Days 181, 182: Home For A Bit...

Drove home after work last night.

Some easy mud work today; taking it easy--as I've worked the last six days. The weather is absolutely perfect. Sitting outside watching the stars last night, I thought how beautiful this place is. And I thought of a line I read from Wendell Berry the other night (and sort of summarizes why we are trying to build this rickety mud house):

"The modern home is so destructive, I think, because it is a generalization, a product of factory and fashion, an everyplace or a noplace. Modern houses, like airports, are extensions of each other; they do not vary much from one place to another. A person standing in a modern room anywhere might imagine himself anywhere else---much as he could if he shut his eyes. The modern house is not a response to its place, but rather to the affluence and social status of its owner. It is the first means by which the modern mentality imposes itself upon the world."

When I sit outside my home, I know where I am. I know where every log came from; I know where every rock in the foundation came from (dug up by us!). I know the leaky tin is from a barn down the road built in 1915. I know that this mud is from the hole out behind the shed. This house is a product of place. Of human labor. Non-industrial. A wobbly work of art!

I hope the damned thing doesn't fall down...

p.s. I've added a couple photos to earlier posts....

Day 180: Pickett Road and a New Job Offer

Carried my backpack up Pickett Road, just outside of Calistoga.

Breaking news! I was offered a new position in the hospital today. Quite a surprise! I was offered a half time position as a psychiatric evaluation nurse. The hospital has decided to create a new position for a nurse (me!) to wander about the hospital consulting on the psychiatric needs of patients. This means I will roam from the ICU, to the medical floors, to the substance abuse floor, to the ER--consulting with patients regarding their psychiatric, pharmacological and emotional needs.

I won't have a patient load. When I am not busy doing consults, I will be free to do groups on the psychiatric unit and just help out as needed. Give lunch breaks. Help with admissions. I also won't have to get up so early, as my shift will be from 1 pm to 9 pm.

The downside is that I might have to make a couple more trips a month to the Napa Valley. But at least they will be shorter stays. And since I will be able to drive down in the morning, I will actually spend fewer nights away from the Homestead, Joni, the girls, the dogs, the cat, the bunnies and (soon possibly) the goat.

I used to be on a psychiatric evaluation team in Colorado. I loved that job and only left it because that hospital was shutting down their psychiatric program. Turns out I am going to get to do that again.

Good news!

Days 177,178, 179: Outdoor Bars and Howell Mountain

Been busy.

So what have my outdoor activities been? A quiet walk around St. Helena one night. The next night (after work) I parked my car at a friend's house in Calistoga and walked to an outdoor patio/bar/brewery. The outdoor activity was seeing if I could drink a pint each of their six varieties of beer. Only made it through four. Then back to the friend's house where Springer joined me to sleep in the friend's backyard, under the stars, after building a fire and opening a couple more bottles of wine. (Yes, we were both tired the next day at work).

Time to get serious about this next backpacking trip.

So yesterday I took my still grubby backpack (it has Costa Rican Rain Forest mud on it) and filled it with books. Forty pounds worth. I then parked on Meadowwood Lane (next to the fancy resort that "Dubya" stayed at one night back in 2006). I remember that night well, as the skies were patrolled by jet fighters all night. And the Secret Service checked out our ER in order to make sure we had rattlesnake anti-venom on hand in case the mountain biking Bush the Second got bit by a Pacific rattler.

I walked up Howell Mountain Road with my backpack on. I only went 1 1/2 miles up, as it is quite deserted at the top, it was at sunset, I didn't have my walking stick---and I felt like a mountain lion was watching me. Honestly. I got spooked.

Tonight I shall pick another mountain road to walk up. This time I shall bring my hiking stick. It should be good practice, as the temperature is in the triple digits these past two days.

Day 176: Wendell Berry and Chicken Coops...

Dusted off my old copy of Wendell Berry's "The Unsettling of America". It seems as powerful now as it did back in 1977. I liked this passage on how we have tried (through labor saving devices and becoming a "specialist" culture) to get out of work:


"But is work something we have a right to escape? And can we escape it with impunity? We are probably the first entire people ever to think so. All the ancient wisdom that has come down to us counsels otherwise. It tells us that work is necessary to us, as much a part of our condition as mortality; that good work is our salvation and our joy; that shoddy or dishonest or self-serving work is our curse and our doom. We have tried to escape the sweat and sorrow promised in Genesis---only to find that, in order to do so, we must forswear love and excellence, health and joy".

In celebration of Berry's quote, Joni and I started work on a chicken coop. Shoddy work? No doubt.

And now off to my "specialist" job.

Day 174: I Invite Stanley

Angel and I were up early and took our walk. We wanted to escape the heat.

Then I started the "human powered activity" part of this blog: made more mud plaster. While making mud, poor old McChrystal got fired. Now it seems that Stanley might have a bit of free time. He must be smarting somewhat. I know how he feels, as there have been times that I've been accused of being "insubordinate". I also know what it feels like to open my big mouth and say way, way too much.

So Stanley McChrystal, consider this your invitation to crash at this "off the grid" pad and make mud with me. You can sleep in a tent. We'd feed you. And as a psychiatric nurse, I'd be happy to help you process your feelings regarding the matter. I could use an extra hand making all this mud plaster for the walls and, soon, mud adobe for the floors.

Day 173: Mariposas, Brodiaea and McChyrstal

A long summer's walk with Angel. Admiring the Mariposa lilies, the brodiaea (two varieties) and enjoying the day.

I took the day off from building and toiling. I did take the time to read the Rolling Stone article that has everyone so stirred up. Nice to see Hunter Thompson's old stomping grounds pulling off a scoop like this.

Yes, there are some nasty things said in the article. But that misses the point. The intention of the Rolling Stone piece is to look at the controversy about trying to pull off McChrystal's form of counter insurgency. Within the piece, you have soldiers asking for permission to shoot more people. You also get a glimpse into this particular counter insurgency campaign that not only embeds our troops within the Afghan population, but also leads to nation building. This is a long term, expensive and risky policy.

Or as I told Joni, Afghan kids are getting bussed to school---while our local school closed down the bus line that picks up Kylie and Jazzy.

That ain't right.

Poor Obama. The guy calls for more off shore drilling and he gets the worst oil spill in history two weeks later. Mother Jones and Alexander Cockburn raise the possibility that this spill may NEVER be stopped. It could potentially still be leaking oil when Obama runs again in 2012. Obama's presidency hangs by the efforts to stop the spill.

And now this.

Obama goes with McCrystal's counter insurgency policy after stopping for two months to study the issue last fall. Now McChrystal becomes snarky on Obama. Although that isn't surprising: McChrystal is just participating in the group think of Obama hatred prevalent within the military. They don't want anything that, even potentially, upsets the empire.

Obama, too often, backs the wrong horse. I think the universe is telling him to change directions. Pull out of Afghanistan. Stop off shore drilling. Quit listening solely to corporate and military interests. Change direction!

Allan's Note: It is always fun to log on and find a couple new "followers". Welcome!

Days 171 and 172: Guests!

The past couple of days we have been honored to have a couple of Joni's friends drop by. Tom and Kathy (and their son) are on their way (amongst other things) to run the Rogue River. Kathy wrote an excellent, beautiful guide to the wildflowers of the Rocky Mountains. If you happen to be saved while getting stuck on some mountain somewhere, the people who saved you might have done so by reviewing Tom's very successful book.

Good people! Wilderness loving, river running, mountain climbing, rappel roving, high mountain hiking enviro friends.

While here, Tom and Kathy helped us stack some bales. Tom, who is a fire fighter by trade, easily climbed the 18 foot ladder while hauling strawbales. He made it look effortless! Tom is one of those people who can tie any knot, build anything, carry anything. He also helped shore up a wall where we have neglected to put in a sufficient header. His advice is treasured!

And the conversation. Oh the conversation.

Something Kathy said last night, while we watched the stars come out, sticks with me. She feels that, really, after spending a few years in the burbs of a major metropolitan city that there is no hope that people will "get it". We are doomed. For her, hope lies in that after every major extinction event (such as we are in now), bio-diversity comes back bigger and better than before. The Earth is a Phoenix.

It just might take a few million years.

Day 170: Only Eight Percent...

A walk with Angel today. Kylie and a friend out walking the dog...

"Sandra Hofferth, a professor of family studies at the University of Maryland, tracked "a long decline in time spent outdoors from 1981 through the present," she noted. About 21 percent of children ages 9 to 12 spent time in outdoor activities, such as hiking, camping or going to the beach, in 1981, compared to 16 percent in 1997. That percentage dropped again by half — to 8 percent — in 2003."

This is from the a Seattle newspaper. In addition (and quite discouraging) Hofferth monitored the outdoor habits of 12 year olds. Turns out they spend, on average, four hours and ten minutes a week outside!

I posted the quote above on Facebook. Robb Kloss (who writes a great blog from New Zealand) wrote:

"Very sad Allan, another solid indicator of our continued and growing disconnection from nature and wilderness. If our children, and the adults whom should be showing them, do not see, appreciate, taste, and feel the earth, how can we expect to save it from oil companies, mining interests, and developers when it is just an abstract thought?

Get those kids outside!"

To which I replied:

"Oh so true Robb.

I think Obama's lackluster response to the oil spill can be traced to his (and his cabinet's) lack of connection to nature and wilderness. Never trust a politician, supreme court justice, congressman or senator that doesn't strap on a backpack and head out into the wilds for a week at least once a year. Let Muir, Leopold, Krutch and Abbey be their guides.

Forget political parties. How much time do they spend outside? (and I'm not talking about woodcutting photo ops that "W" used to do or hunting--sometimes fellow hunters---on private "game" ranches like Cheney)."

Day 169: Climate Change in 1956

Off to Paradise this morning to buy some Topo maps for the next backpacking trip (gotta start training for the bugger soon!). While there I dropped in to visit "The Abbey" and the Abbot there who will be joining me on this next trip.

Then home to more puttering about the property. A nap. And a couple of lazy dog walks.

I've been reading Joseph Wood Krutch lately. Last night I ran across this passage from The Voice of the Desert, written in 1956:

"Workers in several different sciences are becoming more and more convinced that both the north temperate and the arctic climates are growing milder. A minor evidence is the way in which certain animals and birds--notably the possum, the turkey buzzard and the cardinal are extending their range into New England".

So there we have it. In 1956! Krutch was ahead of his time!

Day 166 to 168: Computer Troubles and Electrical...

The computer has been down for the past couple of days.

Outside activities? Weed whacking to get ready for the fire season. And (with an electrician's help) we managed to get the Addition wired. We have electricity in the Addition!

Now I can start working on the floor...