I can't help but smile whenever I pass this!
Lately, I've been feeling out of sorts - missing old friends, feeling a bit impatient about how long it seems to be taking to make new ones here in Austin, and reading/listening/watching way too much depressing information about peak oil and climate change. Ugh. Some mornings it felt like I'd slept under a lead blanket, and never managed to shrug it off once I crawled out of bed!
I may have turned a corner this weekend. On Saturday, I started my long awaited Permaculture Design Course! There are 30 of us in the class, and despite all the coursework packed into the long day, plenty of time to get to know each other. I tried to talk to as many people as I could, during breaks and other opportunities, because once everyone had introduced themselves, it seemed everyone had something I wanted to talk to them more about! Whether it was edible landscaping for the public commons, or seed saving, or creative ways to re-localize our economy...well, I could go on and on, and certainly could have kept on talking to my fellow classmates all night! And I'm an introvert. Generally, a couple hours and I really start to need some time to myself, but every once in a great while, I can get caught up in the creative synergy of a group that works particularly well together and really surprise myself.
So between the excitement of the course itself, a full day off from my regular duties, the potential for new friendships, the perfect weather for biking over there, and just the collective sense of...ooh, dare I say...hope? Yeah, I'll say hope! I've been giddy all weekend!
Okay - little random facts to remember from class on Saturday - Redbuds are nitrogen fixing trees, a hammock is indispensable to the design process, there is a right and a wrong way to approach a berry bush (downwind!), Henbit is edible, there's an organization here in town called TreeFolks and they give away saplings, the universe is still speeding up, and a tree divides into branches 6 to 8 times. I also found a HUGE owl pellet out in the field. It had very large rat teeth in it, among other things...
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NO POO UPDATE!
My hair is soft. My hair is shiny. I have not felt the need to wear a hat. There is really nothing not to like about No Poo! Well, except me liking everything in its place, and so needing to find suitable containers for my baking soda and apple cider vinegar in the bathroom. Bumbling around the kitchen, emptying tablespoons of each of them into whatever little non-breakable container happens to be empty, clean, and at my disposal is, while a minor inconvenience, an inconvenience nonetheless.
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ONE LAST THING BEFORE I GO TO BED
I hope one day I will look back on this afternoon and laugh. My big strong farmer shoulders will shake as I recall how urban and soft I was. How I let that roll of chicken wire beast me! How long it took us to construct a simple little cage attached to a frame to keep the critters out of my piddly little raised bed!