01 August 2010

Today is a day off. The Earth Activist Training is at it's mid-point. The first week has come and gone. In the yard outside the earthship there are newly sheetmulched beds, a new fire pit area, an herb spiral, and the base for a cob oven. Last night we held a public Lammas ritual in Montpelier. Over 300 people came! It was really fun and energizing. I knew a small fraction of the folks who showed up, which was particularly wonderful; to have offered something to the community and to have so many people show up really affirms the value of the endeavor. Maybe I'll host more public rituals.

It is sunny and promises to be hot today. I think I will find a place to go for a swim.

17 July 2010

Wow. I am really exhausted. I haven't worked this yard in years. It's great! We are getting so much done here in the earthship at Neruda. I don't use names in my blog as a general practice so this could sound confusing, but it isn't really. There is a couple that already live here. They built the earthship. They are both involved in preparing for EAT. One of them is doing a lot of wiring, plumbing, and other construction, on the kitchen in I daresay our side of the earthship. He set up the gas stoves yesterday, and worked on the sink today, and built a platform for the two refrigerators. I built a counter space with shelves for some countertops from Freecycle. Later we cooked dinner in the new kitchen.

EAT work exchange folks are arriving. More are expected tomorrow night. The teachers arrive next week and then on July 25 we kick it off for 2 weeks of permaculture, activism, and magic. It will be a blast. Along with the course, and with valued help, I am also coordinating a sneak preview on July 24 of Starhawk and Donna Read's new film, Permaculture - The Growing Edge, and on July 31 a public Lammas ritual in Montpelier, VT. Lots of people are putting out lots of energy so these events can happen. It's very exciting to be part of so many people working together to make good things available.

Preparing the earthship for EAT is also preparing the earthship for me to live in after EAT. The way it is now, with some winterizing, will be ok for this winter. Next spring we will build the three bedroms; one for me, one for a friend who lives 1/2 time in Jamaica, and one for another friend. Next year we will build those and also get to some mad gardening all over this hillside, as well as raising some animals like sheep, a bullock, chickens (which we already have!) and more. It's what I have always wanted, all my life; to live in the country and grow food and share space and work hard and also relax a lot. It's an interesting time of the world for this to be happening in my life. Feels like just in the nick of time.

Another aspect of doing all this work and focusing on these events is I don't have time to read the news. I barely have time to keep up with my scrabble games on facebook. No news is a relief. It's like I plugged an energy leak. The amount of energy it takes to worry and be pissed off or whatever one feels after ingesting "news" is better spent planting a garden or feeding chickens.

I'm taking a hiatus from Paradigms for the rest of the summer. I did 53 episodes in 56 weeks. I am due for a break so I can recharge that part of my brain with new experiences and ideas. I will start it up again in September.

What's going on with you? Whoever you are reading this, how about leaving a comment about what's going on in your life? I'd love that. Be well.

love,
Baruch

11 July 2010

Summer 2010 will be remembered as pivotal in the war on the environment. With the help of British Petroleum, the current administrator of the corporation of the USA, Barack Obama, has killed the Gulf of Mexico to make an oil sea. This will allow for oil extraction from water, simpler than all those expensive wells and pipelines.

The corporation of the USA is now exposed fully. We know they target and murder people around the world. We know the players are owned by corporations; banks, oil companies, big pharma, etc. We know the elections are bought and paid for. And we feel the sizzling heat of global warming while corporate government agencies pretend to take action, all the while maximizing profit for the few while creating policies that destroy the Earth and kill indigenous and "poor" people globally.

Still we allow sociopaths to be in power, to tell us what to do, from the psychopaths in government to the thugs called "police." This is what we have created, and we are the ones who can uncreate it. You can help. Question authority. Use less, much less! Eschew money, instead trade barter gift! Every little thing we do, and we all do, that connects with oil or money, helps keep the monstrous machine in motion. The way to stop it is to refuse to feed it. Become downwardly mobile financially (most of us are already anyhow) grow food, buy local if you must buy, build soil, and demand accountability from local, state, and federal representatives of the corporate government. You won't get accountability, but you will piss them off and use their time, and that's worth a lot.

27 June 2010

We seem to be having one of those wet summers. Hmm. I have high hopes that it will rain less in July and August. Of course all this rain means that the seasonal jungle which is Vermont in the summer is in full growing madness. It's not even July and there are squash on the plants in the garden I planted in Northfield. There are no-see-ems out already.

I am fully engaged in the preparations for EAT. Yesterday my friend from Jamaica and I picked up our first truckload of compost from the incredibly beautiful organic dairy farm of some friends in Barre. This farm is so gorgeous and so well kept, it should be a heritage farm or something. The cows are so healthy and happy, the barn clean and organized, the fields lush, the views extraordinary. Blew me away. Today we will sheet mulch with that compost and get the EAT kitchen garden started finally!