This Week for Me – Busy as a Bee!

Tags

Bees, local

Wow.  I continue to be amazed at how life fills all the time you have!  I really thought when I retired from the rat race that I’d have too much free time and might even get bored.  Especially when I headed to the Harn on my own, I thought there could be a chance of feeling like I was too isolated and alone.  But that is SO FAR from my reality.

What’s been happening in the past week for me? 

Last weekend Dan and I were down in Alexandria.  Dan helped do some electrical work for a friend and we got to check in with Mom and Tom a bit.  We took a bit of a day off Monday as I think I got exposed to a cold virus while in the Cities.  It was a cold, rainy day anyway and, while I didn’t really have yucky cold symptoms, I did have some morning congestion and just felt like resting after a few busy days.  So there was lots of cuddling with Lucky and some napping.  I did check out the pond Dan dug while I was away and that was pretty cool; loaded videos on that and the potato planting the next morning as we headed to Bemidji.

We were able to finally secure a cistern to replace our broken one.  Kind of bummed that we are going from 1500 gallons to 500 gallons but it’s better than just losing all that water back to the land.  It’s been a pretty dry spring so we need water for the gardens.  Even with hugelkulture, we still have to water some of the time when we go for a long stretch without any rain.  Plus we are nurturing the orchard plants a bit and I continue to plant more stuff!  Connie and Mom, and now Sherry and Char are making the Harn grounds GROW.

We gave our presentation on the Harn for the Leech Lake Tribal College and it was good to present our story as a couple of new homesteaders focused on sustainability and living in harmony with Earth, Water, and Other Beings in Nature.  We were able to discuss some of the things that we are doing to live more lightly and one of the attendees noted that making a commitment to changing just one thing can be a step in moving forward.  I agree.  So, what’s the one I recommend?  OK, my pet peeve is watching someone wash dishes or brush their teeth while the water runs continuously.  So my suggestion is to change how you brush.  I use a glass of water to brush my teeth.  I dip the brush in the water and suds up my teeth.  When I’m finished with all the brushing, I take a mouthful of water and rinse, spitting the rinse water over my brush.  I do this a couple times and then rinse the brush with water from the glass a final time.  All the water is used.  None just runs down the drain without doing a job for me.  If we all did this, we could save thousands of gallons a year!  I also use a plastic tub when washing dishes for wash and rinse water which drastically reduces the water needed.  Any water I run is over these tubs so it is used a couple times.

I spent a couple days working with my bee hives.  On Wednesday I checked the hives for the first time since receiving them.  {Every day I’d hoped to check up to this point had been windy or cold and just not optimal for checking on the bees.  It was still windier than I’d like but it was sunny and far too long since I’d gotten the girls, so I went for it.}

First I opened up the weaker hive and saw kind of what I expected… low population and little brood.  There was honey and pollen being stored but it just seemed like not a lot happening.  Also, I noted lots of dead bees on the bottom board under the frames and it just seemed sloppy – quite un-beelike.  I was not able to find a queen and wondered if they had one.  Next I went to the active hive.  This hive had a damaged bottom board so I’d gotten a hive box with bottom board from Angie at Split Oak Farms and planned to transfer all the frames from the old hive box to this new box.  The old bottom board on the hive box had a space at the back lower corner where the bees seemed to love exiting and entering the hive.  Luckily, the new hive box from Angie had a hole in the back which I knocked out to hopefully give them a similar situation for access.

I began by pulling the hive box with bottom board from the pallet and then I put the new hive box on the pallet where the stronger hive box had been.  When I opened up the hive, I was ecstatic to find a hustling, bustling bunch. I started pulling frames to see how things looked and there were LOADS of bees.  I pulled each frame and placed it into the new hive box.  There was a little tightness but everything fit. This hive box hadn’t been used in a while so I had to squish the frames in a bit at one point.  I was trying to check for the queen but mostly I just wanted to see what was happening and get them re-housed in the new hive.  It was obvious there was a queen as I saw LOTS of brood (workers and drones).  I kept moving frames and ALL the frames had activity.  I thought there might be a queen cell developing (which can be a sign of pending swarm – the hive will start to raise a new queen so the old queen can take a part of the colony and head out to find a new space while the new queen continues in the old location).  With all this activity, I knew it was time to add a second hive box for the bees to expand their operations. I again did not see the queen but, since I was working on moving them, and I was struggling with the smoker staying primed, I just got them moved with the new addition and closed everything up.

I planned to call Lewis when I got back to the Harn but… as is typical, something distracted me.  I don’t know what I did really with the rest of the day but I kept busy.  I spoke with a retired friend in Alex this weekend and she agreed that this is how life works for her too.  She is constantly busy but couldn’t tell you with what.  That is totally it!  Maybe it’s cooking, cleaning up, reading, getting a call – whatever, it definitely makes for staying busy!  And I’m super happy.

Thursday I called Lewis to ask his advice on the bee situation.  He noted that he’d given a frame of brood to the weaker colony prior to giving it to me, which he had told me when we picked up the hives, but we agreed that didn’t seem to have done the trick.  He suggested moving a second frame of capped brood (mostly developed and ready to hatch worker bees) from the strong to the weak hive.  BUT… if I did this, I had to be SURE not to transfer a frame with the queen from the strong hive into the weak hive. I questioned whether that queen would be in the top hive box, but Lewis was sure the queen would still be in the lower hive box, since I’d just added the top box yesterday.  Since I was going to be heading to Alex to meet with Mom the next day, I knew I needed to do this that day.  I tried calling in a beekeeper friend but couldn’t get in touch with anyone so… I headed out to give it a whirl!

I pulled the weak hive top cover and checked a couple center frames – smoker working better today but I was still nervous about how much time I’d have so I worked quickly.  I was able to find the queen on the weak hive right away!  I pulled a side frame with almost no activity and put it aside.  Then I headed to the strong colony and pulled the top cover and flipped it over.  I set the top hive on the cover so just in case my queen was in top, she wouldn’t drop into the grass.  I pulled a frame and checked it for brood and didn’t see the queen. As I placed the frame into the weak colony, Dan asked about the bees on the frame… I hadn’t asked Lewis about that so, I hope those worker bees are OK in their new location.  🙂 A fellow beekeeper thinks that perhaps those bees will fly back to their home hive.  We’ll see.  I looked at some more frames (spent more time than I realized…) but didn’t find her.  I am sure hopeful she is still in the strong colony hive box!   I did confirm a couple queen cells developing in the strong colony so, I should be OK regardless but it definitely will lose me a few weeks if I put the strong queen in the weak hive box.  So much to learn…

Here’s a couple videos:

• First Check of the Hives: https://youtu.be/Dxp_bTV8hmU
• Changing a Frame of Brood: https://youtu.be/eDmO4rZopS4

In addition to beekeeping, I also started some seeds that afternoon.  I know, I’m WAY behind schedule.  But, we’ll see.  Some people aren’t putting out plants until mid-June.  I figure we’ll see how things go and I’ll probably get a few plants from the nursery or friends.  Char says she’s got a few things for me.  God love her!  She’s really helping this homestead to start out with a lot of help garden wise.  Oh, and we watched the Bee Movie – you know, the one with Jerry Seinfeld – and I realized how much of a load of crap that movie is!  I mean, the main character is a BOY BEE!  And so much of the film focuses on guys doing all this work.  What BULLSHIT!  It’s the GIRL BEES that do ALL the work!  I mean, besides that donation of sperm from the drones, everything that happens in the hive is done by the females.  Ah, so frustrating.  It’s definitely an interesting experience to watch this movie now that I know so much more about bees.  It’s fascinating to see all the social aspects of that film – the mosquito is a black dude (Chris Rock – a fave!) and there is so much on that topic I could spout off about too.  Anyway, if you watch it, look for all the conditioning.  It’s annoying but helps you realize how we socialize ourselves with film.  Guess I expected more from Jerry.  Oh, and we saw lightening bugs tonight when we went out to pee.  A little phenology for you.

I started off Memorial Day weekend (holidays mean nothing to me anymore) with a trip to Mom’s.  I was getting the truck title transferred and was gonna go with her to the doctor.  I am SO GLAD I got there in time for that as I think it was a help for me to be with her.  She did SO much better getting this shot than she’d done in the past.  I think part of it was being a tough momma in front of her baby.  🙂  I was also able to sneak in a visit to Cherry Street Books to see Anne and that was wonderful.  I am so glad she was hired to take my vacancy – I definitely feel like she’s a well-read and customer-focused person.  I was able to see book club buddy Mary too and that was fun.  I really miss everyone from the book store world.

I also stopped by Special Memories to see Marlys. She’d just put away a puzzle so I didn’t get a chance to find a few pieces but it was really great to catch up with my old friend.  And then I headed to 2 Guyz Pizza for my favorite GF pizza.  Mom’s favorite is the 2 Guyz Favorite – so that’s easy to remember!  They are top notch!  http://www.2guyzpizza.com/ I think Tom was happy to have pizza too so we had a great evening.  Even opened up a bottle of Sauterne – definitely Tom’s fave!   After dinner, Mom and I headed down to the lake shore for some plant gathering – she had some iris and a French lilac she wanted me to have.  Plus we had to burn sticks!  (Mom’s second favorite thing after mowing the lawn on her rider.)  All in all, it was a relaxing and fun evening.

Saturday I packed up and then Mom and I grabbed a couple of “Rita’s Hostas” for me to take up to the Harn.  She threw in a few more things that had grown into the driveway while I showered.  More planting!  And then I headed north as Mom got on her mower. 🙂

I was headed to the Nemeth Art Center for the Beagle and Wolf Bookstore’s book signing for Amy Thielen’s Give a Girl a Knife.  This is a fun memoir of her adventures in NY and in coming home to MN.  She really recommends coming home.  I hope to read it soon.  So, anyway, I was hoping to hook up with new friends Bruce and Cheryl and also to see Amy’s husband Aaron again; we’d met him briefly at Bruce & Cheryl’s.  He adorable.  He had a load of colostrum for Amy.  The only reason I knew this word was because I nursed my son so I was a little concerned about what she might be making with it.  I had to ask.  I introduced myself to her at the end of the gig and she said she actually froze that, took it to NY, and made them a pudding out of it!  (It was cow colostrum.)  I also explained to her about how her show gave my mom hope for me to be a TV star when I moved out to the woods – not gonna happen – and how my husband was tired of hearing about how adorable Aaron is.  Not sure that was what she wanted to hear so I didn’t tell her that he’s now going to get tired of me talking about how adorable SHE is.  And she is!!  She is so tiny!  But she’s a giant bubble of personality. The event was Standing Room Only. She did a short reading from the book on arrival and people who were late missed it.  It was a cute story on working in NY while pregnant.  She’s super cheeky!  I realized her short reading was so she could spend the majority of the time socializing with her fans.  She was so happy to see everyone that I swore she knew them all for years.  Aaron assured me she didn’t know the people she was with when I mentioned to him how she seemed to know EVERYONE.  She is just a super fun and hospitable Midwestern girl.  Just don’t call her a Homestead Honey… or so says Bruce. 🙂

I have to share that this Nemeth Art Center is a hidden gem.  http://www.nemethartcenter.org/about.html  They have a standing Gabor and Edith Nemeth Study Collection that includes 42 European paintings, some dating back to the 16th Century.  They accompany this with amazing contemporary art. There is also a quaint historical museum downstairs.  What a fun place.  And the guy who runs it, Michael Dagun, is pretty amazing too.  Friendly and welcoming – you need to check this place out.  There’s an upcoming Opening Reception & Symposium June 24th from 2 – 5 pm for their current exhibition.  I’m hoping to make it…

After that fun I headed to the Mississippi Headwaters Hostel to talk with Sara about work schedule plans.  I stopped by Rock Creek to fill up on gas, pulling in right behind Kelly.  I think I came around the corner a bit too fast for her…  I swung wide at the corner so I wasn’t RIGHT on her butt but I’m thinking it was a little too close for a momma with kids in the car.    So much for not tailgating people anymore!  I guess it is rare these days but I definitely see how when I’ve got a TON of stuff happening, it’s easier to slip into driving a bit faster too.  Have to watch that…

I ended up spending quite a bit of time talking with the guests at the hostel and checking in with Sara – it had been a while since I’d seen her.  I imagined, years ago when she was about the only person we knew up here, that once we lived here, we’d see her all the time.  But she’s so busy and we’re so busy that it’s lucky if I see her once a month!  We talked about everything that’s been going on since we last chatted and then put in some screens and moved storm windows down to the basement so I earned a few bucks too!  I really love working at the hostel; it’s fun meeting people from all over.  There are loads of great stories to hear.

Lucky was happy to have me home to feed him later that evening.  He whined and cried to me about how lonely he’d been.  And then he curled up with me a kept me warm all night long.

Dan’s coming home from his weekend at the Boundary Waters for Cliff’s Bachelor party – sounds like they had a super time.  It will be good to see him.  And we’ll start another busy week.  We’ll be heading to Char & Wyatt’s for a cookout Memorial Day but will likely also sneak in some Yarn Basket shop organization and maybe putting up some light fixtures.  There’s always something to keep you busy once you’re “retired”!!

 

Rec Lab 2017… and We’re on the Radio!

Tags

DIY, fun, Rec Lab

Well, Rec Lab 2017 was another wonderful week of seeing people I love and making Polymer Clay art.  But a big thrill mid-week was listening to the Call of the Wild show about the Harn.  https://beta.prx.org/stories/203798  What a thrill to hear how Milt Lee made a beautiful show of the much longer time we spent interviewing and touring at the Harn back on April 7th.  In 8 minutes, he covers a lot about our place.

It sure was nice to have a piece of home during Rec Lab.  The week at Lab is SO FULL of activity that I had to listen to half the interview before Tuesday’s Write Your Bio session and the second half just after class.  The Write Your Bio Fireside presentation of stories written during this Creative Activity session was just beautiful.  One of my favorite parts was when Ann read her story about her Uncle Galen (a long time Rec Labber who is sweet and funny) and she became so overwhelmed that another classmate came up to finish the reading for her.  Mimi started out strong but within a couple sentences, she too became overwhelmed.  Both finished their portions of the reading in tears but it was one of the most beautiful moments when they hugged at the end of it.  It was a wonderful example of how the beauty of writing can not only help us retain our stories but also find connection with each other.  This seemed to be a strand of continuity throughout this week at Rec Lab.

Our opening night of Lab included a Fireside of Stories giving various perspectives on how Rec Lab has impacted our lives.  Among the speakers were Lynn and Rhoda who spoke on the origins of Rec Lab, Gretchen on how a class can affect you by reading an A-Z poem she wrote during a previous Lab, Jane on how being a great creative artist is not a requirement for attending Lab, Mike on how we receive help and offer help to each other, and Katherine on how we can find acceptance just where we are in our lives.  I think it was a beautiful representation of the many ways that Lab brings us joy.  Colleen’s Joy for the Journey theme for Fireside this year made for many lovely nights spent in contemplating our joy before we headed to bed.  Or… as a brief, quiet respite between dinner/dancing and MORE CRAFTING!  I spent most nights in the Polymer Clay room continuing to work on my projects.

One of my favorite projects this week was a Fairy Door made for friend Char’s new Yarn Basket shop.  This photo shows it prior to baking and before I got the “knitting needles” (two little straight pins donated by BJ) in place.  I loved the mixed color I got with the lavender and metallic blue clays, the wood grain effects I copied from an example on Pinterest, the sweet roses, and the little yarn balls as a door decoration which were a perfect addition for a Yarn Shop Fairy Door!

Laura Burlis is an excellent instructor and helps each of us learn new techniques that we can use to continue instruction with people when we head back home.  I’m looking forward to having some friends over to make some lovely little turtles, ladybugs and other fun charms.  This year many made fairy houses and little gnomes and wizards as well in Polymer Clay.  This class is so fun that we often have visitors who stay to watch our work or check out our progress through the week. You can read more about Laura here: http://lolaartistsmn.blogspot.com/2014/07/laura-burlis-turns-polymer-clay-into.html?m=1

The one project I didn’t bring home was a Bottle of Hope.  The Polymer Clay Guild Laura belongs to does a project where they gather empty chemo vials and decorate them with clay, returning them to the hospital for patients to take home to brighten their days.  I used my favorite colors to decorate a whimsical jar that I hope someone will love.  The photo with me and the bottle was taken with my instructor and friend, Laura.  I also included a photo of Gretchen who made a lovely gift for her friend Alan along with a beautiful fairy house.  Everyone’s projects turned out so lovely!

Here are some photos of Friends’ work (Jenny’s painting and Will’s Clay and costumes by Jami, Christine and Tina):

There were lots of new things this year at Lab and some were a great success and some I know will be improved even further in 2018.  We had a LOT of information on classes prior to arriving at Lab and, once at Lab, had lots of info on where/when classes would take place.  Our implementation of Craft Talk (in previous years we did a Craft Walk) was OK but we hopefully will make that better next year.  Opening Night “Northland Derby” was tremendous with amazing food, games and decorations.  And the theme made for a laugh-filled Closing Night presentation created by Laura Burlis with loads of improv by the many Labbers in the show.  This show is our chance to poke some fun at the new Instructors and Discussion Leaders for the year’s Lab.  I really loved the bit on Paul’s Fly Tying class by Mike and Russ and the sister act of June and Gail on the Nature Pendants (by Kim) and Nature Hikes (by Dianne).  Ryan brought levity with his documentarian role (his REAL LIFE job).  The Basket girls (Amy, Hailey & Heather) were hilarious as were Lutz, Nick and Jacob as the “Horses” on their brooms and vacuum cleaners.  But my faves were likely Tina and Jenny who depicted our Energy Discussion Leaders Tina Simonetta-Samuels and Christine Simonetta.  They had me rolling on the floor, as were Tina and Christine!  You can see more about the Eden Energy Medicine the Discussion Leaders shared here: http://www.innersource.net/innersource/

Funny things I learned this year at Lab:

• There is an uncanny a resemblance between Jane and Nancy. (Also between Linda and Anita and apparently between me and Krista and Heather…)
• Lots of people enjoy dressing as poop collectors. (There were 6 of us at the Derby party – no fancy hats for us!!  Poo Crew from Iowa, me, Alan and the Discussion Leaders all donned our worst and swept up the Chocolate Bit-o-Honey poops!)
• Earthworms are BAD. (They eat all the duff – leaf matter – leaving nothing to protect the little seedling trees!)

Our week ended with a display at Art Show.  I will say this was a quite nice part of the week.  This had little to do with it being my committee and more to do with the many hands that jumped in to make it wonderful and, of course, the stunning array of art presented in the show.  There were several folks who helped set up and host the event (Mary L, Jewitt, Hailey, Jenny, Mary R, Vanjie – and whomever I forgot in all the hustle!) and the music truly made us look professional with Harp by Jacob and Keyboards, Guitar, Violin and Singing by the Jam Session crew (Jean, Jewitt, Marti, Nancy and Rhoda).  Thanks to Marti for getting that all in place for the Show.  I was so tickled with how it all fell into place.  I hope to get a video up soon of the event but editing my footage is still in process.  Watch for a link in next week’s blog…

There is just never enough time to do all the crafts you’d like.  I spent most of my time in Polymer Clay with a couple days in Write Your Bio and Yoga.  I also got in a Nature Walk with Dianne that taught me much about spring flowers, birds and worms.  A Naturalist by training, she gives a professional take to this Creative Activity!  And I made one of the two Book Group sessions as books are a BIG love for me.  I only taught a one-session class on Vision Boards / Dream Pages, but with First Day and Bulletin Board work, as well as Art Show and Tech Support, it seemed I didn’t have time for as much Creative Activity as I’ve smashed into the week in the past.  I wish I’d been able to check out the Jam Sessions with Jewitt and Marti, the Loom Weaving with Hailey, Paper Crafts with Amy, Heather and Paula, Cooking with Gail, Caning with Kathy, Silverwork with Alan, and Woodworking with Gerry and Abby.  I LOVE lathes.  But there is the Notebook (done this year by Heidi and Katherine with photos by Paul) that gives details on all the Creative Activities so I hope to be able to try some of these things on my own.

I hope you too are busily creating as we make our way through Spring.  Us Minnesotans are mostly still just waiting for the snow to stop…

Busy First Week of Homesteading at the Harn

Tags

Freedom

Dan and I have made it through our first week of retirement at the Harn and it seems we’re busier than ever.  I have told many people that once you retire, it’s not about taking it easy.  Instead, life seems to be busier than it’s ever been before!

Dan says he not really retired, he just has a new boss. He claims to be the Head Maintenance Technician and Assistant Grounds Keeper at the Harn (working for me!). You need to be sure to read that as the Technician of Head Maintenance.  So far, it’s going good.  Pretty sweet job as he gets to sleep with the boss AND after a grueling day, health care benefits include shoulder rubs… from that same boss!  I’m pretty sure there will be no sexual harassment claims.

Since we’re still seeing cold temps most mornings, I continue to let him sleep late.  This is a real treat for him after the last few years of O-Dark-Thirty workdays.  Dan is NOT a morning person.  Once the weather warms, I foresee us hitting the bricks, actually the dirt, EARLY more often than not. But time will tell on that one.

Though we’ve had some later starts to the real workdays, we’ve gotten much accomplished.  Since Dan’s retirement we have:

• Hung baskets on the ceiling to free up shelf space in the kitchen.
• Cleared the frost heave at Garage Door and Porch Doors, replacing the pallet at one and adding rocks at the other.
• Spread clover at both Porch Doors and in the Driveway.
• Gathered wood in the forest as we went out to check mail.  [This is a becoming a daily routine.  See below.]
• Built a bonfire and stored a box of wood for inside.
• Moved all the furniture in the living room again to put the sofa back where it was… As Dan says, “We move things at the Harn.”
• Built our humanure station and dumped nine buckets from the last six months.
• Interviewed for a local radio show to talk about the Harn (which is airing in a few weeks so keep your eyes peeled for that blog post).
• Pulled dozens of dead trees from the forest for firewood and kindling.  [Can’t prepare for winter too soon here in the hinterlands.  See above.]
• Walked the property line with our neighbors to the south and everyone is pretty happy with how much space we seem to have.

Oh, and I won the Rewrite Your Life essay contest sponsored by Wellness Retreats for Women!!  My submission, should you want to read it, is here: https://womenwellnessretreats.com/news/2017/3/22/contest-entry-jami-gaither-leaving-the-rat-race The objective was to write a letter to your current self from your future self about the book you’d written.  And I won!  Big thanks to the many people who took the time to vote for my submission.  With my prize money I am Super Stoked to be participating in Jess Lourey’s Rewrite Your Life Online Course.  Ever since I heard about Jessie’s new book on writing your life, I KNEW I’d be getting a copy at Cherry Street Books and I really hoped I would be doing a workshop with her on it as well.  And here it is!  My dream coming true.  If you’ve ever wanted to write a novel, or help yourself heal from some life experience, I’m betting this course could help you as well.  Check it out here: http://learnhowtowriteabook.teachable.com/p/rewrite-your-life

I also got a communication from the Editor at Permaculture Design Magazine that there’s potential for me to write some articles about our Homestead experience for them!  Check them out here: https://www.permaculturedesignmagazine.com/  It just may be that my childhood dream to one day be a writer may result in more than just my blog.  Maybe even some income?

Dan’s already helping a friend with electrical work – Char’s new Yarn Basket Shop is in progress and I’m looking forward to its grand opening.  And he has a couple more local people interested in talking with him about their own projects that need done.  Things seem to really be falling in place for us to potentially create some income to help that nest egg last a bit longer.  We’ll see how it all develops.

But I definitely think the Universe is telling us we’re where we’re supposed to be.  🙂

Happy Birthday to Me!

Tags

Freedom, fun

What a great week!  I have now embarked on my 49^th year and it was sure a sweet birthday.  I got lots of calls, including the official Birthday Song call from Mom and Tom and a lovely call from my brother Rob.  FB was full of happy wishes and it’s so nice to see all the wonderful people thinking of me, people I think of often as I see their posts on social media.  It’s amazing how big the Social Media world can be and while I’ve probably wasted more time than I should on Candy Crush, I really appreciate being able to connect with so many people all over the world.  And I got some nice cards (a handmade from Momma Chris – she’s the bestest!) and a few gifts too – 5 books (they know me!), some cash (always come in handy) and a couple adorable family photos.  I am feeling so loved.

I also began Knitting!  Mom brought me an afghan a couple months back that was in need of repair – she was sure that Char and I could fix it back to good.  It’s a beautiful melba peach color and I would love to have it whole again as it’s really pretty.  I actually ended up working on it with Bernis at Knitting Club, first taking off the ruined part back to one level, and now adding back a finishing edge.  It’s tough but I’m getting used to the process.  It will take some time but I can soon add Knitting to my list of crafts.  I will admit to trying to impress Dan Saturday evening and realizing I just could not be sure about how to start that next row… so the impressing will have to wait!  I’m sure with the strong encouragement from the Knitting Ladies, I’ll be getting the hang of it soon.

And I joined the Garden Club.  Got started with these folks at their March Seed Swap – another early birthday gift?  I will say YES.  I scored dozens of seeds and look forward to getting them planted as we start our gardens here at the Harn.  Met some really great folks here, including Jeff and Angie from Split Oak Farm who have invited me to come over and see their “kids” (baby goats!).  I plan to stop there often when I’m heading to Bagley as they are expecting baby pigs any time now as well.  Everyone was friendly and it was a fun way to spend an evening talking about plants and phenology.  What’s Phenology?  It is the study of cyclic and seasonal natural phenomena, especially in relation to climate and plant and animal life.  There were a bunch of great reports: lots of swan sightings (including Trumpeters); pussywillow, rhubarb sprout and crocus sightings; and my favorite first hearing and sighting of Sandhill Cranes.  My neighbor Connie (new Garden Club friend) and I both heard them – she is around the corner but her back yard and mine are closer than our driveways.  I got a lovely offer for some lily starts which I will surely be taking her up on this spring.  Oh, plus I met a Death Doula (Lorrie).  How cool is that!?!?  Can’t wait to spend some time with her.

I share this birthday week with some friends and Dan and I were able to gift one of them with a present on her big day.  The other I had gifted with her present weeks earlier but I will from now on be sure to give her a gift on or super close to her actual birthday as it’s really special to have the specific day recognized.  This year having so many wishes truly made my day special.

Dan and I are keeping busy with helping friends in the neighborhood and getting to know more of the locals.  It’s really feeling like “our town” the longer we’re here.  Only a few more days until he’s here for good!  I am enjoying getting settled and look forward to lots of fun the more people and plants we get to know.  We had the neighbor from around the corner stop by… his wife had said to him, “That driveway has been getting lots of use!” So he came by to introduce himself which made me happy, happy, happy as I’ve been meaning (for months) to take a walk over to their place.  It will be an easier decision to head their way now that I have a standing invite to visit.  They are home bodies like us.

I spent most of a day with Anne to look at possible cabins and that was a bunch of fun.  We hit every resale shop along the way and I scored BIG finding not only a couple good books I have wanted (Mists of Avalon, Lee! And Cutting for Stone, KP!) but also a new set of 8 ohm speakers for Dan ($3) and a replacement crock for my crock pot ($2.50).  I also scored a nice pair of new house shoes for Dan ($3) and some ribbons and fabric (of course).  Anne took me to her favorite place in Grand Rapids for lunch, Sammy’s.  https://sammyspizzagrandrapids.com/ and I took her to my favorite place (which she LOVED)… Aldi’s! https://www.aldi.us/  They have a brand new store in GR and it’s the biggest Aldi’s I’ve ever seen – yes, I think it’s even bigger than the St. Cloud one which was the biggest in the state.  Now if they will just get one put up here in Bemidji…  I truly see them as life savers because they bring affordable and quality food to the area.  I was talking with a couple in front of us in line who have been astounded at their food bill reduction, which really helps having 5 kids.

I will say, the best part of the trip with Anne was probably Nigig running from the house with her arms spread wide.  I thought she was so happy to see Gramma home and I was smiling big as we watched her approach. But at the last minute, she came to me!  I got the first Big Hug!!  Just made my heart burst!  I think to her I’m this lady that shows up unexpectedly but it tickles me that she’s so happy to see me when I visit!  Later I taught her how to swing herself on the porch swing and told her she is powerful.  I think that’s a pretty good trade.

We had a visitor from Mann Lake Bees [They’re having a big sale but it ends soon! https://www.mannlakeltd.com/]. Our friend Patrick showed us a couple good places for bees.  It was great walking the land with the warm sunshine!   We will need to put up an electric fence for the bears but I think we’re gonna start with bees this year. This will be a good fit as we don’t have anyone close by doing honey.  We have egg people, meat people, yarn people, and flower and veggie people, but no one we know for honey.  This will make a great product that we use a LOT and give us something to give for gifts.  I have friended a couple bee people here locally online and hope to learn a lot from everyone.  Patrick was interested in the Rocket Mass Heater so we gave him an explanation of them and had a fire and some conversation.

The highlight of my birthday week was Sunday evening.  I did a writing workshop with Jamie Lee (not Jamie Lee Curtis as I reported to Anne the day before…) at Farm by the Lake (https://www.facebook.com/farmbythelake/).  You can find out more about Jamie Lee here:

• www.jamieleeonline.com (blog)
• www.thebeadpeople.org
• www.patriciajamielee.com (consulting/training)
• www.manykites.com (publishing)

I was full of writing ideas by the time we wrapped up and I’ll have lots to practice as I continue to pursue my writing.  I may yet publish a book as Mom foresaw when I was young.

I was also able to get in a visit to new friends Jeff and Angie at Split Oak Farm in Bagley on the way home.  They gave me a tour of their sustainable farm with pigs, goats, chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese.  Oh, and cows (who we didn’t visit… next time!). Their goose eggs are HUGE!  And they just had baby goats so I got to hold the little girl and she was so soft and sweet.  I’m really looking forward to their little piglets which should be here any day! https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009080365262&hc_ref=SEARCH&fref=nf  They’re super fun and we had a great time chatting.  The only thing that would have made it better is if Dan was able to join us.  But that will happen soon, I’m sure.  He moves up here this week!!!

Public Hearing on the Enbridge Line 67 Border Crossing

Tags

activism, communication

The Department of State held a Public Hearing in Bemidji last week.  I attended along with hundreds of others.  I heard there were Enbridge representatives present, though I wasn’t aware of any.  The majority of those present were in opposition to the approval of a border crossing for Line 67 (previously called the Alberta Clipper).

Earlier in the afternoon, dozens of people met at Rail River Folk School where there were several speakers including Brandy Toft, Lindsey Ketchel, Jason Edens, Erica Bailey-Johnson, and Winona LaDuke.  The final speaker – apparently ad hoc? – was Marty Cabenais but I was astonished to see him on stage as I’d met him the previous night but had no idea he was a pipeline guy (or I’m sure we’d have chatted away quite a bit more – mostly I was cooing over his new grandchild).  I found out later that he’s also my mailman.  Small world in rural parts!

While I knew Winona was going to speak – really wish I’d heard her and hope there is a link to hear the earlier talks – I arrived just in time to hear a portion of Marty’s sharing.  It was really wonderful to see the large group of people who braved the cold to walk from Rail River to Sanford Center – a 2 mile walk in blustery cold winter winds.  Sylvia and I drove to Sanford hoping to be able to walk back to meet the group and return to Sanford with them but we realized it was quite cold and we’d be walking into the wind.  We decided to drive to meet the group and see if there were any people who needed a ride to finish their journey.  We didn’t get any takers and we were amazed to see how quickly they made their way on this route.  I was excited to be able to film them coming into Sanford.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufR-qTMZeH8

There were some chants and callbacks along the march to the event and on arrival. But the real treat was seeing the jingle dress dancers and hearing the singing and drumming. Varied spontaneous chants began from a number of people with everyone joining in as we caught the pattern. We were quite cold so headed inside to see the Hearing Room.  There were a few dozen people from Duluth/Grand Rapids and close to or over 100 from The Cities there to speak their concern regarding this pipeline.

The format of the meeting was posters with representatives to answer questions which really limited the information sharing to a few people at a time with much repetition.  There was no overall communication where all participants would hear the same information.  There were a few tables over which the presenter could show papers or the Environmental Impact Study while discussing questions but most stations were simply a standing place with a poster on an easel.  There was a video presentation with a couple dozen chairs and about 12-15 round tables with chairs for people to gather and relax.  You had to wander the room and figure out who could answer what questions by looking at the poster they stood adjacent to.  Oh, and some of the representatives are actually consultants.  Security from the Department of State in DC was also flown in for this hearing.

The event had no real format other than citizens milling about seeking answers.  The only announcements were when the event was opened and when it ended.  There were displays by the people in opposition to Line 67.  There was a Native circle dance, there was a film-crew recording, several news people doing interviews and filming the crowd.  Many felt like the State Dept people were uninformed/evasive/overly positive about pipelines.  I had some disturbing experiences with a couple reps – VERY UNINFORMED & VERY DEFENSIVE – but also some good interactions.

The attorney representing on the Presidential decree seemed to have a VERY limited understanding of the issue.  She looked at me like I had two heads when I asked about the legality of the switcharoo. http://www.oilandgas360.com/alberta-clipper-pipeline-faces-opposition-keystone-xl-vote/ https://insideclimatenews.org/news/20140917/state-department-draws-fire-allowing-tar-sands-pipeline-detour   When I explained that this was the Line 3 border crossing which was used to get line 67 crude across the border prior to getting approval for its own border crossing, she said she had no idea what I was talking about and backed away from me like I was a witch or goblin, like she was so uncomfortable as to not want to be in my presence. She truly looked frightened. It was so over the top I struggled to comprehend her fear.  She said she didn’t like the way the conversation was going and she didn’t want to talk with me any longer.  I asked if, as the attorney in the room, she might have an understanding of the legality of the happenings upon which this whole event is based and she said she “only knows about the Presidential Permit”.  Then she basically was able to read the poster.  [I had several people share with me that they had a similar experience with her where she had no answers and was very defensive.]  I decided to cut bait and find a better informed and more willing representative.  I found a woman who seemed to have a level of authority in the room and she directed me to the Engineer whose company had written the Supplemental Environmental Impact Study (SEIS) for the border crossing.

I spent quite a bit of time with the Civil Engineer and consultant company Project Manager, Fred Carey, from Potomac-Hudson Engineering, Inc.  He was being challenged by three people when I arrived.  And I was piling on.  He got pretty defensive but described himself as “objective”.  I think he was in a really tough situation but stayed pretty calm and definitely answered questions, though would not answer our questions about his personal beliefs on the pipeline.  Fred was able to review the SEIS and direct us to areas on which we had questions.  The big question was how does Enbridge monitor areas that are remote and inaccessible.  There was not a real confident answer to this question.  When questioned whether he’d walked the pipeline, whether he’d been to any of the remote areas, he agreed he’d not.  It was stated that, without seeing the property where this pipeline runs, there is no way he can give an accurate appraisal of the effect it will have on the environment.

Among multiple participants, we all agreed he was probably the best person we’d found that night that was willing to try to answer questions.  About the only person really.  Mary Hassell – how’s that for a name? – is the State Department Project Manager for this work and she was the only other person who seemed willing and capable of answering questions.  She came across also as nervous.  It was really strange to see so many people exhibiting fear and pleading ignorance in this Public Hearing which you would assume to be filled with confident, well-spoken, forthright, well-informed representatives from the US Department of State.  I mean, they flew in dozens of people it seemed.  And there was a massive security presence – always a cop or USDoS officer in view. But this didn’t appear to quell fear in the visiting representatives.

I did meet John Enger from MPR News – he was preparing to talk with Winona LaDuke and I asked who he was with as he had a large microphone in his hand.  Told him I LOVE MPR and would listen for him now that I had a face with the name.  Another older woman (Emily) also came up about the same time to greet Winona and when she realized we were both in line, she started to walk away but I told her to stay – she could be after John.  So when Winona freed up, Joe grabbed her for an interview.  Emily and I chatted and I found out that she actually lived in Noblesville for 2 months when her husband was on a 2-year stint as the Director of Connor Prairie.  Small world!  I had shared with her a neat story of Winona that she really loved. As Winona wrapped up with Joe, I called to her so Emily could say hello and I walked on to my next adventure.  I ran into Winona later and she asked me to tell her the story too.  Pretty exciting for this Groupie!

Had an unexpected encounter that was a real joy. After seeing her three times and thinking, “I know this girl” (but feeling unsure as she was not with the normal associates I see her with)… I was elated when Brandy Toft came up and gave me a hug.  I asked where her partner was and she reported that she was here on official business – turns out she is a Leech Lake Environmental Advisor.  [As you highly observant folks will remember from above, she was one of the Rail River speakers.  I was doubly sorry to have arrived late.]  It was a great joy to introduce her to Sylvia who was sure Brandy would be a great contact for Sadie, her daughter who is studying oil issues and will be stateside soon.

All-in-all, I felt a vibe of not really seeing how the public viewpoint was really going to matter much.  I think there was a feeling by many that this was more a dog-and-pony show than anything that will truly be considered and possibly make a difference.  But it was good to feel the solidarity of the crowd, participate in the shout-outs and see some media presence.  It was good to see so many people participating in civic responsibility.  I did ask every representative with whom I spoke that night, “What does all this matter really? If 90% of us all say we’re in opposition, will it truly change anything?” and what I got in response was a lot of cheerleading for the process.  “This is the most exciting part of our work.” “It’s so important to have citizen input.”  “There will be a response to every one of the public comments.” [I found out later it’s every “unique” comment.  So only every topic will be addressed, not every comment.]  No one would commit to whether or not the public comments would really make a difference in the decision made by the US Department of State.

Here are several links regarding the event:

http://www.honorearth.org/bemidjiclipper

News Coverage of the event:

http://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/03/08/hundreds-protest-proposed-alberta-clipper-oil-expansion

http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/news/4230774-pipeline-opponents-supporters-gather-bemidji-meeting-enbridge-expansion-request

Fun fact: I think I was the last person to submit public comment via the computers at the event which were logged in to www.Regulations.gov.  The gal providing tech support was Jamie and I noted that I was also Jami.  A third gal came up while we were getting me set to make my comment – she had a question – and it turns out she is Jaime.  We had to take a photo.  That’s Jaime, Jamie and Jami. 🙂

Here’s the comment I posted as the evening came to a close:

Agency: U.S. Department of State (DOS)
Document Type: Nonrulemaking
Title: Environmental Impact Statements; Availability, etc.: Proposed Enbridge Energy, Limited Partnership Line 67 Expansion Project; Public Meeting
Document ID: DOS-2017-0009-0001

Comment:
With everything there is some level of risk. And this study is geared to assess the risk. Having not yet read it in detail, I will make general comments here.
What do we know for sure? We know that we got the run-around from Enbridge in using Line 3 to work around the fact that they did not have approval to cross the border with Line 67. This deception should clearly show the lengths to which they are willing to go to make a dime.
We know that water is essential for life. And we know that oil pipelines tend, more and more of late, to leak. We also know that this oil in Line 67 is some of the worst of the worst, the most corrosive of products, the most energy intensive from which to gain energy. Are we truly considering how much energy goes in to getting a product to make energy? Are we at the point of insanity where we’re expending more on this than we’re gaining?
And we should all see the changing and worsening effects on our climate to the carbon we continue to pump into our atmosphere. If we listen to Bill McKibben and Do the Math (Rolling Stone article denoting the risk of continuing to add carbon to our air), then we will see that the risk of approving this pipeline crossing, only so they can pump more and more oil out of the ground, is too much.
We also know that this oil is basically going from one country, through our land, only to be exported. We have no gain in this and only risk of losing the cleanliness of our water, the beauty of our environment.
Because we also know that, once the oil does leak, it’s impossible to contain. It’s impossible to clean up the mess. Look at Kalamazoo. Should we blame Enbridge for hiding the fact that they weren’t really cleaning up but covering up? Didn’t they have an impossible task? If you can’t truly clean it up, why not try to cover it up instead? It’s more cost effective. Have we incorporated this deceit into the report? Or are we turning a blind eye, pretending they didn’t really do that?
So, to be truly complete, this study needs to consider that we need LESS carbon in our air. We need to KEEP IT IN THE GROUND.
I don’t know that we can stop the powers that be. The big corporation that wants to make money from selling oil, no matter how cheap it gets, making those profits smaller and smaller. The thirst of the world, with America being a huge portion of the problem, for oil. The addiction we have to a fuel that makes everything so much easier.
But this is my small attempt to give voice to Mother Earth. To stand for the Water. To stand for the People whose land will be destroyed if we continue this madness.
I am hopeful that we are truly considering, in their full impact, the above concerns as the decision is made on whether this pipeline crossing is approved.

(One typo fixed from addition to addiction.)

I encourage you to also post a comment should you feel so drawn.  You can do so here: https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=DOS-2017-0009-0001  I plan to read more deeply into the SEIS and post further comment as is necessary.

BTW, here’s some totally unrelated but really good news of people power.  http://www.yesmagazine.org/peace-justice/defunding-police-how-antiracist-organizers-got-seattle-to-listen-20170309?utm_source=YTW&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=20170310

Non-Fiction Book Club

Tags

books, Reading

I am so excited that the Non-Fiction Book Club I instigated in Alexandria continues to thrive.  http://www.echopress.com/life/3826611-non-fiction-lovers-rejoice  While I wish I was still able to participate with the fine people who joined in the club reading, I am glad to know they are reading and discussing together.  While they now meet in members’ homes, we began in the bookstore, a small group of non-fiction lovers.

What I say is, a town isn’t a town without a bookstore. It may call itself a town, but unless it’s got a bookstore it knows it’s not fooling a soul.
― Neil Gaiman, American Gods

I am grateful to Kathleen Pohlig, owner of Cherry Street Books, who agreed to host our group when we initiated it.  I believe that book stores are often the lifeblood of a community.  We have at Cherry Street a wonderfully supportive community and many people make the store their primary place for finding gifts and books for themselves and their friends and family.  It is such a lovely bookstore with art on the walls, and great books, games and socks.  But I can’t tell you how many people came into the bookstore, not really looking for anything maybe, who ended up just having a wonderful conversation with me and bringing joy to my life.  There were people who came in looking for a softcover book for their child, now in jail or prison, who found comfort in talking through their struggle with someone who didn’t know them or judge them, but listened with care.  One day, a woman came in last minute – I’d kept the store open a few minutes late when she called saying she was on her way – to get a book for her youngster and shared with me on the boy’s teenage sister who’d just been found after running away, perhaps saving her life.  Sorrows and joys, shared freely.  I hope I brought as much joy to the people who walked through that door.  There were tourists who came looking for the orchard or winery that was close by and I was able to give them directions to Country Blossoms Farm (http://www.countryblossomfarm.com/) or Carlos Creek Winery (http://www.carloscreekwinery.com/).  I even got a card once from a family on the East Coast that really enjoyed the place I sent them for food – The Depot for Pizza (http://depotalex.com/).

I am also grateful to Sue Gooch who, with the whole group, gave me a most surprising and delightful going away party.  It was such a blast and I was able to bask in the glory of this wonderful group of people who have taught me so much as we read books and shared our experiences. While I was with them, here are the books we shared:

• This Changes Everything Capitalism vs. The Climate by Naomi Klein  This was a wonderful starter.  Though it was filled with stories about the devastation of the planet and shocks with revelations of the green-washed environmental groups in cahoots with climate damaging corporations, it also shares much about the people and movements that are making a difference in protecting our Mother Earth.  Damning of the system of economics that currently rules in the U.S.,  it offers insights into how we can start moving in a more helpful direction.
• Capitalism: A Ghost Story by Arundhati Roy  A similar story of India’s struggles.
• Arguing for Our Lives: A User’s Guide to Constructive Dialog by Robert Jensen  A wonderfully written concise treatise on critical thinking.
• The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert  Reading like a storybook, Kolbert’s book describes previous mass extinctions in contrast to this accelerated, man-made sixth extinction in which we currently live.  She visits a wide array of diverse habitats from the Great Barrier Reef and Bikini Atoll to the Andes and Panamanian rainforest to even her own backyard, where she discovers flora and fauna in each and brings it to life on the page.
• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer  This book compelled me to finally have a Top Five Favorite Books, of which it was #1.  It was the only book on the list.  Since then I have added a Young Adult book Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys and fiction favorite, Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry.  Braiding Sweetgrass is a beautiful book which much be digested slowly.  The stories of biology are individual but weave together along themes of nature, family, motherhood, and Native values.  You will learn about plants and so much more.
• Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown  This was the only group I missed as my son Tom was graduating from Purdue in Indiana but the group loved the stories of men beating the odds and finding victory.  Weaving the lives of lower-middle-class youths and their struggles in the Depression into Hitler’s cover-up of the Nazi’s devastating deeds while hosting the Olympic games, the author brings the reader through to the victorious celebration which makes the underprivileged men into national heroes.
• The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson  A must-read which details the lives of three individuals who make the migration from the South to the North as did many American Blacks.  With the three coming from very different circumstances, each encounters much of the same racism and discrimination that are a part of the lives of most African Americans, unfortunately still to this day.
• Night by Elie Wiesel   A classic tale of what it takes to survive the most horrific of circumstances.
• Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson  Founder of the non-profit Equal Justice Initiative (https://eji.org/) in Montgomery, Alabama, Stevenson describes the criminal justice system as encountered by the disadvantaged (blacks, youth, women) and his fights to help those on Death Row who have been wrongfully convicted.
• Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty  This woman is one of my favorite people. Her Ask a Mortician YouTube channel is full of great information – and snarky fun.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTCg6PGaOkM  Her book is a wonderfully personal and insightful walk into the world of the death trade, with a focus on cremation. I found it quite illuminating and inspiring and the group as a whole mostly loved her too, though a couple just couldn’t do it…  too deathy.

I hope you take time to read some of the above books.  I’ve enjoyed sharing them with this group and I think it’s always fun to read a book and discuss it with others as it brings more depth and perspective than you can ever get reading it solo.

I am finally grateful for Deb Trumm who has stepped up with the administration of the group since I’ve moved.

Since I left town, the group has discussed Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America by Linda Tirado (I’d read this previously with another book club and it’s a frank statement on poverty in America) and one recommended by Van Gooch, Time, Love, Memory: A Great Biologist and His Quest for the Origins of Behavior by Jonathan Weiner (just finished reading this one and it is great – really gives you a look at the humanity of our great scientists and I learned a bit about genes!).  I even heard recently that Van, a retired professor from U of MN – Morris, is bringing a fellow professor to the book group for the discussion!  Now THAT is a great book club.

I feel contented to know that great books are being read and discussed and, who knows, maybe I’ll get down to Alex for the Non-Fiction Book Club sometime soon!

Danny’s Birthday at the Harn and a Trip to Big Town

Tags

fun

The cold continues at the Harn.  I recently read another blog which asked what LIVABLE means.  His questions were about size of the space needed and whether electricity or off-grid was required.  A comfortable place to lay your head, a source of water, someplace to pee, and something to eat.  These are the basics but the one foremost on my mind of late is the requirement for WARMTH.  I awoke in early January to the third day in a row of below zero weather (with about 20-30 below zero nights) and found a pretty stiff wind coming from under the refrigerator.  I had, a few weeks earlier, stuffed towels around one side of the fridge and under the adjacent sink area to stop off the cold.  But a check the week before found no real cold on the other side of the fridge so I didn’t think much more about it.  Well, I should have!  On feeling the frigid breeze, I pulled the microwave (atop the fridge), drug out the little fridge, and began to search for the source.  Aha!  The corner joint between the east and south wall showed infiltration.  I stuffed paper into the cracks as a little black spider moved slowly from his web near the floor to a spot a bit higher.  I never disturbed him, unless he was upset by the “hello, little spider” and “how you doin’, buddy?” as I tried to encourage him I meant no harm.  The wall simply radiated cold – there was actually frost on the wall and the bottom hinge of the door.  But stuffing paper was about all I could do to help for now.  Feeling like I’d done well, I moved everything back into place and then felt the hinge on the door and, yep!  Slight breeze coming in there so I nailed up a blanket to block the lion’s share.  We’ll have to put a new seal on that door come spring.

The latest dilemma I have is whether to open thecovering over the south windows for solar gain or leave them closed to keep out the cold.  On sunny days, I open up it wide and on gloomy ones, I only pull up enough of the covering to watch the birds at the feeders.

So the big happening in early January is birthdays.  We got Mom roses that she just loved and a kind of funny gag gift that she maybe liked even more???  And Papaw Ed got some Gooseberry Jam and Syrup, that made his day, and a copy of the Magnificent Seven remake.  (I told Fran she can watch this one with him.  It’s safe.  Years ago Ed took her to see a Western at the theatre ~ Django Unchained ~ and I think it scarred her for life…)  And I felt so bad for not doing anything much for Christmas that I decided his Birthday had better get a bit more attention.

We’d been talking for some time about updating our collection of So It Goes, the literary journal published by the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library with editors Julia & JT Whithead.  http://www.vonnegutlibrary.org/literary-journal/ We hadn’t gotten one since leaving Indiana so I got Issues 3 Creativity, 4 Social Justice & 5 Indiana Bicentennial Issue.  JT’s intro to Issue #3 was amazing.  I love JT Whitehead’s way with words and was happy to see his book of poetry The Table of the Elements got him nominated for the 2015 National Book Award!  http://www.vonnegutlibrary.org/as-is-for-arsenic-an-interview-with-national-book-award-nominee-j-t-whitehead/

Just as cool, I lucked into another part of Dan’s birthday loot.  I happened to be at Rail River Folk School (http://railriverfolkschool.org/) and, in addition to the books, they had some albums going up for sale.  I grabbed a few more than a dozen and felt like this birthday was going to be pretty good.  These are all used albums and I’m hoping they are all in good shape but, regardless, the money was going to a good cause. And the eclectic mix was enough to make it worth the money spent.  We listened first to Cher’s Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves and then a Robert Redford narrated album on Wolves.  But yet to hear are Trucker’s Songs (hey, it had Convoy!) and Waylon Jennings, Honeysuckle Rose and Anne Murray, Asia and Patsy Cline.  See what I mean?  A real romp through the past.  I even got a couple Disco albums – Far Out!

Dan brought me an electric blanket! (Yeah, maybe a birthday present to himself!)  Now it’s cozy sleeping, even if the Harn is cold.  But he also has on order a construction heater which has enough BTUs to assure I won’t freeze, even if we don’t have as much wood in our stash. It scheduled to show up in Alex the same day I do.

We went to Becida Bar for Birthday Dinner and also a celebration of our Land Purchase Anniversary.  It’s been 10 years to the day that we bought the Harn Property.  So, big time at Becida Bar ~ best food in town!!  Only place in town.  Really.  Nothing else there.  No Church, no other buildings, just Becida Bar.  Here it is in summer:

The Plumber (I call him VDBD) came by to start installation for the indoor plumbing.  We, of course, found things we needed to change since his last visit but no show stoppers.  Dan and I were able to get the plumbing work we needed to do completed so we’re ready for phase 2 of the install.  We built stands for the pump and pressure tank.  We also had to relocate the wiring since our original idea of putting the water heater in the closet had to be scratched as it is just too cold in there.  The cistern room maintains temp better so we are installing all the components in there.  The water lines will run through the closer but the heater will be in the cistern room which should help keep the area warmer.  If the temp drops too low in the closet, we may have to put a heat lamp in there, but for now, we’ve stayed above 40°F.  I did make a new foam door for the closet that seals it pretty well from the rest of the Harn and is easier to put in place than the foam we had in place before.

With January came my commitment to Alexandria Community Ed where I presented the Foreign Film – The Tale of Princess Kaguya and my U-Group met two days later so I stayed in town.  Dan & I were happy to fit in a potluck night with friends Rita, Jon, Joe & Sylvia in between.  And it was nice to be able to take Mom and Tom to the shuttle for their big trip Down Under.  This meant 2 and a half days away from the Harn.  Leaving the space heaters running kept Lucky warm enough and the bowls of food and water kept him fed.  On arriving home, however, I found him fit to be tied.  There was food left in the bowls, there was plenty of water in the dishes, and it was over 50°, but he was yowling incessantly on my arrival.  He bitched and bitched the whole time I was bringing things in from the truck.  He kept it up even while I refilled his water dish and gave him some yummy soft food.  And while I put fresh sheets on the bed and turned on the electric blanket.  I finally climbed into bed and he immediately climbed under the covers and became silent.  Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur… on my chest.  Happy kitty, sleepy kitty, purr, purr, purr. Indeed.  [Thanks, Edith Newlin.]  Dude was so happy I was back he didn’t even beg for breakfast, just curled up on the bed and then, later, on Clay (the Rocket Mass Heater).

Since I also committed to working Saturday for Cherry Street Books, the week included two trips to Alex in a week.  I was able to head back Friday afternoon and hit the resale shops, in Park Rapids and Alex, finding some needed supplies for cheap.  I got some hardware and outlet plugs, a tin for ashes, a stereo, and some more rugs to cover the cold concrete floors.  That evening, we attended Lakes Area Radio Theatre show (which starred a friend Sue Justice – super fun!). [You can hear the show here: http://www.lakesareatheatre.com/ ]  And while there, we ran into the Bergers and Jim and Linda and, of course, Ted.  I’d seen Sue Gooch earlier in the day and it was great to see so many friends while I was in town.

The effect on me, being in town after so many weeks of solitude at the Harn, was kind of weird.  Up north I pretty much stick to home and spend time alone.  And even when I go to town, I don’t know a lot of people yet so it’s just a quick trip and head home.  I found myself a bit overwhelmed by all the talking but it was enjoyable.  I am finding that it’s hard to explain how I’m “doing at the Harn”.  It is just something I can’t really put into words.  It’s nice.  I’m happy with it.  But it’s still something I’m figuring out too.  It’s still new.  Maybe someday I can explain it better.  We’ll see.

Though I still don’t have running water, the plumber was back this week while I was home to get me closer to ready.  Dan and I hope to get the wiring and such in place soon so we can turn on the water.  Now that the kitchen sink has a faucet, it’s natural to think I can turn it on for a quick hand rinse but, no.  I can’t.   Yet.

Oh, and if you want to keep up to date on Harn Happenings, I have started a YouTube Channel called Harn Theory (ya’ know, like String Theory, only not so physic-y).  It will have video updates hopefully regularly and, if you subscribe, you’ll get notices when I post new stuff.  Here’s a link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZcwdxIbsSbKuDKyAQuuG6g

Can Urban & Rural Minnesota Get Together?

Tags

communication, sustainability

Kerri Miller had an excellent program this past month on the election and how the urban/rural divide was possibly a key to understanding the results.  http://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/12/29/growing-urban-rural-divide  She wanted to hear from urban and rural voters to get their input and she asked where we think we can find the common ground to get to solutions.  I moved to Minnesota from Indiana 2 years ago hoping for more progressive politics. Indiana seemed to be regressing with regard to education, tolerance of difference, and worker’s rights.  Minnesota was doing well – good employment (my husband had multiple job offers in Alexandria when we planned our move here), gay marriage had been voted in (indicating a place of acceptance of all people), and rural fiber optic internet was being implemented (the Harn would have faster internet than we’d ever had, even in an Indianapolis suburb!).  Alexandria turned out to be way more evangelical and conservative than I imagined.  But I now live up north in truly rural Clearwater county and it’s another interesting change because it’s actually more Democratic than I expected.  I think Kerri’s idea that we need to find the common ground is on target so I was very interested in this discussion.

Did angry, white, rural voters out-vote their more diverse urban voters?  Are political and cultural perceptions between rural and urban all that different?  Where are there similarities that can bring us all together?

Dante Chinni (Head of the American Communities Project at American University and writer for the Politics Counts blog) and Jeff Guo (Economics Reporter for the Washington Post) joined Kerri Miller for the discussion.  Jeff began with a reference to the work by Thomas Frank What’s the Matter with Kansas?, which contended that rural voters vote against their own interests after being convinced to focus solely on cultural issues like abortion and gay marriage, ignoring issues like jobs and government services.  But he then rebutted that concept as off-target with more recent work by Kathy Cramer from the University of WI Madison who says this is an insult to rural people.  She found that the rural thinking on politics is rooted in values but also a suspicion of urban people.  Rural Wisconsin voters think the decisions are made in Madison or Milwaukee without input from the rural viewpoint and then rural areas simply have to live with these decisions, which often don’t mete out to them a fair share of the resources. This has led to a feeling of not being heard and respected.  (An interview done by Guo explains this in more detail  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/11/08/a-new-theory-for-why-trump-voters-are-so-angry-that-actually-makes-sense/?utm_term=.58996cccf753) This sounds a lot like the rural Minnesota argument.  All the decisions are made in St. Paul and all the money goes to The Cities!

So, where is the difference between urban and rural? 

Is race a factor?  Yes.  When you live in a place where there is little diversity, it’s hard to comprehend people different from you.  Dante referenced the homogeneity of the rural communities which are often also more religious. But the difference is more than this; it’s about world views which are widely divergent between urban and rural voters.

There was some humor in the program’s discussion of REAL America.  I remember that there was a lot of focus in the election post-game about how rural people feel like they are REAL America… that even though the coasts and the cities have LOTS of people, REAL America was represented as rural voters helped elect Donald Trump.  Seriously???  We are all REAL PEOPLE.  Yes.  We are all REAL, People!  And we need to stop discounting the fact that we all have value.  And each of us can have good ideas and real perspectives on our life… our REALITY.

A caller from Fosston noted the following: Small town people are affected by changes more quickly and visibly than people in urban areas.  Rural DFLers are focused on vocational jobs, hard work, and gaining the fruits of their labor without giving it to others.  MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN to these people meant going back to times before these recent “bad” changes affected their lives.  They don’t like the cultural shifts being made as they are against some of their values.

But values of rural people are no more pristine than the values of urban people.  We all have morals and just because we may differ in our values doesn’t mean we’re immoral. I believe it’s partly about perspective. Abortion is wrong from the perspective of ending a life of a child.  But when viewed from the perspective of a woman’s right to own her body and determine its destiny, a right to choose becomes prominent.

And I think it’s also about pace and information flow.  Urban folks move at a faster pace and process a huge amount of social information while rural folks move more at the pace of nature and often don’t even own a computer.  Most urban people have known someone who is gay for decades so gay marriage seems long overdue to them.  But rural folks can be more conservative in their communications, after all, things are more homogeneous and constant so, don’t rock the boat with some big pronouncement! While gay people may live among them, it is often just not addressed… it’s downplayed, denied, or simply ignored. Gay marriage seems at best, unnecessary, and at worst, a damnation.

In the country, things staying the same brings comfort.  Yes, the seasons change but this is gradual and a cycle that occurs every year.  Fast change usually means trouble – big winds blow down trees, big rain means we can’t pull in the harvest, a weasel wiping out the chicken coop means no eggs for breakfast for a while.  But also there is a focus on community that makes these changes bearable.  There is an understanding that we’re out here in the country and we need to stick together to make things work.  So when change happens, we come together to cut the trees into firewood, band together to harvest quickly when the weather turns good again, and gift some eggs to the neighbor because, when our flock takes a hit, they’ll be gifting some to us.

For Urbanites, change is fast, constant and often means good things – a new store so they can access goods more easily, the pothole fixed, new neighbors from Thailand bring a welcome food diversity to the annual block party.  But there is more frequently a tendency to take care on your own for personal stuff.  A/C broken?  Call the repairman as you likely don’t have a friend close by who knows how to fix it.  Need a cup of sugar?  The store is just down the block so you run out for a new bag.

While voter turnout was down, the rural vote percentage increased even while populations dropped. In large part, it seems to be a result of a real disappointment in our economic situations in rural areas.  There was a real belief that we needed to “drain the swamp” as D.C. is NOT WORKING.  Trump convinced voters that he was the Working Class Candidate.  But even people who know he can’t truly fix what is wrong, they like that Trump talks directly to them.  He is an outsider of the non-working system in D.C. and that gives them hope.  Some of these rural people voted Obama! They had hope for change but over the last 8 years, there has been not a lot of change that is helping their lives.  Jobs continue to flounder in rural areas and while health care is available, it’s not affordable.  And people are angry.  And Trump expresses their frustration in a way that is familiar.

An interesting aspect that I didn’t hear much about in the campaigns but see in the work of Kathy Cramer is that the big crash of 2008 was seen very differently from rural and urban perspectives.  Urbanites were hit hard by the crushing job losses and rampant foreclosures while rural people have been dealing with economic hardship for some time.  They’ve been tightening the belt since the mid-70s, so while the crash has taken a hit, the difference to normal life was not so shocking.  And while some seem to think that everyone rural is against “Obamacare”, many rural voters actually LIKE Obamacare.  They see the benefits of kids being on your insurance until 26 and not being able to be rejected for pre-existing conditions.  However, they also see how they cannot afford the coverage with the current system that still gives the power of pricing to insurance companies and not individuals. So as much as they like it, they can’t afford to access it.  Some urban elites CAN afford coverage with higher incomes, though many of them too find it unaffordable as costs continue to increase dramatically each year.  Dan’s company had a 70% increase in health care costs in December.

So where can we find similarities? Where is our common ground for finding solutions?

Dante brought up an interesting point that today we all create our own reality based not only on our day-to-day lives but also on the virtual world where we live much of our lives today.  “Everybody lives in a bubble”, he says.  When everyone is living in a unique reality, how do we govern?

In Permaculture, the Problem is the Solution.  I heard the other day, the problem is that your eyes are so heavy you can’t stay awake.  The solution is going to sleep! The problem is the solution!

America is becoming more diverse.  This has been happening for some time in our cities and is now increasing in rural areas as well.  It means we need to move toward inclusiveness.  And I think, with many viewpoints ~ native, long-term immigrant and new immigrant ~ we can find the best solutions; our differences are what can help us find solutions. Knowing each other and our relevant dilemmas and concerns, refusing to discount our differences but taking all the information into account, this is where we might find a common path forward.

I found this in working in Quality for the Steel Mills – and many in marriages see this occasionally with their spouses – everyone thinks they do the most work and get the least benefit.  Rural people don’t comprehend the difficulties faced in urban areas and vice versa.  And often, the stories of the other place are embellished and changed in ways that prevent us from seeing the reality.  In the steel mill, by sharing with each area the hardships in other areas, both downstream and upstream, we could come to solutions that benefited everyone the most and cost the least in new activity or investment.  Sometimes people simply didn’t realize how little things they did affected the next person down the line and, knowing it, they made changes to improve the process for the next guy.  This was made more effective when they knew the system was being addressed and they too would get help from changes made up and downstream to them.

How can urban and rural work together?  The cities can support lots of people and we need to support things like light rail to reduce the fossil fuel usage and increase efficiency. This helps rural people when they come to the city by having more open roadways and/or transportation systems that they can use once they get to the city.   What’s good for the metro is good for out-state, or so they say.  And in this case, I believe it’s true.  Is the reverse true?  I believe it is.  If we have good programs to support small and organic farms, there is more abundant superior local food which can also support people in the cities.  If we have good education programs in rural areas, we create more vibrant economies which provide more jobs and tax dollars, again supporting the state as a whole.

Rural people comprehend self-sufficiency in a better way so we need to listen to their ideas about working together as well.  And that needs to mean working together as urban and rural, not just for one group above the other.

What I didn’t hear about was what was TRUE about tax spending.  Rural gets a lot of money in roads and bridges.  My suspicion was that, per capita spending was higher in rural counties than urban and that tax income was higher in these counties that actually get less. And so it is. http://www.startribune.com/metro-vs-outstate-which-counties-pay-most-taxes-and-which-get-most-aid/289629981/  We have a lot of infrastructure to support for a smaller number of people in “out-state” ~ another irritant to rural folks in MN is hearing themselves described as “out-state” as if they are not a part of the state but some kind of foreign area.  Perhaps the funding going rural is put more into infrastructure and not as much in social services.  I think our roads are pretty good up here in “Out-State”. From the calls made by rural folks to the program, and what you hear from rural people, what they want is government support, not smaller government.  It seems to me that part of the issue is we have representatives that want to cut taxes (reducing the State’s income) while their constituents want more services, improved educational options, better roads, expanded internet.  You can’t have both.

With jobs being a major concern, we need to not denigrate vocational work or manufacturing jobs.  We need both.  Dante focused on the fact that many of the lost jobs are not being taken by people in other countries but by machines.  Think about the farms of the past where you milked the goat by hand.  Now one farmer can milk 10 or more cows at a time with automated milking stations.  In Detroit, the number of auto workers needed to build a car has been cut in half and, as robotics and mechanization continue, this number will continue to decrease.  This is a new economy and we need to find new ways to make money.  Any manufacturing that does develop in the US will largely be located in the rural South where wages are lower so the North needs to find a new way.  Manufacturing work is attractive and, as Jeff notes, “it sounds good to be able to say you do a job where you actually physically make things” and Dante notes that even the hipsters in Brooklyn are proud to say they make their own candles.  We all need to understand that the future is not bringing more of the jobs we know and love (do we love them?).  Dante noted that we had the Tech bubble, the Real Estate bubble, and then collapse.  We are now seeing that 1-2% growth may be the new norm.

I believe we will need a large cultural shift to find solutions. One caller (Marie) noted the difference between Obama and Trump with regard to energy jobs. Obama focused on clean energy, which is forward thinking and leading edge so maybe hard to imagine, while Trump argues for coal, which is nostalgic (and focused in rural areas) but unsustainable.  I think we can move forward in both urban and rural areas with clean energy.  There are opportunities for jobs as you see with RREAL (http://www.rreal.org/) and CEEM (http://www.cleanenergyeconomymn.org/).  It looks like MN is doing a good job on growing renewable energy: http://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/03/03/renewable-energy-fuels-21-percent-minnesota-electricity

While the future is unclear, I think we need all our brains working on it.  I am glad to be doing my little part of trying to live more sustainably.  It’s a work in progress and I’m not sure how it will grow and change as I figure it out but I definitely like not spoiling pristine water with my own waste products, using less energy with LEDs, driving and eating less than I used to, and learning more about supporting my local community.  I heard a really good podcast on sustainability from Ethan at the Possibility Alliance that has become a new challenge to me.  I’ll keep you posted as I figure out more.  http://www.thepermaculturepodcast.com/2015/episode-1523-ethan-hughes/

In the end…

From the interview with Jeff Guo, Kathy Cramer says this about her work with the rural people of WI:

And then I would go back for a second visit, a third visit, a fourth, fifth and sixth. And we liked each other. Even at the end of my first visit, they would say, “You know, you’re the first professor from Madison I’ve ever met, and you’re actually kind of normal.” And we’d laugh. We got to know each other as human beings.

I think this is the key.  We need to recognize each other as human beings.  We all have some things in common.  We want to love and be loved, we want a better world for our children, and we want to be safe, comfortable and fed.  We need to see the anger and fear as a result of not getting these things and, rather than criticizing it, find the solutions to eradicate the anger and fear.  If we stay in the fear and anger, fighting each other, we won’t get very far.  But if we work together, we can find a good way forward.  Here’s hoping the Minnesota legislators can do this in a way that helps us all.

Photo credit: http://www.difference.site/rural-vs-urban/

Trump & Transition

Tags

activism, Democrats, sustainability

What a week.  I think many people were shocked, expecting Hillary to win.  The RNC got it wrong thinking the Don could never beat all in their wide array of candidates.  But he did.  The DNC got it wrong in thinking Hillary was unbeatable against Trump – it’s HER TURN for God’s Sake!  America is READY to elect a female president.  Even I thought for sure Hillary would win.  I would never have believed Trump would garner as much support as he did.  And why is that?  I believe in large part, it’s because I spend most of my time talking with like-minded people who all believed Trump was too racist, misogynist, arrogant, belligerent, potty-mouthed – name your trait – too SOMETHING to really be a viable choice.  But, like many, I was out of touch with where a lot of America is today.

At first I was in shock.  I was angry thinking that I live in such a racist, sexist society that they would elect this A-hole.  But then I started listening to what some Trump voters shared and thinking outside my sheltered and privileged existence.  I realized that many who voted Trump were a lot like me in that they wanted change.  Big Change.  I wanted Bernie because I am sick of politics as usual, protection of the wealthy and corporate and continued disenfranchisement of the poor and colored.  Bernie was all about CHANGE.  And guess what?  Trump was too.

Democrats, especially highly-schooled Dems, and the media alike were confident that Trump could not be our President.  He was too rough, had no tact, was too likely to start nuclear war.  Surely no one would vote for such a hot head.  But they did.  Almost as many people voted for him in this country as voted for Hillary.  The vote was much closer than I expected.  And again shows that politics doesn’t work.  The Electoral College does not represent the will of the general population.  Based strictly on votes, Hillary would have won, just like Gore.  But she didn’t.  And Trump played the game like a pro.  I also suspect that the low voter turnout was part of the reason Hillary couldn’t bring home the bacon.

We’ll never know if Bernie would have landslided Trump but we do know that he at least represented big change and that was what America voted for even with such an inexperienced and unstatesmanlike candidate.  The DNC definitely did not read the tea leaves correctly, which is a bit unforgivable seeing as how Obama was elected twice with his Hope & Change slogan.  Maybe they figured enough Change had happened and what Americans needed was more of the same.  The DNC was wrong.  Whether Trump will turn out to Make America Great Again or simply represent his own best interests remains to be seen.  But many had become so desperate that they felt they had to take the chance that he might help make their lives better.  So they voted Trump.

A friend told me of her neighbor who voted Trump after getting her insurance estimate for 2017.  Her monthly payments will go from $165 to $485, which is completely unaffordable.  [I’m not sure how the government can charge you a penalty for not purchasing something that requires such a high percentage of your income.  We’ll see how that goes in the coming year.]  Anyway, this woman saw Trump as her best hope.  There are people who’ve lost jobs, homes, insurance coverage, even family members in the current political climate. They want to have hope for better jobs, better representation in government, CHANGE!  Trump promised change.  Hillary promised much of the same.  But many people have had enough.  They can’t survive if things stay the same.

I have some friends who are losing their minds over this election.  They want to protest.  They are living in total fear of what will come.  And it’s surreal to see people who have been astonished at the redneck pushback on Obama now basically doing exactly what those people did when they were living in fear of a black president.  On the other side of the aisle, there are people who have criticized Obama without end, saying he should be impeached, who now say, “We need to support the President we elected.”  If it wasn’t so insane, it would be comical.  In fact, I do have to laugh.  But it’s not a belly laugh.  It’s more of a laugh that says, “Seriously, people?!?”  Will we now see Dems become the Party of No?  Will we continue to see gridlock in DC?  Based on early data, it appears the Dems have now adopted the same tactics and phrases as their opponents did 8 years ago.  I’m guessing their Democratic Representatives will perhaps soon take the same steps as their comrades across the aisle have taken in the last 8 years.

One thing to consider is that, with Hillary not pulling the voter turnout we needed to win, lots of down-ticket candidates also lost.  The biggest effect this will have for most of us in in local politics, state level on down.  One difference from what we have today versus what Trump can expect in 2017 is that he will have a majority in both the Senate and the House.  So if he wants to do what he has promised, that should make it easier.

But is all hope lost?  Well, I’m not going to waste my precious days sitting in that boat crying.  For one thing, there is not a lot I can do about the results.  I cast my ballot and had my say and things didn’t go my way.  And life will go on.  In the grand scheme of things, I don’t have a lot of control over most of it anyway.  And anyway, at this moment… Obama is STILL The President.  NOTHING HAS CHANGED YET!  For all we know, Trump could be tried and convicted of rape before he gets sworn in (though don’t hold your breath on this one as I’m sure his lawyers will keep pushing out those court dates until he’s sworn in as President and then he’ll be safe for at least four years).  Or, he could die – he is an old white dude who isn’t in the best of health.  Those kind of guys keel over all the time.  No one knows their days.  So Trump may never become a sitting president.  But he likely will.  [Though I have some inkling that the Republicans might have him taken out so Pence can be the one sworn in, they may very well wait until Trump has a chance to show them what he’s got first.  Taking Trump out will always be an alternative.  We’re good at assassination.  Just ask Argentina, Libya, Iran.  But maybe they’ll just assure he gets prosecuted prior to his assumption of the office.  Then he and Noriega can share a cell in the Prison for Deposed Leaders.]

But let’s say he does make it to the Oval Office (assuming he won’t think that’s too drab a place for his gloriousness).  What will he do?  Let’s take an honest look.  http://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Trump-s-ambitious-100-day-agenda-staring-at-10610762.php

• He promises to implement term limits.  I personally think this would solve a LOT of the problems in DC.
• He also will require a 5-year waiting period for legislators to become lobbyists.  Again, I like this idea as this is a source of much of our problems.
• He wants to implement a 10-year $1T (yes, trillion) infrastructure project.  I’ve been saying for years that we need a new CCC program.  Maybe it will be something like that.
• He’ll repeal the Affordable Care Act, but keep the part about staying on parent’s plans until age 26 and stopping companies from rejecting for pre-existing conditions. As this has become the Unaffordable Care Act in many ways, this might not be all bad.

[Are you seeing yet how he looked so attractive to so many Americans?]

• He promises to repeal (he’s back-stepping already on some things and I suspect, like Obama, will find it’s not so easy to just have things the way he wants them to be) re-negotiate NAFTA and Canada is already on board.  Well, again, NAFTA has resulted in a lot of problems for citizens in all the North American countries so I’m guessing this might help them (though the rich business owners who seem to be the main winners in the NAFTA game may not be happy).
• He’s against the TPP – also a good thing to be.

So, are you with me in starting to realize that he was quite appealing to many Americans?  Now that I’ve taken an honest look at his plans, I’m starting to see how they could hold the nose and vote for Hope & Change … regardless of his racism and comments about pussy grabbing.

So Trump doesn’t believe in climate change.  It’s probably too late for us to really save Miami at this point anyway and no one else seems all that enthusiastic about making the real changes it will take to make a difference so… not such a big loss.  Hell, the government forces of OUR CURRENT GOVERNMENT are supporting DAPL in their fight against the Lakota Sioux who are on the right side of the climate change debate in their stance to KEEP IT IN THE GROUND.  Obama has done nothing to protect these people in their fight or put a stop to the insanity of big oil in this case.  So really, will Trump be much different?  And besides, the President doesn’t really have that much power anyway.  There is a system of checks and balances, or so they say.  And if he does, I’m guessing there will be some people standing against him.  Perhaps the mobs protesting some of Trump’s new ideas will make the crowd in Cannon Ball, ND look tiny.

So what’s a person to do?  First, keep it in today.  Hug your family members and focus on sleeping/eating/working/pooping – just like you do every other day, regardless of what the world at large is up to.  Remember to be kind because some people are dealing with terminal illness, or a really horrible period, or just feeling like their kid/husband/mother hates them and there is not much reason to live. In other words, there are lots bigger problems to have than worrying about some potential future that you may never live to see so why shit on today thinking about that bullshit?  Enjoy the sunshine.  For goodness sake, global warming is giving us one hell of a summery fall so why not enjoy every sunny day you can?

I, for one, am moving to the woods where I will begin my adventure with trying to live a sustainable life in earnest.  I find it a little interesting that this move coincides with such a crazy change in American politics.  I wonder if perhaps Dan & I were not blessed with some kind of finger on the pulse of the Universe to be in this space at this time.  Anyhow, in pursuit of this venture, I was blessed to have a soap-making lesson with good friend Beth Jansen this past week.  It was a fascinating process and much more forgiving than all the books and articles I’ve read on the process have led me to believe.  How did we do it?  Well, since you asked…

We began with a jar of 100% lye from Ace Hardware – $3.85.  We put this into 4 cups of water in a glass bowl, stirring it in slowly in a well-ventilated area.  No, we did not use respirators.  And we survived!  [Note: Always use glass, stainless steel or plastic – never aluminum, when making soap.] We then heated about 12 cups of old used fat (lard from making doughnuts, bacon grease, etc. – any kind of hard at room temp fat will do like bear or deer grease.) – FREE!  Well, worthless unless you’re making soap anyway.  We want the two pots we have to be at the same temperature – hopefully about 95-100°F – before we mix them together stirring the lye mix into the fat, again slowly.  [We were on a time crunch so I’m guessing we were right about at 100° when we did our mixing.  And our soap was fine!!]  While the two mixtures were cooling, we had mixed up the good stuff: 1 c. oats, two large aloe shoots, 1 c. goat’s milk, some fresh sage and lemon grass, and some dried rose petals. When you’re blending in tough materials, like lemon grass, cut it into small pieces to make it easily blendable.  [We added a bit more goat’s milk later as it was clumpy when we tried to pour it into the fat/lye mixture – you want it to pour, not clump into the soap mix.]  We added this concoction into our soap pot and then we began the stirring.  We stirred and stirred, waiting for the mix to cool and thicken.  This takes a LOT of stirring. Remember, SLOW STIRRING.  It’s good to have a seat.  It’s also a good time to think pleasant thoughts about all the people you will bless with this soap and maybe even put a few wishes for luck, love and happiness into your brew.  You may notice the soap liquid is whitening (cooling) more at the top and you will need to pull up from the bottom as you stir.  But NEVER beat the mix.  Always slow and steady stirring. Eventually, the mix will thicken to a point where when you pull up a spoonful and drip it back into the mix, it will not go right back into the mix but will instead create a small droplet ball of soap on the surface.  [Or so says the recipe.  I have yet to experience this as we were, I think I mentioned, on a time crunch.  So we did the next step a bit prior to reaching this point.  And, again, our soap turned out fine!]  So the next step is to pour the mixture into a shallow box that is covered in a plastic bag.  Over this, you place slats of wood which will hold up a second plastic bag and then some wool blankets which will keep your mix as warm as possible.  Because, after trying to cool your mix to the point where you can pour it into the form, you now want the mix to cure as hot as possible – so we slow the cooling with blankets.  Once the soap is hardened (usually about 24 hours, but in our case about 10), then you cut it into squares and re-cover it to cure some more.  After another 48 hours, remove these squares into a box lined with paper where they are all separate and allow them to sit for 30 days to be fully cured.  This recipe will make enough soap for a year’s worth of washing for a small family.

Now I know what you’re thinking… what’s a Hippie like me need with soap?  I hear you!  But I actually will shower at least once a week.  And I do like soap, especially soap I can make myself.  I’ve used some of Beth’s soap having been the recipient of a gift bar some time back.  I can tell you it lasts for a long time!  And it will suds you up in a lovely and moisturizing way.   I plan to make more of my own and try different ingredients and techniques so I can give Beth some reports on what I learn.  And maybe I can teach more people to make soap once I get some batches under my belt.

Dan and I made quite a bit of progress again this weekend at the Harn.  It is becoming a real home just in time for the move this week.  We now have a bed in the bedroom area having moved all the construction and tools out last weekend.

We have a wide open kitchen which was able to accommodate a new “island” we made by putting castors on the bottoms of my old craft cabinets – I love it.  And we moved a bunch of other furniture around to make things work a bit better.  Now I can continue with the unpacking and organizing.  The truck fits in the garage… just barely.   And with the wonderful weather, I was able to split some wood in almost no clothes.

We’ve got about three boxes of stuff for the giveaway and I plan to find even more stuff to downsize as I go.  Lucky (our cat) will keep me company as I figure out how Life at the Harn will work exactly.  It will be interesting to see how cooking, dishwashing and laundry work.  For the meanwhile I will be heading to the laundromat as our plumber is booked through the end of the year (and we don’t yet have a washing machine).  But sometime before spring I should be able to do laundry at home.  I will keep you posted.

Some people say I’m “running away to the woods” as if I’m an ostrich burying my head in the sand now that the political climate has taken such a turn for the worse.  Many think I’m going to isolate myself and hole up for the duration.  But I have every intention of being a part of a new community – as yet to be determined.  And I have lots of old co-workers who will verify that this move to the woods has been the plan for more than 10 years.  I think some of the old SDI crew really didn’t think I’d ever leave but then… I retired! And now that Dan and I have gotten the Harn to a livable status, the real work of living a bit more simply starts.

And hey, there’s always a chance that the renegotiation for NAFTA may include a renegotiation of the Louisiana Purchase and thus, I would immediately become a citizen of Canada (I assume Quebec will take ownership for France due to proximity).  I may have to learn to speak French!  But what about you, my friends in Indiana and other parts south and east?  Don’t lose all hope.  Obama could still declare Marshall Law and take away all our guns thus allowing him to stay in power indefinitely.  Bwuahahaha!  Just as the Republicans have always feared!  Stay Vigilant!! Tomorrow is a new day.

And from Danny: 67 days ‘til Trump Time… He’ll put the Bully in Bully Pulpit.

Seeing Friends

Tags

fun

I’ve been running like crazy in the last couple weeks.  I realize I’m squeezing in a bunch of town stuff before I head North for the Winter.  I know I’ll enjoy my time alone at the Harn but it’s good seeing everyone now.

Had the last Crafting Ladies of Alexandria meet-up… unless they decide to continue without me.  It was fun making cards and gift bags (from maps!). Thanks, Deb!
I plan to spend a lot of time at the Harn crafting but it’s always more fun when you’ve got your buddies with you.  Maybe Char will hang with me up North.  Or maybe we’ll get a new group of Crafting Ladies together up there.  Time will tell.

Dan and I had dinner with some friends (Sylvia & Joe, Jon and Rita) and it was fun talking hot dogs, politics, new buildings, community, and more.  I will miss being able to jump in for a quick chance to spend time having dinner with my Alex buddies.  But again, I’m hopeful they will all visit at the Harn!

Meditation Group was great again.  Such wonderful time and good conversations with thoughtful people.  My U Group met too and I love seeing these friends.  I’m committing to coming back to town for this once a month gig. [I think Mikko would cry if I didn’t.  Love that guy!] It’s such a fulfilling practice and it will give me a chance to come visit Mom too.

My ESL friend, Minerva, came back from a long trip to visit family and it was so good to see her!  I missed our time together while she was gone and it reinforced what I’ve known for some time now… that my time with her is going to be one of the things I miss most once I move to the Harn.  I have so enjoyed learning from her and getting to know her.  She and her husband are so nice.  I am grateful to have them as friends and I’m hopeful they will visit the Harn someday soon.  I am also hopeful that we will be able to continue chatting and learning via Skype.  I think about all she’s done since I’ve met her and I am amazed.  Her biggest accomplishment (in my mind) was getting a job.  I was SO PROUD of her work to create a resume that focused on the skills for the job she was seeking and her hard work in preparing for the interviews.  And I was tickled pink when she called to let me know she had gotten a job!  Since then, her vocabulary and ease of speaking continue to improve every time we talk.  She is an inspiration to me and occasionally I feel like I’m learning a bit too.  But my progress is much less noticeable!  Once thing we share – we’re both skinnier now than when this photo was taken.  Though again, her progress outshines my own. 🙂

I also made time to run out the Lakes Area Radio Theater for one more tailgate party.  We meet ahead of the show and grill and snack on the deck.  Sherry, Katie and I had a blast and enjoyed two fantastic performances.  Then we hung out with the show folks.  It was windy but nice to just relax and tell some stories.  Plus, marshmallows! Can’t beat that.

This weekend I headed to the Cities for a Rec Lab Board Meeting and was able to see a bunch of Rec Lab friends. Plus got to work a yard sale which was amazing fun.  They had awesome cool stuff!  It was really fun to catch up with everyone and I’ll see these guys on Skype and such.  But maybe a few of them will visit the Harn too!  While I was doing this, Dan was up at the Harn seeing my new friend (I assume this is not my old grouse, though the photos this week make him seem as big as he used to be).  I’m really looking forward to seeing him every day!

I’ll be spending time next weekend with friends up North.  Katie and Wyatt turned 13 recently and I am looking forward to seeing them now that they are teenagers.  I’m hopeful they are still fun and sweet kids and they never get to be annoying teenagers.  😉 My son was pretty good at avoiding the annoying stage as I recall so maybe they can too.  They really are smart and fun and thoughtful.  We’ll have some chili and they can tell me stories of their recent adventures.

I’m excited about seeing the progress Dan made while I was in the Cities.  The Harn gets more homey each week.  We might even get indoor plumbing soon!  A real shower!!  But never a flush terlet.  😉