Shelter Overnight

Spent all of last Wednesday collecting sword ferns, maple leaves, and sticks for the construction of a group overnight shelter. Turned out to be quite an eventful night--stories, laughter, smoke sickness, about 3 hours of sleep, cuddling, singing... Haha. Good times. Feeling much closer to my fellow Winter Wrens. Here's some pictures that my roommate took during the building process. :-) Cozy little shelter for 6 people.

https://picasaweb.google.com/109070406217171620302/WinterWrensBuildAShelter?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCLX0xsu757eh8gE&feat=directlink

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. Wishing I were home.

Intensions

     I realized today that I cannot keep this online journal updated like I had planned to at the beginning of this journey. I am happy to say that I have a lot under my belt right now, but that also makes it is an unrealistic goal for me to say I will keep posting regularly. I have also realized that although I love for you all to be a part of this new segment of my life, blogging is not something enhancing this experience for me. In many ways it has become a task which I do not look forward to, a "job" of sorts. And so, I am sorry to say that I will no longer be holding this space for you all. This is not to say that I will not post occasionally, but I am no longer committing to this aspect of my journey. I am, however, holding myself accountable to taking and posting more pictures. I believe this to be a reasonable goal, and one for which I carry more excitement. I am going to experiment with whether I post pictures here, or on facebook, or both. I will let everyone know soon. For now, see with open eyes, feel Earth under your feet, and be merry.
Thank you all for listening,
Much love,
Estelle

Birthday Bliss

     I swear it was never my intension to stop blogging, but I do seem to be digressing in that direction lately. I think I first need to let go of the notion that I can keep you all updated with my day to day activities. However, this should be a celebrated problem, for it is only because my days are so jam-packed full of life that I have trouble finding the time to write.  :-)

     Because catching you all up with what's been going on in class, at work, and with friends would just be insane, I'd like to walk ya'll through the day of October 19th, my 21st birthday. I know some of you really wanted to be here with me, and I with you, so I thought to whatever extent I could, I'd let you guys pretend you were. This birthday, although not at all a typical 21st, may have been the best birthday of my existence so far. 

     As I rolled over that early Wednesday morning, I became conscious of an unexpected noise coming from the kitchen area--sizzling. "Good morning! Happy birthday! How many pieces of french toast can you eat?" Yes, I know, I have an amazing roommate (just wait it gets better). After Michelle informed me that the food would be a bit longer, I ditched the idea of breakfast-in-bed and decided to treat myself to a shower. The warm water felt great on my new 21-year-old body and I even decided to splurge with a good tooth floss. I never did get to flossing though... the next thing I knew, singing started erupting from outside the bathroom door. "Bless the day you were born!" A group of birthday choraliers greeted me with a loud and eccentric birthday song that perhaps could have used a bit more practice. But, that sure didn't stop the whole group (all fellow Mosswood residents) from singing loud and dancing all around on the bathroom porch. 

     As soon as the song and hugs ended, I shuffled back over to my yurt for fruit-covered french toast, spicy hashbrowns, and a brown-paper-bag-wrapped package addressed "To Dandelion, Happy Birthday, Love Western Hemlock." A few quick tares exposed a beautiful new copy of the book I've been raving about lately-- a field guide by David Scott for identifying bird feathers. Again, yes, I have an amazing roommate. 

     After an eventful morning, I was ready to head to class. Michelle and I walked up the hill to Linne Doran where I was greeted several times over with wishes of birthday bliss and happiness. Our class opened that day in our outdoor classroom, Malalo, with a fire and a beautiful thanksgiving address. The last given thanks ended with thankfulness for another year of life. You can imagine the chorus that broke out next in that little room. I was being sung my second birthday song of the day and it was only 9 o'clock in the morning. No complaints on my part. 

     The next gift I received was really just luck (if you even believe in such a thing). Our class focus for the day was aidless navigation, which meant that our entire day ended up being outdoors on our beautifully sacred chunk of land. We split up into clans and did some map studies, talked about a number of different navigational techniques, and then got into our main task of the day. Only at Wilderness Awareness School does teaching aidless navigation mean blindfolding the group, leading them out into the woods, and then disappearing without forewarning of any sort. Hahaha. Once our group finally realized that the instructors had left us with the task of getting back to Malalo, we spent the rest of the day aidlessly bush-wacking through thicket after thicket on a beautiful day in the Pacific North West forests. My clan, the winter wrens, ended up being the last clan back. We were also the only clan covered head to toe in sweat and scratches, we were also the only clan BEAMING. 

     Anyways, after class was over and our minds were separated, I traveled back down to the hill to the cozy little yurt to hang out for the next hour or so. Soupy (a carpenter friend from next door) came over and did some much-needed adjustments on my bed as a birthday gift. Sounds silly maybe, but it meant the world to me and has since made sleeping in here even better! 

     Thennnnn Michelle, Soupy, myself, and all of the other female Anake students got ready and left for our first official women's gathering, which would take place at the home of two of our Anake instructors, Lindsey and Laura. The night opened with music, chocolate, colorful scarves, tea, and dun-duh-duh-dunnnnnnn PUMPKIN PIE. Yes, again, my roommate is fucking awesome. She had remembered me mentioning once upon a time that it was an Estelle tradition to have pumpkin pie on my birthday. So, candles blown out, 3rd birthday song sung, a few birthday quiz questions later, and I was a happy, happy camper. 

     Then, to make things even better (who knew that were even possible at that point), the women's circle ended up being one of the most powerful and uplifting experiences I have yet to have in my 21 years of life. Explaining this experience alone would take the next month of entries, so I will simply state this: I have arrived in an incredible community of gifted, kind, and honest women, whom I am so honored to spend the next 8 months with. I left that circle feeling rejuvenated, refreshed, and so strongly supported. 

     When I finally arrived back home, I went and opened my birthday cards, packages, voicemails, emails, and facebook messages that had been taunting at me all day. What an incredible way to finish and incredible day. I am and extremely blessed girl to have friends and family who care about me as much as you all do. 

     AND to top it off, I found my camera that I thought I had lost AND I got the dehydrator I wanted without even having to sell my soul for it.

PHEW. Wow, yeah. That was definitely one of the best, if not THE best birthday I can remember. Thank you all for making it so worthwhile. P.s. I bought my first alcoholic beverage today--Mike's EXTRA Hard Lemonade. ;-)

Dehydration Station

          To be very honest, coming home from the dunes was hard. Not just because the place was so beautiful, but because life itself is very different. It's hard to adjust, hard to acknowledge the grief that the rest of the world is experiencing, hard to fit in. So yes, the weekend after the dunes felt like a low after an extreme high... but here I am, again ready to write about another amazing week behind me.

          This past week was plant week, and Tuesday's class was spent learning plant taxonomy, structures, and identification. We wandered throughout the land, geeking out on plants together and enjoying the gentle rain. Then, Wednesday's focus was on the harvest. The group drove to a nearby park/nature area called Tolt MacDonald Park and spent the day collecting wild edibles. My group's focus was on rose-hips, but as a whole we also gathered dandelions, chicory, apples, plaintain seeds, dock seeds, and blackberries, as well as a number of other things in smaller numbers. Although the actual harvest felt great, the highlight of the day for me--and for many others--was watching the salmon. The park is located along the Snoqualmie River, a major spawning site for many different varieties of salmon. Since arriving here, I have learned so much about the salmon and their importance here in the Pacific Northwest. I'd give you a low-down of the experience but my roommate Michelle has written a most beautiful entry specifically on them in her own blog. Check it out and remember she's a journalist so I'm no competition. :-) http://mosstrotter.wordpress.com/2011/10/05/a-great-gift-in-salmon-country/ .
          However, Thursday was my favorite class day yet. We took a trip to past-instructor Alexia's homestead for a day of permaculture and food processing. Her house is kind of like a dream-come-true for me. She has a beautiful garden, ducks and rabbits running around the yard, horses, a few yurts for extended community, a composting toilet, and SO MUCH FIBERWORKS. The rooms were scattered with looms, spinning wheels, bundles of wool, multicolored yarns and knitting needles. If you know anything about me you know that I LOVE working fiber, so I was pretty much in a state of awe the entire time I was there. :-) Alexia is going to teach me some more advanced knitting techniques in the future. Score!
          Anyways, enough ranting. We spent the day in groups, cleaning and preparing our harvest for eating and storing. For the morning lesson, we rotated between three stations (you will soon see why I was so pumped about this day): canning apple butter, dehydration of meats and berries, and creating dandelion and fruit vinegars and honey infusions. So, I can now check off a few of my new skills I wanted to acquire here. Wahoo! I was especially inspired by the dehydration station. One of our apprentices, Sam, had gotten really excited about dehydration around this time last year and had brought a number of his experiments in for us to try. These concoctions included dehydrated yogurt, applesauce, sliced veal heart, all kinds of different meats, fruits, kale, berries, fruit leather, and on and on.

 Let's just say I know EXACTLY what I want for my 21st birthday. No, not hard liquor and a night on the rocks--an Excaliber 3900. Hahaha, what a name, right? It's a 9-tray dehydrator with a 10 year warranty and a bunch or different settings for each unique type of food. There is even a hot-air blower that circulates the air evenly so that you don't have to move the shelves around throughout the process. Perfect for garden harvest storage, fruit storage for the winter, seed saving, paper making, hide glue drying, leaf-pressing, etc. So many of the things that I'm so excited to learn and to do. Sooo... if anyone was looking for a birthday idea, throw a few dollars at my parents to help them out on this one. Tehe. Plus, this present will give back someday when yee'all get some of my home-made dehydration experiments. No pressure though, sending me some good energy works too. :-)
          Anyways, the rest of Thursday's class was a sort of free-for-all, with a number of different projects going on throughout the house--hazelnut smashing, rose-hip syrup, cedar tea, lichen dyes, wool spinning, applesauce stirring, dandelion/chicory coffee, and more! Though I had processed most of these foods before, in one fashion or another, the overall experience for me was something much greater. The most beautiful thing about this day was that it felt so ancestrally right. We all just floated between activities and shared jokes and songs and laughter. You could be in the kitchen sharing stories and food with one group, and hear music and hearty laughter floating in from the porch, and look out the window to more of your friends dancing around the stovetop stirring the cauldron of mush.
          I don't think I have ever felt this at peace or laughed this often in my whole life. It's not just about the skills here... they are just a tool for connection. A connection to people and to place. Here, it is connection that I am learning to value above all else. I am so excited to extend these threads home with me in December and share these connections with you all. Let's continue weaving this basket, shall we?
P.s. I'll have pictures for this entry soon. :-)

The Oregon Dunes

My apologizes for being so late with the entry... There was so much that needed to soak in before I felt like I could put any words to anything that happened. So even though I know this won't come close to doing the experience justice, here it goes. 

         There have been few moments in my life thus far with the raw power to drop me too my knees in spiritual awe. Let me start by saying that coming face to face with the Oregon Dunes was one of these special moments.
        We left for the dunes around 7am and arrived at our little forested campground around 4:30pm to make camp. After setting up tents and starting dinner, the group walked in an anticipatory silence up the winding path to the entrance of the dunes. Hand over hand we sprint/crawled up the sandy mountain in front of us, until we were standing on top of its wind-sculpted ridge. Blood pumping, breath left somewhere behind, I took it all in. The wind was so strong, so powerful, it whipped little bits of sand like bullets across my shins. It whistled in my ears and pushed at me from all sides—and especially from somewhere within. From the top of that dune (which I will later refer to as Big Dune) you could see all the way to the roaring Pacific Ocean. The waves, capped white, were breaking way off the shoreline--huge, loud, crashing waves, showing off, bragging of their raw power. I think what really struck me was the vastness of the whole experience. Just miles and miles of rolling sand dunes and patches of forested areas with bits of grass tufting out here and there. The dunes are stunning. After I finally got control of my feet again, I wandered down the other side of Big Dune to where it met with the forest edge. In some ways, that side was even more amazing than at the top of Big Dune. Where the two ecosystem met, the forest was being swallowed by sand. Huge trees, some maybe 100 ft tall, were being pushed over and choked out by the encroaching sand. In some areas, just the tips of trees were poking out. At one point, I walked over and put my hand on a beautiful Douglas-fir tree (Pseudotsuga menzeseii) realizing that I was nearly 50 feet up with my feet still on the ground. It was pretty incredible being able to look across the tops of the trees, the canopy at my eye level. I cannot describe the experience as a whole, the emotions, the spirituality. As a group though, we didn’t need to. We had all spread out across Big Dune, everyone with their own way of celebrating… hoots and hollers, dancing, sprinting, sand-angels, rolling down the dunes, falling to knees… but most importantly, every single one of us, ALIVE.

So yeah. Wow. 

We later found out that even the instructors, who’ve been coming to that spot for almost 10 years, had never seen it so windy. But what an introduction, right? Perhaps needless to say, the rest of the week was phenomenal. We'd be woken up at 6:30am, eat breakfast, sit-spot, have a morning lesson, and be out on the dunes by 8 or 9am. Then we would spend the entirety of the day tracking. It was incredible. The trails we saw were so fresh, so detailed, and sometimes could be followed for miles. We practiced identification, gait patterns, ecology, awareness, ahhh so, so much got crammed into my head. Then after an action-packed day of tracking we would make dinner, play games, and then curl up around the fire for story-of-the-day. Sometimes it was acted out, sometimes we all got to share, but every time I left the circle feeling closer and more connected to place and to all the people I am sharing these experiences with. After some words from our elders, it was always time for music, more stories, and tons of laughter. I suppose I should also mention that the nights were as clear as could be—incredible, incredible stars beaming down on us from above.

In our three intense days with expert tracker Dave Moskowitz, we tracked a ton of grey and red foxes, a number of coyotes, many frogs, a few porcupines, raven, deer mice, elk, and a number of other small birds, rodents, and insects.

The last day of tracking was probably my favorite. I went with a group who was going to focus specifically on gaits, with out goal being to meet the ocean. After we traveled through a number of different ecosystems for what seemed like miles, we were there. I stood in front of the Pacific Ocean, water around my knees—alive. Then, with two of my girl friends here, I ran down the beach, away from the group, skipping down the beach, stripping off our clothes as we went. Yes, it’s true. I skinny-dipped in the Pacific Ocean… sun caressing my body and waves knocking me over with their freezinnggggg cold waters. Hahaha. Such good times: screaming, laughing, naked animal forms on the beach, singing, LIVING. :-D

After meeting up with the rest of the group and spending an amazing day tracking at the beach, we admittedly decided it was time to head back. As we headed up the grassy dune nearest the ocean edge, saying goodbye to her water, someone spotted... a w-h-a-l-e. Yes, I got to see a whale the first time to the Pacific. Water would shoot way up into the air and then a huge tail would follow a few seconds later. We watched in awe for several minutes as it made its way down the beach. What an awe-inspiring, touching, soul-wrenching gift for us all. 

Lastly, the final night is also worthy of mentioning. With no real reason as to why, we had been told throughout the day to stock up on dry dune grass roots. Come the final night we had huge piles of the stuff that we instructed to break up into 5 piles, one for each clan and one for the instructors/apprentices. We then experienced one of the coolest night activities I've ever seen. Each group took their bundle off into the darkness to find a tall dune to gather on top of--my group got assigned Big Dune. Then, after a few minutes of soaking in the night sounds and the beautiful constellations, we lit them. We lit them one after the other, like the emergency communication system in Lord of the Rings (nerd). And as they lit, the silent dunes were also ignited, ignited with the sounds of happiness: singing, howling... celebration... thanksgiving. The roots burned so bright; and as I looked across the empty desert I could see glowing lights with dancing silhouettes all around them. We sat and we watched them. And again I'll say it: I felt SO ALIVE. 

And that my friends... that was the dunes. 

Geeking-out

DICLAIMER: This entry is super long and geeks out periodically. Will not take offense to skimming. :-)
          Wow, what a week! "School" is really like a dream-come-true. Tuesday was our first day of official class, and we kicked it off with friction fire. We all got an introduction to the spiritual side of fire and its greater importance and significance within our lives. I got a little nervous then, as I realized that we would be carving bowdrill kits for the day. Nervous because I've done it like 100 times, and I had really hoped that this school would push my skills. But, needless to say from my spazzy introduction, it turned out perfect. They straight up asked up how many coals we had gotten and had us split ourselves up into groups based on our levels of experience. The newbies used the provided wood (western red cedar) and p-chord, some people harvested their kits from the land and used p-chord for their bow string, some of us harvested the whole kit, including the cord, from the land, and some people tried the whole deal from the land without aid of a knife. It was so awesome to have all of these different levels of skill so that we all could teach and learn from one another.
          My kit was from black cottonwood--a tree limb snag up high with good southern sun expose. I used the branch for the baseboard and spindle. Then my handhold was semi-punky vine maple and my cord was the rootlets from western red cedar. The cordage was by far my favorite part and definitely the most successful. I used three small rootlets, stripped a little bit of the bark off, and then reverse wrapped them together. It was super sturdy and lasted a really long time. I used the bowing technique where the end of the bowstring nearest you is not attached and you're pinching it as you bow to adjust tension and such. The only problem with my cord was that little bits of the leftover bark started peeling up and becoming fibrous, which then started to tangle and weaken the cord, in turn making it harder to bow smoothly. Though I did not get a coal (I think my baseboard was too small and pithy) the whole ordeal ended up being a real success. Other cordages people tried were nettle, cattail, human hair, and blackberry. I think I may have impressed the pants off some of the people here too. Haha. The youngest girl from NY bringing up the rear... didn't see that coming, aye? I love feeling like I'm in my element. Okay I'm done geeking out on bowdrill. For those of you who that was practically Spanish, my apologies.
          We also spent some of the day going over basic animal taxonomy and track characteristics. Some of it was familiar, but most of it I was like... "Hmm... I definitely knew this at one time... I think I took a test on this once..." Apparently this is what I'm paying an arm and a leg for at University. >:-(
          On Wednesday we took a trip to Bob Heirman park to go tracking. It was a beautiful hike that passed through a bunch of different ecosystems: steep rocky ridges into long, dry praries into swampy wetlands into deep forests into gravel beaches into winding salmon-filled rivers. I actually rememebered my camera this time too, but of course, didn't realize it was out of batteries until I got there. Sorry. :-( So first, we made a fire on the beach and learned the basics on how to approach tracking and why tracking is important. Then we broke up in groups and rotated throughout "stations" where the instructors had found some cool tracks. In the stations we saw great blue heron tracks, beaver drags and tracks, coyote tracks, and some sort of lagomorph tracks (aka. bunny). It was exciting to be excited about tracking. It has always been something I wanted to want to learn, but never really had that draw until now.
Now's probably a good time to mention that Monday morning at 6am we're leaving for... drum-role... the Oregon dunes! An entire week of intense tracking and animal identification! Soooo pumped. And I promise I'm going to bring a charged camera and come back with plenty of pictures to share. I'm super-crazy pumped.
          Thursday was the busiest day I've had in a long time. I woke up at 5:45am so I could get to my sit-spot before dawn. I was there until after 7am, greeted by a beautiful chorus of morning bird songs. Then, appropriately, class that day was centered around bird language. We discussed the five basic bird calls: song, companion call, male/male aggression, and alarm. We also studied call, identification, behavior, etc. of the five most helpful birds for bird language in this area: the american robin, song sparrow, rufous-sided towhee, dark-eyed junco, and pacific wren. All these birds are common to the area, mostly ground dwelling, and have pretty distinguishable calls. The groups were then split and led in bird sits and song/visual identification walks. Unfortunately, we didn't see or hear much other than excited kids because we share the land with a number of different school camps on Thursdays, plus it started raining. Birding is one of those skills that I find so overwhelming. It's great feeling like I finally have a base to start building upon. I wake up every morning and play calls from The Top 5 and then play them again before I go to bed. Hopefully as I get those down, I can keep adding more locals from the area. After class, Michelle and I spent a few hours scrubbing down the inside of our yurt to conquer the mold before the winter wetness comes. Then immediately after, we grabbed some food and headed back up to Cedar Lodge for a showing of The Great Dance. If you ever want to get pumped about tracking, watch that movie. Actually watch it anyways... it's stellar. Theeeennnn there was a great jam sesh after the movie. And theeennnnn we had an amazing dinner with the help of friend and fellow student Canoe Trevor. He brought some fresh caught, self-canned halibut from a 100lb fish he caught in Alaska. MMMMmmmm soooo incredibly good.
          I woke up early again on Friday for my first day of work! All I have to say is, "Wow." I am so insanely happy with it. I fell into my role like I was back at home again. So much of the camp is similar to Primitive Pursuits, but more so of PP in it's early stages. My group of kids are ages 8-13 and though most of them are newbies, some have been coming to the programs for like 5 or 6 years. On one hand it's so awesome that they all have such a great base for learning, on the other hand it's freakin' terrifying. For example, we were sitting around the fire giving brief introductions and a bird silouette zipped over head. One of the 8-year-olds jumps up and points, "Look! What is that? Definitely a woodpecker... is that a piliated or a hairy? Hmm I think thats a piliated. Yeah definitely..." and then sits back down. Dude. He's 8. Hahaha I'm going to learn so much this year. Later that day I asked one of the 13-year-old girls her favorite insect and she replied, "Umm... though I have a general detest for all bugs, I'd probably say the black-nosed snout weevil." Oh boy. ANYWAYS, it was really refreshing to be in a place where the kids are treated like people and not things. These kids are given so much responsibility, respect, and love. I'm so happy to be a part of this organization.
          Okay well I need to go do some homework now to prepare for next week. I probably won't be able to write again until next weekend so until then... I wish you all the best. Love you all dearly!

Child of the Dandelion

          I'd like to start by saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my beloved father. Dad, thank you for always treating me with the utmost respect. I am proud everyday to say that I am your daughter, for you are an amazing man. You have taught me to love the outdoors, use tools, re-wire houses, respect animals (...nice kitty...), chop wood, speak wisely, and never let a boy show me up. And because of this, I will forever be a daddy's girl.

           Now, I'm sure you all are wondering what the heck I did last week. And man, I wish I could tell you. But truthfully, I am at a loss for words. The best word I have attributed to the week thus far is "intense." The week was so, so intense. In fact, I just spent the last twenty minutes or so trying to describe it here. I'm going to be honest, I couldn't.  Perhaps the easiest way to give you guys a glimpse at what I'm trying to say is simply to state: this is not just a school. This is a group of people who have similar life views and passions, and who are creating an intentional community around learning primitive and naturalist skills. Much of what the first week focused on was this aspect of community, and making space for us all to open up and speak our intensions of coming to this place. I can now truly say that this program appears to be everything I had hoped for, and much, MUCH more. I wish I could describe the amazing changes I've gone through in the past week, but everything I write or say in words just ends up sounding hokey. I've attested it to being something like trying to describe an emotion, or a color, or a taste. Nothing I can say here would do it any justice, and I have too much respect for the whole process to do that.

          Things I can say: we are going to be learning soooo much this year. They gave us brief overviews of many of the topics that we will be covering throughout the year, and golly-oh-gee I'm pumped. The whole program is centered around something known as the Medicine Wheel. Simplified, the Medicine Wheel is a way of organizing energies, using the cardinal directions. This organizational method can be applied to many different aspects of life, some that we covered were movement of the sun, the human life cycle, plant life cycles, duties of the community, inner energy tracking, and a few others as well. I might upload my medicine wheel that I drew out while taking notes to give you all a better idea of what I'm blabbering on about. Hearing it explained for the first time gave me chills, and by the end of the demo there was this air of excitement vibing throughout the group. It's one of those core ideas that we now can't stop relating things back to and discussing over again whenever the chance arises. 

           Our class, although very unified, is broken up into a number of smaller sectors. First, each of us has a nature name that we must study, embody, and learn from. Second, there are four clans that meet to form stronger bonds within a smaller group. Much of last week was spent participating in discussions, doing team-building exercises, and picking the minds of others within this clan. Third is societies. As previously mentioned, part of the Medicine Wheel describes energy types that need to be met in order to create a well functioning community. Within each clan there is a member for each of the directions on the medicine wheel, and the hold the space and energies of that direction. Each direction meets occasionally as well, in groups called societies. And finally, there are learning groups. These are the people who learn together during class and are assigned to one of the four core instructors. 

Although I could write for the next three hours about my experiences here thus far, I have to go do (get this) HOMEWORK. Haha. It's true, among all this crazy awesome fun, we are doing a ton of learning on plants and animals of the region, primitive skills, tracking, awareness, bird language, etc. etc. on and on. 

          I really just wanted to get this entry out and let ya'll know I'm here and alive and well. More than well... I'm feeling so good about being here. Even just tonight I found my place here at the Mosswood community... one which I will have to divulge soon. 

          Missing you all quite terribly. Thank you to those who sent letters and postcards, it means the world to me. Blessings to you all.

Man I really want to tell you guys every little detail! Ahhh. Soon, soon. I will close simply with:

I am Estelle, child of the Dandelion. I hold the position of Southeast within the Winter Wren clan. I am here.

Stereotypes :-)

Well... it's finally here. Yesterday was our first day of school--just an orientation day, but still quite a landmark for me. The group is 28 students, 4 core instructors, and 6 second-year assistant/interns. The group is definitely unique. Everyone gave a (really) brief introduction of themselves yesterday and there are so many interesting experiences and passions. It is definitely a new dynamic to be in such a large group where everyone has such similar interests and morals. The day was pretty simple: introductions, a few games, logistics, tour of the land, a new song, some forms, questions, etc. Next week, however, is going to be when the real fun begins. Starting Monday, we have an entire week where everyone will be camping on Linne Doran. The way I see it, it's initiation week. :-) They haven't really told us what it will be like exactly, but all we have to bring is some things to write with and on, camping gear and our wares, and a blindfold. Muahaha. It's funny because some people seem really confused and anticipatory about the whole situation, but I feel like this is just another day in the life. I think Primitive Pursuits has really trained me to be ready for anything and everything. Haha. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, do not fear, this is absolutely nothing like college initiations. Anyways, I should tell you that there will be no posts next week; you could call or text but I definitely won't answer right away.

Going backwards in time again, Thursday was Alderleaf's first weekly potluck. I spent the day making my own hummus, which actually turned out pretty delicious. I made two different kinds and then swirled them together: spicy, black bean hummus with cumin, black pepper, and chile powder, and then salty/sweet chickpea hummus with garlic, sweet onions, and lemon juice (among other things). Wahoo, I have finally started to dive into the world of cooking! Kind of a funny place for the experimentation stage considering my cooking facilities include an electric-water-heater, a single-burner hot-plate, and a toaster-oven. But hell, I've got to start somewhere.
I digress... back to the potluck. There was a copious amount of delicious dishes and all I brought was a large mug. Needless to say I ended up embracing the creation of mash-up food combinations. I did slip up once and downed some mac&cheese without even thinking about my new dairitary restrictions. Since then I have turned down many-a-dish... yogurt, ice cream, pizza, OREOS. Yeah, trust me, I know. Again, back to the potluck. Michelle and I went; ate (lots of) food, chatted with the new Alderleaf students, danced to a little live music jam session, slacklined, and I reconnected with many of my Alderleafian friends. It was so, SO nice to see everyone again. I had no idea how quickly I had begun to care-for and miss that land and all her stewards.

I'm not sure exactly why, but I just don't feel as connected to this place as I immediately did to Alderleaf. I'm hoping it's just time. I'm trying not to make any judgements or comparisons of the two schools, but I'm having trouble getting out of my own head. Once this next week is over, I know I'll have a better idea of how I fit into the WAS community. Right now though, I just have this inkling to be back at Alderleaf that I can't seem to shake. I'm trying to just live in the moment and except that I'm here for a reason. Peace of mind and connection to place are things that I know cannot be rushed or forced. If you feel at all inclined, I suppose what I could use now are some words of encouragement and faith that I am doing the right thing.

Last week I finally started meeting some more of the Mosswood residents. We had some shared dinners, stories and songs by the fire, and even spent an evening the hot-tub. Yes, you read that correctly... HOT TUB. Tehe. I've also been taking some time to get my body back into yoga and on it's way to feeling healthy again. And--eeegad, to get personal--I've stopped shaving my legs. Haha I know, I know... get your tree-hugging, granola eating, hippy jokes out of the way now. And yes, Mom, you don't need to bother with an "I told you so." I just somehow got to the realization that I've never even seen what my legs naturally look like. I'm not saying I'm going to stop shaving forever, but come on, shouldn't I at least know how I was created to look without all the societal judgements? How many more tree-hugger stereotypes can I try out? Vegetarian? Vegan? Dreads? Dirty barefeet? Wait a second... this is starting to sound all too familiar. :-P

Okay well I suppose I'll close with something that I'm not sure why I didn't include in Tuesday's post. There's more that should be said about living in Beaver Creek yurt. First of all, there is a feeling to the air that you don't get anywhere else--its like being outside, but more still. Maybe its subtleties in the smells, or the way the air sits, or how the sound travels through it... I can't quite put my finger on what it is, but it has a quality that is calming to the soul. Also worthy of mentioning are the nights spend in the Beaver. Because we are situated right on the edge of Soup Hole Pond, the nights are littered with bard owl calls, night hawks, coyote songs, frogs, wild dog howls and so much more. Trains also travel by, somewhere off in the distance, their low whistles dancing around the mountain sides and across the still water. There really is nothing like it. The Beaver also has a skylight that extends towards the moonlit sky. Some nights it lets in blackness that sinks deep into the floorboards. Other nights we are lucky and it serves as a border to the hundreds of thousands of constellations that are scattered in blanket above.

You are all more than welcome to come visit her any time you'd like.

There's no place like home

It's true, I'm officially moved in to my yurt. It is beginning to feel more and more like home each day. The first day we moved in, I couldn't help but take ALL of my stuff out of their boxes and put them on shelves. I kept focusing on all the stupid little things that I knew would change anyways. Haha, Michelle and I decided it was backlash from living out of a one-person tent for the last month. Anyhow, it feels really good to have a "home" again. However, right now is an interesting transition for me--school doesn't start until Friday, Michelle has been gone since last Friday, and I don't really know anyone at Mosswood yet either. So, I guess you could say I'm flying solo for a bit. I have my other friends from Alderleaf, but their program started yesterday and since I don't have a car here, its a little hard to make plans. This will be good though, I have a few days to touch back in with myself, do some journaling, walk around my yurt naked, you know, the usual. :-)

I'm sure you all will be happy to know that I got that job I was talking about. I'll will be teaching a small group of home-schoolers AND I get to work underneath the founder and director of the whole school. Hawkeye seems to have amazing talent and vision so I think it will be a great opportunity for me to grow as a teacher. If you want to know more about it you can visit their website, quietheart.org. My bio and picture should be up in the staff section soon. They also run a summer camp that I'm going to look into for the summer (don't worry Primitive Pursuits, I'm not ditching... but you didn't REALLY expect me to never get a feel for some other places, did you?) :-) 

On that note, I'm excited to say that for my ticket back to WA from winter break in NY, I'm buying a one-way. It just hit me that I have no idea what I'll want to be doing at that point: traveling, working, exploring, etc. Hah. Wow. I've never before bought a one-way ticket anywhere. But, don't worry everyone, I will be coming back to NY to finish up my final year at ESF, no doubt about it. 

Oh, so something else exciting: I've stopped eating dairy. Not necessarily permanently, but I wanted to see how my body would feel without it. There was a point at Alderleaf when I realized I hadn't eaten dairy more than like three or four time for the entire month. Plus, I have been talking to a lot of people about how weird the concept of dairy is, and I figured now was a better time than ever to try out a dietary change. Think about it--we are the only species who drink milk past infancy, especially the milk intended for the babies of a different species. Our bodies were not adapt to even process lactose until very recently, in fact it is actually a mutation. Plus, it causes our bodies to react badly, forming excess mucus, bloating, etc. AND the reason more calcium in the bones is attributed to milk consumption is that alkaline calcium is stored in the bones and released to combat acidity in the body, which, might I add, is caused by the metabolism of dairy products. (Sorry for nerding out there.) But, on the opposite hand, I freakin' love milk, and cheese, and butter, and yogurt, and mmmm... Yeah. So we'll see. Everything is experimental. 

Okay well, I feel like there's a lot less to write about right now. I'm really just hanging out until the year gets moving. It has been really nice to get back in touch with many of you this week, and I hope that continues as the school year progresses. I've got orientation on Friday, and then our actually classes begin on Monday with a weeklong camp-out on Linne Doran. I'll keep you guys updated if anything exciting happens. 

Well, today is my last day here at Alderleaf. Tomorrow morning Michelle is picking me up and we are movin' in! Yes, yes, this is another bittersweet one for me. I have fallen in love with this land, the farm, and the people that reside here. But, this isn't really goodbye for me... I plan on stopping by once, maybe even twice a week--potlucks, farm days, frisbee tournaments, slack-lining, Settler's of Catan, etc.
I've been taking a break from the garden this week and putting my mind and energy into other things. Finally made my first West-coast bowdrill kit: western red cedar (Thuja plicata). I also had my first attempt at using cedar root as a natural bow cord. No coal yet, but perhaps I'm close... a few adjustments away I hope.
I've also sunk my hands back into brain-tanning. Wahoo! It's funny how much I miss it when I go long periods without working some skin. I gave Vita and Frog each a muskrat hide (Ondatra zibethicus) and am teaching them fur-on egg-tanning. I haven't used eggs much myself, so it's a good learning experience for me as well. My hands and mind have been so itching for projects lately... I didn't realize how absolutely obsessed I am with crafts until the last week or so. It's hard here because I'm lacking tools, materials, and personal space. Last night I lay in "bed" for 3 plus hours, skills to learn, ideas for crafts, projects to work, tools to buy, etc., etc., running/flying through my brain. I would periodically turn on my flashlight, jot down some notes, then lay back down, head still spinning. It was a really strange experience, but good. I feel like I finally released a lot of the mush that was beginning to traffic jam. In fact, here's some things I jotted down. If there's anything anyone knows how to do and would be interested in sharing/teaching their knowledge, let me know. Even good websites or classes... anything helps.
Skills I want to learn:
-Food storage--canning, dehydration, jerky, pickling, fermentation, etc.
-Saving seed--processing and storage
-Pottery--preparing the clay, primitive firing, glazes or coloration
-Knitting--more advanced stitches, patterns, etc.
-Natural dyes--especially for wool
-Natural soap making
-Butchering and filleting
-Woodworking/construction--specifically creating joints, pegs, etc. without use of metal
-Raising bees and harvesting honey/beeswax
-Tapping trees for syrup and sugar

Oh boy. Just thinking about it makes me sooooo excited. I know I'm going to be away from you all for a long while, but when I'm back you all best be ready to dive right in to all of this with me. :-) (AND MORE!)
What else... On Friday I'm meeting with the director of a children's nature camp for a possible job instructing one day a week. It would be really good to have at least some income while I'm here. Plus it's right up my alley. I've found it to be very fun finding similarities between skills and games even all the way across the country. So many of the same names, games, challenges, and crafts. Played foxtails in the field yesterday and I felt like I was right there out in front of Kiwanis.
While I'm thinking of it, for those of you interested in sending mail: letters, care packages, money, chocolate, etc... :-) my mailing address will be as follows:

Estelle Waterman

c/o Mosswood Hollow

20215 320th Ave. NE

Duvall, WA 98019

I've also been slowing the clock, passing time, being a kid. Frog and I have been taking adventures across the creek, time traveling it seems. We spend hours at a time crawling through bushes, searching the ground for animal hairs, trailing deer, studying mountain beaver sign (Aplodontia rufa), climbing trees, skipping rocks, balancing on fallen logs, sleeping in beds of moss, dancing with the river, you know... being alive.
It's a rainy one here today. I think only the third one since I've been here, actually. Haha. I know, I know... winter's coming. The.rain.is.coming. And I'm going now. Peace be with you all.

Life Questions

This week has been pretty quiet. There was a survival class that was being run all week, so everyone else has been busy with that. I worked a little bit on the farm, but I've mostly been hitting the books hard almost everyday... I've been studying up on small house design--how to maximize small spaces for the most use and comfort. I'm in the process of designing multiple houses (primarily using cob, big surprise, aye?). It just makes want to start building NOW. Or at least start collecting materials and furniture so that when I do start building someday, everything will be there and ready to go.
I also started a basket. The frame is mostly red alder branches with a little willow, and then the main weaving will be with cattail. It's looking really nice so far, we'll see how it turns out (I'll try and remember to take some pictures while I work on it). I finished the frame today, now I just have to soak the dried cattail for a bit to get them workable.
Tonight a bunch of us got together and cooked a feast. We made kale mashed potatoes with onions and garlic in a thick mushroom gravy. Then for dessert we had vegan freezer fudge made mainly from almond butter and chocolate chips. So incredible. Everything was entirely organic, vegan, no preservatives, even cooked in non-aluminum, non-stick pans. Haha. (One of the interns is a little crazy about his food.) I know I've already said this, but there's just something amazing about cooking together and sharing food with a group. There was so much thanksgiving going around and such a great energy in the air. It's the little things that add up here. Like tonight, for example, one of us accidently put in way too much liquid aminos and it carried over into the final taste. At first he kept apologizing, but then someone perked up with, "Well, maybe there is someone here that really needs them tonight." It's simple words like that that make me take a step back and thank the greater energy for bringing me here to this place and to these people.
It's hard to think I'm leaving this place in less than a week... I'm not really, though. I'm going to try to make their weekly potlucks and continue helping out on the farm when I can. There's no way I'm not going to continue being a part of this community. It seems like that's an ongoing trend for Alderleaf. Shaun decided he's going to stay here for the 9-month program. So excited for him. :-)
This week has been quite the soul searching journey for me. Not entirely sure what caused it or why now, but it's been interesting. If you're interested in what I mean or want to help me through some crazy times, get in touch with me. Especially you elders out there, your wisdom is much respected and appreciated. Sorry is this post seemed scatter-brained... It's late and I'm very tired.

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?

Becoming a True Gardener

So, I'm finally feeling like a true gardener. I get up, work in the garden, eat, work in the garden, then the sun goes down. Next, I eat again, and then I spend the night celebrating the good life with friends until it's finally time for a good night's sleep. I have dirt permanently caked underneath my nails, and I have tan lines from all the band-aids I have to wear on my beat up hands... blisters, hang-nails, cuts... the usual. I have also been told that my back is approaching the African-American look, as I spend most days bending over in the blazing sun.
Something else ya'll might find interesting: snakes. I like em, you should too. But the point is, they are EVERYWHERE here. You walk down the trail and every twenty or so feet one goes zipping off into the bushes. I was lying down in the field yesterday and one slithered right up to me and hung out by my face for a while. They are all garden snakes--harmless other than the stink they leave behind on you if you pick them up. On a similar note, there are no poisonous spiders here either; even no ticks... only bears, coyotes, mountain lions, and the occasional wolf. Haha, those are all much less scary though, and don't worry Mom, you're lucky if you ever even spot some of their tracks.
Another super plus about this place is the library they've got going on. There are soooo many exciting books on anything and everything I have interest in. Their library is divided into sections, get this: wild plants and trees, permaculture, wilderness survival, wildlife and tracking, ecology, inspirational stories, general resources, and other. Damn. This is my future bookshelf. Last night I looked at three different earthen building books and five different books on basketry alone. Haha, insanity. I'm in love.
What else... yesterday, after a super intense day of work, one of the interns, Steve (whom is called Junco or Badger), took us out to an all you can eat oriental buffet. I remembered half way there that I wasn't wearing shoes, but let me remind you that I have probably worn shoes less than ten times since I've been here. So taking that into account, it really wasn't THAT dumb. I ended up making some cardboard flip-flop things that probably drew more attention to me than going barefoot would have. Anyways, the restaurant was super cool. You get a bowl to fill with whatever you want, and then they take it and cook your food right in front of you. The sauces and combos and ughhhhh so good. Plus you can go for seconds, thirds, whatever. Haha, here I go talking about food again.

Just in case ya'll forgot what I look like. 

I can tell I've already lost weight from being here, too. My once modest boobs are now barely past teenage size, and my pants are beginning to sit a little loose around the hips (that might also be from being worn everyday without washing, though). :-)
Alright, spending the evening making good use of the library.
Oh and if you want to see some pictures, my friend Heath from the permaculture program has some really good ones on her flicker account. http://www.flickr.com/photos/heathashli/ Check it. There are a lot of the land here, plus some from the projects we all worked on.

Waterfalls, sheeps milk, and beer.

Phew. It's so great to have some days "off." It's funny to put it that way, because these days have been some of the most exhilarating and physically challenging yet.
Yesterday a few friends and I took to one of the many amazing hiking trails here in WA. We only hiked about five or six miles round trip on a well maintained path, but damn. I don't know if I've ever climbed that many boulders and stairs before, or if I ever want to again. I guess that's a lie... I would totally go again tomorrow if given the chance. :-) Along the way we were all quizzing each other with plant ID and edible/medicinal values. I was surprised by how much I've already learned. Anyways, our final destination was a completely stunning waterfall called Bridal Falls. It was HUGE. The trail came out right at the bottom of the waterfall and you could walk out onto the rocks below, nearly underneath the falls. Not only was the water absolutely frigid, but the power of the falling water made incredible winds that shot out tiny water droplets, which stung our goose-bumped legs. It was so loud and so massive that as soon as I stepped out into its presence, I couldn't help but let out a belly-shaking howl. Hahaha. Normal people may have been weirded out... this group joined right in with all kinds of hooting and howling. I wonder how that sounded for the people still on their way up. :-)
Today I woke up early... not by choice, might I add. Some of the boys here decided to get up real early to go for a morning run. Of course it had to begin with a pass by my tent and some more hooting and hollering. Anyhow, I decided to get up and start living up the day. I worked for the residents hauling gravel, weeding; I even learned to milk a sheep! My newly trained hands were pretty clumsy and the momma sheep got a little pissy at me and ended up stepping in the bucket. I also accidentally squirted milk on my leg. Hahaha. Needless to say I need some more practice. After the milking escapade, I made a really sweet dream catcher--three tiered, using caddisfly homes as beads and feathers from the chickens we harvested last week. I think I'm going to give it to one of the apprentices (whom we call Frog) for being so kind and giving me rides, pizza, shampoo, beer, etc.
Speaking of beer, I think I am finally starting to develop a taste! Wahoo! I drank a beer the night before last and one last night as well, and almost enjoyed them both times. Frog just put in a small slice of lemon for me, and badaboom badabing--delish.
I have been really bad about taking pictures lately, I even forgot my camera on the hike (just means I'll have to go again sometime). I'll try and keep up with that and upload them soon.
For now, off shoot some arrows. Sending my love.

Officially Permaculture Certified.

Wooooooweeeeeee. These last two weeks have been crazy in every sense of that word--crazy busy, crazy awesome, crazy fun, crazy tiring... just straight up crazy. Where to start... going backwards.
Yesterday was my last day of the permaculture intensive. I am officially certified! Haha. The last few days have been major project cramming night and day. Not only were we having new material fed into our overflowing brains for 8-plus hours a day, but before class, after class, and during all our breaks we were rushing to finish our design presentations. Earlier in the course we were assigned clients (our instructors) with plots of land (pieces of Alderleaf's land) and a design task that they wanted us to present (my group's client wanted his land designed for a childrens' outdoor school). It was a lot of fun, especially since I had a lot of experience pushing me in the right direction. On top of that, we all had to find an individual part of the design to focus on and present. I chose to design an outdoor, all natural playground. Anyways, it was all a great success, the teachers and students loved our design (the main instructor even said with a little work mine would totally be publishable!). But I'm just happy to have it all done. So anyways, this is why I have not written in over a week. :-) Man the days are flying by.

Last weekend a friend drove me out to Mosswood to see my yurt. Damn it is beautiful there. The yurt overlooks this amazing wetland and is so cozy and welcoming both inside and out. The pictures that I have on here barely do it justice. After I moved in what I could, we went to a restaurant and I had my first large quantity of food in a long time: a bacon-avocado burger and sweet potato fries. There are no words... Since then, I've been a lot better about making sure I'm eating enough and eating healthy. Wednesday and Thursday of this week I had two of the best meals of my entire life. Wednesday a group of us campfire-cooked this amazing veggie/potato stir fry and fresh salmon. We harvested all kinds of amazing herbs and spices from the garden and loaded them on. The flavors were insane. Then on Thursday we had a meal with the whole permaculture class. Everything was harvest by hand here in the gardens or from next door neighbors. We had all kinds of fruits and vegetables, potatoes, sheep's milk, and chicken. It was soooooo good to have milk. And to top it off there was a maple/pumpkin custard for desert.
Eating the chickens was a special honor, for earlier in the week they were two young roosters that gave up their lives to teach the class how to butcher. It was such a powerful experience, one of the most intense I've ever gone through actually. Though I have skinned my fair share of animals, I had never witnessed death that closely. It is really making me think twice and give extra thanks each time before I sit down to eat. I send my hopes that you all get a chance to feel that spirituality and reconnect with your omnivorous roots. Anyways, that meal was one of the best of my life. Sitting down at the table, sharing stories, laughing, eating... There was such joy around the table I could not help but feel at home. :-) Just thinking back on it makes me bubbly all over again. On the same note, that feeling of thanksgiving and respect sort of constantly seeps from the land here as well. It's so obvious (both spiritually and visually) that Mother Earth is well taken care of here.

What else... I've been hanging out mostly with the interns and people who live here permanently. Been practicing my archery a lot with one of the residents. There were like three or four days in a row where we target shot, played archers tic-tac-toe, or horse for hours at a time. One night we even shot at candles under a crazy star-lit sky. Needless to say, my accuracy is getting a lot better... it's sweet.

One day I got invited to go fishing at a nearby lake. Didn't actually end up fishing at all, haha, but did a lot of wading through muck, balancing (and not balancing) on floating logs, and identifying local plants. Here's a picture of Junco trudging fishing-poll-in-hand out into the bog and another of friend weaving some cattails.








I've also gotten to participate in many little jam sessions. There are so many great, passionate musicians here that there's usually a good mix up every other day--guitar, banjo, and drums mostly... Everyone is all about bluegrass. I've been getting a lot better at harmonizing on the spot too so it's been tons of fun.

Oh, good news! I'm staying here at Alderleaf until September! I'm so excited. I realized that if I could continue camping here I would not only save on a month's worth of rent, but I would also be able to hang out with my new friends for an extra like 2-3 weeks. So I asked if I could stay in exchange for helping on projects and in the garden and such, and they said they'd love to have me. I'm PUMPED.

I can't get over how nice everyone is here. Not only happy, but also unique. The students taking the permaculture course ranged from 20 (me) to like 45 years of age, and each person was so confident in their path. It was so refreshing to have such unique personalities coupled with such a diversity of skill sets. There were kids running around and babies and parents and elders and games and dancing and ahhhh! Okay, okay, I'm sure you get the point.
Alright well I'm going to try to write less sporadically and spontaneously from now on, but no promises. It's probably pretty easy to tell my mind is straight up mush at this point. Excited to keep in touch. Please email, facebook, or text me. I miss you all and love hearing from you. 

Its been, one week...

Wow. I can't believe I've already been here an entire week. I feel like I've known everyone for months. They do an amazing job building community here. Not only is it something we talk about during permaculture design, but also there is plenty of time built in for music, sharing stories, and teaching each other skills.

Today we built a compost pile. Sounds funny, but composting is one of the things that I'm finding myself most interested in. They have a composting toilet here that is a breeze to use (no pun intended). Something about turning "waste" into beautiful, dark, healthy soil is so appealing to me.
The other thing that has become a recent obsession is building with cob. I can't wait to come home and start putting my knowledge to the test. I'm going to make my parents some amazing new garden structures and compost bins. :-)
The only downside for me right now is food. I definitely need to learn to cook, and learn to eat right. I'm at the point of rationing my food now. Haha. I'm basically living off grit, peanut butter and jelly, trail mix, and instant soup. Let's just say I took an avocado skin out of the compost yesterday that still had some meat on it.
Today, I made a map of my parents' land back home and started designing some elements of permaculture throughout the property. Point is, I'm already excited to come home and share my new knowledge with you all. Though my journey has barely begun, in a way, I'm ready to come home. I love you all immensely. XOXO.

Trees, slugs, and other bugs

Currently on a friends laptop in our main classroom. I'm so excited to tell you guys every detail, adventure and wonder, but let's be practical now. :-)

The view off the bridge where I hitch-hiked for the first time.

Washington's version of "roaming hills."

My commute here went better than I expected--didn't get LOST (which is saying a lot for me), didn't get mugged, didn't get kidnapped... I even had my first hitch-hiking experience. Since the minute I got here, people have been only kind, gracious, and welcoming. I feel so at home here even though less than a week has passed by.
It's such a different world here, I feel like I'm in a jungle sometimes. The trees seem to only grow up and not out. They are sooo tall compared to the trees back East. Scraggly, winding branches up to the sky. It's hard being in a different place, though. So much of my tree and plant identification is back to square one--eastern hemlock is western hemlock, elderberries are poisonous, and the only sorrel is sheep sorrel, not wood sorrel.

SLUGS! I love slugs. They have so many giant slugs here (they are actually quite a problem in the gardens). There are beautiful brown slugs with orange tread, huge black slugs that come out at night, and banana slugs that supposedly numb your tongue if you lick them, though I haven't tried it yet. The first day I sat with one of the banana slugs and studied him for like thirty minutes straight, taking pictures, following his tracks, and the like. I then went to set up my camp a few yards away. There's no better way to say this so: on the way back, I stepped on him. It was the worst. The loss of a close friend so early on. Needless to say, I've since been much more careful where I walk.

Moss climbing high on the trees.

The squishy moss that makes my feet smile.

The last real difference I'm going to mention here is the blanket of green that covers everything in the deep woods--the ground, dead logs, tree roots, trunks, and branches all the way up to the sky. MOSS. It comes in all shapes and sizes and is an amazing cushion for us bare-footers. I am really growing to appreciate it for all that it has to offer.


I spent the weekend hanging out with the residents and interns who reside here; went to an amazing concert, played music, had a bonfire (started from a handrill coal shared between me and a man they call Junco [like the bird]), made art, gardened, and much more. Wow, that really sounds like the life, aye?

Today was day two of the permaculture intensive. If I could describe in one word how its treating me... well, I couldn't. Haha. I definitely have some mixed feelings about it that I wont go into detail on here. For those of your who do not know, permaculture is a design approach to sustainable human communities. "It's not how you do it, but how you think about it" ~Bill Morrison. Permaculture teaches you to look at a space and see the relationships between all its parts in a way that will give you the most output for the least amount of input. It's all very amazing work, I get to get my hands dirty, and it's the doorway to the sustainable living style I have been seeking since high school. The only reason I am unsure of it in any way deals with my own pessimistic views of the future. For now, it's making my mind, body, and soul happy and healthy.

So much more I could share, but for now. Sending my love and missing you all incredibly. For real though, I'm already a little bit home sick! <3

I'm Leaving

7/27/11 I'm leaving. That's basically it. I love you all. Wish me luck, talk to you soon!
:-)

<-- Beautiful sunrise from the Rochester airport.

View out the window over the Cascades -->

The Final Countdown

Two more days, people. My flight leaves Thursday at 6am from Rochester (to save money). My best friend Marisa is going to see me off at the airport, mostly because my mom hates driving at night... or in the rain, or in traffic, mostly in general. Haha, love you Mom! Anyways, my flight leaves with a transfer in Chicago, and then lands in Seattle at about 11am their time (three hours behind New York). Once I'm in Washington, my trek to get to Alderleaf is going to take just about as long (let's hope that ends up being an exaggeration). I'm going to board the bus system at the airport and be bussed around for about an hour and a half--transferring numerous times with all my gear. Once I get off the bus, I'll be in Sultan, which is the closest stop to Alderleaf. However, closest does not mean close. I will then have to lug all my stuff approximately four and a half miles down the road to Alderleaf's campus. On a positive note, I won't be carrying everything for the full year, just enough for the two weeks of the permaculture intensive. The rest I'll be having sent in the mail to my yurt, once I'm moved in.

On a separate note, I do not know if there will be internet available during the permaculture program, so there could be about two weeks lacking in posts. I will, however, make sure to take plenty of pictures to put up once I get into internet territory.
For now, tootles.

Saying Sayonara

Friday was my last day of work at Primitive Pursuits (for a while, at least). It was one of those bittersweet moments in life that everyone goes on about... guess this is my turn. You have all become not only a wonderful group of friends, but also a second family. And like a family, though I did not choose you, I find myself loving each and every one spirit. If given the chance, I would choose you all a hundred times over again. You have all challenged and guided me through some of the best, and some of the hardest, times of my life. I can only hope that the people I meet this coming year are as full of that excitement and love for life that you all have shown me throughout these years. To all of my family and friends out there, whether reading this post or not, know that I care about you more than I can put into words. Wish me luck on my journeys, as I wish you luck on yours.