Dragoon Dreams of Climbing
Rocks.

Falling into Winter and Another Year

From Fall to Winter, I am now realizing that time flies.

I have been enrolled at Prescott College since last August and still have another year to go.
And to be honest, I am feeling pretty excited about rolling along.

I am currently snuggled into a neat, old school room in the Warren District of Bisbee, where I can dive into work and school.

...and life.

This life, my life. The life.

The Good Life.

Continuing along.

Shelter

There are doors
that want to be free
from their hinges to
fly with perfect clouds

There are windows
that want to be
released from their
frames to run with
the deer through
back country meadows.

There are walls
that want to prowl
with the mountains
through the early morning dusk.

There are floors
that want to digest
their furniture into
flowers and trees.

There are roofs
that want to travel
gracefully with
the stars through
circles of darkness.

~Richard Brautigan

Community Project Exploration - I

Beginning
with friendship, dedication, trust and truth.

Inspiration
how to excite those around us? excite ourselves....

Community
when we gather and work and share and exist

Happiness
creating what you dream and dreaming what you create

"Jellyfish" by Andrea Gibson

Plastic

Watching the beauty of the desert become decorated with the pollution of consumerism. This is what can inspire.
Little plastic tapestries strewn across the natural beauty of pure natural life. Hard as stone rock and lush fauna can not compete with the forged fossil fuel. The ubiquitous symbol of what we've evolved into. What beauty can be seen?

how we begin to change...

What I See As Truth

Looking at my desk which is filled with mostly books, a local hand made mug filled with pens and pencils a ball of wool yarn from Pennsylvania, my cell phone and random other trinkets, I had a hard time deciding what to choose. Then it hit me. My little zip pouch made from recycled bicycle tubes inspired me to look up where it came from and the company which made it.

Green Guru is a high quality, high performance outdoor and lifestyle gear line, using all recycled, reclaimed and sustainable materials. All products are manufactured within 18 miles of the Boulder office. They believe that the more products they manufacture the more carbon footprints they and others reduce. The reclamation engineers who have helped design this process claim it’s a true cradle to cradle, closed-loop one. My little 3” by 7” pouch is made from recycled bicycle tires. They also remake items with highway bill boards and vinyl banners, neoprene wetsuits and nylon climbing rope. All items which can not be recycled or are cost inefficient.

Ecologic Designs is a group in Boulder Colorado who is passionate about progressing the status quo of design and manufacture. They have helped design a model to follow for businesses to be sustainable. Green Guru works along side them to be connected with sustainable operations such as recycling stations, reclamation stations, etc.

I could go into detail about where the bicycle tires come from, but I think we all know this. Instead of focusing on the issues so deeply and pointing them out, my goal is to learn how to effect change within this unstable system.

Bisbee Bee Be blue.

Picked up refreshments at the local food co-operative. Peaches, apples, tea and limeade. Stepped into my car along with a giant gust of breeze carrying the scent of sulfur and iron. The giant hole was whispering to me. Honest Tea insight for the day came from Samuel Taylor Coleridge. "Nothing is so contagious as enthusiasm." I think that may be how the hole ended up so giant. You get excited and keep digging. or going. or whatever.

It can tip either way. Like the snail on the razor blade. On one side, there is positive progress with a cradle to cradle theory holding it up. The other side is the path towards a giant hole in the ground. Greedy, unthoughtful action to a certain desired end. It's a delicate state....

So this is where I sit. The tiny town in the high desert hills of southern Arizona. Staring out into the pit of our deepest desires and deepest habits. Learning from the past how to move forward. This time, with respect and understanding.

Summer in the City

The small city, in the mountains of southeastern Arizona, is full of pollen and sunshine and laughter.

Many of the snowbird travelin' folk are heading back north, or south, or east, and some west....leaving us desert rats here to soak in the sun and miss them all.

It has been one year since returning back to Bisbee from my trip across the country. I don't think I've actually reflected on it all since. It was a whirlwind year and I became distracted by the hustle and bustle of it all...

Now, as the town grows quiet and warm, I settle into my cool little home and look back..............

The Jade like jewel of my world gave me a comforting space to begin a journey into myself. Lithuanian travelers greeted me and showed me the world through their eyes. A beautiful home, where those who wander can rest their heads and hearts. Visions from a trip filled with inspiration and rejuvenation. I came back "home" searching for something lost, and began collecting and piecing together all that I had found while rollin' along the tracks.

My interdisciplinary, humanistic view on life began to take over. I began to long for my own clean slate. A place designed to be my home. Where I could grow and learn. New love sparked and the lion became the goats muse. It felt like life was happening in the moment of a wave breaking. Smooth to rough to smooth...catastrophe, necessity, developing beauty. The internal compass felt broken. I knew I was to move forward, but where and how and why and what-for...? Love presented itself in all shapes and sizes. Through little children, and baby chickens. The summer waned into fall and the struggle to keep hope alive depleted me. I worked hard. Between markets and lions and desert domes, the spirit within began to sink down. As if melting into a little blob of confusion and fear. The Fall fell hard, and with the desert dust I became dirtied and hardened...

Sustainability was the common theme. Learning how to keep alive and uphold all that is true. Be it rainwater, sturdy structures, or friends or relationships and love. When do you begin to decide to sustain? Is there a sacrifice to be made in sustainable movements, and when do we begin? The Fall waned into the Winter and all the emotions of the seasons combined. Months filled with efforts in eco-ness. Wearing the same dress or shirt or pants for all of October. It was difficult. The doubt and criticism and pity I received only pushed me farther into a little world filled with much passion and no release. The love I felt for the lion was returned with cowardly shuns and I fell into a pattern of regret and sadness. Maybe it was the seasonalities kicking in, or the experience of being on my own, or both. The reflection I was seeing while sharing time with an epic friend/lover/being was the most needed one yet. Fierce, honest, painfully truthful. The Winter began to take hold. Fire, Domes, Clay, Expression, Direction........

Fires to kick off the new year, the new time round the sun, the new age of twenty-something enlightenment. Fierce fires filled in with friends, and laughter and growth. An influx of energy around the new year. New faces, beliefs and arts. The months to follow were filled with excitement and healing. An epic affair between two animals who know no bounds, dissolved into the desert dust. The loss seemed unimaginable, but the pain was just a release from memories of long long ago. Tears, joy, and new discovery painted the backdrop. Wintery, wild, windy desert days flew past. Potato cannon shenanigans, free love, the new modernists versus the new millennials. Times are changing and sometimes they change too fast. The reflection from the fiery moons showed me what love and life are all about. A combustication of moments. Out of control, yet entirely contained. The path was slowly working through the wildness of life. A way to go, a way to grow and a way to bee....

Winter held on....the fires continued with the full moon and the cycles were cycling. Social situations infiltrated the small town. Every day held something new. No bounds to the imagination of the people around. Music, life, circumstance and growth. A realization suddenly hit. Am I not here on this earth to enjoy it? What is life if not something meant to be lived? All moments we experience are precious and wonderful and fleeting. All of life moves through us and then beyond. Sometimes we become attached and feel empty when the moment has passed. Longing for the experience which is no longer ours, but forever into eternity experienced. New friends who pop in and out. Old timers who have left and realize now that they must return to the desert down they love so much. With the warming days, new relationships evolve. Seeds are planted and a community begins to grow. The love shuffle plays in the back ground, and we dance along to the tune of here and now and then. Orion began to set early in the evening over the majestic mules. Reminding me that spring had arrived and the days would grow longer and longer. Emerson said the earth laughs in flowers. I say she laughs in love. All the friends from the winter blow in are moving out. Like the sand hill cranes, they circle around and take flight. Out .... Away ... Goodbye party after goodbye party I realize it was this time last year, as all begin to leave, I arrived. And now, I exist. Not going anywhere....

Smut logs, poi, drums and discovery ushered in the warmth. Love's ability to re-arrage and exchange, yet always exist, no matter what, excites me. A year after the return from a journey around, I can finally look back and see what most of it was or is, all for. The summer is a time to soak up the sun and grow. The soil of the spirit has been amended and tended to. The falling seasons and wild visions turned a burnt out afraid girl into a true believer of the dream. Now, the seeds, which were planted long long ago, can begin to feel the warmth and start the journey upwards. While all the snow birds are away, and the town is quiet and slow, I will enjoy the big bright blue skies and imagine the future and all it's possibilities. In this copper mining town, where I begin to find my roots, I dive...............

to all the pioneers

Permaculture Principles

✴☀✴

everything works at least two ways

✴

see solutions, not problems

✴

cooperation, not competition in work

✴

make things pay

✴

work where it counts

✴

use everything to it's highest capacity

✴

bring food production back to the cities

✴

help make people self-reliant

✴

minimize maintenance and energy inputs

to achieve maximum yields

~Bill Mollison

~water closet experiment

desert green

...to one or more interpretation...

Oh My Ambiguity,

It is you who moves me. You, who I write to. Like the unborn daughter within, never finding a way out.

Moi qui n'ai pas connules hommes.

open

intellectual philanthropy.

the beginning of a new dive.

here we go......

sometimes my implications seeem limitless.

Re: -

~) Invention.

~) Localization.

~) Mediation.

(~ Creation.

Centuries Rolling

Gold shiny ribbons.

Big bright balloons.

Beautiful, blue moon.

A new decade, a quarter of a century passing, and time always moving forward.

A new theme : slow. Like the snails and rabbits who always come out ahead.

A new age.

Who are the pioneers of the future? What are they, or we, supposed to do in times like these?

The lesson: keep growing.

November

Keep falling.

Cool Me Down

October is rounding up. Halloween is around the corner with opportunity for new, created existences.

This month has been spent testing out my strengths and agendas.

An attempt to understand consumerism and freedom and beauty.

The Dress Project. I'll be the first to admit I'm not totally a fan of the whole thing, but something about it hit home. The vision of simplicity and honesty is why I was determined to wear the same thing every single day. My failures within the project came when I realized the impracticality of such an endeavor and when I felt as though I was dressed in uniform. No different really than when I worked for the giant corporations, or local hometown folks who believe in conformity. I was conforming in a non-conformist way. So as the month goes, I try to create a new way of looking at the vision. I have come to understand my consuming and my clothing. The two key elements of our American Dream. I will give a full run down when the month is officially over.

The Home Project. Learning to live. This space is small. Glorious. Honest. Nice. Home. I have been facing the true test of my simplistic lifestyle. With my own place I can determine the events. I can decide what comes in, how it goes out and what it's used for while inside. A true test of my strength in sustainability. With good friends who have been examples I try to make decisions which will prove righteous and honest. The groceries I bring in. The essential utensils I have had to scavenge for and collect. (still collecting). Out of the things I bring in what then goes out as trash, recycling, or how it can be reused within. Everything from the beer I choose to the trash bags I collect. Everyday I see and think of something I can do differently. It's a never ending path. So I take what I have learned and keep going. Home Sweet Home.

The Life Project. It all comes down to this. Everything that I do is an attempt to just live a simple and pure life. No ideal too great, no vision to small. I just move forward. There are times when it seems as though I must be insane. Lost. Unknown. But I realize this experience is beautiful and exactly that, my experience. So I wake everyday in greater and greater appreciation of all that comes to me. The healing hands of autumn are here to cool me down. Bringing perspective and love along the way...

The Times Are a' Changin'....

September is here. Fall is falling upon us. I am beginning the endeavour.
The 1st day of the month was spent healing myself. A hivey body is no fun when you dream of land and love. So I take these first few days of the autumn month to detox and begin again.

I begin with a huge focus on food. In preparation for the national day of action on Labor day, I dive into the realm of understanding healthy living. Weeding out all the toxic things which usually enter in, and developing a relationship with only things that are healthy and true. A new diet is in order. Eliminating excess sugar intake. Intensifying my fruit and veggie love. Becoming a happy, healthy person.

Monday, (the 7th) will be righteous. My first day of action. A project which comforts me whole heartedly and adds vibrance to my life. Food is huge. Food is everything. Food is truth and beauty.

http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/campaign/time_for_lunch/

The Countdown Begins...

I have become inspired.  Not by any one thing in particular, but by the accumulation of all that I experience.  Walking through the  library I picked up another new book written by a girl who mirrors myself in many ways.  Vanessa Farquharson wrote Sleeping Naked is Green.  A journal of how she let go and turned green in 365 days.  Reading her honest words and following her experience I have become aware that I too can make this simple.  Set a goal and begin...

I have already let a lot of things go.  This journey began almost two years ago.  So instead of letting go, I will be learning what to do next.... what to re-learn, how to re-skill and really dive into what needs to be done.  Over the next few days I will be working on a strategic plan for what lies ahead in the next year.  

The land! that is where our roots are. There is the basis of our phyisical life.

The farther we get away from the land, the greater our insecurity. From the land

comes everything that supports life, everything we use for the serive of physical life.

The land has not collapse

d or shrunk in either extent of productivity. It is there waiting

to honor all the labor we are willing to invest in it, and able to 

tide us across any local

dislocation of economic conditions. No unemployment insurance can be compared to

an alliance between m

an and a plot of land. 

                        - Henry Ford

 

I began this blog with the above quote.  Now I begin to  seek out land for myself.  Preferably here in the southeastern corner of Arizona, but anywhere will do.  For the greatest lesson I have l

earned, it's not where you are, but what you are doing wherev

er you end up...

The next few days I am preparing.  Setting goals, researching, and planning.  The process begins on the

 first of September.  With hopes that 365 days from that day i will be harvesting the fruits of my land!  

Here's to vision.   

 

Make Yours a Happy Home...

I have been many places....seen many faces....and now I begin to reflect on it all...

I begin to fine tune my opportunities.  Beginning a beautiful dive into independence, awareness and truth.

Existing simply, wholly and true.  Ignoring the destroying fear which could take over if allowed.  

I have purpose.  I have focus, and I move forward...

Now, many emotions flood in.  Pain, Understanding, Loss, Joy, Vision.  

Everything is what I feel and what I need...

Into the home...Into dreams and preparation of beginning, living and loving.....

Desert

Greetings to the Natural World

The Sun

We now send greetings and thanks to our eldest

Brother, the Sun.  Each day without fail he travels

the sky from east to west, bringing the light of a 

new day.  He is the source of all the fires of life.  

With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to our Brother, 

the Sun.

now our minds are one.

Most of us need the eggs....

It has been one month since arriving back in this little high desert town. Many moments have happened, many dreams have been understood, many laughs, and tears and sighs.  A focus for my intention is rooting.  The grass roots spirit of my longing is taking hold to life and all that it has to offer.  The beauty keeps reminding me of the need to always climb.  Higher and higher.  Into the deep essence of what I am and what I have.  

I have been riding on the bicycle around this hilly town. A core is finally found.  There has also been much observing of these random surroundings.  While riding I take it all in.  I see the truth, I see the facades, I see love.  Opportunity.  

The gardens tempt me.  Like lovers waiting to be loved.  I envision the chance to take up shovels, prepare for the water and grow.  So many chances to learn more this season and give a little more back to the earth.  I have been paying attention to the rhythms around me.  In the clouds.  In the wind.  In the bright blue sky.  The smiling faces which always pass by.  Backyard connections are what I look forward to.  Helping.  Growing.  Giving.  Recieving.  Sharing.  It's all happening.  

One Worth

We made it a rule that the youngsters should

not be asked to do what the teachers did

not do, and therefore when they were asked

to do any work there was always a teacher

co-operating and actually working with them.

Hence, whatever the youngsters learned they

learned cheerfully.

~Gandhi

Growth

Good To See You Again...

Little town of my longing.  Oh, how I missed you.

Climbing up desert mountains, viewing the world from the top of it all.

I have come full circle.  

Contemplation

Past

Present

Future

Be 

Here

Now

Time Travels

Earth Day...

...every day.

I have been contemplatively thinking about all the beauties this earth offers.  Earth day was almost a week ago.  I was impressed by the amount of people who actually spoke out about it, or acted in a specific way.  The masses are coming around and figuring things out.  If only they could take these lessons and apply them everyday.  Then there would be no need for an earth day.  We would all be practicing the good life.

Spring snow fell on the front range last night.  The cold rain turned into large white fluffy flakes and I awoke to a good three inches on the ground.  My time here on the front range has been filled with much meditation, many lessons, reconnections and love.  

I leave for Bisbee Arizona at the end of the week.  An old friend who has randomly popped up will be giving me a ride.  My roots are tapping.  I am finding understanding in my home land.

Things I have learned:  Lessons are never ending.  Life is ever moving.  Love is forever Free.  

 

Ganja

Cannabis.  

Here in Colorado, the weekend has been spent in many ways.  A Communiky Techno Arts Festival was rockin' Boulder while people were being educated on the righteous herb.  Tomorrow, the infamous 4.20 will bring all the stoners into the streets to profess their love for the magical plant.

My love for this plant is not only based in the excited state of consciousness it offers but also in the powerful diversity it holds as an enduring weed.  A weed which has the potential to provide us with so much.  We sit and subsidize type 2 corn and deplete our soil.  Yet we could be growing hemp and supplying ourselves with all kinds of products.  Anything that is not glass or metal can be made from hemp, (cannabis).  We could be producing oil from it, plastics, food, clothing.  

Instead of being a random stoner and focusing on apathy...tomorrow I educate.  i advocate. the future is in our hands.