I know I am meant to create something.
I am going to create landscapes, homes, and connection with a deep sense of ecology, love, permaculture, and care. I want to see ourselves and our places heal, and I will actively be moving myself and anyone else who wants to towards that. I want to work with any aspects that are involved with what creating a more beautiful world looks like... including myself, family, neighborhoods, government, corporations, people, plants, animals, water, and all. I want to educate, and foster education, that will empower us all.
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Our trip to Sedona was a pretty magical experience. Lena was able to get a scholarship for an Indie Birth skills workshop for 3 days. I just so happened to find out soon after that my permaculture friend, Raven, and her family moved just outside of Sedona, so we got to stay with them. The drive to Sedona showed the change in ecosystems, with a greener climate of pines and more towering red rocks that held deeper lines and levels or reds and yellows as they towered. It is just an experience getting to drive in the “South West”.
We arrived to a beautiful home with wonderful people, adorable animals, tasty food, and good wine. The next morning, Lena and I drove to her course and I stumbled my way right next door to the Amitabha Stupa. This experience was wonderful. The stupa is a structure that “embodies the enlightened mind of the Buddha”, constructed incredibly intentionally, filled with hundreds of millions of prayers, a sculpted, wood spire, and much more. Amitabha is the “Red Buddha” and the Buddha of the West. One comes to circumambulate it, go around clockwise, three times with mantras and prayers. Surrounded by prayer flags, birds singing, towering red cliffs in the background, and a simple silence with footsteps made for a wonderful place to be for several hours. Some of the highlights from the past few weeks: I really enjoyed going out for my first campout since my injury during a New Moon up on the Sand Flats with Lena, Maya, and Dylan. The stars were incredible, and we talked about experiences, lessons, and intentions we have started observing and wanting to respect since we have been with CR. We got to visit a permaculture-inspired site in Moab as well and saw a lot of great ideas and examples of watershed and land restoration for the town! A wonderful diversity was already growing and a restorative pathway was making its way towards the creek. Alternative and creative natural building structures, recycling trash for structures and adobe, using newspaper for plastering, greywater systems, and so many fun and experimental projects to learn from. We also got our second letterr of recommendation for the Community Food Forest application we submitted to the Make a Difference Fund. We also started working with plaster mixing for strength and colors and made over a hundred clay balls for kids and others to learn how to slip and smooth them into earthen marbles. Lena has been getting really into the earthen colors and I enjoy working with it and experimenting with structure based on the mixtures, and it has been nice to get to work together again on site. Fall Break was surprisingly "much needed", and even though I have been recovering, it was nice to not feel obligated to work and allow myself more time to relax. Lena and I had a lot of good time in Moab and the house was relatively calm. I got to do some gardening, and I have generally gotten more capable of using my hurt leg while moving around. We also drove off for another campout. The maps led us astray and we drove until it was not safe to drive further and enjoyed an evening in a dry creek carving in the middle of nowhere. We were awoken to thunder right above us and rain starting to pour, which definitely got us moving out, but luckily it did not rain nearly enough to get water across the road creeks and trap us anywhere. One of my personal highlights of that trip was to be crutching around without my brace on, feeling freer and getting to touch the ground with my sensitive foot. And being surrounded by such spectacular plants being weird. We were finally able to go to the actual Food Bank as well, it was small and had no fresh produce whatsoever, and we avoided a lot that was offered due to quality. But still, we ended up with a LOT of dried potato, macaroni, Sun Chips, whole milk, and more. It was useful, but something we would not go during work for. It did seem like a possible place for us to grow the Community Food Forest, but I would be concerned about conflict for what grows there. We had some awesome visitors, but generally, the house was relatively empty so it was nice to relax, heal, and read. We also found out that one of my good friends, Raven, was in Sedona with her family, and that we could stay there when we visited the following week! She is designing the farm for her family (who I have helped move some and adore) and is curious about having help and doing some natural building as well. We are stoked to visit and for Lena to take her 3 day, indie birth / mid-wife intensive skills workshop. The next week back, I was able to work a lot more and took on the 3 days we had before our trip to making plasters for the homeowners to see and the help plaster and tidy up our strawbale walls! We have so much done now: interior walls, the whole exterior covered in mud/slip, and we are starting to put up windows.
This is slightly when my journey distances itself from the main intern work-crew. Week 6 was spent mostly on resting and self-care. I got my brace on Tuesday, and felt very fortunate that that is all I need for healing, and I quickly figure out how I most safely make it up the few steps up and down the CR campus. With my limited energy and more sedimentary situation, I was excited to find the Make a Difference Fund through WabiSabi. I am excited to announce that Lena and I, along with fellow Moab friends, are applying for up to $750 to install a community food forest along the Mill Creek bike path. It is a fun opportunity, and why not? I have also spent time reading, doing art, enjoying restful fun like playing Magic, reading, and watching shows. I am also planning our house gardening day, hoping for a fun workparty permaculture-style with brunch, projects, and fun. I quickly worked up my endurance and strength throughout the day, making the stroll to the park even which opened me up to letter-writing, which I have not done in a long while. I could do laundry, make bulk foods for the cook crew and generally, do the dishes and clean the home, and even pick flowers from the garden. It has been a challenge to not feel like too much of a tax on the group or my partner, but I am finding ways to satisfy and relieve that worry. Everyone has been so incredibly helpful too, with an abundance of understanding and assistance I feel wholly grateful for. I am also grateful for when I get to leave the house, including visiting the Moab Library :)
My family has been really kind too, and I'm grateful to have gotten a care package including supplements to help my bones heal and stuff to keep this brace from smelling too awful! So, I have fractured my tibia and am going to be on crutches for the next 4-6 weeks. Although a “short” amount of time, this will be the most I have had to navigate, and I am both excited and nervous about the experience. Nervousness comes from my dependence on others, particularly my partner, Lena, but also this family and Community Rebuilds (CR). I do not like the idea of being a hassle for others. Really, I tend to prefer being consistently helpful and contributing towards all those around me. I am going to need shoulders to hold me when traveling around sometimes, I am going to be mostly unable to transport myself outside of campus/home. But already, we and I are getting the hang of the situation, and I am truly excited and curious what this experience is going to behold for me and those around me. I truly love these people and this organization: what it stands for, who and how we help, and the overall production with CR. Within moments of this change, my hurting myself, I had such love, empathy, care, nourishment, attentiveness, and total support. One of our lead builders, Jason Pronovost, was immediately letting me know I can both take whatever time I need, and (knowing me) said that when I want to come back that they will find tasks I can do, no problem. The tasks even included interesting skill developments like mixing plasters for later in the build. That evening, another instructor, Alex, stepped aside from our house party to talk to me about working in the office, learning about Quickbooks, and contributing in that way. Rikki even messaged me at 10:30PM that night saying that they could use my skills in the office and that I am a good facilitator. I feel so blessed to be valued and recognized in so many ways. What is it that I have interest in learning & accomplishing during my adjusted state? Office: Quickbooks, Scheduling, Bidding/Ordering, Social Media, Curriculum Information, blogging, and studying. Campus: Prepping beans, rice, lentils, pizza dough. Perhaps educating on the next steps of the build. Games, wood burning, and other activities. Studying. Site: Handicapped work – plaster making, woodcutting, sanding, organizing work. Presence, situational awareness Self: Independence and communal capability, expressing needs and wants with openness to no’s and yes’s. Perhaps figure out post-CR life some. Clear through phone tabs, read some books, general and personal upkeep. Study: Greywater for Moab, etc. We got to put up the trellises for the shack in the back, continued filling gravel, and got most of the box beaming done for the twin home. It is quick and satisfying to get the trellises up! But the detail and finish work takes quite a while for sure.
For those interested in Seattle, particularly permaculture food forests at community colleges, please read the article, and support this if you can. I would love to see South Seattle College adopt the Community Orchard of West Seattle! Read the article here:
http://westseattleblog.com/2017/08/food-growing-future-which-way-should-community-orchard-of-west-seattle-go-to-keep-growing/ Throughout the week, we finished the concrete foundation on the twin homes and started putting up the posts for the "shack in the back." It was satisfying to calculate, measure, bend, and cut the rebar for this more-complicated building. I love getting to work those kinds of puzzles and it is always fun to work with these brilliant people. This second time pouring the concrete for two houses took only 50% more time to complete, and with no faults. Overall, it was quite a well-executed and mostly flawless project!
The rest of the week, we were able to get posts up and the shack in the back got its "box beams", which were then stuffed with straw, and trusses up and installed. It looks amazing to have such a great amount of development in one week! The twin homes started getting sill plates, posts, and the "party walls" up as well. Amongst all that, we even moved a few dump truck loads of gravel into the houses to start the flooring. We had a modified week this week since we had Monday off. So we started on Tuesday and had our make-up day as a "Stomp" party on Saturday. The shack in the back is basically a pergola now, having gotten the sheeting and gravel installed, and we got all of the trellises up for the twin homes! It was definitely a slower week, and I definitely felt inclined to stay late one day to feel like I got anything much done for that day. It's incredible to see the twin homes looking so developed as well! And we got to move more gravel into the houses, yay.
We got one of the foundations set and poured at the end of this week, ready for the other houses the beginning of next week! Working has felt hard and tiring, and I have noticed that I need to work a little less hard to care for myself even though I very much do not want to. The diverse roles available for such a large site and crew has been great with naturally coordinating tasks depending on want and capability.
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