A new Earth

I’m currently reading the book “A New Earth” by Eckhart Tolle, and I am quite enthralled by it.  I am stuck on one particular phrase:  “I don’t mind what happens.”  Here is the context: J. Krishnamurti, the great Indian philosopher and spiritual teacher, spoke and traveled almost continuously all over the world for more than…

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Take a few SIPS

You might all be familiar with my fascination/obsession with tiny houses.  I went to a workshop earlier this year on how to build them, and, although I’ve put my plans on hold for a while, I’m still very interested in knowing the best way to build them and the best layouts for livability. The thing…

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Crazy train

I know it’s easy for people to say, “We’ve had tornadoes before in Massachusetts,” and “The Mississippi always floods,” and “Vermont always floods.”  But come on, people, I know you see a pattern of bad weather that is not normal.  Flooding is one thing, but severe, continued flooding is another.  One tornado 60 years ago…

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Bargain hunting

I am a bargain hunter.  I work hard for every penny I make, so I don’t want to waste any more of it than I have to on the things I need to buy in life.  I’m a serious Craigslist addict after having found so many amazing deals on really great stuff.  I have been…

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Amazing Meal vs Vega

Being a vegetarian (and someone who likes to be healthy), I try to find ways to get more protein (and other nutrients) into my diet in an unobtrusive way.  (For example, without eating a big bowl of soybeans.)  Because I make a fruit smoothie every morning for my breakfast, it made sense to get a…

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Cold virus hell

I have been consumed by the evil demon that is the common cold virus.  It had been stalking me for 3-4 days, and then yesterday it landed on me like a ton of bricks.  I slept all morning and ingested glass after glass of various teas, juices and potions.  I didn’t really sleep last night,…

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Sustainable ingenuity

I find one of the things that being a “rich” country does is rob us of our need/desire to be resourceful and creative. If we want something, we just buy it without thought. We rarely choose to look at the materials we have at hand and try to make something out of them. We rarely…

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Permaculture Design Course Assessment

So, what did I really think of this permaculture design course? Well, as you could tell, it was very intensive. Honestly, I would’ve retained more info if it had been 8 hours a day, instead of 13. I was so tired at the end of every day simply from being “on” all day that the…

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Adventures in Permaculture: Day 17

There was a fair amount of excitement in the air this morning. We were all anxious to be going home but sad to be leaving each other. I woke up at my normal 6:00 a.m. but hit the snooze button so I could sleep in a bit. My night of sleep was not too bad…

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Adventures in Permaculture: Day 16

About every fourth night or so, I’m so exhausted that I actually get a decent night’s sleep.  Last night was that night, and I’m very thankful for that.  Today wasn’t too bad because we had field trips.  First, we went to SeQuential BioFuels, which is a gas station that sells solely bio-diesel and ethanol fuels. …

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Adventures in Permaculture: Day 15

Today I did what I needed to do for me… I gave up.  I awoke from another night of barely sleeping and aching muscles and said, “That is enough.”  I did not come on this trip to punish myself.  I came here to learn, and I feel that my capacity to do that effectively has…

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Adventures in Permaculture: Day 14

The weather here is simply unbearable – it’s dreary and/or raining about 75% of the time.  My vitamin D levels must be ridiculously low.  We had a session this morning with the owner of the property we’re staying on.  He talked about permaculture in general, but I did not find him very engaging and was…

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Adventures in Permaculture: Day 13

Woke up this morning feeling MUCH better than yesterday and with the comforting knowledge that the course is over in 4 days and I can return to my home.  Unfortunately, today is also a cooking day for my team, so I woke up knowing I’d have little free time today.  My alarm went off at…

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Adventures in Permaculture: Day 12

You may notice that I skipped a day… Day 11 was just more of the same with nothing much of interest to report.  It was Larry’s last day of teaching, and we will miss him.  He’s an incredibly thoughtful individual and has a very “live and let live” attitude.  He spent a lot of time…

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Adventures in Permaculture: Day 10

What can I say about today?  Today felt like that day in medical school where they finally bring out the cadavers to see who’s really cut out for a career in medicine.  And by that I mean that we were taken to a very unappealing place where people practice permaculture.  Out of respect, I won’t…

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