The senses are overwhelmed here at the homestead in New Mexico. So much to study that it has been difficult for me to know where to begin. I had to introduce you to someone I met while weeding the raspberry patch. I stopped everything to take some photos of him.
Calligrapha vicina / Calligraphy beetle
I was quite literally stopped in my tracks when I saw him -- I had never seen markings this intricate on a beetle or bug in the Midwest and was taken by how much they looked like the hollows in a guitar or musical notes. Lucky for me, there are experts on site and all I needed to do was ask. The calligraphy beetle. But, of course!
There are many more creatures here that I have never seen in the wild; roadrunners and lizards to name a few. The lizards are quite funny to watch but hard to capture on film. I have set a challenge to do just that.
I am learning after my first week in New Mexico and hope you are enjoying following my adventure in WOOFing.
View from kitchen window in the WOOFers quarters [click to full view all photos]
WOOFers quarters, outside
Weeping willow out front is where the turkeys roost at night.
Biochar stove - just fired up today
Hothouse/greenhouse
Potatoes, squash, melons and raspberries
Solar water pump, pump house and cistern
Second solar water pump, in front of goat house
Yummy asparagus patch behind WOOFers quarters
View from the fire pit
Another fire pit view
The goats, L to R, Bella, Lillian and little Peanut
My host's straw bale house
Two of three turkeys that like to follow you around
Lillian is quite a ham
The solar oven - first try with beans but it was overcast
The outdoor kitchen
Wood oven in outdoor kitchen
It is indeed rare for me to find myself speechless when visiting a place -- but this is something that needs to be absorbed and savored [and I'm also learning and working every day!] Valuable life skills to take back to Indiana that I hope one day to build upon with a like-minded community.
Bill Moyer talks to scientist and philosopher Vandana Shiva, who’s become a rock star in the global battle over genetically modified seeds. These seeds — considered “intellectual property” by the big companies who own the patents — are globally marketed to monopolize food production and profits. Opponents challenge the safety of genetically modified seeds, claiming they also harm the environment, are more costly, and leave local farmers deep in debt as well as dependent on suppliers. Shiva, who founded a movement in India to promote native seeds, links genetic tinkering to problems in our ecology, economy, and humanity, and sees this as the latest battleground in the war on Planet Earth.
Moyers remarked that Shiva is facing an “uphill battle,” being one woman against some of the most powerful corporations on the planet. Shiva replied that under the teachings of the sacred Hindu text, the Bhagavad Gita, duty comes before any thought of outcome.
“You do not measure the fruit of your actions,” she said, “You have to measure the obligation of your actions. You have to find out what’s the right thing to do. That is your duty. Whether you win or lose is not the issue.”
"You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour, now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour. And there are things to be considered . . .
Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?
Know your garden.
It is time to speak your Truth.
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for the leader."
Then he clasped his hands together, smiled, and said, "This could be a good time!"
There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are torn apart and will suffer greatly.
Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above water. And I say, see who is in there with you and celebrate. At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.
The time for the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves! Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.
"This is the hardest time to live, but it is also the greatest honor to be alive now, and to be allowed to see this time. There is no other time like now. We should be thankful, for creation did not make weak spirits to live during this time. The old ones say 'this is the time when the strongest spirits will live through and those who are empty shells, those who have lost the connection will not survive.' We have become masters of survival -- we will survive -- it is our prophecy to do so."
"Humanity must shift from living "on" the earth, to living with her." -- Tiokasin Ghosthorse
Tiokasin Ghosthorse is from the Cheyenne River Lakota (Sioux) Nation of South Dakota. He holds a Masters Degree in Native American studies and Communications. He is a storyteller, poet, university lecturer, scholar, essayist, cultural interpreter, and a peace and human rights activist. Tiokasin has been described as "a spiritual agitator, natural rights organizer, Indigenous thinking process educator and a community activator." One reviewer called him "a cultural resonator in the key of life."
Music has always inspired my photography. Before I put my camera down for a pen -- I hosted house concerts in my hometown. Booking only unsigned, independent artists who had a certain flair for storytelling; old souls who could truly turn a phrase and hold an audience spellbound. I regret to say my music project didn't bear fruit long enough for me to book Chicago native, Joe Pug.
I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Joe in Indianapolis at a songwriter's showcase in 2008. When he performed this song in front of a packed crowd waiting to hear Justin Townes Earle, you could have heard a pin drop. I maintain this is one of the finest songs that year, hands down. It continues to be a beloved and incredibly profound tune for this traveler. Please look him up online -- his last CD is called Messenger. Joe will be on the road with me to New Mexico (at least on my mp3 player). Lyrics below the video:
Yeah I've come to know the wishlist of my father.
I've come to know the shipwrecks where he wished.
I've come to wish aloud among the overdressed crowd.
Come to witness now the sinking of the ship.
Throwing pennies from the seatop next to it.
And I've come to roam the forest past the village
With a dozen lazy horses in my cart.
I've come here to get eyed
To do more than just get by
I've come to test the timbre of my heart.
Oh I've come to test the timbre of my heart.
And I've come to be untroubled in my seeking.
And I've come to see that nothing is for naught.
I've come to reach out blind
To reach forward and behind
For the more I seek the more I'm sought
Yeah, the more I seek the more I'm sought.
And I've come to meet the sheriff and his posse,
To offer him the broad side of my jaw.
I've come here to get broke,
Then maybe bum a smoke.
We'll go drinking two towns over after all.
Well, we'll go drinking two towns over after all.
And I've come to meet the legendary takers.
I've only come to ask them for a lot.
Oh they say I come with less than I should rightfully possess.
I say the more I buy the more I'm bought.
And the more I'm bought the less I cost.
And I've come to take their servants and their surplus.
And I've come to take their raincoats and their speed.
I've come to get my fill
To ransack and spill.
I've come to take the harvest for the seed.
I've come to take the harvest for the seed.
And I've come to know the manger that you sleep in.
I've come to be the stranger that you keep.
I've come from down the road,
And my footsteps never slowed.
Before we met I knew we'd meet.
Before we met I knew we'd meet.
And I've come here to ignore your cries and heartaches.
I've come to closely listen to you sing.
I've come here to insist
That I leave here with a kiss.
I've come to say exactly what I mean.
And I mean so many things.
And you've come to know me stubborn as a butcher.
And you've come to know me thankless as a guest.
But will you recognize my face
When God's awful grace
Strips me of my jacket and my vest,
And reveals all the treasure in my chest?
