When you work at a tire store….make lemonade/earthship

Posted on by August 17, 2017

Here’s a guy who was working at his Dad’s tire shop when he realized that he could build a house with tires.

That’s what you call an epiphany.

He went to a seminar put on by Mike Reynolds….and was off and running.

Watch this video….and you can see that nothing cool comes around without some hard work.

This is a hard way to build a house….but it has some strong benefits.

Warm in the winter….cool in the summer….underground is a good way to go.

My wife’s family lives in an area of the country that looks like this.

I guess that it should….it’s not that far away from New Mexico.

She’d probably go for a tire house if it would get her back to the “high and dry”.

Hmmmmmmmm.

This is another great video from Dylan Magaster.

Check out his YouTube channel.

Awwwwww, Dylan! How you meeting all these interesting people?!

Posted on by August 16, 2017

It’s a pretty safe bet that a Dylan Magaster video is going to be a good one.

How’s that for a blanket recommendation?

You can’t say that about everything on YouTube.

Here’s one about a van owner up in British Columbia.

It’s a good one….realistic about the hardships of van life….and fun at the same time.

How do people find the time and the money to do all these things?

Wellllllllll…..I think that it’s probably the “acres of diamonds” concept. I wonder “how can I do this” while I’m sitting on a thing that could be sold….while I’m pondering how hard a miracle is when I have abilities that I could market….while I dream about adventure and then worry about what would happen if I got caught in eclipse traffic on the big day of totality. Worry doesn’t get me anywhere except stuck where I am.

On the other hand, worry keeps me on track to some degree.

Worry keeps a roof over our heads.

Worry…..

Awwwww….worry is a big black hole of suckage.

Worry doesn’t do a thing except burn a hole in my stomach.

My friend used to say, “Do something….even if it’s wrong.”

That was good advice.

How about a cabin in Idaho?

Anything is possible….even if you worry too much.

Anything.

 

cool underground….

Posted on by August 15, 2017

I was talking with my son about underground houses the other day.

I thought that if things were going to “heat up” that it might be good to have some underground coolness going on.

This is a building style called “Earthships”.

Warmed by the sun, cooled by the earth.

They use tires packed with earth to build the walls.

I guess that an Earthship isn’t really “underground” (the house usually opens to the front and is earth-bermed at the rear of the house) , but there is so much mass in the walls that you get a similar effect to building underground.

It’s a lot nicer than having a hole that you climb down to get to your house, too.

Jenny’s family lives close to a place out west where a lot of these houses are being built.

I think that these houses are in that area….probably close to Taos.

How does “unconventional” become standard?

This looks like an interesting way to build.

Here’s another nice one out in Montana…..

 

 

working it….alone

Posted on by August 14, 2017

Man….I love this.

Of course, I fill my life with noise and distraction.

I’d probably do that even if I didn’t have children.

I would make my own noise.

I might be up on that mountain with a boombox given the misguided chance.

No….that’s not true.

I would relish the quiet.

This is beautiful.

All the great things you can do if your life is motivated by something other than money.

You go, fire lookout guy!

You (quietly) go!

What a property could be….permaculture in Ireland

Posted on by August 26, 2017

 

This is what Jenny would like our property “down the road” to look like.

It sure could….with a lot of time and a lot of work.

Here’s what our property looks like now:

 

 

 

 

Greened up and planted with all sorts of stuff, our property over there could look a lot like this Irish lady’s does after 13 years of conscious effort.

That’s kid of cool to imagine something like that…..

(I changed the video featured in this post a month or so after I originally published it…the original was long minutes of boring. So…it’s a dude from New Zealand now….much more interesting….but it has nothing to do with permaculture in Ireland.)

every home an ashram, every house a church….

Posted on by August 9, 2017

This is pretty foreign to my experience.

I grew up in the Lutheran church tradition.

We didn’t clap a lot….or play unusual musical instruments….or sit on fancy pillows and burn incense.

That’s not the way Lutheran worshippers roll.

I like this music, though.

It’s sensitive…..considered….and these guys really seem to listen to each other.

That’s good music….the listening part is as important as the making noise part.

You have to listen when you’re improvising like these guys are.

We’re all improvising…every day….even if we’re not playing music….but we don’t always do such a good job of listening.

God reaches out….but we don’t listen.

It’s hard to listen when the goal is to be heard.

I wonder if I’ll ever learn to really listen well?

long and slow…..

Posted on by August 8, 2017

Slow TV.

Leave it to the Norwegians.

Vikings.

Brave.

Norwegians! The only people fearless enough and patient enough to broadcast a 7 hour train trip in real time….and enjoy watching the results.

I can waste a lot of time “fast”….how much better would it be if I took a long trip….slow?

Those Norwegians….we’re pretty darn cool.