Saturday, July 26, 2014

Old faces new Places, New places old Faces

I’m sitting at the San Jose Airport on a chair facing the window in the direction of the plane I will momentarily be boarding to fly across the Pacific Ocean and land in an archipelago, thousands of miles from any substantial land mass, to what Mark Twain dubbed “The Sandwich Islands.”  I am 25 years old.  To some, this is regarded as old, and others young, and in the past, this age may be interpreted contrary to the present. 

We’re always spinning, and it is desirable to have constants such as family, landmarks, arbitrary dates like New Years and holidays, to hold onto.  I have found these helpful with grounding and gaining faith or trust in the world and processes outside of yourself.  I would suggest this as convincing an argument for a reason to choose to believe in a higher power.  In the last year, I have explored the new, in the form of Asia for 8 months and the Middle East for 2 months, and have recently come back to America, where I have attempted to utilize all my abilities and resources to revisit the familiar.   To arrive at a reliable geographical site (that contains a personal history) and to try to understand it within the frame of one’s past context.  And then to examine experiences post being there to discover a healthier, deeper perspective on this life, this world and oneself.   Balancing this with new places and old faces, and old places with new faces has been the crux of the last month on the mainland, from New York to Colorado to California.

I now face Hawai’i.  My home for over 3 years, where I grew to love ecology, observation, getting dirty, plant identification, building and growing (shelter, food and community) from the ground up, appreciation and respect for traditional culture, and formed many lasting relationships with people and place.  It has been a year since I stepped foot on the lava rock, inhaled the coastal tropical sea breeze, and engaged with the vivid and pure sensory experience that has remained with me on my travels and occasionally in my dreams.  I miss it dearly but do not long and weep for Hawai’i, and given that I am here for 3 weeks, it appears to an appropriate length of time.  It is my final escapade before returning to school after a 5+ year absence.  I am very grateful to be returning to education in such a nurturing setting as the Blue Ridge Mountains.

With life, I accept the chaos and randomness, though appreciate when the patterns and symmetry come to the forefront of my attention.  (Both schools of thought are always present, it is what we are drawing our mind and attention to in the moment that dominates our reality.  Also there is scientific proof and debate of both theories existing simultaneously and not being contradictory [thanks Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Everything].) What lays ahead of me is a 2 week Permaculture Design Course (PDC) on Oahu, instructed by a friend of mine who nearly convinced me to take the course 3 years ago.  There are multiple Guest Instructors who I have tremendous respect for, including the woman who helped bring me to the island of Maui in the first place and introduce me to land I would fall in love with and the concept of ecological design, exactly 5 years ago.  Meeting her on the side of the Hana Highway in between Waianapanapa and Airport Road to the present has been a journey.

The upcoming PDC will outline design principles and ethics based on the observation of natural systems, and the integration and implementation of those systems into the functioning of those landscapes and the lives of those interacting with them.  Paraphrased from Introduction to Permaculture, the best way to learn Permaculture is to go through a walk in the forest and observe all the life around you .  After working in sustainable agriculture in the tropics of Hawai’i, the high altitude mountains of Nepal and the desert of Israel and Nevada, I would agree.  I can relate to how all systems are fairly similar with the flow of water, structure of the soil and the functioning of the plants, displaying their disparity mostly in directional flows and names of the species.  The design techniques will help me understand this foundation of nature and apply this knowledge to diverse ecosystems.  I am grateful to take this course in Hawai’i, where I have a familiarity of plants, landscape and function.  This is also the place where my passion for this understanding began to germinate.

I have seen edible forest gardens in the desert with little to no water access, tropical food forests grown in geodesic domes at 8,000 ft, fully self-sustaining communities in the woods in the North East America, 200 edible/medicinal plant species being grown in 1/10th of an acre (in an area that receives snow), small villages subsistent from the land for their shelter (natural building using the clay deposits in their soil) and high food production and seed saving in Southeast Asia, and people trying to integrate rather than segregate with nature across the globe, based primarily on Permaculture Design Principles (another way to say Ecologically Conscious Design). It began theoretically 40 years ago in Australia, and this and the following generation are aiming to prove or disprove if this is a viable solution to regenerate our society and landscape presently designed without conscious care for the land being farmed (earth), people (farmers and consumers), and community in mind.   The jury is still out, though small-scale solutions have been noted across the globe with favorable to spectacular outcomes.

I will certainly be learning more in the next few weeks, and I will share it here in the future.

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Highlights on the places I’ve visited since returning to America:

Northeast (Fingerlakes in upstate New York and Western Massachusetts).  Blown away by some artists, potters, woodworkers, major community and co-op vibes, wineries and breweries (Two Goats!), and the beauty of the area (specifically Watkins Glens and the foxes).

Colorado:  Culture of the state whose passions include Eat Good Food, Drink Good Beer, Play Outdoors!  Aspen-Tree with Eden, family vibes, cooking and biking and highway driving!

California: Chico to Mt. Lassen to Bay Area.  The beauty and amazing ecology of the Northern California Forests, a very warmed heart as a result of seeing familiar faces, gardens, family and friends.  Beer drinking, beer brewing, Jazz and Brass/World Live Music, San Francisco’s old style architecture and modern interiors and artisan food makers and bakers.  Brief reunions with friends, More family vibes, Brotherly bonding and Dal Bhat Khane.

Hawai’i:  Kolea Farm on Oahu North Shore.  Green, lush, vibrant topography.  Oahu’s stunning rock faces, green forest, true blue oceans, bursting flowers, towering canopy trees, diversity of plant species, make this, among millions of other reasons, a really special place.   Used the o’o, weedwhacker, machete, sickle, and worked with cut flowers, harvesting, and landscaping in a few short days.  Papaya, White Sapote, Soursop, Lychee, Ice Cream and Apple Banana, Jamaican Liloquoi.  Tropical Fruit, how I missed thee!