sold

Twenty-eight dollars cash or forty-two in credit? Decisions, decisions.
We said good-bye to a few juvenile readers, duplicate copies of Choke and Eargon and opted for credit.

Last week, craigslist introduced us to the new owners of the too-large chair, a couple from Renton. He liked the chime and the miniature tea set on the table behind.

I collected a lil'somthin from Gypsy Trader for clothes I don't remember. They're not a clothing store anymore, lost most their business when the Fremont bridge was closed. So now they do some home decor, but mostly, it's about the cafe.

We're considering separating ourselves from a too-small sleeping bag and have taken steps towards letting go of a couple dozen albums. Classics like TSOL's- Revenge, The Ventures'- Walk Don't Run, and No Nuclear War by Peter Tosh.

I really shouldn't talk about it, should not re sort the box headed for Goodwill.

I'm organizing, cleaning, possibly inventorying. Making sense of, plans for the next phase of Seattle life. The books aren't shelved alphabetically, but for now, there's a clear distinction between the short stories, medical science, and history.

And speaking of books and history, seems like a good time to post another well-intentioned yet incomplete booklist that's been kicking around the draft file for months.


NORA--
Reading Lolita in Tehran, Azar Nafisi
New Buffalo: Journals from a Taos Commune, Arthur Kopecky;
Ironweed, William Kennedy
Case Histories, Kate Atkinson
13 Stories, Eudora Welty
Walden, Henry David Thoreau
Between, Georgia Joshilyn Jackson
Lies My Teacher Told Me, James Loewen
Under the Banner of Heaven, Jon Krakauer


BRAD--
The Bear Comes Home, Rafi Zabor
The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
All the Pretty Horses, Cormac Mccarthy
Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer
Dreams of My Father: Stories of Race and Inheritance, Barack Obama
Founding Brothers, the Revolutionary Generation, Joseph Ellis
Fledgling, Octavia E. Butler


ASLIN--
The Black Stallion, Walter Farley
Ivy and Bean, Barrows & Blackwell;
A Dog Called Kitty, Bill Wallace
Sixth Grade Secrets, Louis Sacher
A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'engle
Calvin and Hobbes;
School Rumble
Tithe, A Modern Fairytale, Holly Black


UKIAH--
The Sirens of Titan, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Why Don't Penguins Feet Freeze?
Stuck in Neutral, Terry Trueman
Shredderman, Wendelin Van Draanen
The Library Card, Jerry Spinelli
Eldest, Christopher Paolini
Greatest Mysteries of the Unexplained, Holland & Doncaster
Java for Dummies, Barry Burd
Megatokyo, Fred Gallagher


shared by multiple owlhouse residents--
Appetite for Life, Julia Child
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie
Fat Kid Rules the World, K.L. Going
Collected Stories of Carson McCullers
The King's Fifth, Scott O'Dell
Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Jeff Kinney
Eragon, Christopher Paolini
Full Metal Alchemist
Ninjas, Piranhas, and Galileo, Greg Leitich Smith

In case you're looking for Holiday gift suggestions, we recommend most of the above.

full house+full house=

(not Olsen quadruplets)

WARNING- do not play tricks on the movers. Their physical and emotional environments may be fragile. Provoking may lead to evil eye and/or recruitment for heavy lifting.

Moving is an exercise in patience, restraint, humor, reflection and fore arm development. It's official. We, the temporary guests of the former residents of 545 are now the guests of the new residents of 527.

Yesterday was dedicated to furniture disassembly, stair navigation, finger and toe protection, re-assembly, placement, feng shui adjustments, and keeping at least some comments to myself. Because by late afternoon, no one wants to hear that the bookshelf might fit better in the other room but only if we swap the chairs and carry the other rug up from the basement.

You are, no doubt, familiar with the routine. For entertainment and mathematical value, let me see if I can illuminate some of the complications of this particular move.
**household A (that's us) will move to house B.
**household B will move to Mozambique, leaving a house full o'stuff.
**C will move into the newly vacant A home, leaving behind a passive aggressive, or possibly misunderstood housemate who will not be part of our story.

House A, a two bedroom + basement, accommodates approximately 5 beds, 2 1/2 couches, 3 desks, 2 steamer trunks, a full collection of kitchen ware, 6 pets (of the bird, rabbit, & cat variety), 8 lamps, 600 pounds of books, a $2,000 Lego investment, and multiple junk drawer and basket habitats for rubber bands, chop-sticks, band aids, semi-precious ear rings, photos of holidays gone by and vitamin samples. In other words, A is a fully established household with refrigerator magnets of it's own.


House B, a four bedroom + basement, provides lodging for a complete dining set, 2 tastefully overstuffed chairs, 6 filing cabinets, 100 selections of art (including a bathroom with 16 pieces of wall art), 4 very tall bar stools, 9 shelves, 3 bike tire pumps, a dozen pillows, 3 dressers, and all the counter top appliances you might expect of a well developed residence.

I've been checking in with Mr. Meyer now and then which may have aided my pre-move calculation. I estimated A+B= Not Pretty. But moving is not about approximates, so we followed the procedure, showing our work along the way. Sure enough, we proved that A+B equals something well beyond the parameters of a single household. We've reached maximum condiment levels, exceeded our capacity for household cleaning products, and can serve as the towel-window for summer pool season.

Along comes C. Maybe C is in the suffering a mustard shortage. Maybe the former housemate (making an unexpected appearance here) demanded extreme move-out cleaning, leaving C short glass and multi-surface cleansers. Muffin tins. Maybe she'll need to borrow some for a couple of years.

**note- The variables of this equation include- primary residents absent from both A and C; semi-strangers organizing your kitchen; a massage studio (featuring daily appointments) located in B; kid help; reluctant pets; relatives visiting from out of state; house-sitting across town the day after moving in; a 7'x4' desk; neighbors who comment on every other wagon load o' stuff; the gas shut off (no stove/hot water); consensus/sighs/arm wrestling for deciding vote on placement of key furnishings.

Tomorrow brings round two of the little stuff' the candles, dusting cloths and photo albums. We'll color coordinate floor coverings, sort trinket filled shoe boxes and search high and low for the missing can opener or tea pot.

St. Patrick's

We honored the day mixing green plaster- American Clay with napa olive pigment and just a touch of choco latte. Sure, the colors dried lighter than we'd have liked, but the clay is terrific. A forgiving texture and completely non-toxic. The clay's ease and allure over other (unnamed, inferior) stucco products, called for celebration. Guiness all round.

In other holiday news, Aslin hooked up with cohousing friends on their way to an Irish dance recital. Keeping with the spirit of all things green, she'll be having a "sleep-out" on the lawn tonight.

Cheers!

Spring

Sun tea season is here. Back in January at the Cambria Farmer's Market, I bought some Yunnan Dian Hong tea from the Swan Sisters. "Spicy with a touch of citrus," it's outstanding as iced tea. An important discovery, as the past few days we've seen temperatures in the 80s. The locals are bracing themselves for summer. I heard it explained that it's difficult to appreciate the moderate weather of early spring. A sunny day, even one in the mid-70's with a mild breeze, is a reminder that June is on the way. And June is unbearable because there is still September to endure. With the monsoons, July and August aren't so bad; at least there are interesting weather patterns to watch.

Warmer weather=flowers in bloom=bees=Aslin got stung. The bees here are huge, the wasps even bigger. Her finger swelled and she comforted herself with a reminder that it wasn't as bad as the time she got stung on the eye lid. Swimming went a long way towards soothing the pain and itching.


Have Cracker Jacks prizes always been such a let down? Last week, we split a bag and watched the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Chicago White Sox 9-3 at Tucson Electric Park, the spring training field they share. There was no arguing over the paper pencil-top decoration we found in the popcorn crumbs. No disputes on the field either. Where the game was slow, the vendors picked up the slack. "lem.ade" "Fresh squeezed, you know you want some" "World's finest, factory fresh" Song birds of the stadium. In an hour, we could identify them by their calls- mullet man, missing tooth guy, SuperVendor with the ability to balance cotton candy and blue raspberry lemonade.

The Colorado farming season is not yet underway. And it seems as though Roswell, Santa Fe, Carlsbad Caverns and the rest of New Mexico isn't going anywhere any time soon. So we've been putting our energies into leisurely tourist outings, wondering when we'll wear out our welcome here in Tucson. Undertaking a little construction project on the basement stairs was our way of being helpful, of saying "thanks" to the family who's shared so much with us. 160 pounds of mortor later, it could be interpreted as something else entirely. Turns out working with stucco is a skill we have yet to acquire. Maybe a lime wash in a nice spring color. Periwinkle or coral...

Misfits

“They’re use to being on top,” Chris tells us. He’s the director of the camp and has a science-related love affair with the forest and marine ecosystems. He gestures towards the sky, demonstrating that oaks usually dominate the forest canopy. Not here. Along this stretch of the coast they’re dwarfed by the pines. Monterey Pines living in the southern tip of their range. But the pines too, are out of their element. The heat’s too much for them. It’s 75 degrees and Chris tells us, “They think they’re going to die.” They’re cracking up, literally. We listen as the pinecones pop, unwinding in a Fibonacci twirl. Pine seed helicopters litter the ground. It’s their effort against extinction- the possibility of a next generation. Meanwhile, the 17 redwood seedlings are holding on despite a lack of water. Last year, Chris picked up a couple dozen free; leftovers from a forest service project a few hundred miles north. Ironically, life in this forest is entirely comfortable for the South American amaryllis- who spread gracefully by seed and bulb production.

As volunteers here, we’re advocates for this forest of misfits. Not many pine seeds will manage to evade the quail, squirrel and mice. So we collect and roast pinecones, harvesting seeds at a safe distance from the birds. We wrote a grant, seeking county funds for equipment for a pine tree nursery. In ten years, these babies will tower the mighty 60-year-old oaks. Until a windstorm topples them. Without a taproot, they’ll sway, shutter and collapse. On an oak. Who for decades has struggled in the shadows. Whose acorns have been devoured by rodents and whose offshoots are continually mowed by the deer.

The camp was run under a YMCA/Elks Club partnership for some years. I’ve given tours to seniors who tell me they were counselors here in the late 40’s. At some point, the camp fell on hard times and the YMCA wanted $200,000/year to continue to host it. The two are no longer affiliated. Outdoor education is the focus of the revived, independent camp. And while the oak, pine and redwoods face some challenges here, 3,000+ kids will thrive here this thie year. Chris really doesn’t want to include flowers from another continent in their hands-on lessons about the watershed. We’ve removed about 600 amaryllis belladonna bulbs. We'd be happy to pack them in peat send some to you. Just don't go planting them in a native forest outside of Argentina.

Miraculous

We’re not in Texas. The holiday we’d planned, spending time at a citrus orchard just this side of the border, called for revision. The van “issues” set us back, but we were prepared to rush, even brave Disneyland at high season. When Reena from the orchard wrote that she didn’t remember us ever having spoken, we cursed, then opted to take California at a more relaxed pace. Leisurely, except our complete lack of plan or accommodation for Christmas/New Year’s.



“So, convince me you’re trustworthy,” Chris said over the phone. I'd sent an email to Anne, a woman I don’t know, and she had forwarded it. Chris was on his way to LA for a week, so we might never meet. Maybe he'd just leave the key for us with a neighbor. The key to a remarkable 13-acre camp with 10 cabins, a lodge, commercial kitchen, office, shop, craft room, nature meeting room, and assorted other buildings. Nervously, I joked, wondering if it was possible for me to act as a reference for myself. “I think you’ll have a good time here,” he said. I hung up, awed by the kindness of strangers.

We worked from a list, planting a small patch of amaryllis bulbs on Christmas day and lining a new trail with recently downed oak and pine the day after. For much of the week, we’ve made it our mission to defend the young oak from gopher, deer and woodpeckers. The trees haven’t yet learned their proper form; they sprout limbs horizontal to the ground, baby branches criss-crossing their would-be trunks. We do our best with roll after roll of chicken wire, breaking a dozen steaks and shredding our fingers along the way. In a second Christmas miracle, we trained and sheltered 40+ immature oak. We can't offer protection from the pines swaying fourty-feet above.





Yesterday’s windstorm brought a tree down next to the archery range, 10 feet from where we were netting a coffee berry bush. We abandon our forestry projects and did what all sensible persons do in a windstorm, headed for the beach. Laughing, racing and climbing, one afternoon in the life of a kite. Unlike eight pines at camp, we lived to tell the tale.

In Bloom

All last year, it sat in the kitchen window. Once a week, for an hour or so, I'd put the plant to rest in a deep bowl of water. Laura's instructions when we adopted this little orchid. If we were in southern California right now, I'd have missed this bloom.

The van's still in the shop. The attic seems to be squirrel-free. Tomorrow we'll check the situation of both.

Disco

We hung a strobe light in the attic today. Three little disco balls too. I might have hung more if it weren’t for Amanda’s warning. "At some point you might have to worry that they'll just come in to party."

"They." The squirrels. We’ve patched the holes, tried the live traps, and still they want to share our home. All my online research and conversations with “pest control” persons didn’t offer much reassurance. "Once they're established in a nest, they're hard to get rid of. " But, with the van still in the shop, we’ve got time to experiment with new methods. If the pulsing light and mirrored reflections aren’t enough to make the squirrels uncomfortable, the seven little bottles of fox urine we hung and generous sprinklings or pepper crystals should put a damper on their party. We're not shy about trying the ultra-sonic sound devices either.

Other often overlooked household care enabled by the van’s cylinder mishap?

• Cleaning the gutters
• Pruning the trees and thinning bamboo
• Plumbing repair
• Mulching, weeding, gardening
• Moss removal from roof
• Furnace cleaning

Tomorrow we move the washer and dryer. With any luck, we’ll be off before we find time to paint.

A work in progress

Take a look at the sidebar, see anything new? Thats right, a links section. I'm still working on it, its confuzing because I need to directly alter the html codes that basically render the entire site and it's template. This post is here to inform you that the links may or may not work and that I am still working on it. Anyway, I/We hope to have some links up soon. -Ukiah

Owlhouse FAQs

(yes, these are the haircuts you get when thinking you'll be on the road -away from our favorite stylish hair-crafters- for who knows how long.)

“So, when are you leaving?”
Early August. Maybe mid. Okay, later than we planned, but we're out the door today, Friday 8/18. The question remains, should we catch a matinee of Little Miss Sunshine before we go?

“What made you want to do this?”
This trip is inspired by the need to "try something different." We considered a range of "somethings"- but opted for the extended road trip and organic farm work. Still on the back burner are thoughts of volunteer vacations to Greece to care for sea turtle nesting grounds; farming or teaching english in Croatia, Ecuador or Argentina; recording whale migration in Scotland; or farming and ecobuilding on Maui. Ok- it looks like those will be trips for another year. But we're definately going to Mesa Verde in Colorado.

“What about school for the kids?”
They won't be going. Having spent most of their school careers at the Clearwater School, they’re fully capable of learning and growing in non-traditional settings.
Ukiah "We'll be learning a lot more practical stuff on this trip anyway."
Aslin “I’ll really miss my friends, but you know how it is, sometimes you just have to get out.”

“What about work?”
Planning and preparing for this has been a job in itself! On the road we'll be doing some volunteer/work-trade work through the WWOOFer program.
Nora “After 8 (or 10) years at the preschool I’m taking a leave of absence. I’m looking forward to the inspiration Katie and Lilly will bring to the school.”
Brad “I quit… but I’ll have the option of going back. I’m keeping an open mind.”

“Where are you going?”
It's a really open ended trip, and we're planning just one leg at a time. We'll head east through Idaho, and into Montana and Glacier National Park. Then, up into Alberta where we'll be volunteering at farms in Carstairs (N of Calgary), Millet (S of Edmonton) and Mayerthrope (NW of Edmonton). From there we'll cross the Rockies, spend some time in BC and swing back through Seattle in early-mid October. If all is going well, we'll head south for the winter.



“What about your house?” Dawn and Kailin will be holding down the fort. Steph and Kat helped for a while, then Misty moved in despite the squirrels. Thanks Ladies! ;)

“Are your pets coming?”
Cutie loves to come on walks with us, but he never crosses the busy streets, so he'll be staying home. Plus, he's working on a new relationship with Phaedre and kind of wants to hang around and see where that will go.
Shell couldn't find any good burrowing spots in the van, so he'll be staying home too. We're crossing our fingers that the van will carry us into the SE and we'll be able to send him a post card from his ancestral home.

“Why didn’t you do this 10 years ago when gas prices were affordable?”
Aslin- “ I didn’t exist.”
Brad- “ I wasn’t’ brave enough.”
Nora- “We hadn’t closed on the house yet, so I doubt the bank would have agreed to refinancing with cash back.”

“Can we leave comments on your blog?”
Please do! Just click "comments" then "post" your response. We'd love to hear from you- questions, comments, suggestions for places we should visit, phone numbers for your cousin who might let us stay with her for a night in New Mexico... We'd also appreciate if you'd sign your name.