I slept barely a wink last night. Obviously last night’s restful sleep on the futon was a fluke. I could feel every board and every separation as I continually adjusted my aching joints from position to position.
I was in the kitchen around 7:05 a.m. as part of the cooking crew. Brett, Helen and I made a breakfast of oatmeal with apples and fruit salad. It seemed to come out well, which was nice. I’m so glad we have a small class of 10. Apparently the usual number is closer to 35 or 40.
I am relishing the diversity of our group. We have one black student (a woman probably 55 years of age from a very urban area outside DC) who brings and shares her unique perspective. She and I had a nice conversation this morning about Obama. I was really interested to hear her point of view – apparently she was skeptical about him from the start and saw him as much less progressive than he appeared to most.
At our morning circle, we each have to sing our name, and then the group sings it back to us. Then we say something we’re grateful for. It’s a nice way to start the day. Then we did a long meditation today.
Larry Korn is our instructor for quite a few days in the course, and today he’s teaching us about the history and basics of permaculture. The northwest is really where the movement began. And Bill Mollison seems to be the father of permaculture. He wrote a book on permaculture design that I need to buy. We’re learning how to live in harmony with nature, which involves growing your own food and making efficient use of resources.
Lunch was nice, and I actually enjoyed preparing it as I miss my daily cooking rituals. I especially miss my morning smoothie with all its delicious and healthy goodness.
Afternoon is always the hardest time of day for me to concentrate, and today is no different. Its gotten a lot darker, too, which definitely doesn’t help. My fellow students all look drowsy, and, in fact, one of them was snoring a few minutes ago!
I am happy to have discovered that I can have my laptop with me during the instruction portion. I am paying attention, but it gives me a chance to do a few things that I otherwise would have to leave to do. So, it’s allowing me to be present for more of the instruction. I am hoping I can keep this up throughout the formal instruction portions.
I managed to secure a ride to return my rental car on Thursday morning, and my T-Mobile broadband card (for which I pay $40 a month) is working great here, so today is going good except for my sleep deprivation.
Dinner… more instruction… frogs ribbiting outside the window.
