mature asparagus and feverfew, great herons, lots of butterflies.... At first appearance the trees are flagged and windswept, but withstood the blow, and are recovering. But by looking closer, and with the help of a new arborist friend here, I begin to see the damage of the hurricane, how sparse the live oak canopies are, and how desperately they are suckering. The floodwaters brought in a heavy load of salt and who-knows-what chemicals from the port, and a lot of the trees may die Slowly. Live oaks are big, old, provide much needed shade, and are absolutely heartwarming, and if the trees die it would take hundreds of years to replace them. The kicker is that the situation would be much different if the trees had been allowed some healthy nutrient-cycling pre-hurricane. With the highly controlled park-like environment, the pesticides, grass competition, and impervious surfaces had already weakened their resiliency. It's the same with the social/political system here. The hurricane struck a mighty blow, but the community wasn't healthy before. Rife with classism, racism, and poverty, scarcity was already in place. I think a lot about how this would look at home, if Seattle's mega-earthquake hit or when Mt. Tacoma's lahars wipe out the Orting and Puyallup valleys. There will not be enough money from insurance companies and FEMA to meet our needs, that's evident. But the average american will Care and want us to have the help we need, that is also evident. Are our communities healthy enough Now that in the face of a catastrophe we can act to quickly relieve suffering? or do we hold now the seeds of violence? And, should we have to rebuild as completely as here, would we build the same thing over again? Or would we collectively be ready for something that meets our needs better? --------------------------------------------------------- a few thoughts from my walks through new orleans: Live oaks stretching to the sky, broken City of lamplight on cobblestone, of secret gardens, of ghosts, Holds me. I dont' understand what is here, or what it wants to Be. Everywhere I walk was flooded. I'm swimming: Saturday night on Bourbon Street, Just another crazy way of getting around Death, like we all do everyday. And in the morning, every building still marked (waiting to be painted over) with the number of dead found within. "Get your po-boys" "Get your hand grenades" Buy beauty and magic too. What did I expect? Altars to the saints of healing standing on every street corner? .....somewhere around here....

'Mapping and Design' Workshop

Kelda — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 21:09:48 GMT

Sat. 19th, Redmond 9am-12, with vegan potluck lunch(raw cuisine appreciated), and workparty in the afternoon 'Mapping and Design' Instructor: Kelda Miller Cost:$10, plus workparty if you can stay! Permaculture is a design system for creating and restoring habitats of sustainable human lifestyles. In practice, it is often the combination of organic food forests with appropriate technologies, natural building, etc. into an ecosystem that can manage itself. In this class we'll be learning the first steps: how to see what's there, map it, and create a vision of what the land can be. Registration required. Limited to 20 participants For more info and directions email kelda@riseup.net

more on vbc6...

Kelda — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 05:37:05 GMT

at http://www.lighthousepdx.org/vbc6

Pictures from VBC6

Kelda — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 08:59:59 GMT

the link is: http://s52.photobucket.com/albums/g31/keldaoen/vbc6/ Click on 'slideshow'

Thoughts on VBC6

Kelda — Tue, 30 May 2006 11:28:03 GMT

Thoughts On VBC 6 From my journal. Pictures coming soon... May 20 Overlooking skatepark before dinner. Creativity Apples have set fruit in portland, perfect time to thin. Nickel-sized to quarter-sized * Inspired to learn words for what I already know about soil. Why it feels so different between here and home. Why its so different between 14th and 24th in Ballard. And what does it mean? I’ll just start with tons of little glass jars with labels, settling out... * Completely overwhelmed being here. Almost in shock to be separated from my simple little life. I can relate to how students feel on their first day of a pdc. And last night, Totally overwhelmed and a little scared about this pull to go to New Orleans. Trust. I found something coming out of my mouth today at Marisha’s class that helped: Patterns to details can mean not being overwhelmed by the details of a system, but first learning the rhythm of a system, and then learning to speak in that rhythm. Then the details have a cadence to fall into. And here I am, overwhelmed by activity and beautiful people and deep possibilities and my own insecurities about creating a life for myself and practicing this. Maybe I should just work on rhythm for awhile. On getting up in true mornings and breathing. On siestas and connections and serenity. Up and out, down and deep. And so many words from others, what matters most is the infrastructure: presence, humility, the way information is shared perhaps being more important than the information itself, Sincere interest. * And not yet have I had time to reflect on Noam’s class, but mostly: am overjoyed those kids know what south means, And I really need to practice making magic, holding energy, changing consciousness at will. Ive been very shy, insecure, afraid of embracing that role. But when you’re in the role of the teacher, people want you to do that. Hold the energy, excitement, and then inspire play, and the others to hold that energy themselves, ground it, take it home. Just because ‘ritual’ and ‘learning’ or even ‘partying’ apparently seem like different things in this culture, they of course aren’t. All of us wake up in the morning with this energy and we’re just itching to give it to something meaningful and then have that Giving return nourishment to us somehow. Each day. Wake up listen question give receive speak nourish sleep. Everyday a ritual, a rhythm. And, to return to the point, those kids being strangled by the school system..... The universe doesn’t care what my insecurities are, it says ‘grow up. share’ And these kids want something that makes sense to them. Looking for magic. Gulp breathe learn. * Cob. Equal parts sand, earth, clay. Water and stomp. Straw sprinkled on and stomp. Of course Oregon earth has a lot more clay, but the clay shovelfuls cant heap that high anyway. So it works out. Learned cob mixing, ‘folding in’ with tarp, and how to create those crisp corners, and that of course cleaning muddy feet is like cleaning spinach (buckets work best). Bluegrass music. And very impressed by Pat’s facilitation: all materials were ready to go, explained project, we dived in, with enough people rotating naturally around so that we met new people and could teach each other what we knew. Willing workers who aren’t shy helps a lot. Water handy. rest easy, and it doesnt disrupt process to step out for a bit. Very well done. Not enough food though, oh well. * Making pasta. 7/8 cup semolina flour, 1 egg (although a goose egg is like 3), milk/soymilk to consistency. Roll, and what was that machine doing? Also learned from Natalia that pasta draped on saplings can look like beautiful transluscent skin getting hard and peeling off. * Seattle. Olympia. Portland. Seattle? So big! No lack of energy! Lack of catchment systems. What can catch us in Seattle, create fertile spots that nourish us? That share information, knowing that that information is power. I feel like we’re all working inside some kind of a system that doesn’t nourish us, it scatter us. Yes like seeds, but seeds that never get watered. So we keep trying more seeds, and more, and more. But the soil isn’t holding water and things grow so so slowly. We need a swale. We need to figure it out, I’ll ask the others..... * Will email u-dist city repair about Emily (or Cheryl’s) $0 grant idea..... * Presentations. Great idea to have the art gallery in space near guest speakers. You can still listen while not necessarily having to sit: stroll and look at art. And, great idea to have a slide show on one side of a non-square space while speaking is going on. CCEJ woman’s got distracting thought with needing to restart it. * Try-on’s skit. Great group reflection in doing a skit about ourselves, and acting of ourselves dramatized. Realize our own ridiculousness, and others can see that I know Im being ridiculous, and vice versa. * City repair happened because the cit was ready, but it also happened because something was ready in Mark Lakeman. What do I need to do in able to be ready to build bowers out of the seeds at my feet? * Space feels special when its shaped into separate ‘rooms’. May 21. Light. On pillows after bodyversity playfulness. Song sparrows have different song here. Flocks of small red-gray birds where in Seattle I’ll see them more solitary. Tired but somewhere peaceful. A lot of walking today. I learned a lot about Portland’s streets. Seems very quiet for being a city. And the ‘strips’ still seem very long, not really village like. Seattle does have many gifts Im now recognizing. Geography which gives rise to natural neighborhoods with real geographical boundaries rather than ‘quadrants’ . We have urban bioregions which are very real. Most of them being hills ( U-District, Phinney, Capitol Hill), some of them valleys (Fremont, Ballard, Madison Valley). A lot that were probably gullies/ravines ( Downtown). Something really beautiful to work with. Distinct climates that the earth touches differently in each place. * And Oregon’s soil. Met Rick Valley today. He talked a lot about his natural history observations to link it to ‘permaculture’ actions (but without the permaculture philosophy even spoken), made easy sense to newcomers. Good idea for tilth 2day. Also finding myself very proud of Seattle for having Seattle Tilth. These brand new gardeners asking Rick how to grow a vegetable. Every town needs a place like Tilth to learn the basics and have a place to ask questions. (And Tilth needs to be well supported, not needing to beg for $, but in touch enough with needs of the community to be constantly refined) * What did I learn about teaching today? Examples of Eeyore and Tigger. Remember: I do have something exciting to share, but also remember people dont want to hear about it ad nauseum. Just quickly get to the place where everyone gets to play. * And also, yes, habitat for humanity, please universe I want to learn how to build. Thank you for your guidance this morning. Why was Lauren so good to work with? He thought I could do it. He’d say ‘I think this is what’s hanging you up’ rather than ‘No. That’s wrong’. He’d say ‘Do you mind if I help’ everytime instead of ‘Here let me do that.’ Thank you. And so maybe Im still a little crummy putting my chi into a screwgun, but Im much better at a jigsaw than I’d previously thought. Bosch is a good brand. A good way to put posts down easy on already existing floors: Straight screw sandwiching a slightly larger than circumference piece. Straight screws from that piece to the floor. No toenails. * My own need for aloneness and earth. I guess this area has hard sub-tropical soils, washed by Missoula. And Im used to glacial crushed/pushed soil of all different types. I wonder if what makes clay work for me is some sand? I so wonder about the airiness of clay after a few rains, if sitting on a solid surface. Why does that happen? * More about cob. Remember stickiness, and there are hippie jews in pt. angeles and helsinki, and straw corbling burritos that work with smear. Give advice in positives, not negatives, especially not negatives with no solutions given. And yes, Romania works in villages. And damn there a lot of woman who are as active as me who have kids on top of it too! I guess Im so impressed with Kit and Pat because Im so used to burnt out parent energy that everyone is supposed to feel bad about. These folks are instead so responsible. Have good boundaries, not trying to overly shush the kids or apologize unnecessarily, but also not hesitating to just take care of the boys at a moment’s notice. No martyr energy about it. ... May 22. Understanding. Above skatepark before dinner. Thunderstorm yesterday, rain this morning, pushes out some yellowish-brown-capped mushrooms. * Nice to sit with Faddah this morning, but of course even so early my brain is jumping around like crazy. It’s okay. Just knowing that Ive given myself an hour of my day just for resting the mind makes me feel good. And then yerba mate and later nap in the afternoon was perfect. A great pattern to live by for the summer: Siesta. * And rain also meant no cobbing, but playfulness with mosaic. All about the ‘golden mean’ and the Fibonacci series as we’re trying to make a nautilus. Applied math is really fun. I remember how exciting it would be at the Bullocks to be using math equations to get stuff done on the fly, in the field. Although now I cant remember exactly what. Could be some fun activities for a permaculture course, maybe alongside mapping and all its cool tricks. * When I get back Im going to get started on October course. :) I want to spend months thinking of cool ideas. Also, so many things are possible in Seattle, talking with Angela, U Heights.... I dont know where the money’s going to come from, but I want to get really good at a lot more stuff and take my passion and just pour it into projects that benefit people, that benefit and nourish me.....I just have to figure out what that is. * Very grateful for the al-anon meeting today. People who are just humble and laughing and tired of the ‘being right’ game. Thank god * Patterns. Branching for exchange. Explosion for dispersal. Spirals for bringing in. But I still have such big questions about patterns, it has something to do with ‘why do so many of these ugly patterns work then?’ Because they obviously do.....Freeways and parking lots and strip malls....they’re patterns......everything can point to a natural example.....Hmmm. Dont know my question yet. * And yep. I like mosaic. I would like to play around with it if there was place that was a good priority for me. * What is life about again? Was thinking about it in Nala’s ‘walking’ exercise. My usual speed is fast because usually I want to get somewhere fast. I slow down when I have a good reason to. Why do I have so many things to do? Have I forgotten that it’s all going to be okay? Do I feel guilty thinking so? Remember: all this is just fun stuff to play with. Not guilt to bash myself with. Big difference. Big, big difference. * Back inside for another beautiful evening with the world as it could be... May 23 Enthusiasm. Downstairs in pillows not wanting to do Heart of Now ....because I dont want to be told what to do, especially if it involves connecting deeply with a stranger. Nope. Im feeling angry for some reason. Just another beautiful day, but a lot of stuff getting on my nerves. Things which are understandable but for which I usually have more patience for. No lunch until 2, not doing the mosaic as practiced, and it taking so long I felt frustrated about getting to dinner. Who cares? It stopped being fun when.... I focused on Me and getting it done rather than about connecting and having fun with the women who showed up. I got into my narrow (hide!) mentality. Hide inside the mosaic. Hide from them because you weren’t expecting them and are shy and rather than get used to it, pretend they dont exist. Good one Kelda. Im just like a child sometimes, not wanting variations of the story that’s in my head. * Mosaic. Perhaps the perfectionist way to do it is with the old overhead projector trick. Use same drawing and angle with practice piece and final. Then no need to try to recreate exact pattern in thinset. And contact paper trick could work great with that too. I wonder what Yuriko and Libby did at the Funhouse? But anyhow, this is a community project, nor would I wish to be in charge. :) * A question brought up tonight got me crying: When is a time in your life that you’ve experienced having a lot of fun at the same time that you’ve felt like you’re making a positive change in the world? In any other mood I would have had bazillions of answers to pick from: communities, love and empowerment at the pc course, guerilla gardening... But in this mood, Im not feeling satisfied that what is effective at creating change is fun, or that what is fun is also effective. One thing Im noticing is that I have a need for feedback. Realizing that all those high school kids cared now about where south is was totally soul nourishment for me. But other than that, this fun/effective equation is such a sore spot. First of all, what a huge privilege I have to even be able to ask this question. What a huge privilege I have to sit in my urban palace, quit my job, and wonder what fun/effective thing I’d like to do with my summer. It’s unbelievable. So few people ever get to design their lives so according to their needs and passions. But also for me to not accept it would serve noone. Everything will be fine. The universe in her infiniteness is holding us all so preciously and I trust her in this. And yet Im an activist. Just brought up something cool tonight, although he used it in a slightly different context. This work is just being channeled through us. The universe weaving her way into our daily lives by the ‘work’ of the people who for whatever reason, walk closely with her. And I like that attitude. Because it doesnt make activists ‘better’ than others. It’s not our work that make us valuable in any sense. We are All already valuable. Our work just happens, we cant help it. And my ego doesnt wish to own it. I know this. What needs to happen, happens. Im getting tired now and will stop writing soon, But why would we ever Struggle in this work for her? It just cant serve anyone to willingly suffer when we could just as easily Not. But it does help the world to work with fun and effectiveness. It all has to do with attitude, and it might have something to do with the mosaic..... May 24 Love. Stoutest trillium Ive ever seen at Tryon Creek. White inside-out flowers blooming. In basement , me writing, Rob reading sipping a beer, reading Snyder, over on his couch. Stayed in bed late, awake....enjoying not doing much, and then about my day ran into Steve and went out to Try-on Farm. * Was struck by the smallness of the farm compared to how much the residents have had to fight for it. But its true though, that place is on quite a fertile edge and the possibilities of what needs to happen through that farm are amazing. It also reminded me of being at the Bullocks though, so much to do. And so I remember to be grateful for my tight little urban space and pouring time into working it really well. I still dont know quite what I’ll do when I get back to Seattle. Enjoy my own bed. Have time to garden everyday. Build stuff. Work on presentations. Cross my fingers. * Light straw clay. Clay slip worked onto straw until strands are brown instead of yellow. Shove it into lathe, not enough to bulge the lathe but enough to fill the gaps. And for small gaps, send the straw through a chipper first. * Codes and toilets. Try-on will have to get an expensive pre-fab thing to do the work of a 55gallon drum. Not sure why they arent making something themselves, but Im sure that if they could do so they would. And as far as the Puyallup project may be concerned, ‘capacity’ may be a key issue. Perhaps easy to just use the tied-into-sewer bathroom if other is maxed out. * Also, as far as more codes and natural building. Timber frame is well understood. Insulation can vary. The question that permitters will ask is about fully drying out, and fire retardance. * And all this about cob being good or not in this climate. Is anyone right? :) Wouldn’t it be nice if there was some kind of experiment, complete with controls, to figure it out? * When making dough into pizza crusts, dont pile them all on one plate. Will glob together and have to redo. And apparently, spelt dough is hard to hand spin. * Some votes booing down habitat for humanity. Will definitely look out for something by Lydia. Perhaps setting up something out at Sarah Js....if I get bored! Marilene.... * If there’s too many hands in the cob, you can always make a goddess. Propane burners dry wet clothes fast. And I’ll be excited to hear how the camas does in the food forest. * Quite a bonsai collection. Tiny quinces, forsythia flowers. The plants sure look pretty. How do they feel? * Scheming more handoff with Steve. Am stoked to work on fleshing out the wiki instead of newsletter maintenance, even if at this point Im still spending time writing out exactly what I want, Still. Other voices, A-ok. But dont forget this and this and this....(?) * Quite inspiring evening. 2story cob? And wanting to scour the latest on growfood, I love it because its a way of organizing amazing amounts of information. It helps me sleep at night, (wiki wiki wiki....) And if Worldpulse can be born in 5 years and mOceaN is turning into a folk hero, it means that Puyallup is totally possible. Am feeling more hopeful today. So many things to work on. I dont need money, I need a loving place to ground and sleep. I need good food to eat. I need a restful mind so I can relax and play. And I need my work to be play. That’s all. May 25 Harmony. Heard hummingbirds at Share-it Square. I dont have any words that feel right. Do I have any art? Any poetry? Any prayers? Mary, Mother of Goodness and Joy, Please Pray for Us I am sorry for all the times when I refuse love. I am sorry for all the times when I refuse to love myself. I am sick with heartache sick with the despair of the world And all I want to do with my life with my few remaining breaths Is crawl inside of Hope, and refuse to leave. Thank you for the rain Thank you for the silence Thank you for my own addictions and for the dance of confusion and uncertainties that I am always in rhythm with. Thank you for the rain Thank you for the birdsong thank you, thank you, for bombarding me with magic once again. I want to refuse your love, to kick and scream and spit But I am also so close to giving birth that all my denial about it is meaningless I dont know how to live my heart, without my ego, and feel safe. But you know this already A man speaks of love, speaks words even women no longer use, and a city begins to crumble. I begin to crumble This is a fairy tale. It’s like crawling inside of a fairy tale of hope. And together we are breathing alive the flesh of our future. There are no more excuses for my silence. * Starhawk. sunflowers are great uptakers of lead but afterwards should be treated like toxic waste. oyster mushrooms love diesel and in theory are still edible because no traces of hydrocarbons are found. king stropheria inoculated in strawbales in water remove fecal coliflorums. Hydrocarbons can be rearranged by mushrooms into carbohydrates. Worms kill many pathogens in their tummies, but dont harm good bacteria Also: having a few days to get to know people makes teaching/talking much more playful and exciting, even for pros like Starhawk * The difference between insulation and thermal mass. Insulation: slows interchange of air temp between two places. R-value supposedly thought up as a sales technique, when insulated we just heat up the Air in a building, etc, regular tub (hot water soon cools), can be used to direct heat (earth oven), airy/fluffy. Thermal mass: holds heat or cold and releases it out later, need to heat up not just air but whole thing (though it lasts longer), cannibal tub (longer to heat, but lasts longer), solid. May 26 Power. In corner of art gallery, with fun sweaty reggae in the background. ‘Wilson birds’ nesting in upholstery sign on 6th. A story that was told tonight: More than 1,000 years ago a peacemaker lived among the Mohawk tribe and taught them the ways of peace and democracy. These ways are based on 3 understandings: peace within oneself, finding the good message within our hearts to share with others, and unity (working together to make decisions). These are to be lived by. And if for some reason peace is failing it means that something needs to be healed, grieved over, and then the people will be able to go back to the first step, peace within oneself. Through many years of civil war and bloodshed the Mohawks began to understand these things. And 5 warring tribes united. They also taught their ways to the founding fathers of this country, but saw also that these fathers sought to compromise some of the basic 3 understandings, and knew that after some time this compromised form of democracy wouldn’t work. ‘You have set a place at your table for evil, and you have left the door cracked open for evil to enter.’ And before the peacemaker left the tribe to die (’to go to the forest and wrap myself in bark’), he taught the tribe one last ceremony. He said that a time would come when strange people from across the water would arrive and claw at the white roots of peace and lift them from the ground, not understanding them. And the great tree would begin to tip over. There would be a time of fast-moving bugs with bright eyes that would carry people through the night. The sugar maples would start to die from the top down. The rivers would be full of belly-up fish. And the tree of peace would fall. And at this time the 50 tribal leaders must stand stoutly and hold that tree in their cradled arms, for if the tree were to hit the ground, humans would be plunged into such a great time of confusion and darkness that they would never be able to return. But if somehow the tree could be righted, humans could return to another 10,000 years of peace with each other and the earth. And so the peacemaker left the village saying to pass on the sacred ceremony to the next generations, and continue to do so, but to never ever use it unless the time had come that the tree had fallen and it was thus time for his return. And so the ceremony was passed on but never used for more than 1,000 years. In the 1970’s the 50 tribal leaders astoundingly came to full consensus that it should now be performed. With one mind they did so. The prophecy that the peacemaker left also said that what would right the fallen tree of peace (and harmony with the earth), would be done by the children of the people from across the water. That they would begin to learn from the tribes and lift the tree off of the tribal leader’s arms and restore it into balance. They are a ‘duct-tape’ generation, trying to piece together a culture that makes sense so that their children can grow into it naturally. And they will have to face the sadness of slowly seeing a culture take shape but not being able to Be the children that get to flourish in it. When there work is begun progress will start to be seen after about 200 years. And they must be very careful with all their words and actions, for they are laying a foundation on which a whole new culture will be based; if this foundation is faulty it will impact generations to come. They will create small, solid communities of peace (and earth-based awareness/permaculture) and these communities will be like crystals. Slowly growing out of the earth, individually. And in time these crystals will start to grow big enough to bump into each other, until the ways of peace grow big enough to just seem normal. And for a time there will be two ways of being: the old structure and the new. And the people at this time will then decide to slough off the old, just like a snake shedding its skin. The communities of peace will just work better. And thus the peace tree will be restored. * I learned today that there is a place in education for the lecturer/audience model. A small place, for Im seeing very clearly that all education is at the heart self-directed and it is the role of the facilitator to create as much space for self-motivated learning as possible. But there is also a place for the storyteller, the wisdom-by-experience-sharer. And what makes those words heavy isnt that I am being told something new to me, its that Im being told something that I already know. They touch on the question in my heart I have not yet found words for but have always felt. And so, I then more strongly believe in myself and my intuitions and secret hopes about the world. And by believing that there could be words and answers for the questions in my heart, I reach out to learn more. * A great speaker should always be followed by one powerful poem and then a marching band. * How do you make ‘level’ a non-straight shape you are building? Cut a piece of plywood to fit the empty space created between the shaped object and a straight line. Secure a level to that straight side and use the new ‘shaped level’ as a guide. * Cob originates in Wales, Im pretty sure. So is very good for this climate (if someone is home enough to keep it warmed up). The tricky part is earthquakes, and that’s why its seldom done in two stories, or why its often done in coordination with other building types. May 27 Joy. Rain, rain. Taking myself out to brunch. It’s all so overwhelming. My brain feels, well, like cob with a good riddling of holes all over it in readiness for the next days addition. I feel like so, so much here is entering my soul and making me hungry for learning, doing, being. And I know that if I was more able, there would be a zillion More beautiful things i would be aware of that Im not even noticing now. But echoed over and over again in so many ways: the first things is learning love. Even if some days that doesnt seem to crumble cities or even put food on the table, the first thing will always be the clear heart that can give and receive love. And none of the other work will be any good without it. So thank goodness, one thing, easy to remember. And this one thing is so important. We can talk and build and organize all we want, and its true the talking and building and organizing create many astounding things. But whatever is in the heart of others affects me way more than anything they do. Here I’ve been especially touched by the gentleness, intention, and sincerity of mOceaN and Jon Young, by the devotion and playfulness of Starhawk, by the warmth of everyone in this community. There are no words for this, no reasoning. And it goes like an arrow straight to my soul. I don’t want to be doing any kind of work that doesn’t encapsulate this, any work that ‘needs to be done’ but is empty of joy and love. And at the same time, learning love, learning joy, is really the only thing that matters in life anyway. Just to wake up in the morning and love. * Not enough time at the permaculture institute, and completely failed getting out to dignity village. Learned though that finding the right folks for a collective can just sometimes take time, and that a heck of a lot can be accomplished in just a couple years on a piece of land. * Brock Dolman. Tells it like it is. So much I wish I could remember. The measure of a civilization is how well the water is treated in their ecosystem. Wordplay, ‘scared city’ or ‘a bun dance’ ? Story of a few creative young mexicans setting up a low-tech rain catchment/ water purifying/handwashing station for the cancun mobilization. Then being flown out to indonesia after the hurricane to set up bigger systems there. ‘The Red Cross had lots of bottles of water to deliver, but couldn’t because it was raining too hard’. (Great problem-as-solution story, should see if I can find details so I can tell it to others.) * Too bad to miss out on the other speakers but I was fascinated watching the calmness of the twins without Kit around. How strange the pattern is. Everything’s fine, but the kids see Mom and they instantly turn needy and whiny. How sad that Kit can’t experience her kids without her there! I wonder if I’m like that too. Everything’s fine, but I start talking to the universe and whine, whine, whine..... * Having a fun time with the nightly parties. And am really enjoying absence of serotonin highs in favor of more oxytocin ones. Steadier connection to my place in universe and community. As the Dalai Lama says: raising the bar instead of reaching for the sky (or something like that) May 28 Grace. The next day at the park, sitting with chelan. * Mosaics take a lot of work but are great for obsessive urges. * Why the heck do I not have a bike yet? Critical mass is so fun! Very safe and relaxed and supportive. Someone stops to hold cars back for everyone else. All these great conversations as we’re just playfully biking around, heads turning at us and our brightness. And all the secret bike-friendly ways around the city. Also, collective knowledge and decision making, indeed very organic. As far as the tour, I was really blown away by the outdoor classroom and the corner bench/oven/kitchen in the same neighborhood. Well worth the ride. Am feeling pretty introspective though so just enjoyed everyone else. * The Cob cap. Well it does use cement (at Awakenings they used lime plaster instead of thinset for mosaic). BUT if this cap works for the oven it would be great to not have to build a great big roof over every one of these.... * Connie’s place. Must go back! All sorts of simple amazing design, and in only 2 ½ years! But got distracted by Seattle folks and ecobuilding guild. oh well :) * Some interesting gender thoughts on the way back, as I was half-sleeping but picking up on the conversation up front. Ties into talk about the future of the project at the women’s temple and some strong emotions from one man earlier that day, will they be able to come back and see it? Talk of single-gender education in the middle school years. How girls learn faster and the guys suffer without them. How much easier it is for the girls to find a steady sense of self-worth before going on to high school, even from the male perspective. And also about television and growth and desire and learning adulthood. and what if we all grew up in a village where we had real live People around instead? This is huge. The false forms of village we grow up in affect us so much. Are we a bunch of ‘adults’ who’ve never had good examples of maturity, and thus have really never learned How to grow up? What kind of crazy culture is this?? * Back home. Begin again somehow. Simpler, sweeter. Do some street painting with friends. Thank you earth, thank you water, thank you rain. Thank you Faddah, thank you mOceaN, thank you Ethan and Brody’s early-morning-awake-and-alive squeals. Thank you dear friends. Thank you portland, thank you portland. It’s time Seattle offered not just money but sincerity, offered not so much Busyness and Stuff, as Love. Amen.