I am quite enchanted with this state. Over the weekend I travelled to San Antonio Hot Springs, two hours to the west and up in the mountains. Santa Fe's elevation is around 7000 feet but it's fairly flat here. That said, you can see good sized mountains to the north and west. My EBV (Earth Based vocations, that's the program i'm in) friend Julia and I arrived at the hot springs in the early evening, after traversing an extremely bumpy dirt road for the last five miles of the trip. These hot springs are amazing. They're situated on a moderately steep hill side facing south, which is great because you get a lot of sun and you can watch the sunset. Four small pools have been set up with the abundant rocks all around - one pool on top of the other. The hot water is flowing at a good rate such that the little pools are constantly being cleaned and replenished, and there's icing on the cake with a "shower" at the top pool, where the water exits from underground through a pipe. The water is perfectly comfortable, around 100F, and the scenery is spectacular. We went, expecting nudity to be the standard. Apparently that's how hot springs work in the west, everyone here tells me. We arrived to see everyone - all twenty or so people there - in proper swim suits, save for one older man. So I stayed in my boxer shorts. No matter. We lavished in this warm haven for several hours, enjoying friendly company.
Up in the mountains there, probably around 9000 feet in elevation, the landscape is completely different. Mixed forests of pines, firs, spruces, aspens, and shrubs cover the land. Creeks flow in every valley, small or large. Golden brown grasses stretch for miles in some of the larger valleys. A little bit of snow even held on in the shadows of north facing slopes. it looked a lot like Colorado (and I should make it clear that it's just a couple hours drive north to Colorado from here, even less from that area). But here it looks completely different. It looks like a desert here. Other than the cottonwoods and box elders that line the dry creek beds (which flow a couple months or less each year), there are only two common kinds of trees: junipers (a cedar) and pinon pines. sand blows with the wind, hearty shrubs like chamisa and sage intermittently cover the ground, along with prickly pear cactuses. like i said, creek beds are dry. even the santa fe river does not flow these days.
but it used to. or at least, it used to flow for more of the year. as the story goes, water from the mountains doesn't stay in the land as much as it used to. when trees - like junipers and pinons - are cut down to clear space for development, or for firewood or whatever, less rain water is absorbed as it flows down a slope. the roots, and the soil that they support, are not there anymore to slow down and absorb water. other factors like lots of concrete covering the ground add to this issue. so now when it does actually rain a lot, the water mostly collect in flood fashion into the santa fe river and is gone from the area quite fast. that water was once absorbed much more into the land, and so there was much more moisture close to the surface all year round. so instead of the riverbed occasionally swarming with flood, there was a more regular, slower flow of water. this slower flow came not just from rain water but from that wealth of water held in the ground.
one way of imagining this system is by comparing it to your own body. a slow, steady flow of food is what does a body good, just as a slow, steady flow of water does a landscape good. if your body is worn down, or invaded by some defiant pathogen, you might get sick, and be unable to hold and digest your food properly. your body flushes out water and food, and you feel crappy. in the same way, a landscape cannot thrive when all its water is flushed out too fast. trees and plants are to the environment what villi are to your intestines: those millions of finger shaped protrudances that take up nutrients. when I had e-coli two months ago, the bacteria's toxic byproduct broke down my villi enough that I couldn't really ingest any food for a couple days. similary, when too many trees are taken away from a landscape, its ability to take in water and nutrients is reduced. . .
i'm supposed to be writing about this land of enchantment, and i do apologize for getting all environmental with you. these issues certainly are dry compared to tales of magic and adventure, but they have been just as important in my experiences here so far as wonderful evenings in hot springs. so for me they go together. i'm learning a lot about how landscapes work - about weather, geological processes, water and resource flows - and I am being opened up to a new way of perceiving every beautiful place I visit.
Monday, April 17, 2006
Sunday, April 09, 2006
chicken jumps over the moon
EcoVersity has about fifteen chickens (three roosters, the rest hens) and three turkeys who all live together in one outdoor enclosure/hen house. I like to go in there and hang out with them and listen to their funny sounds and actions. The roosters put so much effort into their cocka-doodle-doos. They stick their beaks up and out and just belt that same sound, definitely not just at sunrise! rather, all day long. And they give it all they have, so that the end of their triumphant moment is a little scratchy squeek of last bits of air.
Chickens are quite social creatures. They're digging holes together and pecking at each other and making strange hushed sounds. I can pick up chickens and pet them like puppies. and it's sweet, we get 10 eggs or so a day, i basically can eat all the eggs i want. i ate 5 yesterday. I don't eat many other fatty foods so hopefully my cholesterol will be all reet. As part of a balanced diet, I think eggs are quite healthy.
A lot of interesting people here. there are seven othes who are in the ten week Earth Based Vocations (EBV) program with me and, surprisingly, they're mostly not hippie types. there is, however, a smorgasbord of new age ideas floating around, especially since I'm in Santa Fe. lots of talk about moon cycles, birth signs (i'm scorpio, which is about the extent of my knowledge), and underground energies. some people devote their lives to these paths and I believe there is some method to the madness. talking about how the moon strongly affects our lives may sound outrageous, but there is no denying that it does affect us in significant ways. tides, menstrual cycles, warewolves. you know it.
So in the EBV program is a nice fellow we call John G from Colorado; a comical lady Cate from Florida; a wonder of a cook, Christina from Ohio; a smiley, energetic lady named Julia from Chicago; bouncy Jenny from Texas; cool happy Matt from Albuquerque (an hour south of Santa Fe); and sarcastic, friendly Kris from St. Louis. Kris has a big rat tail. He pulls it off more than anyone I've seen. For the eight of us EBVers, I think Matt and I would be the only ones to qualify as hippie types, and that's almost a stretch. If only I still had my dreads, I could fulfill this expectation beautifully.
The two week permaculture course ended friday night with a bang of a talent show. Everyone in the course was required to do something, which I think is a great rule. It's very hard for some people to get up in front of an audience, but if you offer something from the heart there's no going wrong, at least not in the personal and positive atmosphere here. There were excellent poems, funny songs about our wise teacher Scott Pittman (a warm hearted and funny man, known well in permaculture circles), a transvestite fashion show, stories, juggling, art shows, and even percimen bread baked as a talent offering. As for me, I rapped. As it is melding poetry with beats and rhythm, I really like rapping. This is the first of two raps I did, called Universal Recall:
About 15 billion years ago the universe exploded
From a single point of everything presumably imploded
Exploded monumental energy chaotic wise
Created space and time as it expanded in size
Quadrillions of neutrinos zigzagging every which way
Stopped by nothing physical and still observed today
Meanwhile the universe expanded and it cooled
Relatively speaking for it was hotter than a lava pool
Pure energy cooled and condensed into matter
Dense, packed energy and definitely fatter
Hydrogen the basic element of the universe
Started clumping together from the force that we call gravity
Packed closer and closer until two atoms burst
Together in fusion - the ball of fire making light
That is the stars we see at night
Some stars imploded creating bigger elements
Exploded into space relaying fiery filaments
Other stars aren't so crazy or formed later in time
One such star we call the sun is of the smaller kind
Formed five billion years ago and will last fivish more
Before it turns to a red giant envelops its close planets incredibly defiant but for now it is reliant
Bathing all in photonic warmth and beauty
A tonic to the cold and emptiness of space unruly
A planet we call earth finds itself in a nice spot
Not too cold, not too hot - oceans are its lot
A couple billion years ago sea life began to form
Photosynthesizing - a new way had been born
Gradually became more complex to the vex of the lower
Life eating other life although bigger is slower
When did an animal first climb up on land?
When did fish and other creatures first begin to band together?
Whenever it was, amazing thing occurred with life
Through individual strife, the collective more diverse
The curse that we call natural selection
The inflection of the voice of some species grew intense
A sense of domination and desire to control
Whole human races exploded like a star
Travelled far to the corners of the earth
Birth and rebirth of patterns kind and violent
Silently the whales watch and wonder
Slumber the sloths high up in the trees
We stand here on earth, in this solar system, in the Milky Way, in a universe that's practically infinite
Always we do die in it and sometimes we do live it
Meanwhile I stand here
Like many beings before, and many beings after
In another place, in the far reaches of space
Enjoying the laughter, and wondrin' bout it all
The universe is self-aware, sometimes I do recall
Chickens are quite social creatures. They're digging holes together and pecking at each other and making strange hushed sounds. I can pick up chickens and pet them like puppies. and it's sweet, we get 10 eggs or so a day, i basically can eat all the eggs i want. i ate 5 yesterday. I don't eat many other fatty foods so hopefully my cholesterol will be all reet. As part of a balanced diet, I think eggs are quite healthy.
A lot of interesting people here. there are seven othes who are in the ten week Earth Based Vocations (EBV) program with me and, surprisingly, they're mostly not hippie types. there is, however, a smorgasbord of new age ideas floating around, especially since I'm in Santa Fe. lots of talk about moon cycles, birth signs (i'm scorpio, which is about the extent of my knowledge), and underground energies. some people devote their lives to these paths and I believe there is some method to the madness. talking about how the moon strongly affects our lives may sound outrageous, but there is no denying that it does affect us in significant ways. tides, menstrual cycles, warewolves. you know it.
So in the EBV program is a nice fellow we call John G from Colorado; a comical lady Cate from Florida; a wonder of a cook, Christina from Ohio; a smiley, energetic lady named Julia from Chicago; bouncy Jenny from Texas; cool happy Matt from Albuquerque (an hour south of Santa Fe); and sarcastic, friendly Kris from St. Louis. Kris has a big rat tail. He pulls it off more than anyone I've seen. For the eight of us EBVers, I think Matt and I would be the only ones to qualify as hippie types, and that's almost a stretch. If only I still had my dreads, I could fulfill this expectation beautifully.
The two week permaculture course ended friday night with a bang of a talent show. Everyone in the course was required to do something, which I think is a great rule. It's very hard for some people to get up in front of an audience, but if you offer something from the heart there's no going wrong, at least not in the personal and positive atmosphere here. There were excellent poems, funny songs about our wise teacher Scott Pittman (a warm hearted and funny man, known well in permaculture circles), a transvestite fashion show, stories, juggling, art shows, and even percimen bread baked as a talent offering. As for me, I rapped. As it is melding poetry with beats and rhythm, I really like rapping. This is the first of two raps I did, called Universal Recall:
About 15 billion years ago the universe exploded
From a single point of everything presumably imploded
Exploded monumental energy chaotic wise
Created space and time as it expanded in size
Quadrillions of neutrinos zigzagging every which way
Stopped by nothing physical and still observed today
Meanwhile the universe expanded and it cooled
Relatively speaking for it was hotter than a lava pool
Pure energy cooled and condensed into matter
Dense, packed energy and definitely fatter
Hydrogen the basic element of the universe
Started clumping together from the force that we call gravity
Packed closer and closer until two atoms burst
Together in fusion - the ball of fire making light
That is the stars we see at night
Some stars imploded creating bigger elements
Exploded into space relaying fiery filaments
Other stars aren't so crazy or formed later in time
One such star we call the sun is of the smaller kind
Formed five billion years ago and will last fivish more
Before it turns to a red giant envelops its close planets incredibly defiant but for now it is reliant
Bathing all in photonic warmth and beauty
A tonic to the cold and emptiness of space unruly
A planet we call earth finds itself in a nice spot
Not too cold, not too hot - oceans are its lot
A couple billion years ago sea life began to form
Photosynthesizing - a new way had been born
Gradually became more complex to the vex of the lower
Life eating other life although bigger is slower
When did an animal first climb up on land?
When did fish and other creatures first begin to band together?
Whenever it was, amazing thing occurred with life
Through individual strife, the collective more diverse
The curse that we call natural selection
The inflection of the voice of some species grew intense
A sense of domination and desire to control
Whole human races exploded like a star
Travelled far to the corners of the earth
Birth and rebirth of patterns kind and violent
Silently the whales watch and wonder
Slumber the sloths high up in the trees
We stand here on earth, in this solar system, in the Milky Way, in a universe that's practically infinite
Always we do die in it and sometimes we do live it
Meanwhile I stand here
Like many beings before, and many beings after
In another place, in the far reaches of space
Enjoying the laughter, and wondrin' bout it all
The universe is self-aware, sometimes I do recall
Sunday, April 02, 2006
EcoVersatility
EcoVersity is situated in a ten acre plot of land in southwest Santa Fe, in the barrio, which refers to the poorer area. In Buenos Aires, "barrio" is the generic word for a section of the city; here it refers to a particular section. There is a lot of spanish here - in roadsigns, names of restaurants and towns, and so on. Many people are Hispanic, especially in this area of Santa Fe. I speak spanish sometimes with classmates, but alas, my spanish is slowly fading. I think, however, that it is mostly fading only out of the forefront of my memory; everything I learned is still stored somewhere in the back reaches of my brain. Thus I trust that it will return when I really get into it again. That's what I experienced with my French when Josh and I spent two weeks in France back in October.
So these first two weeks of the program make up the permaculture course. Permaculture, standing for "Permanent Culture", is a system of principles for developing a sustainable community. There are, of course, many ways of going about this, depending on one's climate, circumstances, ideas. Basically it is about creating an efficient, durable plant/animal/structural system that supports and replenishes itself. You grow plants that create healthy soils (which harness nitrogen and other essential minerals for plants), which in turn help human-friendly plants grow (fruit/nut trees, berries, vegetables, herbs). You use animals which help the plant system and also give you food - for instance, chickens, which produce good manure for fertilizer and eggs/meat for protein. You build homes out of local products (like adobe mud, clay, and straw bales here) that are very efficient, designed strategically with south facing windows, built in air flows, and things like that.
Through systems thinking and experience, you can put all these pieces together to make a little community where many of your needs take care of themselves, and where the system replenishes itself (soils stay healthy, chickens breed, etc.) so that it long lasting - sustainable.
Thinking about and doing all this is simpler in a rural setting, of course. EcoVersity, funny enough, is quite rural in its design - there are chickens and turkeys and gardens here - although it is in the city of Santa Fe. When you don't have so much space, and you're next to lots of large buildings and many people in a truly urban setting, applying permaculture principles may be more complicated. And questions like: how long can world-wide trade last, where products travel thousands of miles to reach you? and what would a society be like where people are self-sufficient, and is that even possible? - these questions are open to discussion. Permaculture does not require people to give up everything and become back-to-the-land hippies. It is as much about making current agricultural/animal/infrastructure systems longer lasting as it is about designing new systems. Ultimately, it is about individuals taking more responsibility for their own well being.
I'm just starting to learn about all this, and I don't pretend to know everything about it. I should also make clear that permaculturists do not claim that they can save the whole world. At this point learning about permaculture is simply something that I think will be very useful for me. It is a way for me to act on ideas of sustainability in my personal life, rather than just continue to think about them.
Thoughts?
So these first two weeks of the program make up the permaculture course. Permaculture, standing for "Permanent Culture", is a system of principles for developing a sustainable community. There are, of course, many ways of going about this, depending on one's climate, circumstances, ideas. Basically it is about creating an efficient, durable plant/animal/structural system that supports and replenishes itself. You grow plants that create healthy soils (which harness nitrogen and other essential minerals for plants), which in turn help human-friendly plants grow (fruit/nut trees, berries, vegetables, herbs). You use animals which help the plant system and also give you food - for instance, chickens, which produce good manure for fertilizer and eggs/meat for protein. You build homes out of local products (like adobe mud, clay, and straw bales here) that are very efficient, designed strategically with south facing windows, built in air flows, and things like that.
Through systems thinking and experience, you can put all these pieces together to make a little community where many of your needs take care of themselves, and where the system replenishes itself (soils stay healthy, chickens breed, etc.) so that it long lasting - sustainable.
Thinking about and doing all this is simpler in a rural setting, of course. EcoVersity, funny enough, is quite rural in its design - there are chickens and turkeys and gardens here - although it is in the city of Santa Fe. When you don't have so much space, and you're next to lots of large buildings and many people in a truly urban setting, applying permaculture principles may be more complicated. And questions like: how long can world-wide trade last, where products travel thousands of miles to reach you? and what would a society be like where people are self-sufficient, and is that even possible? - these questions are open to discussion. Permaculture does not require people to give up everything and become back-to-the-land hippies. It is as much about making current agricultural/animal/infrastructure systems longer lasting as it is about designing new systems. Ultimately, it is about individuals taking more responsibility for their own well being.
I'm just starting to learn about all this, and I don't pretend to know everything about it. I should also make clear that permaculturists do not claim that they can save the whole world. At this point learning about permaculture is simply something that I think will be very useful for me. It is a way for me to act on ideas of sustainability in my personal life, rather than just continue to think about them.
Thoughts?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)