Since I last posted we've gotten quite a few more interns at the job site. I'll name all of them: Sprout, Luke, Tony, Francesco, Hannah, Jacob, Claire, David, and Zach. There is one agricultural intern for the LCLT (Lopez Comm. Land Trust) and her name is Lindsey. Also, there's an intern for a watershed monitoring group on the island and her name is Sunni.
Tony is from Miami and he's a fun guy, very nice, and kind. It's interesting to see him get used to a culture very different than the one he's used to. Francesco is from Italy, but has lived on Whidbey Island for a few years. He's a nice guy, very giving of himself and mellow. Hannah is from Berkeley/Oakland and is an awesome female addition to the work crew. She's got a love for life and shines vibrantly. Jacob didn't plan on being an intern here. He was woofing on this fake farm that just wanted to take advantage of free labor, so LCLT took him in! :) He's from Anacortes, so kinda a local guy and he's really cool and grounded. He's 19 going on 25.....it's so great to meet thoughtful people. Claire! Claire is from San Fransisco city and teaches kids about farming and gardening at school. Kinda like a farms to schools program, it's way cool. She is a ball of sunshine and authenticity. I like that she speaks her mind very bluntly (in a sweet way). David is from Portland and is a cute, quiet kinda guy. We did karaoke last weekend and he was rockin the dance party! Zach...hrmmmm...i dont know much about Zach. He just arrived. So as you can see we have a great great crew of driven young people. And we're all about the same age, so that's awesome.
I recently took the ferry to San Juan Island to get my CPR/First Aid cert. for my upcoming job in Maryland. I feel equipped to help save someone now :)
I don't know how many of you recognize the official changing of seasons and longest/shortest days of the year, but Summer Solstice was last week and it was the longest day of the year. The sun didn't go down until 11:30ish! It reminded me a lil' of Alaska. We all gathered at a farm and had a big big bonfire and an amazing potluck. I ate beef heart (local), deer, and lamb sausages. So good! Also, since solstice is for new beginnings I wrote a letter to new beginnings and burned it in the fire. It was great to be with alla the friends on such a great night.
Voting season is coming up and I wanted to get more involved in this community. So I helped the man who got the GMO-Free San Juan Islands Initiative on the ballot. I put together envelopes and looked up addresses. Anything to help a cause I believe in. The man's name is Ken and he also is the owner of Horse Drawn Farm, a fully horse driven farm that is just 1.4 miles from where I live. Through connecting with him I've found a great place to hang out and read by his pond and a great place to hang my aerial silks (in his big open air barn). I recently found out that doing silks in the wind is really dangerous. The wind just takes the silks right away from your feet. There I was stranded at 20ft with no silks beneath me....lesson learned.
I've gotten really crafty living here. On my times off, among other things, I have learned to make dream catchers out of cedar branches. I've also learned to make mobiles out of drift wood and found objects. And lately I've been kinda obsessed with drawing mandalas while trying each time to make them as symmetrical as possibly. It takes concentration to have such a steady hand.
A few weekends ago it was Lopez High School Graduation and we were invited to attend a grad celebration. The whole community was there to celebrate. The biggest potluck I've ever been to...the food was amazing. AND they roasted on a spit for 23 hours a 200 lb. local pig. That was pure heaven, the best pork meat I've every had. I pulled some belly meat from the whole pig laying there. Jesus! It was a night to remember. We also went to a dual Gemini birthday gathering with alla the friend crew on Ronni and Levi's land (Oddland). They are awesome radicals.
Recently I've been diligently dream journalism in hopes of lucid dreaming (follow the link if you wanna know more) sometime soon. It's very a very interesting process to try and remember dream life right after you wake-up. It's been great. Though I havent been lucid yet. Soon though....
Since my car is not here (loving it) I am biking everywhere and really getting to explore at a more intimate human level instead of partially being a removed bystander in a car.
The houses!! Oh the houses. They are coming right along. each week is such a leap. The interior walls are just being finished on 2 houses and the roofs are ready to be put on the other houses. I really like doing roof stuff. Being up high adds and extra element of danger (heights+nail guns=major fun)
I've decided what my first building project will be when I get home to Arcata in December. It is the perfect solution to my permanent housing issue in Arcata. I will build a "tiny home" on wheels. It will be built on a 5x8ft trailer and will be Sprout sized :) I can move it to different lands and locations and hopefully some awesome friends (*poke nudge* :) will let me park my very small living quarters on their lands. What I want to do is similar to Tumbleweed Homes, but I will form my own plans and structural design. I cant wait!!
Some pictures:
All is going well here. I hope everything is great with you (who ever you are). Thanks for reading.
A song that is played a lot this summer (could turn out to be the anthem for Summer 2012).
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