so many things happening. The thing is, one thing is just as
interesting as another, so nothing feels unusual and like something I
want to write about. What's most interesting to me is what's happening
to me and my personality, the way I view the world, my development, if
you will.
What's new on the Anchen development front? I feel I've entered a new
era of calm, which was well-tested yesterday (the Day of the Great
Wind) when it seemed like we had disaster after disaster happen. The
morning dawned blustery and cloudy, and it grew, built upon itself,
worked itself into a frenzy, until we tied down the shade cloth in
front of the kitchen and overturned anything that might pick up the
wind and blow away – sheets of tin, wheelbarrows, the dishes in the
dishdrain, buckets, clothing, everything. It was so windy I could feel
my liver acting up, all irritated and frustrated for no reason, so I
ended up disappearing up into my loft where I could listen to the
chaos without being a part of it. Random bangs and crashes punctuated
bouts of really strong wind where the gums trees sounded like the
rapids in a river.
The big events that happened yesterday? Celia's french doors were
ripped off their hinges and one ended up sailing off the deck to the
grass below, almost taking the course instructor with it. That
happened while I was in my loft. Later, after the glass was mostly
cleaned up and the gaping hole covered with shade cloth, after a
student called her husband and he was working at patching the hole,
another student found Rick (our course instructor) injured in his
tent. He'd been hit by a falling tree branch, and possibly fractured
ribs, his pelvis and his spine.
It feels yucky to rehash these events this morning, now when it's calm
and beautiful outside, now that things are peaceful again.
The truth is, I don't really feel much like writing anymore. I'm not
surprised by things, and everything is wonderful. I had a realization
that all negative thoughts I have are ego, all doubts and fears, that
anything that's not positive is not me. One of the really great
aspects of the PDC is that the people here are all on the same
wavelength of wanting sustainability and looking for alternatives to
how they're living right now. That means we've got a strong
concentration of like-minded people, and I'm finding that it's easy to
relate and express myself around them. For the whole course, I've been
saying I'm not at a point where I can learn permaculture, it's too
much information for my already over-loaded brain, but I'm having a
ball cooking for the students and hanging out with students and
instructors in between and after class. We tried spinning poi one
night, and other circus tricks, and last night we all went to pizza at
the local wood-fired pizza joint. I'm experiencing the feeling of just
being ok with who I am and how I am, and enjoying the people around me
as they are.
