New Mexico WOOFing Trip Pictoral

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.

"We Forget That Dinosaurs Go Extinct"

h/t Moyers & Company

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.”

This Is The Hour

‎"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.

We are the ones we've been waiting for."

~ Hopi elder

Oraibi, Arizona