Hanging out in central Wisconsin

I am in the middle of an intensive Permaculture Design Course by Midwest Permaculture www.midwestpermaculture.com and I am enjoying it. I didn't know exactly what to expect from such an expensive class, but it is at the very least feeding my head and allowing me to meet interesting likeminded people who are also passionate to varying degrees about creating and maintaining a sustainable lifestyle.

I really feel, at this point in my life, that permaculture and other sustainable systems of living are the key to human survival on this planet. I mean, sure we can go on living this way until we run out of oil & clean water and air, but are we really truly happy with our lives the way that they are? I don't think so, really, and I have been delving into the spirituality of of existence my whole life, trying to understand what it really all means. I don't know if there is any definite answer to life's ever present questions, but there are definite ways in which to live which emphasize the beauty, grace, and meaning of life, just as there are ways in which to create a sustainable lifestyle which create beauty, abundance, and meaning.

I will post later.

Permaculture Design Course

I'm waking up to 28 degree freezing ass weather in my car in Custer, WI, at the Midwest Renewable Energy Assoiation. After meticulously packing all my earthly items and checking them twice, I forgot my tent poles. I think that may have been blessing in disguise as it is freezing out. I will type more later.

Windy days

The wind is my mind, whipping through tree branches. I am going off to a Permaculture Design Course in Custer, WI on Saturday, for 8 or 9 days. I am excited to learn more about permaculture and what it has to offer as a methodology to improve life.

As we all are, I am trying to reorient myself to myself every day.

no big deal

RREAL

It is time

To try to figure out how to repair giant rust holes on my work truck, a 1995 F-250. I have a new angle grinder which is my new best friend, but I don't have experience with bondo, or welding. Anybody want to buy me a MIG welder?

The Cosmic Monkey Podcast 3

Cosmic Monkey Podcast 2

Cosmic Monkey Podcast beta

Why limit yourself?

My question today comes from Andrew 2:34, "Why, fellow chariot huggers, doth thou limit thyself one conceptual reality matrix as opposed to many? Art thou nothing but an ass baying loudly amongst the might roar of Satan's flatulence?"

As deep as these words appear to be, the underlying message is simply one of helpless confusion. Why do we approach life with a single cause celeb, why not embrace all of life in it's mad chaos as simply the "way things are"? What are we so afraid of? Especially, as I mentioned in an earlier post, as we all share the same fate.

This doesn't give us cause or license for madness and anarchy, no, I think even the opposite. Looking around the world, we see that we, as clever monkeys, are indeed imprinted with strong impressions to caretake, to be stewards, to design and build. Why is this so? Is it because we, unlike most animals, are beholden to a prehensile thumb and upright posture? Is it because we can push the branches out of the way with our miraculous hands and gaze out over the savannah for pleasure and hunt? Is it merely an extension of our hunting/gathering brain, a brain that sees a pattern and decides to attempt to replicate the natural world, to garden and grow structures.

To return to the path of singular delusion, we must increase our openess as a flower opens to all insects, we must evolve past mammalian and enter floral brain, or we will destroy ourselves and everything around us. I don't know why we seem to be so hellbent on self-destruction, but I must say it must have to do with the dominant male-centric religious, scientific, and political structures that would like to retain power over all beings as opposed to sharing the world and it's energies with all beings. Perhaps my gripe with the major organized religions and whatnot is more to do with their insistence that someone has to be in charge, usually male, usually violent. This is the meme we want to spread forevermore? I think not.

So to open ones mind and believe in many things at once, contradiction and confusions, nothing creating stress or tension. As it says in the book of John:

Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

PostNatalDay Posting

Hello.

I did not send out my usual birthday day musing/posting this year because I forgot to. I was contemplating my imminent end as an evolved ape-man passing from a boy of 29 to a man of 30, and hoping that I could at least squeeze another 30x365x24x60 minutes out of the cosmic toothpaste tube we call life. But then, as the months passed, I realized that life continued to produce and lay a fore me as many monotonous swaths of the space/time continuum as ever. It is the boredom of those sentenced to death, the roster of which we all share space. Not a big deal, really, as deals come. But we all share, as evolved ape-persons on this globe floating in space that seems to jut out into the universe neverendingly (cosmic dust and ice/iron formations creating analogues of the very terra firma we call home) the main career goals of all the other life forms on this planet, namely thus:

1. Fill Time

2. Reproduce (In some fashion or another, i.e. making nanobots or websites or children or tapestries or magazines or cupcakes or magic acts or vegetables or that feeling we got in sixth grade after our first kiss, my god the ridiculously soft lip flesh touching lip flesh, a moment that can live in on in our energy fields for decades)

3. Eat (In this, even beyond arctic ursa we excel as men, as glorious women slicing through mango flesh and bacon, frying phallic zucchini marinated in soy sauce and garlic over open flames, neon pink salmon twitching on the grill as if alive)

4. Not Die (This, as far as we can all tell, is the prima donna of all directives, without this first and foremost of life commandments, most other so-called golden rules and stone tablets sit in the dust waiting for purpose...)

And so on. As an evolved ape-man (How do I get this through to you, you religious folk w/o a clue? YOU are an evolved CHIM-fucking-PANZEE. There is hardly any debate about this in the scientific community...you know, the community which evolved to create your television sets and eyeglasses and Iphones and Honda Civics. The community you think wants to lie to us all about everything in order so that they can take the bonuses they earned from the various atheist overlords that command them to lie, blah blah blah...Whatareyouthinkingcrazychristians? That is one word because it is so strongly felt by so many that care about their friends, family, and the world, and to see the christians and other religious zealots going around in their prim Ford Focus automobiles and handing out pamphlets about how abortion is MASS MURDER while secretly wishing our government would just bomb the shit out of the whole Middle East makes us shudder. Hey, hell, we can start all over over there, we can repopulate with good brainwashed christer childs that we've stuck in bible-school/camp/study/group for every free (FILL TIME) moment we could until their brains are reduced to mumbling incoherently about how "christ is risen" and a whole bunch of other gobbledy gook nonsense that sends them into fits of rapture induced giggles and terror. What a mess.)I cannot think of any reason to create pointless overcomplifications of matters that are relatively straightforward. In this, I recognize the prime creative impulse.

Instead, as an old, established slightly evolved Chimpanzee with no harem to call his own, nor much in the way of reproductive product, I call upon the world to see itself as it is, and relax. We are nothing, going nowhere, achieving almost no thing. You out there, thinking about what a nihilistic bunch of shit that is, are mislead into considering nothing as evil/sin/thebignasty. I don't really differentiate between nothing and something (everything?), yet I have been told that is a huge error in judgment by none other then my significant other. She could be spot on, and I think perhaps there is a serious difference in the way the female and male species thinks about life, or nothing, or everything, in every genus! And there, with my first exclamation point, I proclaim myself energized by my own synaptic meanderings.

It seems to me that your life, my life, is nothing more or less then a tangent. That life itself on this planet is nothing more or less then a tangent. That the universe is nothing more or less then a tangent. A tangent of what? An infinitude of tangents to the sine waves of primal energy. Where did it all come from, this energy, we as tangents, etc...? Where, why, how, when...Who will answer all these questions, and how? At this point, I don't know, and I'm not sure I care. What I do know is that life on this planet evolved over millions of years to create an Iphone, and now we don't know why the hell we did that. What's the point of an Iphone? We don't know, but it is really fun to use. Will it save my soul? What the hell is a soul, and why do we think we have one? I will answer in the next paragraph.

Our brains are wired to NEED the idea of a continuum in which to exist in order to fulfill directive number three. We need to believe it is all a part of a larger picture in order to survive. It is an actual biologic relic of our Hunter/Gatherer origins in our real everyday brains. Therefore, early in our evolution as APE-PEOPLE we became aware that if we created a fictional part of ourselves that never had to die, we would be happier and more productive. At least, that was the theory. The idea of a soul actually created more problems then it solved, I wouldn't hesitate to posit, but at the same time we have created a conundrum of spirituality, because deep deep down there is a part of us that never dies, that is always recycled, but to name it would be to fictionalize reality. And so therefore we fall back on the easy lingo of religion to soothe our souls and medicate our existential angst.

In any case, I am happy to have survived yesterday, and I am happy to continue my journey through the tangential flow universe, or perhaps it is better to call it the infinite interdependent metaverse. Or maybe universe is just fine. Peace.

green sprouts sticking up out of the ground, out of the earthen soil mass
the dead dry stuff littered here and there
when the morning, comes up out of
the soil we start to build things, a life
out of the most basic elements
we break hearts in order to order the world around
we go, in circles, crazysillysexy circles made of wrought iron and blown glass
we, when I mean us, when I mean you and I here and there
the eyes have us in sight, midnight snacks
love, oh love, how can you push such greenness out of the dark?

Dehisce

Kinetic Wave Sculputures

Shipping Container Homes

This looks interesting, haven't looked at it yet though...

Twelve amazing shipping container houses
By Brian Clark Howard
Posted Mon Mar 16, 2009 10:50am PDT

(Photo: Urban Space Management)

Invented more than five decades ago, the modern shipping container is the linchpin in our global distribution network of products. In the containers go toys from China, textiles from India, grain from America, and cars from Germany. In go electronics, chocolate, and cheese.

While a number of resourceful people have converted shipping containers into make-shift shelters at the margin of society for years, architects and green designers are also increasingly turning to the strong, cheap boxes as source building blocks.

Shipping containers can be readily modified with a range of creature comforts and can be connected and stacked to create modular, efficient spaces for a fraction of the cost, labor, and resources of more conventional materials.

Discover some of the exciting possibilities of shipping container architecture, from disaster relief shelters to luxury condos, vacation homes, and off-the-grid adventurers. See what makes them green as well as cutting edge.

http://green.yahoo.com/blog/daily_green_news/8/twelve-amazing-shipping-container-houses.html

The Essential Homo Faber

These are my top 10 things I need to be a cool and collected homo faber, always at the ready:

1. Leatherman multitool

2. Broadband internet

3. Shovel

4. Pull saw

5. Cordless Drill

6. Hammer

7. Station Wagon

8. Permaculture Designers Manual, by Bill Mollison

9. WD-40

10. Shop Vac

I will probably have to change this as I contemplate it. What are your top ten thing you need to be homo faber?

Dolphin Bubbles

compact disc playing device

So I was looking around our new car and realizing there were a bunch of small problems I had to fix. Then I looked into the spare wheel well to check the tire pressure and found that we have a CD changer in there. It holds 6 CDs and the stereo plays them and I was shocked to find a CD player in the spare wheel well. But hey, the bad was outweighed by the good today, and it was beautiful and sunny! Praise spring!

personal safety

This is a PDF pamphlet put out by the Organic Consumers Association that is a guide to safe Personal Care Products. Check it out, print out out, give it to your friends!

http://www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare/ShoppersSafetyGuide.pdf

elemental snakes

A lesson from the hummingbird

Why do we #2

Why do we have so many parts? And how do we reconcile all of them?

Why do we #1

Why do we feel the need to be part of a religion?

satisfaction

molten light

Chad VanGaalen - Molten Light - Celebrity bloopers here

space cloud

life

sick for days

Well, the sun is not shining today, and the forecast says rain, and maybe snow later in the evening, but I doubt it.

Since Saturday night I have been pretty sick. I think it is a sinus infection as most of the problems seem to exist in my sinuses, making it hard to hear and sort of trippy to be out and about in the city. But I seem to be getting healthier day by day. I totally crashed on Saturday, with chills and the inability to get up and move around. Luckily, the SO and I had some movies to watch and I felt pretty comfortable overall. I made the mistake of having a beer, though, which I think made me feel worse. I had a pretty high fever that left me drenched in the morning, and yesterday I went to put my sleeping t-shirt on and it was still drenched from the previous night. I think though, it cleared me out somehow.

I have been taking about 4000 mg of vitamin C and a high potency B, as the body is stressed by illness. I have also taken A, E, and D vitamins intermittently, as A is good for mucous membrane health, E is good for heart health, and D is good for everybody in these dark winter months. I have also taken aspirin for my headaches and pains. I started taking an extract that I should have been taking all along called Mycosoft Gold by Fungi Perfecti , which is a huge immune system supporter. It is a blend of polypore mushrooms (generally mushrooms that grow in trees that don't have gills) that have been scientifically proven to be very beneficial to health and long life. They also have anti-tumor properties. This is an extract that I highly recommend.

I have also been doing regular neti pots to cleanse my sinuses of mucous and bacteria. THis is probably the cheapest, most effective, and healthiest way to clear the sinuses, as it uses 1/4 teaspoon salt per cleanse, which must cost less then a penny. I have found that it gives relief immediately.

I feel that all these things together, including sleep and good food, provides a wholistic approach to becoming well for me. I am amazed to think that all the habits of my life and all the chances in the universe have come down to me becoming sick in this way with this illness. What a strange thing. If my immune system was healthier, I may have bypassed this illness altogether, but instead I have been eating pizza, chips, beer, and junk food, as well as not exercising as much as I could, etc...But of course I'm not beating myself up about it, I just think it is ridiculous how this culture considers Junk Living to be the acceptable norm, and then Medication to be the result. I can't believe how many people get a cold and take Nyquil or some other such disgusting garbage and consider that to be normal. The chemicals in these processed drugs are not wholistic in any stretch of the imagination. They are isolated compounds that have known effects on certain bodily processes, but so what? What about the whole body/mind/spirit organism? This is the problem with the reductionist, Cartesian subject/object dichotomy...it is flawed, completely.

Yes it does show us many wonderful thing, and it works toward the understanding of these wonderful things, and I have to admit, I love this method sometimes. But also I know that my body knows what is best for it. I believe there is an underlying consciousness in all of the universe which could be called Love or Energy. And it is experienced by all, but possessed by none.

the big melt down

Things are beginning to melt down here in the Twin Cities. I have been throwing pots, watching movies, working on a newsletter for Local Roots Landscapers and planning to build a small puppet theatre. Soon I will be working on a drafting table so that I can work on designs in comfort this year.

I am doing a Permaculture Design Course in Wisconsin in May. I am very excited about that. It is at the Midwest Renewable Energy Association, and is taught by a guy who has run a permaculture farm for years. It has an small farm, suburban, and educational focus. Check it out here: I am teaching a rain garden class in the spring as well. I would love to teach people more about the natural world we live in, how beautiful and amazing it is.

Last Sat of Jan

Going to go check out the SO's niece's first one-act play competition wherein she is the start! How exciting for her. We will be traveling to the St. Cloud area in our new station wagon which has trouble starting in the cold. Wish us luck. I feel like it will be fine.

February is tomorrow. That is good. We are perusing the seed catalogs and hatching garden plans. I have a feeling this year will be really full, including my business, my home garden, our vacation, and misc. I am taking a permaculture design course this year, adn hopefully that will move me toward designing permaculture gardens here in the city and out in the country. My end goal is to combine the practical and functional human centered focus of permaculture with the aesthetic and ecological nature-centered focus of habitat restoration and design gardens that restore connections to the planet. Is that a good goal? I think so. I also want to make a decent living.

Have a beautiful weekend! The sun is shining, the snow is still kind of clean. Take advantage.

Switch off

Snowly

It is snowing big chunky flat funky flakes outside right now. What a strange concept, outside. Outside and inside become a different experience when you camp, for instance, or work outside all day for your livelihood. Outside is more what is around you, and you have to adapt. When you're at home, outside is almost something to avoid, like the flu. Most people have inside jobs, and most people are narcissistic. Maybe there is an obvious corollary there?

I am confused by people. What are they doing? What are you doing?

Checking out a car today, and then skiing. Our muffler fell off yesterday after we checked out a pretty nice car I think we might buy, so I suppose that is a sign. Now the Olds is one loud puppy. Can't wait to get a new car.

Big chunky flat funky flakes. That is what is real. No need to psychoanalyze. Just fall.

Beautiful 97 Year Old Botanical Artist

97 Year Old Botanical Art Maestro

Botanical art is the name for professional drawings of plants. Originally, botanical artists used to team up with botanists to make drawings of medicinal herbs in order to create a record to help people identify different plants. Chikabo Kumada has made countless book illustrations and picture books with his botanical illustrations. He’s been drawing the insects, animals, and plants which live in his garden and neighboring woodlands for seventy-one years. He’s ninety-seven years old now! Mr. Kumada is known in Japan as a pioneer of botanical art, and he continues his busy career to this day. We spoke to him this week about his thoughts and experiences.

Interview by Takafumi Suzuki
Translation by Claire Tanaka

Mr. Kumada, when did you start drawing illustrations of plants and insects?

I started to do it for work when I was twenty-six. I quit the graphic design company I’d been working at and switched careers without talking to my wife about it first. At that time, all the books had been burned in the war, and bunches of shoddy picture books had started coming in from the Kansai area and I thought, “This won’t do! I’ve got to draw some good picture books.” I love children. That’s why I started doing it. That was where my years of impoverishment began. (laughs)

You were a graphic designer before you started your career as a professional illustrator?

Back then, we didn’t use the English word “designer;” we called what I did a “zuan-ka.” At that time (the 1930s) even the modern idea of “advertising” was new. The firm I worked at, Nihon Kobo, was a groundbreaking company in Japan’s graphic design world. Ayao Yamana, who I considered a mentor, was of course very famous, but there were a lot of other very skilled people who came from there. People like Ken Domon and Yusaku Kamekura started there after me. I was particularly good friends with Domon. We were so busy, we worked every day from morning until the last train at night. We made good money too. (laughs)

Read the whole interview Here

Purity

I question the concept of purity. What is pure in an infinitely complex organic reality? The concept of purity creates puritans. A puritan believes that the pure state is holy, and the impure states is damned. Perhaps instead of purity we should strive for balance.

I'm always thinking about food and water, because food and water is our direct link to the planet, and hence to the universe. When we eat many different foods, our bodies work hard to process all the different nutriments, but if we eat one or two simple things, our bodies have an easier time of it. It is not bad to eat many different things at the same time, it is just more difficult, and a complex situation for the body to handle. Most things seem to strive toward some sort of balance, and our bodies are no exception. Here in the developed world, we eat terribly unhealthy foods all the time and then develop diseases. And then we take drugs to alleviate the symptoms of our disease. We live in a state of complete unbalance all day long, and then we have trouble sleeping.

I think most people mistake purity for balance. For instance, when we fast, we let our bodies come into balance.

sound via suzuki

The holidays are upon us in full force. Snow is falling today. Our presents are wrapped but there is no tree to put them under. We don't wish to kill a tree.We don't wish to perpetuate this buying stuff madness, but it is almost inevitable. Next year perhaps a moratorium on buying stuff. Buying stuff, our economic power as a consumer, is perhaps the single largest act of consciousness we can participate in regularly. Mindfullness is key.

We called off the trip to the folks because of the weather. Maybe go skiing instead? Ice skating.

bird flight over rome

Tumbleweed Vortex

Our new president, body surfing

Rock on, my man

Wow

Lessons From Ladakh

This is a wonderful video that highlights, for me, the beautiful and spiritually fulfilling life of Tibetans.







This is basically how I want to live. Especially if I get to wear those hats...

My Gospel

Love Your Self

Love Everything as Your Self

Love the World, because the World is You

Love the Universe, because the Universe is You

The Universe Loves You

The World Loves You

Everything Loves You


Love binds the Universe Together, Love is the Universe

Love is the Truth

Suffering is Ignorance of the Truth

Suffering cannot be transformed by Suffering

Love Transforms Everything Always

Life flows out from Love


Everything Changes

Life Begins and Ends, Suffering Begins and Ends

Each Life is a Manifestation of Love, Each Death is a Manifestation of Life

The Universe flows out in Life and flows back in Death


The Manifestations of The Universe are Holographic

Time and Space are Relative

Truth is Mystical

TV Reincarnation

In February 2009 television will change. The lower frequency airwaves that were utilized by broadcast television will be taken over by various corporations bidding for the right to own something that should be free for all, like air, and to use this valuable resource in order to make a profit. I sent off for a coupon to buy a converter box so that I could also watch the new digital tv, but I put it off until I realized that I had went past it's validity date. So now I realize that I have to cough up some more dough for a converter box or a new TV or a cable service or what have you. By god, what an enormous hassle and idiocy.

I have decided that instead I will do without television, and I will only watch movies at home.

This is my sister

Don't ask...

China calls off EU summit over Dalai Lama visit

As we get ready for the great turkey massacre of '08, it should be remembered that across the globe, many things are still happening. Thousands of children are still dying in Africa everyday because they do not have clean water or food, and tribal people are stilling being pushed out of their home and land and into the mass insanity our civilized cultures call "progress". I feel that one of the most significant stories being played out right now is the plight of the Tibetan people. China, the worlds greatest economic player perhaps, is trying to assimilate this beautiful and ancient culture, and is now beginning what looks like a larger scale effort to bully the rest of the world into playing by their rules. The Tibetan culture and land must be preserved and protected; they may have the key to a more peaceful world. Read on for more information. Free Tibet!


China calls off EU summit over Dalai Lama visit
Wed Nov 26, 2008 10:27am EST
By Darren Ennis and David Brunnstrom

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - China, angry at plans for Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to visit Europe, has called off a summit with the European Union next Monday which may have forged a joint response to the global economic crisis.

The 27-nation bloc expressed regret at Beijing's decision but pledged to continue to promote a strategic partnership "at a time when the global economic and financial situation calls for very close cooperation between Europe and China."

France confirmed President Nicolas Sarkozy would meet the Dalai Lama at a December 6 ceremony in Poland to mark the 25th anniversary of the award of the Nobel Prize to former Solidarity leader Lech Walesa, despite Beijing's displeasure.

"Nicolas Sarkozy ... is free to decide his agenda," government spokesman Luc Chatel told reporters.

China's foreign ministry had no immediate comment. But earlier this month it warned Sarkozy, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, that the EU risked losing "hard-won" gains in ties with Beijing if he met the Dalai Lama.

The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in the mountainous region, occupied by Chinese troops from 1950. China calls him a "splittist" for advocating self-determination for his homeland.

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet, the head of euro zone finance ministers, Jean-Claude Juncker, and EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia had been due to meet Chinese counterparts on the sidelines of the Lyon summit to discuss the global crisis.

The European Council on Foreign Relations,a think-tank, said the meeting should have been used to forge a partnership on the crisis.

Its Asia director Francois Godement called the Chinese move "unprecedented" and "aggressive" and said it exposed the EU's failure to coordinate policy toward Tibet and the Dalai Lama.

"SORRY SPECTACLE"

"The sorry spectacle of European disunity over the financial and economic crisis has confirmed to China's leaders that Europe is not a unitary actor and can be publicly provoked at no significant political cost," he said.

"It is urgent for Europeans to realize the steep political price for their failure to agree on common principles and practice for their China policy."

It was not immediately clear what commercial fallout, if any, there would be from the row.

More here

Hey there you

If you like me bloggin', please click on the "follow this blog" link to yer right, mister. Your welcome.

Gleaning In America

A World Without Water

I just watched an amazing movie called FLOW:For the Love of Water. It highlights effectively the key issues that face us in terms of Water usage issues. Check it out here:

FLOW

I also found this movie that I am watching now. It is similar to FLOW, and quite good.

Baby, your home

Baby, You’re Home

Liz Rubincam for The New York Times



ROOM FOR ONE MORE? Alecia White Scharback between contractions, surrounded at home by her mother, Judith Deierling White; her sister, Amanda White; and her husband, Joshua Scharback, before giving birth to Noah with the aid of a midwife.

By JULIE SCELFO
Published: November 12, 2008
SQUATTING in an inflatable pool in the open kitchen of her apartment in Astoria, Queens, a very pregnant Alecia White Scharback, nude except for a bathing suit top, groaned in pain. It was 7:30 a.m. on Nov. 1, and Mrs. Scharback, 29, an actress, had been in labor for more than 36 hours. The contractions had been only mildly painful at first, but had grown increasingly fierce as a second night gave way to morning.

At the height of one contraction, Mrs. Scharback closed her eyes, bent forward and rocked her hips back and forth. “It hurts, it hurts, it hurts,” she moaned. Using a stainless steel refrigerator to steady herself, she vomited. Joshua Scharback, her husband, rushed to her side and gently stroked her head.

Mrs. Scharback was giving birth at home because she did not want any medical interventions in the process unless she needed them, she said. But after another four hours, she was beginning to doubt whether she could make it and was pleading with her midwife, Miriam Schwarzschild, for relief. “Oh, Miriam,” she whimpered, “I can’t.” Ms. Schwarzschild reassured her client: “You can. And whenever you’re ready, you can start to push.”

Home births have been around as long as humans, but since the 1950s, the overwhelming majority of American women have chosen to give birth in hospitals, which the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists identifies as one of the safest places for the unpredictable and sometimes dangerous process of childbirth. (The group has officially opposed home births since 1975, and this year the American Medical Association adopted a similar position.)

Recently, though, midwives and childbirth educators say, a growing number of women have been opting instead for the more intimate and familiar surroundings of home — even in New York City, where homes are typically cramped warrens of a few hundred square feet and neighbors often live close enough to hear every sneeze and footstep.

More...

Myco-diesel

Rainforest fungus makes diesel

Colorized environmental scanning electron microscope photo of Gliocladium roseum, an endophtic fungus that produces myco-diesel hydrocarbons. (Photo courtesy of Gary Strobel.)
Click here to enlarge image

(PhysOrg.com) -- A unique fungus that makes diesel compounds has been discovered living in trees in the rainforest, according to a paper published in the November issue of Microbiology. The fungus is potentially a totally new source of green energy and scientists are now working to develop its fuel producing potential.
"This is the only organism that has ever been shown to produce such an important combination of fuel substances," said Professor Gary Strobel from Montana State University. "The fungus can even make these diesel compounds from cellulose, which would make it a better source of biofuel than anything we use at the moment."

The fungus, which has been named Gliocladium roseum, produces a number of different molecules made of hydrogen and carbon that are found in diesel. Because of this, the fuel it produces is called "myco-diesel".

"Gliocladium roseum lives inside the Ulmo tree in the Patagonian rainforest. We were trying to discover totally novel fungi in this tree by exposing its tissues to the volatile antibiotics of the fungus Muscodor albus. Quite unexpectedly, G. roseum grew in the presence of these gases when almost all other fungi were killed. It was also making volatile antibiotics. Then when we examined the gas composition of G. roseum, we were totally surprised to learn that it was making a plethora of hydrocarbons and hydrocarbon derivatives. The results were totally unexpected and very exciting and almost every hair on my arms stood on end!"

Link to article

http://www.smh.com.au/news/home/technology/how-the-new-mr-big-was-made-very-very-small/2008/11/11/1226318632650.html

Who Would Jesus Vote For?

Friends,

Who would Jesus vote for tomorrow (if he was a US citizen, of course)? Would he vote for McCain or Obama? After much consideration, I would have to say that the biblical Jesus would almost certainly not vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin for president and vice president, respectively. He would vote for Barack Obama.

First of all, Jesus Christ was a dark-skinned radical Jew, who was a poor under-educated tradesman. He was so radical that he actually believed that the divine resided within himself, and that he was God and God was he, as opposed to the more traditional Jewish view of a God that was separate from humanity and the world. This radical view basically got him killed by the Romans, who were the occupying military force of Jerusalem at the time. An unrepentant dark-skinned radical preaching that holiness resided within each individual is not the type of person that John McCain and Sarah Palin really seem to include in their myopic fundamentalist vision of America. While they seem to enjoy referencing the common man by occupation, i.e. Joe the Plumber, I'm not sure that they understand the trials and sufferings that the real common man is going through these days in "Real America", i.e. next door. Jesus the Carpenter was not one to be bought by big money and swayed by vitriolic slogans. In fact, he died defending his right as a divine human being to speak his mind and to say the truth that he felt deep inside of his immortal soul.

Jesus Christ was reported to have said that it was "easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle then a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven." In a nutshell, Barack Obama wants to tax the rich to feed the poor and support the middle class. Right now, we are taxing the poor and middle class to make the super rich richer. In fact, George W Bush and the US Congress just handed over $700 billion of our taxpayer dollars to the rich so that they can continue creating more wealth for themselves, while allowing us real common folk to suffer job loss, loss of our homes, tight food budgets, huge medical costs, and high gas prices.. Does this make any sense? Not to Jesus it wouldn't. Jesus Christ, dirty with desert dust and sore in the sandals, hung out with thieves and prostitutes, and fed the poor even when low on funds. Jesus did not consider it man's sacred call to pull himself up by his bootstraps and hoard as much wealth as he can. This is the antithesis of his message, which was the theo-socialist concept that God will provide what is needed to those in need, and that the meek shall inherit the earth. Some human beings, through no fault of their own, will always find it challenging to provide for themselves and their families, and others will be able to, through no inherent superior abilities, provide for them. Because of this truth we can practice grace, charity, and compassion in a Godly fashion.

Forget for a moment the name-calling that the McCain campaign is engaging in, with "Socialist", "Muslim", "Anti-American", "Terrorist" as some of the the labels casually thrown about, and focus on what Obama really stands for. He stands for Peace, Hope, and Values.

These are some of the key values in Barack Obama's public statements on faith and politics

• God is constantly present in our lives, and this presence is a source of hope.

"Hope in the face of difficulty, hope in the face of uncertainty, the audacity of hope: In the end, that is
God's greatest gift to us, the bedrock of this nation, a belief in things not seen, a belief that there are better
days ahead." – Democratic National Convention Keynote Address.

• As Joshua built on the work of Moses, leaders of today – the 'Joshua Generation' – must
build of the foundation of previous generations to move our nation forward.

"The final thing that I think the Moses generation teaches us is to remind ourselves that we do what we do
because God is with us. You know, when Moses was first called to lead people out to the Promised
Land…the Lord said I will be with you. Throw down that rod. Pick it back up. I'll show you what to do.
The same thing happened with the Joshua generation.
Joshua said, you know, I'm scared. I'm not sure that I am up to the challenge. The Lord said to him,
every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon, I have given you. Be strong and have courage, for I
am with you wherever you go. Be strong and have courage. It's a prayer for a journey. A prayer that kept
a woman in her seat when the bus driver told her to get up, a prayer that led nine children through the
doors of that Little Rock school, a prayer that carried our brothers and sisters over a bridge right here in
Selma, Alabama. Be strong and have courage." -Address to Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church, Selma,
Alabama, on the Anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

• Faith should not be used as a wedge to divide.

"We think of faith as a source of comfort and understanding but find our expressions of faith sowing
division; we believe ourselves to be a tolerant people even as racial, religious, and cultural tensions roil
the landscape. And instead of resolving these tensions or mediating these conflicts, our politics fans
them, exploits them, and drives us further apart." – The Audacity of Hope.

"Well, I say to them tonight, there's not a liberal America and a conservative America – there's the
United States of America. There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian
America – there's the United States of America. The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red

States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for
them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents poking
around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and have gay friends in
the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it. We are one
people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of
America." – Democratic National Convention Keynote Address.

• The separation of church and state is critical and has caused our democracy and religious
practices to thrive.

"[Conservative leaders] need to understand the critical role that the separation of church and state has
played in preserving not only our democracy, but the robustness of our religious practice. Folks tend to
forget that during our founding, it wasn't the atheists or the civil libertarians who were the most effective
champions of the First Amendment. It was the persecuted minorities, it was Baptists like John Leland…It
was the forbearers of the evangelicals who were the most adamant about not mingling government with
religion, because they did not want state-sponsored religion hindering their ability to practice their
faith…" – Call to Renewal Keynote Address

• Faith is a source of action for justice.

"Imagine Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address without reference to "the judgments of the Lord." Or
King's I Have a Dream speech without references to "all of God's children." Their summoning of a higher
truth helped inspire what had seemed impossible, and move the nation to embrace a common destiny." –
Call to Renewal Keynote Address

"We should never forget that God granted us the power to reason so that we would do His work here on
Earth - so that we would use science to cure disease, and heal the sick, and save lives." – World AIDS
Day Speech: Race Against Time

"Pastors, friends of mine like Rick Warren and T.D. Jakes, are wielding their enormous influences to
confront AIDS, Third World debt relief, and the genocide in Darfur. Religious thinkers and activists like
our good friend Jim Wallis and Tony Campolo are lifting up the Biblical injunction to help the poor as a
means of mobilizing Christians against budget cuts to social programs and growing inequality…Across
the country, individual churches like my own and your own are sponsoring day care programs, building
senior centers, helping ex-offenders reclaim their lives, and rebuilding our gulf coast in the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina." – Call to Renewal Keynote Address

• Government alone cannot solve all of our problems – we have an individual responsibility to
be our brother's keeper and our sister's keeper.

"And although government will play a crucial role in bringing about the changes we need, more money
and programs alone will not get us where we need to go. Each of us, in our own lives, will have to accept
responsibility - for instilling an ethic of achievement in our children, for adapting to a more competitive
economy, for strengthening our communities, and sharing some measure of sacrifice. So let us begin. Let
us begin this hard work together. Let us transform this nation." - Presidential Announcement
Speech

John McCain would like America to participate in an endless war against terrorism forever, regardless of how much life and money it costs. Jesus would not agree that this would be the right thing, the moral thing to do. In fact, it is downright sinful. Jesus said that "You have heard it said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I say if a man plucks your eye from your head, you should pluck out your other eye and give it to him as well." This is a guy who is not screwing around with nonviolence. Jesus is a radical peacenik who would have happily marched alongside Gandhi down to the sea to gather salt. John McCain and the Neoconservatives are pushing this endless war to create an endless source of wealth and power for themselves and their allies. Shall we bring up the book of Revelations and the Beast or should we just let that one lie, and realize that the Bush/McCain agenda is not for God or Love or Peace?

I believe that as a good and honest Christian, it is your duty to vote for a man of peace, hope, and justice that will lead America into a better place; a place where we can care for our disadvantaged citizens as well as pursue our own happiness. I feel that it is a huge mistake to vote Republican just because you are a Christian. Barack Obama is a Christian who worked very hard over the years to become the man he is today, and he has learned an essential truth. Faith is about love, and love is about caring for your fellow human as you would care for yourself. In my obviously strong opinion, voting for McCain is voting for hatred: hatred for those who cannot provide for themselves, hatred for those who have different spiritual beliefs or sexual orientations, and most of all hatred for peace on this earth and good will toward man. Please, vote with your heart and mind, not your faith and dogma.

Peace

We spent last night camping out at Afton State Park. IT was a beautiful night and the moon was bright. Some maples glow yellow. That is all.

Thoughts after Maitake intake

The beautiful September weather lifts my spirits. Golden flecked maple tree swaying in the breeze. Light flutter of quaking aspen. Mushrooms pushing through the forest duff.

The garden begins the slow crawl back under the sheets. The leaves, pine needles, hay, grass, weed carcasses, seeds, fecal matter, and whatnot.

Weasels, worms, crows, and roots. Black soil and clay. A general malaise behind the senses. What is next, what is next. What do I do next?

Brilliance is deadly

My friend Sunshine killed herself more then two years ago, by walking down into her basement with a rope, tying it around her neck, and hanging from this damned noose until she choked to death. The echoes of her death reverberate in my thin skull. She was, and I use the past tense hesitantly and unwillingly, a genius in her own way, a person with a vision of life unlike that of 99.9% of the populace, yet she would never have thought that of herself. She was and is unique in many ways. When she took her own life I couldn't understand how she could have made this choice, considering that she was the toughest person I knew. I still can't understand.

David Foster Wallace hung himself on Friday. He was a literary genius, and, as is the case with some special authors, I felt like I knew him better then I knew my friends or myself. I was shocked that he had taken leave of this plane of existence. It didn't seem possible that someone of such brilliance could off himself. Perhaps brilliance can blind you to the idiocy of such an action.

This culture tells us that we have to be something. I disagree. I believe that there is no one to be, and nothing to do. The harder we try to be someone, the less we are ourselves, because our selves exist naturally. Practice makes perfect. Time never stops and the hardest thing we can do is simply be. Take the time to really notice the way the leaves shine in the sun. Make an omelette slowly.

I turned thirty a couple weeks ago. There was nothing I could do about it. There is nothing I can be because I am already everything that I am.

seeking the seeker

When Pirsig expounds on Quality being the front of train, I think I understand what he is trying to say. But by the very act of trying to explain what Quality is, he fails miserably. Because Quality has no meaning, it is not objective or subjective, it is simply nothing. Everything is nothing, nothing is everything.

Why do we continue to try to explain what doesn't need to be explained? Why do we try to show what doesn't need to be shown? More to the point, where is the train going?

When Lao Tzu tries to explain the Tao, he succeeds to a certain extent. He doesn't pretend that words can replace the actual. He uses words to paint the space around the Tao. What can we do but paint the space around our lives? We have no control over life, the tao, the infinite, our bodies. We have actually have no control whatsoever. There is no such thing as control. Shunryu summed up Buddhism thusly; Everything Changes.

And of course, if everything changes, nothing remains the same. If nothing remains the same, nothing is what is was, or will be. What does it matter, though, in what context do these words give meaning to our lives, and if they do not, what is the value of utilizing them?

My thrust is this: Words create meaning, without words meaning exists independently. Independent meaning does not rely on justification or explantation. Meaning just is, as we are, infinitely complex, always changing.

Why assimilate into specific practice? I would say because by doing so you create form around nothing, and with this form you can peak into the nothing and understand what it is. A friend commented that she thought samsara and nirvana are the same. In Zen, maybe this is so, because Zen is the unity of all things. In Christianity, Heaven and Hell must be separated for the theology to create meaning in the minds of the saved. Without this separation, the Christian reward of heaven has no meaning. So without this construct of heaven and hell firmly in place, there is no meaning behind Jesus Christ sacrificing himself for the world's sin. Without sin, the whole thing falls apart as well. So without these words, and the serious implications they imply for you and I, none of this would exist. So Language creates all of our systems, and binds us to them.

Sometimes it feels good to get outside of language. Become a natural mystic. Feel the present moment through my bones and in the breeze. There is nothing that is not natural in this world, nothing that comes from nothing. When you see the world in a dewdrop, you have achieved something. When you see yourself in another person, you have achieved something. When you forget yourself in samadhi, you have started down a path. When there is nothing left to lose you may have understood something worthwhile. When love ceases to be a heart and becomes the glue, then life has meaning. But before meaning, understanding. The natural mystic opens the body and spirit to the everything. The understanding is primal, pre-language, pre-evolution, pre-birth. The patterns coalesce to illuminate but can only be glimpsed if the natural mystic resides inside. The natural mystic is the seed of humanity.

If Time & Space cease to be the factors that determine life's choices, what happens?

But then again, that's all a bunch of hokey pokey. Today is a beautiful day, and I can't wait to enjoy a walk down to the river.

Which way does the sun go?

We harvest the sunrays and forget about the past

We move on and on and on into the next moment

We let our bodies rest, eat, defecate

One day we see that sand is Miraculous

One day we see that there is

Nothing

That is not Amazing

The cats rest by our feet and face

The sunrays kiss our cheeks and burn our arms

One day we become sick and become afraid that there is

Nothing

That will not end it death

Our bodies ache, break, die

We let our minds soar, dive, and sleep

The dishes sit in the sink and stay dirty

Summer flies by like a fly in the sky.

The harvest is coming in and the air is becoming cool.

My family hosted a birthday dinner for my sister and I last night and I received a nice stone hammer.

Stone is always on my mind these days, I fear I may be becoming a simpleton.

Stone is second to nothing as a beautiful building material, but it doesn't have possess the flexibility of wood, but is as simple and direct.

Wood as lumber requires extreme attention paid to square, plumb, and flush.

An easier on the heart material provides more flexibility for the populace.

Eat Local Challenge

http://justfood.coop/

Take the Eat Local Challenge!
August 12th, 2008 by Joey

It is estimated that our food travels an average of 1,300 miles from field to fork. Eating food produced locally is often better for you, the environment, small family farmers and the local economy. But where do you start if you’d like to adopt a more regional diet? You can begin by taking the Eat Local Challenge from August 15-September 15.

How do I do it?

For the third year in a row, Just Food Co-op is challenging community members to eat 80 percent of their diet –that’s four out of five ingredients–from food produced in the five-state region for four weeks. Those taking the 80% challenge are Leading Locavores. Folks not quite ready to do 80% can still take the Challenge by becoming Local Learners. Local Learners pledge to eat five local meals per week. Anyone taking the challenge at either level can sign up at Just Food Co-op. The first 150 people to sign up will receive a free “Eat Local America” button.
Who else is participating?
This year, nearly 70 natural food co-ops across the nation are hosting their own Eat Local Challenges based on Just Food’s model. You can find more information on the Eat Local America Challenge at www.eatlocalamerica.coop. Just Food Co-op labels its locally produced foods to make them easier to find, and the Farmers Market and CSA farms are other great places to find local fare. Many local restaurants are also seeking local sources for their ingredients so they can support local farmers. Ask at your favorite restaurant to find out if they have local ingredients.
I need suggestions and inspiration!
In order to help inspire those who accept the Challenge, Just Food will have menu ideas available at the store and host a variety of events throughout the four weeks. You’ll find a complete schedule of events below. The Eat Local Challenge will kick off with a free showing of the documentary “Tableland” on Friday, August 15 at 7 p.m. in the Just Food Event Space, 516 Water Street S. in downtown Northfield. Please preregister by stopping in at the store or calling 507-650-0106. Those attending the film showing will enjoy a sampling of local treats available at Just Food.


FREE EVENTS DURING THE CHALLENGE:
Film Showing: Tableland
Don’t miss this beautiful documentary that celebrates the relationships that flourish around local food. Local snacks provided to those who preregister. Film runs approximately 75 minutes.
When: Friday, August 15, 7-8 p.m.
Cost: No charge. Please preregister at Just Food Co-op
Location: In the Just Food Event Space, 516 Water St. S.
Class: (Preregistration required- ask a cashier for details)
How to Eat Locally and In Season All Year Long
Olivia Frey will discuss how she prepares fruits, herbs, and vegetables by drying, freezing, and canning so they will last all year.
When: Wednesday, August 20, 7-8:30 p.m.
Cost: No charge. Please preregister at Just Food Co-op
Location: In the Just Food Event Space, 516 Water St. S.
Presentation: (Preregistration required- ask a cashier for details)
Local Longer: What can Northfield do to extend the growing season?
Join Angel Dobrow, Mary Ellen Frame, and Kathy Zeman as they provide information on the status of the Community Kitchen, the future of hoop houses (a structure that works as a greenhouse), and a model community root cellar. Facilitated by Erin Barnett.
When: Tuesday, August 26, 7-8:30 p.m.
Cost: No charge. Please preregister at Just Food Co-op
Location: In the Just Food Event Space, 516 Water St. S.
Book Discussion: The End of Food
Read the book “The End of Food,” then join Azna for a lively discussion.
When: Thursday, September 11, 7-8 p.m.
Cost: No charge. Please preregister at Just Food Co-op
Location: In the Just Food Event Space, 516 Water St. S.
Harvest Festival: September 13!
Celebrate fall and your success in taking the Eat Local Challenge in the Just Food parking lot on Saturday, September 13 from 11-2 for our Harvest Festival. You’ll enjoy live music, meet local producers and taste their delicious products, make your own crop art, pet a goat and more!
Posted in Co-op News, Eat Local

cool beans

some pictures of work

the day is almost over

the night sits carefully by my side, watching, waiting
my tireless belly grumbles
we have new salad greens soaking in the sink, bitter mustard greens and lettuce
a drop of sweat on my brow

we wait until the car starts, and the journey toward the end begins

Car crash

Well, I was in a fender bender yesterday and it freaked me out a bit. I smashed up the front of our car right good, and it is relatively undrivable now. The other car had a slight dent in it's bumper. Tells you how tough Ford escorts are. So we get to search for a new car. I'm just trying to relax and let things flow.

Anybody have a good used station wagon they want to sell?

Solstice

We had a wonderful solstice weekend. Thank you for enjoying it with us, it meant a lot to us.

The conversation was good, the weather was unbelievable, the water was clear, but the drive and mosquitoes sucked. I loved having everyone around and the food worked itself out and the beer was just enough. Thank you to all those who played music and sang and played games and enjoyed the plants and animals.

We were replenished and relaxed and intoxicated. The weekend went as well as it could have. A few folks missed out, but perhaps next year they can come.

We are planning on having a harvest festival on my 30th birthday party. Please come again and we will sample the fruits of the garden and enjoy the end of summer.

action, love

Life continues. Action leads to results. Love is the glue that binds life to action. We move on, the sun shines, work demands attention, bones become weary.

Some songs need to be sung. Some days need to be slept through. Sometimes food needs to be savored.

Today I want to savor life. I need to resolve not to rush by or ignore it. Fear creates blinders and defense behaviors that degrade love. Love deserves more then what fear offers.

Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer started a movement

Which is more than I can say about Al Franken. Jack lost the DFL nomination yesterday, but I think he won the hearts of many people who are looking for a voice of compassion, reason, and hope, a voice that is missing in our current political milieu. I volunteered for Jack's campaign because I thought he could help create a better America. A better America has got to be the goal of our political system, not this run-of-the-mill baloney that is the current modus operandi of the entrenched majority of those operating in the our government's hallways. We need visionaries to carry us forward through times that are inevitably going to be tough, through periods of our history that will call for inspired, rational, and compassionate leadership. Meanwhile, we are surrounded by those who think tomorrow will be exactly the same as today, a tragic fallacy that will perhaps doom us to become a society that will not stop our consumption of all the resources of the planet until the last drop of clean water has kissed the lips of the aristocracy. So we continue on through this fog of general ignorance and try to make a difference, because otherwise we know the world will continue to worsen: people will continue to starve, wars will rage across devastated landscapes, species will become extinct, and our economic security blanket will turn to rags and all our current riches will be illuminated as garbage.

Jack has started and sustained a progressive movement that will become a network of strength throughout Minnesota in our troubled time. There is nothing stronger and more stable then a grassroots movement, and we must continue to talk about the issues and join together when we can to create a better country. We must weave our lives together to become a fabric of peace in this world, in order to sustain life itself, and not give in to the violent mindset that is overtaking our society. I'm always amused by the term "Peace Activist" because I feel like the media is describing some sort of strange creature covered in peace buttons and frothing at the mouth, but in all reality I feel that we all want peace to some degree, deep down inside us. As the Buddhist monk and "Peace Activist" Thich Nhat Hanh says, "Peace is every step" and we all certainly took a few steps toward peace in the last few months, and we can continue taking our small steps of peace every moment, and every day.

I am not a Chicken Little, I am just a little chicken. I could have done more. I could have talked to more people about why I support Jack. Mostly I just wondered about why people were supporting Franken. I now see that the problem is that most people vote their identity, most people vote for who they think supports their values. So someone like Franken, who is a rich and famous TV star, connects with the deep-seated desires of the populace who would also like to become rich and famous, and they look on wealth and fame as an indicator of worth, in that if you have wealth and fame you are a better person then other lesser people. Am I being cynical or just cutting to the heart of the beast? I stood next to people at the convention who cackled like morons at every little joke that Al made, and I felt like they must live on another planet, spend time in different dimensions then I. I wasn't about to elect a man that made me feel comfortable and relaxed in a phony sort of way, I wanted a candidate that understood the issues deeply and was going to make the world better. I supported Jack because he understood the issues better, he most closely aligned with my values, and I identified with him as a person, especially as a spiritual man who has grown up in Minnesota and understands the environment we live in and the people who live here. I did not agree with Al's stance on the issues, did not align myself with his values, nor did I identify with him as a New York celebrity who just recently moved to Minnesota to bitch about neo-cons on Air America.

So now the Republican, Neo-Cons, Religious Right, and so forth are going to go apeshit on Al's ass. I mean, this is the kind of election that will make you throw out your TV and move to the wilderness, because it isn't going to be pretty. The Republicans have as much bad material on a Democratic candidate as they have ever wanted, even if it is mostly fluff and stupid jokes. The more you see the fluff and stupid jokes in the media, the more you will wonder why you, Minnesota DFLers, endorsed Al for Senate.

In all reality, I saw Jack as my last hope as a reformer of a system that is corrupt, unfair, and unbalanced, and without him in the race I do not see positive change happening in the future. I am fed-up with people who do not use their minds to understand the world and how it works, and just go with their feelings and inclinations. Comfort and security only get you so far, and then you have to open your eyes and understand that everything you ever thought is nonsense, and after you awake from ignorance you have to fight for peace and justice. We need to create a Green Economy now, in order to sustain our lifestyles and the planet, and to give us the platform on which we can work toward peace in the world. But the platform on which we stand must be constructed now, because the land on which we walk and work is slowly sinking into a giant sinkhole, a sinkhole that has been created by us. When we can't afford to even fill our gas tank, or buy enough food to feed our families, or turn on the lights at night, by God we will have a hard time working for peace in the world, with empty bellies and darkness all around us.

Peace and Justice, Building a Green Economy, Universal Single-Payer Healthcare...these issues are definitely not side issues, Mr Franken, as you may or may not understand. These are the fundamental building blocks of our very lives, of life on this planet. I issue to you, Al Franken, on behalf of myself and any other progressive DFLers who feel disenfranchised with the way that the DFL endorsement went down ; the way that you used your insider contacts as a fundraiser and political talk-show host to gain a competitive edge over a more Wellstone-like opponent (you know, an underdog?), or the way that you appeared on the Letterman show and used that spot as a national showcase of your campaign ad; a challenge that must be met. You are the DFL candidate for Senate, and in essence you are representing all of the people who worked so hard on Jack's campaign because of their sincere hope that a Senator could actually work hard for peace and justice, a green economy, and universal healthcare, amongst other essential issues. I challenge you to really take on Wellstone's mantle and be a candidate like Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, who is passionate about the essential issues that will affect us all dramatically in the near future, and have been affecting people all over the world for a very long time. If you can do this, if you can get over your own fame and fortune, then maybe you can actually be a Senator from and for Minnesota.

Digging In

Check out our new blog, I'll be posting there mostly this summer.

digging-in.blogspot.com

why or because

I've been thinking a lot about simple concepts lately, like "home" and "friendship". It seems that the simpler the concept the vaguer the framework can be, yet the simpler the concept the more important it is in the context of life itself. The simple concept of home can encompass so many types of structures and areas that it simply boggles the mind. The term "ecology" comes from the greek word "oikos" which means "home" and "ology" the study of. So the idea is that the earth is our basic home, and on it we create different areas and structures that we call home, but in all reality the earth is the basic home of life. I see contentment and peace in those who have come to understand this basic premise. The earth is where our specific brand of life has evolved. "Evolution" is such a simple concept, such an elegant theory. It stand alone as perhaps the most important theory to grasp in order to really understand what life is all about. Maybe this is why fundamentalist have no grasp on reality. Nevertheless, evolution explains how we have come to this miraculous place in the history of the planet, but it doesn't explain why exactly. But the question of why is amorphous. There are no why's in the world, there is just because. Things happen and things don't happen. The why question is the greatest fallacy mankind has conjured from the depths of nothing. The why question is the question that creates religion and war. So I'd like to forget about the why and focus on the because. Things pass along into the river, but the river doesn't tell you why, plants sprout and die, but there is no reasoning behind it all. Life is itself and answer to nonlife.

Speaking of life, I have to go to work now. We're starting a job in Stillwater today. Hope the weather holds and the job is pleasant.

the time is nigh

Yes the time grows nigh to plant our seedlings. The May weather is fickle and strange, but we persevere. Hopefully after next week there will not be a late killing frost up north. This is all we can hope for.

Spring is melting into summer and work is going well. I need more showers then normal. I've worn out a pair of gloves.

I need to go refresh my kombucha mother now. Peace

Birthday

It's the SO's birthday on Friday, and we and a friend are going to go to the Friends School sale and get some precious little plants. Then we are going to go to a baby goat and duckling party in Wisconsin, and then up north to prepare the garden for the summer. We have big and exciting plans. Hopefully i will be able to keep you posted.

Local Roots just finished up my friend JB and JSP's place a few days a go. We did a boulder wall and mulch patch, and we will be installing shrubs soon. I like how it turned out. It was the first project we did for my friends so I was really nervous because I wanted everything to go perfectly, and I hope they like the results. It's definitely a transformed yard.

Will update with photos later when my camera has some batteries.

My car smells like Egyptian walking onions

and I don't care! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Our friend JB is in the hospital again for another round of Interleukin-2 treatment. His last experience there wasn't particularly pleasant, and I ask all of those people who read this to send good vibes, to pray, to meditate, to do whatever you can do to send healing energy his way as he lays in the hospital receiving medications.

We love you JB and Jason and hope to see you soon.


"Outside, the freezing desert night.
This other night inside grows warm, kindling.
Let the landscape be covered with thorny crust.
We have a soft garden in here.
The continents blasted,
cities and little towns, everything
become a scorched, blackened ball.

The news we hear is full of grief for that future,
but the real news inside here
is there's no news at all.

*

Friend, our closeness is this:
anywhere you put your feet, feel me
in the firmness under you.

How is it with this love,
I see your world and not you?

*

Listen to presences inside poems,
Let them take you where they will.

Follow those private hints,
and never leave the premises."

-Rumi

Plastic water bottles can cause cancer

April 22, 2008
WELL
A Hard Plastic Is Raising Hard Questions

By TARA PARKER-POPE
Are toxic plastics lurking in your kitchen?

It’s a question many families are asking after reports last week that a chemical used to make baby bottles, water bottles and food containers is facing increasing scrutiny by health officials in Canada and the United States.

The substance is bisphenol-a, or BPA, widely used in the making of the hard, clear and nearly unbreakable plastic called polycarbonate. Studies and tests show that trace amounts of BPA are leaching from polycarbonate containers into foods and liquids.

While most of the focus is on products for children, including clear plastic bottles and canned infant formula, the chemical is also used in food-storage containers, some clear plastic pitchers used for filtered water, refillable water bottles and the lining of soft-drink and food cans.

While there is debate about how much of a health worry BPA really is, retailers including Wal-Mart have said they are withdrawing baby products made with it. Nalgene, the maker of a popular sports bottle, and the baby-products maker Playtex have announced they will stop using it.

Here are answers to some common questions about BPA.

What is the evidence that BPA is harmful?

It all comes from animal studies. Rat pups exposed to BPA, through injection or food, showed changes in mammary and prostate tissue, suggesting a potential cancer risk. In some tests of female mice, exposure appeared to accelerate puberty.

A draft report from the National Toxicology Program, part of the Department of Health and Human Services, notes that there is no direct evidence that human exposure to BPA harms reproduction or infant development. “I don’t think there’s anything in this brief that should lead to alarm,” said Dr. Michael D. Shelby, director of the Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction, who oversaw the report. “It means we’ve got a limited amount of evidence from some studies that were done in laboratory animals.”

The main concern is the possible risk to infants and pregnant women, although Canada has begun a study to monitor BPA exposure among about 5,000 people to assess any danger to adults.

More here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/22/health/22well.html?em&ex=1209096000&en=8a1d4bc01b9099f4&ei=5087%0A

First Food

We have tasted our first arugula of the season, stuff that I tried to grow a couple months ago, but then I gave up and it came up amidst other seedlings that we planted. It was a surprising amount from just being set under grow lights, and next year I am growing tons more. I just can't get over the thought of harvesting fresh arugula while snow is still coming down.

Very cool PBS show from Vermont

Permaculture show from Vermont:









Make sure to check out the other parts of each episode on youtube...

Leatherman Pruner/multitool

This has got to be the cream of the crop when it comes to pruners/multitools:

http://www.leatherman.com/products/tools/genus/default.asp

I have to admit I want one, but I love my Felco pruner and my Leatherman Wave forever. It just might be nice to combine them....

erratic entities

The sun has started to shine in earnest and all of us mammals are excited about basking in it, enjoying the warmth of that massive nuclear ball that provides us with the radiation we need to sustain our lives.

We have seedlings started and designs in the works for our gardens, and the more work we do, the more work there is. We have to design a a windbreak that protects a 100'x50' garden that lies behind the shop, with south and west exposure. The northwesterly winds are a hindrance to the garden in the spring. So far we are thinking about a polyculture of red cedar, highbush cranberry, korean pine nut, jack pine, and a dogwood. We are also looking to plant some red osier dogwood over on the north side of the pond, along with maybe some serviceberries.

First project for Local Roots is almost underway, I'm exited about getting out there in the sun. Meanwhile I'm stuck at home trying to paint the trim in the hallway for a little cash.

My russian comfrey plants are growing crazily. I can't wait to get them into the ground, as I hear they do not like to be potted, although at this point they seem as happy as any plant I've seen in a pot.

We have a variety of hops rhizomes that are ready to go into the ground, to join the others around the perimeter of the back garden. This year we are going to add compost to the soil when we plant them, because last year we didn't and the hops grew weakly, which surprised us as we have a couple hops vines in the backyard that grow like crazy in poor soil.

We have most of our seeds, except for the Fedco seeds, so I can't wait to get those. Once we get our diggingin.org site up and ready we will be posting inventories of seeds, plantings, designs, and all kinds of fun stuff. Meanwhile, I'll be posting random observations and info on here.

I might be helping a friend build some coldframes later on today.

What are you up to this spring?

up at 5

I'm up early this morning, and I wish I could go back to bed.

We had a lazy Saturday yesterday. Went to Present Moment to pick up some healing herbs, then checked out Urban Earth Coop to see what they were all about. I can envision them growing bigger and giving classes, as they are in a great spot in south Minneapolis.

THen we stopped by my friend Heidi's house to check out some windows that she had dumpster dived. They were sweet and now a couple are in our car, and I hope to make some cold frames today for the upcoming growing season. While we were there, were we given beers, and the afternoon stretched outward.

As we settled in the comfortable clubhouse, we sipped beers and watched birds twitter and squirrels act indifferent. Overall it was a lovely afternoon, and then Heidi's neighbor came over to invite us to eat BBQed venison, which we did, along with some baked potatoes, organic butter and sourcream, baba ganoush and eggplant thai dip, and I tried to cut up three tasty mangoes, all provided by H and R. It was great food and we had a good time. It was a lot of beers and sun so we came home and went to bed somewhat early.

Today I hope to clean up the place a little and make the cold frames, and get our seed orders in finally. We have some seedlings poking their cotyledons up out of the potting soil, and I can't wait to see everything growing.

pint of gold

We tapped about 10 trees on Sunday and most of those were SIlver maples, not a native species but it turns out they have about 3% sugar content in their sap.

There is something about the generosity of the maples as we tap them. They give up their sap without a whisper. They heal themselves with their substantial plant powers, fast and slow.

And then we boil and boil, and finally the sap lies sticky and viscous, a potent syrup of brown. A beautiful process in all.