Building a House out of Dirt!

This may sound crazy and/or laughable, but outside of the "developed" world it is what many people do for shelter and have been doing for thousands of years. It also happens to be an idea that is intoxicating to me. I sit for hours and fantasize about my future earthen house. I draw and revise sketches of my earthen house, planning for the opportunity. Many women LOVE to nest: appoint, decorate and organize their home. I am one of them. As a kid, building forts and clubhouses in the woods was one of the things I enjoyed the most. So it seems that in the very near future I will be able to begin what has been a lifelong dream of mine and I can't wait. I am going to chronicle everything right here on this blog. It may be a few months before anything actually happens but this is what I am hoping for.

Weird Dreams...

everyone has them and this is one of mine:

Weird Dream #1:

I was at this church and the preacher was actually a vatican dressed in garb reading verses in latin. Except the vatican was also a big white/transparent spider. Towards the end of the dream he started getting smaller and closer to the ceiling and I realized he was hanging by a silky thread.

Alabama.

I spent a large part of my childhood in Alabama. I've lived and visited many southern states, but Alabama definitely has a culture all its own. My mom is white, my dad black. I experienced life in a predominantly white community and in a predominantly black community. I truly believe that racial themes run through almost every interaction I've had. Maybe I'm just sensitive to it... but none the less.



Anyway, I stopped chemically straightening my hair about 3 years ago, something that was started by my mother when I was 4 or 5, and is a prevalent practice among black women. Not straightening my hair has lead me to really examine and take notice of beauty ideals in the black community and how those standards are prevailed upon by American culture as a whole. I find myself a little disturbed at what beliefs continue to be held, beliefs that I once took for granted and absorbed as my own.

A couple of observations from my last trip to AL:

-A lady sits in the shade, and casually asks her daughter has she been in the sun, commenting that her skin has darkened. From her tone, it is clear that the effect is undesirable.



-A small group of teenage boys- sons, grandsons, cousins, and nephews to black older women sitting under trees within listening distance, unaminosly agree that white girls are preferable to any other. The women make no reaction to what they hear.

This sounds both familiar and strange to me, and leaves me deeply perplexed.

Elimination Communication sans the communication...

I don't think I've talked much about this on my blog, but I practice what is called Elimination Communication or EC'ing. I actually prefer infant pottying because that is a lot more self explanatory and makes more sense in the context of my specific practices. Its very simple, instead of allowing/encouraging Manny to pee or poop in a diaper, I anticipate when he will go and allow him to relieve himself in some type of receptacle. I have been practicing this since birth. I used diapers as back-up and had many days where I made no effort to "catch" anything. I was very laid back about the whole thing, and saw it as a way to use and change less diapers. Whenever I explain this to people, they usually perceive me as anxiously watching and waiting for signs that Manny might be about to use the restroom and then rushing frantically to get him there. I really don't know how to explain to them that this isn't the case, and what really is the case, so I don't. I can only say that now that he is 3 1/2 months shy of 2, changing diapers is definitely not something I want to do and I am so glad that I EC, because even though I don't consider him "potty trained" (he doesn't really tell me he has to go), he wears underwear all day and "accidents" are almost non-existent. I've heard critics say that EC'ing is really "potty training" the parent, and in my opinion that is mostly true. I have trained myself to remember that he pees and poops and I need to give him the opportunity to do that. I don't think that is much different than parents who have to "train" themselves to remember to change diapers regularly and check to see if the child has soiled it. Its just that I have eliminated the middleman..

Fall Gardening!

So today I'm trying to finish up building my second raised garden box. It was expensive for the cedar boards! Insanely expensive. My original plan was to use dirt bags to build the retaining walls, making those dirt bags from old sheets, and then plaster over that. Unfortunately, getting the dirt proved to be problematic.... a long story that I don't want to tell. You would think dirt would be easy to come by...

After building and filling the boxes, I want to make some kind of watering system out of PVC pipes that can also be wrapped in plastic for a hotbox effect or netting to keep the yard critters from ravaging the fruits of my labor:)

I'll try to take a pic and post it later, for now, I'm gonna go slide on my boots and get to work!

Mortar and Pestle

So, I picked up a marble mortar and pestle at Marshall's for 9.99. I had eyed it a few times before and considered getting one for "energy" reasons. In macrobiotics (something I have studied a bit), they encourage using manual vs. electric devices to prepare food, for "energy" reasons. To be honest, I have no idea what I believe on this matter, but I'm open to it. I tried the mortar and pestle a couple times to grind my raw cocoa nibs and it did a fine job in comparison to the coffee grinder, it just took about 5-10 minutes longer and a little bit of labor. I can see myself using this often to grind herbs and spices. Its much easier to clean than the coffee grinder and beautiful enough that I would leave it out on an open shelf, instead of deep in a cabinet somewhere, which makes it more convenient to use. Also, the extra time is not an issue if I grind stuff while browsing the internet or watching television, or just sitting around (which I do a lot of). It actually makes me feel more productive!