Phoenix and I recently got back from some travels and are digging back in on the land back here at mooncatlife. A friend that I met at the Earthship build in Guatemala, Marcus, went to the new Earthship Academy and is starting a simple Survival Model Earthship. I wanted to see how he was going about it, help get it started, and be around other Earthshippers and Earthshipper wannabees.
At Marcus' build in Tennessee we got to help level, help with some of the layout, lay down plastic, and start pounding some tires. I picked up a number of little tips from Marcus and decided that the Earthship Academy seems like a good idea. I will be looking to see if I can make that happen some time in the future. The Academy is pretty new, previously there had been internships, but with the academy classes more in-depth information is offered. Marcus recommended the Earthship Academy, he says that one will get out what one puts in, and there is a lot to learn.
On our drive back from Marcus' build I drove past a hydroponics store. I decided to stop through because Carlisle had told me that he thought the closest hydroponics store to our home location is Rockford, which I believe is a few hours drive. In the hydroponics store I asked a few questions and learned that supplemental nutrients are, as one might assume, mined. However to avoid supplemental nutrients one can include fish in the system (aquaponics) and the waste and bacteria that are formed feed plants. I am new to all of this and wanted a reference. The man at the store handed me a book that he said is so good that he re-reads it every year. The book is Aquaponic Gardening by Sylvia Bernstein. I love this book so far! It is easy and fun to read as well as very thorough.
After Tennessee I had planned to go to Chicago a bit to put out some flyers and promote the upcoming Touch For Health Kinesiology conference. In putting flyers around I learned that having a price on flyers can limit options as far as where you are allowed to place them. Phoenix and I made a visit to Reba Place Intentional Community, where we were staying when she was born, and had a chance to catch up and connect with a few people. I would like to teach TFH kinesiology to this community and we are going to set up a time to come back so that I can work on some people there.
Our third night in Chicago we met up with a friend who is involved in the Occupy Chicago movement. I got to attend one of the meetings and see what is going on with the movement. I will not go into a lot on here right now but was told first-hand stories of violence toward protesters (one woman got pulled away by her hair and thrown in jail, others were targeted . . . )
anyway, it seems that the call for change and empowerment that the Occupy movement is calling for is something that many people are feeling right now. There are many ways to express this and I identified with one person who wanted to take the movement into urban gardening. I am excited to watch where that goes.
I searched for a Permaculture documentary to watch online while washing the dishes a couple of days ago. I had an odd assortment pop up by association and ran across a documentary called The 1 Percent, produced in 2006. I was fascinated with the premise especially since my recent introduction to Occupy Chicago. There are so many questions right now about the wealth gap and empowered people. I think that perhaps we are beginning to see that capitalism breeds certain extremes. I am not calling for a full on movement to some stereotypical failed communism but an openness toward cooperation, movement away from the fear mindset. Muhammad Yunus tried to salvage capitalism (because, he says, non-profits are limited in structure) and has some very interesting ideas that have produced amazing results.
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