fools on the go

the past two weeks have been stuffed to bursting.

i finished my permaculture certification (the final 24 hours of training/instruction) and i am happy...!

the solstice found me at the practical permaculture institute and then a midsummer's eve farmer wedding.

...sorta.

shilo shows me the hoop house at mountain bounty farm in north san juan.

strawberry fields forever

shilo is a organic flower farmer.

'rock me momma like a wagon wheel...' danced the longest day away with newly wedded hearts, sending our dreams for summer into the dusk.

cathe and stephanie, earth activist and creative extraordinaires, the instructors, at "graduation." ;)  

my fellow queers and freaky geeks. internationally certified! we are the surfers of change! let me know if you want me to come and look at your place; we can trouble shoot together. i work for hugs and sandwiches at this point in my 'career.' ;)

REDWOODS, HOME OF MYSTIC SOULS

feel the refreshing cool wetness with me.

and then the road, a monster and mother, o'er took us.

permaculture will forever be on my mind, digitalis 

i look at the patterns of natural systems,

and wonder how they can best be replicated

the northen coasts of california are grey and yellow in the summer.

homegurl has this thing for interpretive and information centers.

so inspired by the ancestral people of these massive trees.

maiden hair fern wall, taking me in.

rain, wet camera: thimbleberries

lost, found.

the magic of this place is the unspeakable.

i thought i was entering a dark, ecosystem, with little to see besides the giants, and some ferns. i was astounded by the prolific, diverse abundance of wildflowers and edible plants. truly awestruck by the old growth forest.

mossy maple

you can't help but grow moss on your eyebrows whilst within the forest.

liverworts, the minutia of the masses.

red huckleberries grow everywhere amongst the redwoods. imagine wandering the virgin forests, foraging berries for your babies!

the wood, the wood!

sword fern sporing.

the forest loves.

maiden hair fern sporing.

field guide to old growth forests.... the seed that bloomed into this adventure.

twisted stalk berries

colombia lily. i saw so many flowers: fireweed, false lily-of-the-valley, wood rose, monkey flower. go to the redwood parks in june, i beseech you.

the rain. i grumbled my fair amount: wet tent. wet clothes. wet wood. wet shoes. wet socks. blessedly my children did not grumble.

horsetail, hedge nettle ??

i didn't know what this was, it's along all of the trails... huckleberry? wild blueberry? SALAL, folks. yummy little berries every where. the food of the redwoods.

micro recyclers. 

red huckleberry. such an interesting leafy and tall shrub.

fields of yarrow and daisy.

false klamath cove

hermaphrodites.

so perfect.

the fattest little toddler feet.

you know he's going to scream when we say it's time to go.

hidden beach was all ours.

?

the picnic is the way of life.

the rhododendrons of the redwoods!!! the mist rolls in and i am forever lost in this mystical place.

salal berries everywhere as the shrub layer, sorrel as ground cover, in this redwood guild.

interacting with the landscape with self portraits. :) where is our place amongst this system?

temperate jungle.

sacrament

diana, who doesn't eat refined anything, is a mean pinner and a true domestic diva. she's a nanny: her "child's" birthday party.

shoulder doggie.

fat raspberries errrwhere. the northewest is the land of berries and cherries in this season.

the tour of her budding intentional community. tent city. ;)

she and nathan are fixing up this studio space. i love how she painted the floor to mimic stained concrete.

diana: goddess of the hunt, the moon, wild things, women in childbirth. goddess of the forest.

community member scott is a young richard dreyfuss. we walked around together talking over permaculture; he is a fellow initiate in earth nerdery.

piggies.

LINKY SELFIES!!!!!!!!!

oh, the house. what a dream. :)

dinner with some of tyler's old friends. i don't think we've ever done anything like this before, he's such a solitary creature. ;)

multnomah falls

i like this little group; it's funny the way we've all ended up together.

boohay, edible and medicinal plants of the west at powell's, mine now.

science.

georgian street food from kari gogo.

'poh ke' -pockets! going from stringing two words together to whole sentences. he keeps us amazed and laughing as we try to translate what he's saying.

linky splashes in the public toilet at the portland saturday market.

feelin' funky fresh in a city that makes me feel like this......: (see below...) i think the seed of moving north has been planted into some fertile soils.

yellow bulbitious.

back home in the dry heat, my veggies mostly dead. : /

this bad girl drove us all the way home from washington with a quarter of a tank of fuel remaining.

tis the fourth, my mother family is hiking frog lake and i am relaxing locally with my own little family, unfolding like a flower. our county is very lax on fireworks so we don't have to go further than the front door to see a lot of crazy lights, have our ears ringing, and our noses filled with sulfuric scents.

right now, at this very moment, there's an earthfirst! rendezvous/skill share going on in at the oregon/cali border. i said i'd host a diy solar cooker workshop....i tried to catch it on the our way south but the timing was off. so maybe i'll leave tomorrow? maybe this year isn't meant to be? let me know if you want to come, i need a little push!

photo from here.... it's in my stars to save some trees!

this summer is MAGICAL! feel connected with the life around you. <3 <3
BLOSSOM!

xoxo