What a rich and full six weeks on the road! My dream of traveling the country visiting friends old and new continues to come true.
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~Janaia & Robyn
Friends Old and New in the greater Seattle area
- Andrea and Patrick Mastangelo of Museum Contempo in Shelton, in whose exhibit “Who is God?” my painting We LIVE Here? shared the space with a rich variety of artistic expressions;
- A Loreena McKennett concert that drove away the rain clouds, shared with Seattlite Julia Field (Undriving – Changing the Way We Think, episode 205);
- We accompanied our longtime friend Marita Berg on two mountain hikes, including Rock Grottoes and Grand Vistas in Rainier National park;
- Kathy Pelish gifted us with a fascinating book The Athena Doctrine: How Women (and the Men Who Think Like Them) Will Rule the Future. True to the book’s theme, Kathy is the mobilizing force behind Sail Power Reborn – Transporting Local Goods by Boat, episode 208;
- New friends Brian Laidlaw and his co-ministers, who are transforming the Ballard Church of the Nazarene building to a community center. Their lawn was a sanctuary of privacy and quiet to park our mobile studio/RV.
Food for Body and Soul
- Every Sunday we biked to the spirited Ballard Farmers Market. We found rich raw cream, sausage and bacon at Sea Breeze Farm; eggs and bacon at Stokesberry Sustainable Farm and Skagit River Ranch, plus produce from Nash’s Organic Produce (a Peak Moment show with Nash Huber is forthcoming; my journal: Growing Organic Food, Soil, and Future Farmers). Twice we were captivated by Nyamuziwa Marimba Band (watch Robyn’s video);
- Robyn’s relative Jeff Meyer, who shared two centuries of family stories along with his backyard fresh eggs and sweet grapes. My first visit to colorful Pike Place market, long a farmer’s market, complete with fishmongers slinging fish at customers.
Videos to look forward to
John Woodworth (& Bob Redmond from a distance) enabled us to video Airport Bees come in for a Landing.
Jim Bristow (This Old House – Rethink, Reuse, Remodel, episode 195) is now focused on rainwater catchment (Be Rain Wise – Catch that Rainwater!) We deepened our friendship over a delicious barbecue plus Erica’s Chilean side dishes, and exclaimed how much Mia has grown in three years. Thanks, Jim for finding the perfect Seattle home for our little house!
Scott Behmer, who gifted us with a fat zucchini after our video tour of Seattle Community Farm – Fresh Produce for the Neighborhood.
The Mendonca family, who after a serendipitous meeting with Mark (dad), welcomed us to their home alive with music from two creative home-schooled teens, and conversation around shared interests from diet to money to the arts.
Widening Circles
I think Rick Reese’s Sustainable or Bust is must-reading. Here’s my Amazon review. (We videoed Rick in August on What is GENUINE Sustainability?).
Mónica Fernández added Spanish captions to Innovation Bears Fruit for Family Farm (episode 162). Her Spanish-language sustainable agriculture blog is www.blogdisidente.com.
Help make yours a Shareable City! Our friends at Sustainable Economies Law Center (Young Lawyers Lower the Bar to Sharing Economy, episode 210) have developed a downloadable policy brief, Policies for Shareable Cities: A Sharing Economy Policy Primer for Urban Leaders to support innovations such as carsharing, ridesharing, cohousing, cooperatives, and urban agriculture.
New Peak Moment Videos
What Do You Think Is Worth Fighting For? “There are very sober people talking about the possible death of entire oceans. The end of fish. If that’s not worth fighting for, what is?” Activist and author Derrick Jensen asserts that industrial civilization is murdering the planet and it must be stopped. We need to decolonize our hearts and minds. As soon as our allegiance is to the real world and not industrial capitalism, things become more clear. His books include A Language Older Than Words, The Culture of Make Believe, What We Leave Behind and Endgame. Episode 240. Also watch “How the West HAS Won”, episode 200.
Things Are Cookin’ at Wallingford Community Kitchen. One night a month, join your neighbors to cook up a meal. Eat together and take some home. We had great fun at this 2010 community kitchen in the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle. Coordinator Rachel Duboff and Kathleen Cromp of the Community Kitchens Northwest steering committee tell about people learning new ways to eat and cook healthily, share resources, and collaborate while building community. The city boasts about a dozen neighborhood community kitchens, each with a unique flavor suited to its members. Create your own: they offer inspiring stories, tips and logistics to get you started. Episode 241.
Small Scale Aquaponics – From Fish Poop to Seafood Dinner. Tour a closed-loop water system where one critter’s wastes become another’s food. Inside a steamy greenhouse, Jeremy Roth of Aprovecho Center’s Aquaculture Project shows us fish tanks containing tilapia just like you might order in a restaurant. Water from the tanks is pumped through troughs where pond plants take in the nutrients from the fish. Plant material is then returned to feed the fish in their tanks. The nutrient-rich water is also diverted to nourish veggies like chard, tomatoes, and water chestnuts rooted in a shallow gravel bar. In this cycle, aquaponics yields generous quantities of high quality protein from a very small footprint. Episode 242.
Seeing the Forest Community Through the Trees. Restoration forester Matthew Hall has a vision for the Aprovecho woods: a managed ancient forest. Weaker trees are made into products while the larger trees stay in the forest forever. He retains nature’s changes (like storm-dropped trees). He recruits snags. Tops snapped off of larger trees stay on the forest floor “to create a bank account of large woody debris.” He’s managing not just for the trees, but for the other communities who live here — soil, bugs, birds, and humans. Episode 243.
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