birdsfoot

we've been living at birdsfoot for a few weeks now. wow, it's really flown by. it's a really remarkable difference from sonoma in so many ways: the climate, the trees, the people, the pace of life, the things that make up the day to day activities of the folks around here.

everyone at birdsfoot, and in the broader neighborhood, have really shown us a lot of welcome. we've been trying on the lifestyle and some of the activities around here and it's suiting us so far.

the barn

the main house

we've gone to the farmer's market a couple of times to help with set up and other miscellaneous stuff. i've mostly hung out across the street at the groovy little cafe opened recently (they have free wireless).

setting up for market

bj and i have both been helping out here and there on the farm. we helped harvest parsnips and it was a lot of fun. there's really big and have to be dug carefully to expose half of the root, then you can pull them up.

we've also taken on a cook night, which has been really nice- cooking for a bunch of people to eat all together. it's been especially wonderful to cook with all the amazing veggies grown right here on the farm. birdsfoot grows all their own produce for the entire year. they have around four or five acres planted with veggies, and they could expand into another three or so acres if they needed to. they store winter veggies such as squashes, onions, garlic, carrots, beets, cabbage and so on for use in the off season.

winter veggies

apples!

we've helped press apples for cider twice, make applesauce and press garlic for winter storage.

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last saturday, there was a big halloween party and all the kids from the neighborhood came in full regalia. it was really cute. bj and i didn't really have the makings of any real costume, so we just sort of faked it, putting on strange clothes and props to see what sort of effect we could come up with. bj ended up as a "crazy doctor lady" and i was a "baby thief."

baby steeler

tonight, bj, nancy, bekcy and asher are headed to a new friend's house for a halloween party in potsdam, the next town over from canton.

i'm headed to st. lawrence university to set in on a class i was invited to. the class is called cross-cultural perspectives in healing, and tonight's talk is on amazonian shamanic healing with ayahuasca. i got turned onto the class by one of the people at birdsfoot, who also teaches at slu, after she heard me talking about ayahuasca. ever since i read alice water's book, "now is the time to open you heart," i've been feeling curious about the depiction of communal healing ceremonies using ayahuasca. recently, i've been feeling really stuck in some emotional difficulties i've been grappling with over the past couple of years. and just recently, i started looking seriously into the possibility of attending a tradition ceremony myself. my explorations into it can only be described as synchronous, one thing after another presenting itself and suggesting that i'm stumbled onto to something particularly and specifically relevant to me and where i'm at on my spiritual path.

so, i'll soon be heading down to peru to join an organized shamanic healing retreat, most likely in the next couple of weeks.

it will be hard for me to be away from bj and asher. but bj has been clear and strong in her support of my going.

asher is growing up and changing every day. i can't even imagine what he'll be up to in a month or so when i get back. probably, he'll have a tooth or two as he's been teething a lot lately. poor little guy, it really seems to take a big toll on him as it hurts a lot.

but other than his teething, he's been doing great. he's really happy and seems to love meeting new people. he's been calling us outside alot as he really seems to get bored and irritable the longer we stay indoors. so it's been a great way to get us out and about, on walks and bike rides.

fall colors

snoozing devil

on friday, we're headed back south again for a while. we're going to visit our friends karin and lisa again in new jersey for the weekend. then visit with my family for a while. then we'll head over to stay with the finders community for a bit. bj will be there while i'm in peru. then, in december, our plan is to head back to birdsfoot to stay for the winter. we're both excited about this prospect, and also a little nervous after hearing stories of negative forty degree weather!

happy halloween y'all.

a month and 3500 miles later...

yeah, it's been a while. and boy, are our lives different than the last time we posted. for one thing, it turns out that there are still parts of the world where you can't just open up your laptop and hop on the nearest wireless internet connection. which, in some ways is nice, in other ways, it's been hard to adjust.

so, what's up with us?

just a little before we were leaving sonoma we heard our friends moxie and artnoose were about to drive from oakland to pittburgh. moxie pitched the idea to us of joining forces and forming a caravan to make the trip across collectively. so, moxie provided the cb radios, and we provided the trailer for his boat, the sea louse, plus a few odds and ends that wouldn't fit into his new little vw truck. it was quite a synchronous affair. there was intrigue. there was mystery and adventure. there was caffeine and hi-jinx. all together, it was a pretty great trip.

heading out

the caravaners

seranade

wheel troubles

arrival

after spending a couple of days in pittsburg, we said goodbye to moxie and artnoose and headed over to new jersey to visit with our friends karin and lisa. they treated us to some much needed rest, relaxation and hospitality. we even both got full massages! after a few-day-long respite from the road, we headed back out again to make the last few hundred miles to meet up with becky and nancy in canton, new york, where we are now.

for a couple weeks now we've been here, staying at the birdsfoot farm community. it's been remarkable how much warmth and friendliness we've been receiving from the folks up here, both on the farm as well as from neighbors and people from around town. it's been feeling really nice to be in this environment. we're still not 100% sure, but it feels like we'll probably stay here at least for the winter, maybe with some visiting friends and family in the interim.

canton is an incredible haven of a town. apparently birdsfoot has been drawing counter-cultural homesteading radicals to the area for years, and many of them decide to hang around. we've met so many amazing, welcoming, brilliant people from whom we could learn so much about living the self-sufficient life. plus, it seems like there's a fair amount of collaboration. you know, barn-raisings and the like. very exciting. and we both can imagine staying in the area indefinitely. asher seems to love it here also. the new friends, abundant trees, and little driving. happy baby.

in terms of keeping in touch with us:
aaron's phone doesn't get any reception up here, but you can call bj's phone.
510.908.4827
we don't get very many opportunities for email, so don't expect a speedy reply.
you can snail mail us (which bj loves) for the next month or so at:
1263 county route 25
canton, ny 13617

k, til later