Sorrel

This is sorrel.
Can you dig it?

Samaria Nostalgia

This song makes me want to curl up into a warm fuzzy ball
To live through this fall day
To live through this forever season.

The sky is gray
And my feet have the dampness
As if they were in a slush bath all day long.

They throb with a coldness that your song glorifies
I throw on your staggering slurs to try to be a badass about it
I’m not about to give in

All I had
I had nothing
Then I found this

And now I must hold on to this like a kite
Pulling, pushing, winding, spinning,
Freedom, control, balance, nature, man.

Carhartts and dirty work boots
Wet muddy gloves and the saving grace of Maggie’s organic fuzzy wool on my feet
It’s a long season I don’t dare try to glorify

I’ve never been to Samaria
But you are really singing about the vegetables
That I tend to and lend my heart to
As other options await their time of bloom.

The Hummm

There is a humming,
There is a chanting,
There is a message being relayed,
saying,
"stay."

Love

Hearts fluttering with warm fuzzy comfort of family and fun,
I will sing "I love yous" until you have absolutely no doubts about the truth.

Bliss Week

You have to come down,
If you want to get high.

The Human Condition

Something must be killed,
So that you may live.

Human is not greed

We only seek enough resources and security so that we may feel safe
With our own unique expression of happiness, joy and compassion.

Sometimes

God shows up,
To Shake my hand.

Summer

I am dancing in between fragrantly sprung lilac,
and the earthen cinnamon of autumns' fallen leave.

Not ready to come to terms with yet

First comes survival,
then comes art.

The big question

Roots or wings - roots or wings?
None of this in between please.

geocaching

Left Anxiety,
Took Peace.

Safe

Soft, Subtle,
Sexy, Soothing, Silly.

Fish

When you smell fish,
Make fertilizer.

Oh to be a bird

Oh to be a bird so light and flighty,
With a pretty voice singing in carefree confidence.

Change

Change can be hard,
But usually normalizes after a while.

Introvert

I like to be close,
With spaces in between.

Reach for Joy!

Respecting the Elders

An elder, is just as beautiful as a brand new baby. Every day they are getting closer and closer to that center point, from which we come, to which we go. That center point just beyond life as we know it, but it must be just as “home” as our everyday life experience.

A baby comes from this warm place, where he doesn’t have to worry about clothing or feeding him or herself. The eyes are closed and the imagination must be running wild, or perhaps simply at peace, developing the necessary particles to piece together sight receptors for use on the forthcoming journey.

An elder, transforms towards an equally magnificent journey. They go back into a state of not needing the eyes, and eventually, not needing to worry about clothing and feeding him or herself. The particles which sculpt this particular form of the human spirit dissipate, just as they long ago magically accumulate.

Many ask and wonder, what is on the other side of this hemisphere of life? What is on the side we cannot see? Not many remember, and if they do, even few will believe, because each individual needs to come up with their own interpretation of what they feel comfortable believing.

With a graceful sip of air, we slip into life, and with an elegant exhale, we are out.



It seems dark over there because it is unknown. We can paint pictures of fairies or monsters. We do this in everyday life, with imagination, the playing of games, joys and struggles of learning. Can you see? The big picture is a game as well.

This is my belief. We all originate from the same source, the same blob of constantly transforming particles. You’ve heard it before, “We Are One!” It’s true. And I believe that we set up this game of separation for fun. Yup! Can you believe it? All this junk on the physical plane is here for our fun and enjoyment.

Think of the simplest game like tossing a ball back and forth. A game of catch is a macro view of the particles of human spirit going from one place to another, back and forth, here and there. Why, because it’s fun.

We do this with food, ideas, money, seasons, plants, materials, papers, rocks, and scissors. Just a game you see? Back and forth, back and forth, here and there, here and there. Don’t be so hard on yourselves, it’s just a game, don’t be a serious player, and don’t be a sour looser.

Smile, sing, laugh, love, dance and forgive. If your legs no longer hold you, surrender into the next steps of life, what reason is there to resist? Day by day you are experiencing a similarly beautiful experience to a new born birth. Each day the sculpture of life (which undoubtedly must be ourselves,) pulls and pushes the clay into new positions, like a new born babes form, less and less unique, less and less separate from the one being from which we come from.

Of course, this explains on one dimension of life. But think of it as a brief overview of the game you have been playing since the day you were born.

The Observer

I observe pretty things,
outside of me,
and I want to share them with you.

At times when the seasons are shifting,
I feel not so pretty things,
Inside of me,
and I don’t want to share that with you;

But amid the madness and civil wars inside of me,
I flail and scream out to you;
Sharing with you,
My deepest ugliness.

But sharing,
Regardless of beautiful or ugly,
is an incredible phenomenon that we get to experience here,
and your acceptance of my sharing,
Whether it be pretty or ugly,
is a very beautiful thing.

Thank you.

Rhode Island, a close second at 10.3%

I know I know, it's all in my head. I am creating this reality. We are all to blame. We are all to take responsibility for the world we see around us. I understand this, yet I still am incredibly stumped about "WHY" this is what we are seeing. Why are we creating this scary, uncomfortable, insecure environment?

This is what I see...

Here in my small town in Michigan there were 500 applicants to fill one position to sort through garbage. ...ok ok I admit, that was an exaggeration. The truth is, 500 people applied for a single position to sort through, not garbage, but recyclables. Though it might be nice to have some sort of income, I'm sure glad I am not the one who has to pick 1 out of 500.

Ready for some other figures I have heard? (Keep in mind, this is a small town of about 6,000 people...)

200 applicants for a secretary position; 80 applicants to operate a cash register; 50 applicants for a minimum wage front desk at a gym position; and 25 applicants for a 4 month teachers aid position.

I know that my underemployed circumstance has nothing to do with these figures. I refuse to believe that anything outside myself controls myself. My underemployed circumstance is a 100% reflection of the indecisiveness in my head.

I once told a friend, "Your project would really take off if only you got behind some kind of good cause."

He said, "I know I know. But I don't have enough information yet, as to which cause to stand behind."

I can think of a thousand good causes to stand behind, that are undoubtedly good causes, worth anyone's effort, (at least in my mind;) planting trees, teaching children, assisting with the mentally ill, caring for the elders, developing alternative energy, recycling, etc....

But he's right...do I have enough information to know what is most urgent, what is most in need of my time and energy? Don't tell me you don't feel it too? This urgency.

I realize now, at the age of 24, that I took an education I could not afford. I took an education that my family could not afford. I took an education which marketers, not educators, promised me better jobs, a better future. Going to college; it's just what you do after high school. What college you choose; it doesn't really matter. At 17 years old, I took the advice of my elders and went to college. I passed over the advise of my peers. Instead of going to New York to be a gutter punk, I went to Chicago to study management, at an arts school (how oxymoronal is that?)

I know that I am not alone (see StudentLoanJustice.org)...but this is what I see...

My generation caught some of the highest college tuition rates, and were released into the wild during some of the worst economic times.

As a freshman in high school the dot com's were bursting. People were making millions by selling dog food over the internet.

Fast forward four years; as a freshman in college my country entered a war, that, like Vietnam, was never meant to be won, but was meant to be waged as long as possible...(a little fact from former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara himself...see The Fog of War:)

On the weekends I would sit comfortably from a distance, in my cozy apartment, and watch my friends on TV, from helicopter views, braving the cold wet weather to march in massive war protests. Chicago police would funnel the 10,000 + protesters into dead ends and hold them there for hours. The masses chanted "Let us leave. We have to pee." Eventually prison buses came to ship the full bladders to the station for an overnight visit.


On weekdays I would do my best to focus on my studies as teachers would enter the classroom, gently bow their heads and announce "Today, 200 people lost their jobs...the jobs I am training you for."

"Eh!" I decided, "Time to switch majors. I'm not that passionate about management anyways."

As my country sank further and further into debt, buying weapons and human life we should not afford; I sank further and further into debt, buying my time, roaming through this "education."

So here I am 6 years later, educated and jobless. Those streets are no longer full of angry peacemakers. They have gone on to experience the gentler sides of life, freedom to pee as they please.

Here we are 6 years later. As far as I know, we are still at war, trying to fix some faraway land while our own country crumbles. California is bankrupt, even with it's semi legal billion dollar cash crop; lives are ruined, people are jailed for growing a few green plants. Soldiers in faraway lands stand at full attention, guarding fields of flowers with their MK 19 Automatic Grenade Guns.


Here we are 6 years later; Michigan is depressed because cars are loosing popularity with the greenwashing of America and Rhode Island is at a close second with an unemployment rate of 10.3%.

Here we are 6 years later; we have a "black" president and perhaps that is enough to shift our paradigm. Perhaps that is enough to stop wondering WHY all this ugliness and start creating WHAT could be beauty. But first I must dissect a quote from the Wikipedia entry on “Employment…”

“Those who work under obligation for the purpose of fulfilling a debt,”
(ah shit, that’s me….thanks Sallie Mae…)

“such as an indentured servant,”
(oh that’s such an old fashion term “indentured servant”…)

“or as property of the person or entity they work for,”
(ha! Gottcha there! I don’t work for no one!)

“such as a slave,”
(….gulp….)

“do not receive pay for their services and are not considered employed.”


So yeah, that explains why I am not considered employed. Now I just need to learn to drop the hot coals of anger and forge ahead creating beauty.

White Birch

This is a photo of me getting ready for a big hug with the birch tree.

I love birch trees. They remind me of the moments I spent exploring through crunchy leaves in the northern forest backyards of my youth. The big birch trees partnered with the thin red copper gloss stick shrubs, (probably Betula nana, the "Dwarf Birch.")

The villages of trees prepared themselves for winter.

There was a smell. It was musty but sweet. The birch trees had these little stacks of seeds that crumbled so gently between curious fingertips.

Knowledge is gained; the realization of one, dissolving into many and gliding away so silky and light. What holds us together? Some sort of combination of rain, sun, dirt, wind, and maybe oil or some magnetic force. And what shakes us apart?

Natives of the Northeastern Forests used these trees for making canoes, shingling their roofs and making containers to store food and medicine.

Birch bark is thin and papery. The “Paper Birch” has special resinous oils which preserve the bark, near indefinitely.

Birch trees come in Red, White, Black, Silver and Yellow. Collect them in all sizes. The leaves between the different colors are similar with double serrated edges and feather-veins.

Birch trees tend to prefer a northern temperate climate. I ask the birch, “What is it about this place that makes you stay?” I admit, summer time in a birch grove is heavenly, “But dear bitch tree, how do you make it through a northern winter?”

The Layers Show
TOO MANY! Is it spring yet?!

Snowshoe in the Memory of Frozen Water

Do you live your life as if your actions are frozen in time?

Cabin Fever (even though we had a thaw - blah blah blah)

Getting out into nature can be very therapeutic. When spring hits full swing, I promise the skin I live in, to be outside 95% of the time. Modern buildings, with their heavy structures, give us humans a false sense of security. Fires burn in Australia; water and wind slosh all around the globe with different ebbs, flows, beauties and sorrows.

This past autumn I had an epiphany of sorts while sitting in the woods listening to the leaves fall. WARNING; I am not saying it’s a cure-all; in fact it could take you deeper into the unknown. While sitting there, I experienced calm, comfort, assurance, but anxiety always seems to be a creep away. This is my close, personal description of one of the most standard human experiences. Is a hunter right behind me, colorblindly seeing my Girl Pink as Deer Brown? Are big brothers watching and teasing? Is god taking scrupulous notes? Right there, a creep away? Are they standing on your shoulders? They are standing on my shoulders.

But once you come to terms with this presences, there is a freedom in knowing the inescapable position we find ourselves in. “Ah, I will feel pain when I feel pain. I will feel joy when I feel joy. These elements shall ebb and flow like Earth, the macrocosm we inhabit.

This past week Northern Michigan experienced a February thaw, with temperatures reaching near 60 degrees Fahrenheit. I did indeed experience moments of joy when not having to dress to full layer capacity. This feeling this feeling; perhaps it’s the sap surging up through my roots.

Is a blank canvas an empty imagination? Or a full one?

The Layers Show (19 degrees Fahrenheit)

Pink Hat, $10 Walgreen’s Downtown Seattle
Sunglasses, $12 Walgreen’s U Village Seattle
Bright Blue Tee, $2.50, Village Discount Chicago
Smartwool Underlayer, $50, Uncle Something, Chicago
Woolrich Green Zipper Turtle Neck, $2.50, Goldmine, P-town
Neck warmer, over priced, REI, Chi-burbs
Black fleece hoodie, $2.50, Goldmine, P-town
Pink ‘n Brown hoodie vest, $20, K-mart, Seattle
Bright Yellow safety socks, $1.00, New Beginnings, Harbor Springs
Pink Burton Mittens, Thanks Barbra! Christmas present.
Ring, Thanks Daphna! Christmas present LONG time ago.

A weekend Island getaway with some of the best birders, foxers, and river skiiers in Northern Michigan………priceless.

With Anxious Wings I Flutter in and out of Love with Life

The caravan began gathering long before I joined. I woke up early, ready for a weekend of exploration. I woke up prepared, dehydrated and hungover after an evening of tasting wine for a good cause.

They were observing bald eagle habitat, and the creatures which inhabit it.

We drove to the rendezvous point; the air was moist and teasing of spring. We parked in the airport and waited for the caravan of observers and identifiers. I sat in the truck and listened to NPR reports of our recessing economy. I got out of the truck to stretch and watched a plane fly past a bird on it’s way to landing in the tiny airport.

The caravan arrived. We shuffled gear and food supplies from car to car. We were off to the Yoop for adventures galore.

We saw snowy owls.

We spotted them then watched them as they perched atop things, bearing the cold with down feathered coats. The wind splashed through their feathers as their heads twisted in free rotation; eyes piercing creepy as if you were looking into a mirror and seeing the face of god. It made me want to jump like I was a spooked horse, but then bringing my eyes back to the group grounded my thoughts and I was able to see the silliness, beauty and awe in it all.


These lone creatures perched in postures of wisdom, carrying eyes of all knowingness, contrast the love that radiated from our mobile gypsy camp. We be characters from all walks of life united by the fascination of gawking god straight in the face and saying “Hey! I am either going to analyze the hell out of this or simple absorb atmosphere like a sponge.”


The flat stretches of landscape held a thick mist of cold damp February thaw. Earth danced through particles of frigid humidity, brushing against our open skin, invigorating our spirits as we huddled around “the scope,” outside of our travel mobiles.

We Observed.

We looked at things. We looked at countryside until the image of birds appeared. We trekked through snow until we found coyote mating tracks. We sloshed through sticky heavy snow on our snowshoes. We bantered and chattered past beaver chews and dammers. We used tools like binoculars to observe in the present. We used tools like cameras to observe in the future. We used these tools to focus-in, on the eye of god. We used our ears to listen to the voice of god through the tweeddle-dee-dee’s of a unidentified birds.



We observed a fox, taking a lazy Sunday nap, curled up on a box, dreaming of maple sap. Some of us caught a glimpse of a flying rabbit, flapping dangerously low through the trees, while others went “all the way” home skiing on the Saint Mary’s River.



We flowed like the rushing riving below the ice cover we skied on. We broke apart and we united for an amazing experience of group solitude and recovery. We took care of ourselves; we listened to our bodies calls to be stretched or to nap or sun bathe, after a long day of skiing. We took care of each other with fire stoking, tea brewing, food making, silent sharing, song playing and love radiating.

Together we watched in awe of a woodpecker pecking. Together we watched in awe of a setting sun splashing golden laser beams into the living room and kitchen. The bay windows over looked the Saint Mary’s River as if we were cruising in the bow of a freighter. Together we watched that power slightly removed from us pain layers upon layers of atmosphere with a sky blue pink paintbrush.

10% Represent

Hi. I am Nellie and I represent one of 10% of Michiganders who are “unemployed.” This statement is not the whole truth, but one angle indeed.

Another word I like to use is, “under-employed.” I have heard other Organic Farmers use this word to describe their scenarios. Generally, I have been keeping myself busy, “freelancing” some web work and other miscellaneous projects. Even as an “under-employed” individual, I still find that there are not enough hours in the day. Maybe it’s the Adrenal Fatigue, but I just can’t seem to get up before noon or become productive til 9pm. Oh how I long for long, warm, sunny days.

Jobs are strange things. They can define who you are if you let or want them to. They can build you up and they can tear you down. They can fill you with joy and ecstatic excitement. They can give you comfort, security, and a way to pay for your right to be here, yes, as if you have to pay for your right to be here. You are not enough. It’s true, unless of course you are living at home or in a monastery. But in order to break out; in order to become separate from one whole; in order to be something “other” than pure source; in order to be independent………………….SLICE………..

One must decide a path.

We are each an individual finger of the universe. There is no right or wrong. We are here to explore, to experience, to know. A path must be decided.
de⋅cide
[di-sahyd]
Origin:
1350–1400; ME deciden < MF decider < L dēcīdere lit., to cut off, equiv. to dē- DE- + -cīdere (comb. form of caedere to cut)

Way back in the Bioneers Days

It’s been almost 4 months since the 2008 Great Lakes Bioneers Conference. I am finally now getting around to typing up this list for you. Here are some of the great local groups that were representing themselves at the oh eight Great Lakes,

Island: Institute for sustainable living, art & natural design

Taste the Local Difference: Your Guide to Local Farm Foods, Northwest Michigan

National Youth Campaign to Establish a U.S. Department of Peace: Make Peace. Make Sense. Make History

Michigan NORML: Michigan Chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws

Herbal Alliance Northern Michigan: A circle of herbal enthusiasts

Little Artshram: Art-Farm Workshop in Traverse City

SEEDS: Fostering local solutions to global issues.

Paradigm Energy Services: Next Generation Home Inspections

Say yah to dah UP eh

Save the wild UP eh! Say nah to da sulfide mining!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you are in the Yoop area, February 18th, there is a meeting that would be very insightful for anyone to attend. I went to a public hearing on this matter back in 05, and let me tell you, I was moved, inspired, brought to tears, by the public comment on this issue. It was this meeting back in 05 which inspired me to write the song "Precious."

Here are some resources to learn more about the issue.

Save the Wild UP
Students Against Sulfide Mining

Down by the River

Birds chill'n on a chilly winter afternoon, down by the Bear River.

Quickest Remembering

At times nostalgia still overwhelms me. It sinks so deep into my bones I must question whether any movement at all is worth the trouble of experiencing more life that could potentially be reflected upon with this piercing nostalgia.

I don’t remember this trait from my previous self. Perhaps I absorbed the capacity for this intensity of remembrance from spending so much time with you. How come looking back, it’s so easy to remember the good times. Was I then, at those moments, choosing to bask in the happiness I had found myself in, instead of preparing myself for a secure future of, happiness, at risk of missing out on the present sun showers?

We melded into one at times. Everyone around us could see it. Strangers on the streets of towns we visited would shout out to us. They could see that spirit dancing in between our two bodies. We didn’t understand it yet. We were young. So we tossed golden sun drops on their lawns before skipping town.

I don’t understand the dancing spirit above, but in Northern California, there was no questioning the intense connection our roots had. Below the gray ground we traveled on, our roots twisting together, sharing space and nutrients.

There were moments of extreme bliss; extreme knowingness. There were surges of extreme fear, terror and rapid questioning of truth. All of these emotions, revolving between us, as the final connections were made, confirming the directions of our spirit, and/or life paths.

The closer our spirits and roots intertwined, the stronger our connection felt. But the stronger the connection between spirit and root became, the more distant our bodies and minds became.

What an outrages experience indeed. When that final connection is made, two directions can be the result. Insanity and / or the God state. This is because our existence is reliant on that dance between – and +. Once the final connection is made, the energy jumps to the opposite, which at this point is extreme repulsion.

But still, there remains all this space, space and motion between our prior and current beings. Will eventually enough road be traveled for me to overwrite this nostalgia with new memories?

Have you ever had to decide? Have you ever had to cut off?

Feels like 2

When it is this cold outside, your perspectives change, in regards to space and comfort. Big spaces are fun to move around in, and put stuff in, and stretch around in, but they are hard to heat. I mean really, what kind of insulation job is going to hold up to “feels like 2” degree temperatures?

Space heaters are a heat lover’s best friend, yet there are negative side effects, such as, never wanting to move away from said space heater, as well as dry itchy skin, eyes, high electric bill, etc.

Big spaces are cold, still and empty. All surfaces are chilling to the touch. I can’t help but imagine the migratory lifestyle.

I get up to dance, to get the blood moving, be my own heater. Dance to reggae music dance. Oh but the blood is frozen solid.

Overwhelmed

o-ver-whelm
1. To surge over and submerge; engulf
2.
a. To defeat completely and decisively: I have been overwhelmed by influence.
b. To affect deeply in mind or emotion: I am overwhelmed from influence.

Obama Day

It was Obama’s big day. I got up feeling great on the cold but sunny morning in Hungry Hallow. I had big plans to get up early, bike across town, and leisurely collect my ingredients roaming through the co-op. I got the props for being hardcore, riding the bike in January. It is a different way to ride when most of the road is a good 3 to 4 inches of slippery packed snow. Some guy in a fancy white jeep looking thing yelled at me as I slid through the streets nearing downtown. I couldn’t tell what he was saying. I was a little paranoid he might follow me and run me off the road and beat me down with a stick. He was probably just jealous because I was having more fun on my bike. I’m setting of the bike snob meter.

So after the co-op it was off to my friend Yammie’s to bake in honor of the new President. An hour and a half later, we had a giant cake of Nellie’s famous experimental survival food in the shape of a guitar, just in time to walk up the road to the Carnegie building, our community center to watch things like this grand inaugural speech. It is quite amazing. Obama has the flair that can get even the laziest mind interested in participating and serving our communities. Both sides of the fence have to agree, this is good.

To continue the celebration of a crisp sunny inaugural day, it was off for a skiing adventure.

A fox prances lazily across the iced-over bay. It’s a new land he has never seen before; a frozen tundra. He puts his ear to this new ground, listening for mice; the water beneath, splish splashing, below varying inches of ice-cover. “It’s a pretty sound” he thinks, “but not mice.”

He picks his head up and stands in a perky position facing the Petoskey direction. He stands there absorbing the bright afternoon sunset. Everything is covered in white, making a sunny day like today, one of the most bright brightnesses ever to be experienced. He relaxes and walks along his chosen tundra territory, sniffing at the cracks where the ice pushes together. He puts his head again to the ground, listening for mice,

“It’s a pretty sound,” he thinks, “but not mice.”

New Era

Today is a super exciting day, as well are the next few days. It’s Monday, January 19, 2009, the day before Obama’s Inauguration. Change.org thinks this is the beginning of a new era of civic engagement. I hope so. It is exciting. Think of how much participation could happen with the use of the internet!

Right now the sun is early in it’s winter sky. This is what 9pm in the summer looks like, except for more green, less white. It’s cold outside and many have to choose between groceries or paying the heating bill. But people are still excited! It really does feel like a new era.

I am giving away a Nellie Eve "Twice Daily Until Spring" CD to the first person who can tell me what is in the crotch of this tree. When someone guesses it I will post the close-up picture of this.

Aspen Grove

Cauldron Brewing...

Skiied a quick loop out in Aspen Grove. Learned about herbal brewing. Tasted some amazing flavors, medicinal, wild, natural. Yum. The book recommended for reading, Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers: The Secrets of Ancient Fermentation.

Also visited the Charlevoix Public Library and began reading fascinating stories about the early days this land has seen. Isn’t this an awesome bear with a map on it? Woooh!



The Layers Show
Pink Cap, $10, Walgreens Seattle WA
Striped long hoodie, $25, Peebles, Petoskey MI
Green Gator tee shirt, $2.50, Goldmine, Petoskey
Danskin Black zip up turtle neck, $2, Goodwill, Petoskey
No label black zip up fleece hoodie, $2.50, Goldmine Petoskey
Long Brown Wool sweater, $2.50
Brown & Pink Hooded Vest, $25, K-mart, Seattle
Brown Hooded Downish Jacket, $30, K-mart, Petoskey
Black Tights, K-mart
White wool long underwear, somewhere out there
Black Soccer sock leggings, Free from previous incarnation
Black Fleece Pants, K-mart
Maggie’s Organic Wool Socks, gifted, thanks Lee!
Plaid Snow Pants from Target, Chicago
X-C Ski boots,

Skiing in the woods, fresh powder, amazing trails, and huddling around a propane heater and good people, in a shed/ kitchen, sampling witches brew and making it home before dark….Priceless.

Places to Cross Country Ski

Notes from Wednesday Pub Night, Satellite Location.

We were chickens eating beet soup and no, we did not ski in the negative 6 degree temperatures, as tempting as it was...

Places to ski before the snow melts….

Chandlers
The Gorge
The Dunes
Aspen Grove
North Country Trail – Harmon Rd to Slashing
North Country Trail - Stutsmanville
Black Mountain
Mackinac Island
Shingle Mill
Green Timbers (crust cruisin’)

Please make comments if you have ever been to these places and want to let others know of the greatness. Make the appropriate comment if you don't want to let others to know about the greatness.

PS Cindy, thanks for having such nice handwriting and spelling skills!

MINORML

This past weekend I ventured downstate for the Winter Quarter Michigan NORML meeting.

Two organizations which have branched off of MINORML are MIHEMP (Michigan Industrial Hemp Education and Marketing Project)and Michigan Medical Marijuana Association. If you’d like to learn more about hemp and it’s relation to the history and development of the United States, I recommend reading chapter four of THIS book by Jack Herer.

Merino Wool Socks

It’s been a busy weekend. I’ve soaked up a lot of information, entertainment and inspiration. All the while, I’ve been testing out some new socks. Over the Christmas time holidays, I received awesome items to keep me warm through the rest of the winter. Thanks to loving family and friends, I can now retire some holy socks to their next incarnation as wrist warmers.

I now own six pairs of brand new merino wool socks, one pair of lavender colored fuzzy house slippers and a pair of pink Burton mittens, with pockets in them!

With a few exceptions, pretty much the only socks I’ve worn in the last three years are Maggie’s Organic Cotton socks, and Smartwool socks. Before discovering these two awesome makes of socks, I often had really uncomfortable feet. I think this is because my body in general does not respond well to synthetic materials. I’m not an excessively sweaty person, but put me in synthetics and I’m bound to get sticky, stinky and irritable all over very quickly. My body is saying, “yuck, don’t put that shit one me.”

I fell in love with merino wool socks.

Merino wool socks are great for travelers. If your feet do not get too funky, you can wear one pair for a few days before washing! Just turn them inside out to let them air out during the night time and with just one pair, you’ll be good to go for a few days! They are SO great!

So far, since this past gift giving season, I have tested out two pairs of Maggie’s Organic Wool Socks, and two pairs of SmartWool’s. Honestly, all four pairs get a SUPER A+ in my book. I totally love them all. They give your feet a soft and cozy hideaway and keep them the perfect temperature and moisture level. These socks are the next best thing to being barefoot, you don’t event feel like you have socks on because you never get bothered by them. It sucks when socks are always falling down. These all stay up and in place really well. They hug your feet in all the right places.

Some are slightly thicker like Maggie’s Olive colored Killington Mountain Hiker, (selling like hotcakes!) but I could even imagine keeping these in my summer wardrobe rotation (especially with all this global weirding.) Merino wool socks are always the grand finale to any of my stellar multi layered outfits.

So I was thankful to be wearing these thicker wool socks when I traveled through traffic and high snowdrifts to get to the Winter Quarter, Michigan NORML meeting. It's an exciting time if you are keeping up with the fact the the "counter culture" is now, "the culture."

It was an exciting trip downstate but when the snow melted off my boots while I was sitting through the meeting, I was glad to have my super socks on. They kept me feeling warm an cozy in my traveliv’ homey’s (Which are my cheap pink boots that are NOT holding up so well!).

Merino wool socks are a great gift anytime of year! And if I needed any more, (which I don’t really, 6 pair last so long I won’t have to do laundry as often!)

[[!!But watch out if you are buying for a vegan extreme // I'm a relaxed vegan when it come to wool, used leather and honey. The advantages outweigh the disadvantages in my book, but think before you buy for an extreme vegan or animal rights folk!!]]

I would totally recommend Maggie’s Functional Organics since they are a company here in Michigan providing an outstanding wool sock product! Yumm. My feet get happy just thinking about them, mmm mmm mmm to merino wool socks!

Wildwood

I made the escape from town to visit some old apple orchards in Wildwood. The conditions were frozen making each movement through the trails less than stealth. Our skis made scrapidee-scrape sounds in the icy tracks with each slide forward. I would stop and shout ahead to my friend, inquiring, “Are your skis being just as loud as mine?”

Kutchhuh, sckutchhuh……

The day was gray, as the days tend to be from now until May. I would attempt to reduce the noise from my movement by skating through the powdered ice, as opposed to the packed groomed iced trail. My ski’s through this powdered ice sounded like pouches of glass beads being tossed across a round table. My brain filtered through bartering strategies. These ice crystals won’t last through the spring, but their current sound is invaluable.

The path we took was through an old logging forest. The first 50% was mostly up hill. Halfway through our journey, we stopped at the top and ate organic chocolate in the frosty air. We stood still, finally resting our ears from all the scrapidee-scrape sounds. We stood still, silently juggling mittens, water bottle and pocket food. We stood still and listened to the comforting tranquility of the wilderness in Wildwood. A pair of field hawks casually flew through the frozen grassland we had just climbed out of. I watched their silhouette pass behind the trees we stood amongst. They flew swift but relaxed as if arrival to their destination was guaranteed to be ahead of schedule. They chatted carelessly with each other. I listened in awe to their enchanting gulck-gulck sounds.

The Layers Show

Pink Hat, $10, Walgreen’s Seattle
Black striped turtleneck, $6, K-mart, P-town
Yellow Woolie, $2.00, Sal Arm, Hungry Hollow
Pink Burton Mittens, Gifted, (Thanks Dad & Barbara!)
Pink n’ Brown Vest, under $30, K-mart, Sea-town
Black Tights, $9, K-mart, P-town
Snow Pants, Gifted (Thanks Mom!)
X-Country ski’s, poles & boots, borrowed, (Thanks Mom!)
Maggie’s Organic Cotton Socks, gifted (Thanks Mom!)
Old Soccer socks turned leg warmers, 50 cents, Resaling in Harbor
Ankle high Smartwool socks thin from wear, $9, Moosejaw Chi-town

Getting out, breathing fresh air…priceless.

Rain Boots

Rain Boots; memories that have no recorded images dancing in-between light refractions. These rain boots exist only in the sketches of the following words…

I am thankful for the trees. The free newspapers come from trees.

Early October, it was the beginning of rainy season. I was urban camping out of a van on a journey up the west coast. I was heading the wrong direction; all the birds in migration south could confirm this fact to you.

Recently in the South West, a week or so in L.A; it was my third or fourth day in the San Francisco Bay area. The first night was spent in Golden Gate Park. The next two nights we migrate to the east bay. We camped on Telegraph, a block from the bustling shops on Shattuck Ave in Berkeley.

Living out of a van with no electricity and not much leg room, in-between vegan meal preparation and yoga classes, my friend and I would often cruise the streets and window shop. We stumbled into a shoe store with big 50% off sales advertised in the front windows. The weather had been pleasant so far throughout my entire journey, but the gray sky’s of autumn were creeping in. The pair of bright yellow rain boots, with green and red plaid stripe print, was very tempting.

I like to keep my collection of items to the minimum. At first it was very easy to pass up these hot, but bulky rain boots. That night, it rained. Coming home to the van after walking through the rain that night made me realize, my summer shoe accessories kit, consisting of a pair of Reef flip flops and gold colored imitation Crocks, were just not going to cut it, for the weather to come.

That night, as we parked in the shadow of Berkeley Tree Sitters, I gave thanks to the tree gods and I crumpled free newspapers, shoving them into my soggy crocks for drying.

The next morning, again gray skys, my motivation for life was fading with the passing of summer. I decided to treat myself to a major house improvement purchase. My feet were my foundation, upon which all the rest of me resides.

The yellow rain boots were a temporary spirit lifting acquisition as well as a path to extreme internal introspection. Throughout the next few weeks, as precipitation became more persistent, it was becoming clearer to me that my summer of urban camping was lying closer to the road of “lifestyle” than temporary “vacation.”

I lived out of those yellow boots. I splashed through puddles, exploring city street ways and counting my blessings. At night I would stuff my yellow rain boots with dry newspaper. In the morning I would have a dry vessel for my feet, if I was lucky enough to scrounge up a semi clean pair of dry socks.

Feet are so precious. They ground us to the earth. They carry us through our day. They let us travel and choose our own way.

It rained and rained as we ventured north, out of California towards the Pacific Northwest. Fog steamed from pools of water while we weaved through crests of varying elevation. In the darkness of night, we pulled over near Redding. I wrote a song on my banjo about vehicles that tended to stall in wet weather conditions. Blessed were we in our trusty way of transportation. Dirt road, big trees; the sound of rain pitter-pattered on the steal roof and lulled us to sleep.

The Layers Show

Pink Hat, $10 Walgreen’s Seattle
Brown Fleece Scarf, detachable piece from brown K-Mart coat
White Cotton Thermal, cheap, some resale shop escaping memory
Brown Harvest Gathering 2008 Tee, $5, Harvest Gathering Lake City MI
Pink & Brown fake fur vest, under $30, K-mart Seattle.

Warm dry feet and being able to find comfort in the rooting process………priceless.

Freedom To Be

The Layers Show

Pick Seattle Hat, $10 Seattle Walgreen’s
Haircut, Gifted, (Thanks Richard G.)
Turquoise Necklace, Gifted from AZ, (Thanks Dad)
Striped Hoodie, $2.50, Goldmine, P-town
Pink Leopard Print PJ Top, Christmas Present (Thanks Mom)
Flannel PJ Dress, (Thanks Mom)
Black Banana Republic Wool Pants, $2.50, Goldmine, P-town
Pink Longies, $1.00
Smartwool Socks, Christmas Present (Thanks Dad and Barbara)

Freedom to be me…….priceless.

Focus

What do you hold in focus? What do you chase after or reach towards?

I have a million projects I’d like to narrow down to a number more manageable.

Trees are magical. Fertility is mysterious. Snow is cold yet crystal-ous. My fingerprints are unique, yet not exclusively printed.

You are rough as this bark.
I am smooth as this green.
We are tough as these ages we have lived through and seen.

Escape to the blur
Behind where I focus
Only in time will this air choose to choke us.

Betula Alleghaniensis

Yellow Birch!

This is me hugging a yellow birch tree on the first of January 2009 in the McCune Nature Preserve. Yellow Birch trees like to live near flood planes, unlike the white birch who live high up, safe, over looking water ways. This yellow birch is sad, perhaps even diseased. I enter the year of 2009 diseased, ready for healing. Perspective is so powerful.

I started two worm farms fresh this oh nine. They are busily making fresh, fertile new soil. There is much to grow for. May you grow strong, trustworthy and beautiful this ohhh nine. Oh yeah!

The Layers Show

Pink Seattle Hat, Walgreens, Downtown Seattle, $10
Brown Eskimo Jacket, K-Mart, P-town, $40
Pink Leopard Print PJ top, K-Mark, Christmas Present
Black Turtle Neck, Goldmine, P-town, $2.50
Black Banana Republic Wool Pants, Goldmine, $2.50
Pink Thermal Longies, $1.00
Glad Rags, Oh yeah! GT, Petoskey
Black Mittens, Thanks Mateo’s Cousin!

A new year………so…so priceless.

Happy New Year

Wow. It’s a new year. May it be a great one for all!