Feng-shuiing My Life

Been a happenin' few days so I'm just going to organize this post by dates.

Thursday 8/18: Gardened. Haha. Turned some more beds, planted some perrenials in the hugelculture bed--strawberries, rhubarb, sorrel, oregano, thyme, chives, sage... Then I made a wonderful campfire-cooked dinner and WATCHED TV. Shaun (a fellow kid camping here) and I sat down with some Netflix for the first time since I've been here. It felt a little funny, but it was a good way to wind down.

Friday 8/19: Seattle! My friend Heath picked up Shaun and I early in the AM for a tour of the Seattle area. We were trucked around in her Cube Car with her two sons (ages 9 and 11). It was nice to be around kids again for a bit. I sat in the back with them and swapped nature stories practically the whole trip. :-) First she took us to canoeing underneath the highway. Haha, check it. It was so weird. You're like canoeing through cattail, ducks are swimming around you, and then the cars on the highway are roaring by overhead. But, it was really nice to get out and be active in the sunshine. Afterward we went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant called Aqua Verde. Everything on the menu was local, free range, organic, etc. and the cost was reasonable too. It's surprising and so exciting how progressive it is here, especially with food. Heath also took us to a chocolate factory and out to ice cream, both locations use all organic materials and made nearly all of their products there at the shop. Both of which, might I add, were freakin' delicious! Ohhhh to have homemade ice-cream. Mmmm. We also visited a lot of different parks and monuments with views like this one:

Saturday 8/20: Spent the day studying more organic building. Brought a table out into the sunshine and parked myself there with 4 different books on creating and designing small houses to maximize space, money, etc. I've already got a few pages in my notebook full of sweet ideas, designs, building sketches, notes, and the like. I basically crammed all day until it hurt. Now I just want to go home and start working on my parents' house... and garden... and landscape. :-D

Frog and Shaun looking out over the bridge.

Sunday 8/21: Wait for it... Yup, I gardened. It's true, I've become obsessed. I turned over another bed, leaving potatoes, comfrey, and carrots behind. After a hard days work, Frog, Shaun, Vita (another intern that lives in the West house), and I took a hike to a place they call "The Gorge." Not quite like Ithaca's gorges, but still super beautiful. I introduced the group into rock paint and went nuts with that for an hour or so. After our artistic cravings were filled, we hiked down the gorge, climbing, jumping around, crawling over rocks, stretching across logs... There's something about the flow of that kind of movement that brings me right back to my roots as an animal on the Earth--back to my core body, to my instincts, to my true energy.

I <3 climbing.

Monday 8/22: Monday morning my roommate Michelle picked me up so we could finalize our move into Mosswood. I showed her around the campus here: the root cellar, the chicken moat, the gardens... Then we spent the day moving around furniture and feng-shuiing our yurt. There really is nothing like trying to make rectangles fit nicely into a circle. Anyways, I'm so happy with the situation. The landlords are super kind and Michelle is so awesome. We fit together better than our furnishings did in the yurt, that's for sure. But seriously, things have just been working out so greatly for me here. This experience so far has been exactly what I need. Being here and talking to people about my life so far has made me realize how absolutely lucky I am.

To my Mom and Dad: you have been so incredibly supportive, and I love you more and more every day. To my grandparents, whom have helped me find my way, I miss you very, very much. I'll try and write you soon.
To my friends at Primitive Pursuits: I don't know how I got so lucky to stumble upon you at such a young age. You have shaped my life in more ways that I can thank you for.
To all my friends and family back home and at college, I send my love. I couldn't ask for a more supportive group of individuals. I have never been alone in times of need.
To Mother Earth. You know how I feel about you... I tell you everyday. :-)

Lastly, today: I harvested and washed dandelion roots for Donka, the momma sheep. What a life, aye?