farthest and highest

traveling abroad is always something i have wanted to do. it felt so far off,difficult and maybe even inaccesible. and now that i´m here - all that feels pretty rediculous. as we first ventured out into the bustling streets of Quito, everything felt quite comfortable. in the streets were ladies cooking and cleaning, and men working. in the park there were babies crying, children playing and even a cheer camp going on! sure there are more honking cars and they drive a lot faster and even the buses have barkers hanging out the door. Quito is lovely, hospitablem welcoming and warm (it seems we bring the Cali sun with us where ever we go). So far we´ve managed an open air market, super mercado, post office, organic produce stand, and a film festival...all on our very limited español. Today we took a gondola up the Pinchicha mountain and we found ourselves looking over the entire city of Quito at 13,116 ft. and i realized; i am the highest i´ve ever been and the farthest i´ve ever been from home.

"ola" ...hawaiian for healing

Every time i arrive in Hawaii i always remember that first feeling when i get off the plane...stepping off the ramp and onto the tarmac, the warm trade winds whip my hair around my face and smell that sweet balmy air that can only come from these islands. For this landing we are received by Michael's uncle Joseph and two cousins Zia and Lillian. With heady tuberose leis around our necks we pile into the van and head to Kula, upcountry Maui on the slope of Haleakala. Once we arrive and settle in the first thing i want to do is walk, to shake off the long day of travel and to find myself. Their house is at the end of the road, surrounded by pasture and spots of waddle forest. So i walk... first on the old paved road... i walk until it turns to red Maui earth... i walk until it turns to a single track trail... i walk until the grass is knee high and the berry bramble catches my clothes. Pheasants spook, shriek and fly away. There are so many shades of green, it goes beyond what i can imagine, the vines, the trees, the grasses. In vibrant contrast, a bright orange lichen grows on the waddle tree trunks and drippy vines with pink blossoms hang down in the way of lush jungle opulence. As i climb over one fence then another the light shifts and i look out over the sea...the late afternoon sun is shinning over the water between the west Maui mountains and Lanai. Drinking in this much beauty makes my eyes fill with tears...I'm home, I'm home, I'm home...in my body and on this earth. I finally feel all that chaos is over....the graduation, the packing, the planning, the moving, the goodbye-ing... in this moment i am here, in this moment i can breathe, in this moment i begin again. I walk until the light shifts again and i stop, this time to look up the mountain. I catch my breath as i find myself locked in a gaze with a deer. He is magnificent. A spotted axis buck with three points to his crown. It rains easy here... frequent, gentile and quick. My tears match that. Here the rain is sacred, a blessing, showering love, and aloha from the sky to the land. I let my tears be the same, let them wash away the stress, melt thee tension, be a blessing to this body, my soul.

view from the lanai, south shore maui, molokini and kahoolawe in the distance

the homestead. platform on the right, main house in the middle and the guest cottage on the left

sunset from the pasture

officially, intentionally homeless

as of 6/9/11 we are with out an address....and although i would like to say i feel lighter or even excited, i'm not feeling much of anything, but maybe a bit automatic. these past few months have been incredibly full...each day packed with obligations and checklist to keep me on task, i haven't dropped in to feel anything. all i know is that if i keep moving forward i will eventually get there, or be able to check off one more task.

so the morning of 6/9/11 we left our apartment for the last time. the car was loaded with gear, boxes, bags, our dog loki and our ball python, pythia. (xylia our daughter left the monday before at 4am on her 8th grade trip through 5 states on the green tortoise bus!) we had a few stops to make along the way to southern oregon, and with each stop we left a box or bag that was intended for friends as we wound our way up the state of california. the trip was sweet with many friends along the way to wish us well and feed us well.

today the family is reunited back in costa mesa for a couple more days...more packing and refining the packing for the month in maui (where we officially start our travel year).

that island can't come soon enough. what i do know i feel is how disconnected from myself i have been in the last 2 months. i'm looking forward to finding myself again. i used to exercise regularly, meditate, yoga, breathe....none of which have found me lately. maui will be a recalibration or re-integration of self, it will, it will it will!

 saying goodbye to loki....this was a hard day

playing with her new brother tapa... she's going to have a great year at shakti moon ranch!

Mama Pila's photostream

Mama Pila's photostream on Flickr.

cob building project with Xylia's 8th grade class. these kids were amazing the work went so easy with many hands! cob is truly a community event.

barro y paja

mud and straw

It's been a long project; my experience with natural building methods thus far tells me it will be as long as it takes. But this gorgeous outdoor kitchen started as a "cob pizza oven" workshop led by Larry Santoyo, aka El Santoyo permaculture teacher y maestro de métodos naturales, and hosted by the Anneliese School of Laguna Beach, Ca.

The first few weeks enjoyed a rotating crew of participants, most of them from Larry's following of permacultural students. But as the volunteer force waned, it became apparent to me you wouldn't truly learn this method unless you Showed Up and realized every troubleshooting step of the project. So, I've shown up three days a week for the last three months, working as a two man team with El Santoyo (sometimes three, thanks to Salvador). And, Larry has entrusted me this past week to complete the wood-fire grill and stone work counter while he's teaching in Detroit.

Building with cob, building with any natural materials, is labour intensive and downright hard work. Would you believe, in the first month or so I was actually paying cash money to work my hands raw (RAW); thus the workshop, as everyone was paying to work and learn. Eventually, Larry graduated me to Free Labour, as I'd paid my dues. And, finally, Larry's now paying me to continue working while he's away (will I be relegated back to Free when he returns?) On that note, a funny story: I helped recently at "Swan Song to the Lawn" a food-not-lawns project led by Larry in Eagle Rock. As I was invited (+1), I got to work for free (hey, it's a privilege you'll only appreciate if you've ever apprenticed or had a mentor in your life). So, at the end of the first day the participants hung out around Sangria and beer, and chatted, and I was explaining my background with Larry and someone asked, "so you work for Larry and he pays you?", I laughed and replied, "Pay me? I just stopped paying to work. Pay me!!??". And yet, here I am, actually getting paid. I'm really quite proud; proud of the good work on a good project over three months; proud that I showed up consistently, earned Larry's respect and finally his trust; proud to be paid now; and rather proud of this last bit I completed that came out quite nicely.














... more to come. we're not done quite yet.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/83319125@N00/sets/72157626272072411/with/5583841861/

edificios del tierra

earth buildings... dream homes for Frodo or Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru

Early in March (actually, first Sat of every month) we visited the open house and pot luck at the CalEarth site in Hesperia, Ca. It's here that the architect, visionary, philosopher Nader Khalili practiced and preached his methods of natural building, and perfected the Super Adobe process. He passed a few years ago, but the site and the dreams live on through his children and students and associates.

Ulises Ramirez is one of those students and associates of CalEarth who continues to dream and build and offers the same opportunity to any who will Show Up to a workshop. With the help of a small grant for materials, we began work on a 10' Seed-Dome in Sun Valley, Ca. at the home of local resident, Tanya.

Through the weekend of March 26th about 15 people Showed Up in shifts to volunteer and learn and participate in an expanding community of ecological and socially conscious builders and growers. We moved a lot of earth materials, trenched a lot of earth, mixed a lot of earth, bagged and laid long tubes of earth bags along with barbed wire in the process of Super Adobe as invented and taught by Nader Khalili.
And after two days we're two layers above ground, with five below sealed against moisture. But,the hardest parts are behind the project. From here it's only up.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/83319125@N00/sets/72157626272123837/

muestrenos la ruta

Show us the path...

Well, the path is here, directly under foot. Again, in unexpected places, each step validates our intentions and reminds me that we've already begun our big adventure.

I've been selling boxes of forgotten goods and selling off some Ultra Light backpacking gear for more appropriate, versatile choices toward our coming year; it's my first stab at eBay, and it's been fruitful. Not only have I sold a few things, but I just met a fellow explorer, a builder, a grower. Where many only struggle against the ills of a broken economy, he's prepared, and he's taken stock toward embarking on his own adventure: cycling through Europe, and then landing in a new home in San Luis Obispo. So, as Xylia once adopted my WM Highlite sleeping bag to help enjoy treading lightly during her first backpacking trips, it is now helping Sstoz and his girlfriend pedal forth lightly.

Llano Estero Strawbale
http://www.bellyfirebale.org/strawbale.php

This a wonderful website with his family story about the building of a straw bale house (makes me think of a strawberry house). And here, in this bumble start of a blog, is our common thread of adventure in what many only lament as a time of uncertainty and struggle. So, I say, if we're uncertain, then lets explore the unknown and challenge our assumptions. And, if it's a struggle, then lets work to realize our resources. Lets build communities, build homes, feed ourselves and span the gulfs to share the harvest.

aquî es la ruta....