Archive for July 14th, 2009

Hhhhmmmmm,
Whenever I see a group of three or more women together in a kind of huddle, talking with intensity I think there they go, creating the world as we know it. Because if the spoken word manifests reality and it is delivered by humankind's representative of the Yin principle on earth, it becomes part of our cultural tapestry sooner or later. In an ongoing attempt to grasp the Yin principle it is paramount for men and women alike to get a grip on giving in, tossing the towel, saying uncle....................

The lessons in giving in begin here every morning when a slightly deeper and broader understanding of daily insights manifest in say, the discovery of another dead duckling trampled by dada duck so eager to get to the food that he misses his offspring underfoot, or noticing that the finches are starting to eat the still green papayas or seeing that even after a week of afternoon showers, the hills are turning blond with the summer heat. This morning I sauntered down the path with the expectation of being greeted by little tail wagging ducklettes (that now eat out of my hand), to find that one of the "secure" garden enclosures had been visited by a pig or two.

Plants were uprooted and mulch tossed and turned. It didn't take long to restore the mulch to order, replant and move along, but. on the farm, there's a constant reminder that life is hundreds of trillions of interactions per second somehow managing to manifest a stable system within a framework that promises chaotic harmonics around every corner and exists within a universe thus far largely unknowable. These are the voyages of the Starship Relaxzo. Our mission, to seek out the best place to take a nap.

If Yin is all of manifest reality then Yang is the great unmanifest. The place quantum particles go when they blip out. I have to say that as a guy, I feel a little discriminated against. This is clearly a world in which women should by nature, feel very much at home. Guys are constantly overcompensating for feeling ill at ease with their complete immersion in all that is Yin. Whats the old saying? "Men love women, women love children and children love pets." If you're a lucky guy you get to be freaked out by Love a few times, and then get some closure with all of it while swinging in a hammock on your back porch watching a sunset and reminiscing with your sixty year old kid about Freckles the Cocker Spaniel. Sometimes what comes around doesn't go anywhere.

It doesn't help much to know that these two conjoined forces uphold and preserve each other when some of the normal side effects of their interactions may include sustained moments of profound confusion, a sense of being totally inadequate to whatever the task may be, a haunting voice inside ones head repeating the phrase, "make it stop" and a strong desire to eat enough twinkies to go into insulin shock. You go round the track enough times and the giving in option looks more and more like safe haven.

The prime directive of Permaculture methodology is impartial and inquisitive observation, leading to common sense questions, spurring on research into said questions, resulting in the backbone of any design. This is how the unmanifest is made manifest and more importantly, why. If its all random chaotic interfaces of cosmic energies run amok, well whoopteedoo, lets pop some corn and a bottle of charlie champers and watch the movie. If, on the other hand there is some kind of truth to be winnowed out of this harvest of methods and techniques that tend to support our life here and actually present a model for systems that limit dependency, then let the symposium on common sense, commence.

Like the great Chinese doctor who can look at your tongue and say, "sorry but that gall bladder is going to have to come out", training allows us to see the future by reckoning with the present. Personally, I think we're up it without a paddle. That having been said, i should also note that I've been wrong alot. Main thing is that there is real contentment residing in the workings of a complex organism like a farm and one need only step into the flow of things to clear the ol' noggin' and restore a sense of purpose where once there was South Park.

About ten twelve years ago we had a family of pigs move on to the property. It was an awful time with each day bringing a new destructive vision. Actually saw one on hind legs picking and eating mangoes. I had my rifle, but the Rabbi was still asleep.

Finally, a local friend came to the rescue with a trap. He put me on to some hunter guys who were more than willing to come by and take the pigs for luau or letum' go for hunt lat-ah. It worked and the property had been clear of pigs for many years. So rather than take mushrooms and stay up all night waiting for a pig to appear and hope that at that very moment I will have the presence of mind to actually ready, aim and fire, captain Jeremiah dusted off and repaired the old porker snare and made it ready with a slurry of mashed banana/with peal, avocado, ginger snaps and a tasty little Bordeaux. We anticipate one schnockered little piggy givin' us a cross eyed grin in the morning and chops at sunset.

I like the early a.m., predawn hours, which is why i've prepped myself for The Open Championship by visualizing myself doing yoga for six hours while watching the live from Turnberry broadcast of The Open Championship between 12:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. on Thursday and Friday. Just the thought of visualizing myself doing yoga makes me tired.

Big big week what with the opening of Harry Potter and the thrill of golfs best getting the crap kicked out of them by the grandaddy of all Open courses. In addition we have a newbie wwoof arriving on Friday at a time of day when i will be mostly incoherent from lack of sleep and she will be excited beyond measure to be here. Nice. Me likey garden fairies who do what me say.

What else? Oh yeah, we're working on a small c.s.a. type of marketing scheme which would include a rock solid base of customers willing to go with our shenanigans and grow with us in a beneficial synergy. Anyone interested in seeing whats up and signing on, give us a ping.

So as the summer heat kicks out the beat, stay cool, and grow some shade that has food hanging from it, 'cause it ain't gonna be any cooler next summer.

The more you show, the more we'll grow. Peace be, Jp