I have been neglecting this blog business, at least the writing of part, for too long. It’s been since before Christmas. Here we are in February, and I’m finally feeling there is enough to write about. Meanwhile, a dizzying array of events happen, every day, and when I try to parse the worthy from the un, so as not to bore you all senseless, I find there is no “unworthy” event. Ever. So here, anyway, is what will pass as an attempt to wring some synopsis of my thinking for the past two months or so. With pictures.
Let me start by introducing and welcoming a couple new readers. Kari, and via extension Alex, have asked to be included. She may not feel the same way for long… Richard Alexander is a friend of mine from Boise who disappeared a couple of years ago. The last I heard from him, he was walking north in the Tijuana desert of California, a few days out, gradually up to the Pacific Crest, days more before there was any water. I know he’s out there and in contact, from friends here, and heard he was in Florida recovering from something dreadful. He was a spy for HP. I’m also adding Steven Moore, a classmate of Amy’s, on her request. I have a feeling Steven will get a kick out of this. He was the fellow in the Brooks Brothers suit at our wedding and is now living in Vermont or Maine, somewhere idyllic, I’m sure. Welcome all.
Maine
Speaking of Maine, I need to let you all in our thinking, of which Maine has no mean part. Maine, it turns out, has a draw on us as strong as any other. It is the only place we’ve found where we can find what we’re really looking for as far as assets. For what we have now, or will soon, we can trade for things such as 20-80 acres, woods and pasture, house, barn, established orchards, etc. Some of them are pretty far out on the edge of the continent, granted, but something like that in the west is impossible. We are looking at 40 bare acres in eastern Washington, Halfway, and a lot in Boise. One lot. Problem there is that it isn’t for sale. More on that if it develops.
The larger picture is this: Amy and I plan to own our house in shortly over a year. The remaining balance on my school loan aside, we will be debt free. We are not doing this because it will be great to “save for retirement”, or not “worry about losing a job”, or any of the old clichés. We are doing it because the party is over. We have no illusions about the future. It will likely be brutal, cold, and entail a lot of suffering. None of the old models apply any longer; they have been shown to be false. We, as a country, are currently trying one last time to sustain the unsustainable, a falsehood, and postpone the inevitable. I don’t want to bring anybody down, but it’s on my mind, as it is Amy’s, every day. Every single one. Do not allow the bank to own your house. Skill up.
I love winter sometimes
England
This brings us to England. Of course. Amy, as some of you may know, has been busily (shockingly so) trying to get us to England. The purported reason, the one she wrote into a multi page proposal to Bates college, is to take a class from Shumaker college on how cultures survive, and visit with the organizers of a couple of “transition towns” there in Devon. She’s thrown in some things about the ancients and local food (There have been people living in Cheddar for upwards of 10,000 years), tied it to her 12th grade curriculum – Ishmael primarily- and bottled it up. If she gets the fellowship, we’re both going. Late June. On the moors. Cheers! This summer will likely be the last time this sort of global recreational travel will desirable, or even possible, except for the very rich, so we're going to give it our best shot. Have you ever heard of the Ceres Abbas giant?
Let me get into some of my updates before I ramble on all day about the end of empire. I have been having a lot of fun this winter. I spent last weekend snow-shoeing with a friend here. It was sunny and beautiful. Before that, I did a bit of hiking in the overcast winter desert. Most of my photos are from those wanderings. I had a great day on MLK day, when I early set out in the Snake River canyon, and came on three wild horses. I took great delight in watching them chase Addie around while she was trying to molest them. They got closer than the photo here, but backed up after I tried to get my camera out and Addie freaked out, upon which point I freaked out at her, and chaos erupted. I went to Portland last week, for a day; a miracle of modern technology. I was there for a conference on super efficient building technology and methods, and learned a lot. (Amy and I are not the only ones who foresee impending collapse y’all). I saw Brian and Adelaide for lunch, and was back in my bed that night. Sorry, no photos of Addie.
Get this - I am getting certified in Driver's Education. I am taking an 8 week class, have to take tests, develop routes, observe 6 hours of student class time and Behind the Wheel time, etc. I've seen two MADD presentations. I have to pass the driving test with a state certified instructor. Don't ask why.
The house is pictured here in it’s current state. After siding the outside in the rain and cold, and drywalling and taping the garage, in the cold, we move inside to trim where it’s warm and dry. I’ve been waiting for this for 2 months. By the time we come back out to finish up, it’ll be sunny and warm out. We’re going to put real cedar shingles on the outside sections left white, and install a whole lot of oak hardwood inside. I am busily preparing everything to get next year’s house certified LEED, possibly certified by the NAHB as well. The other photo is of three of my seniors when we finished the roof.
Images
I’ll leave you with some images I made since I last wrote. I've discovered that if I upload larger images, you can click on them and will get the larger ones for better viewing. Mrs. A was too tempting a subject at Christmas when she was given the cake bowl to lick clean. The funny part is that she never used to like sweets. Amy was sitting in some beautiful light one afternoon after school, and obliged me for a time. It turned out nice I think. A little sad. The desert photos are from my wanderings, as is the frost on sage Image of the Month. The painting is there to leave you all with warm thoughts for a just future.
Take Care – Scott
