Mr. Kraft does life

Realizations:

Joining my guest, I spent one night inside and had a powerful and overwhelming experience of gratitude. While I greatly enjoy sleeping outdoors and value much about it, the previous night had been 20 degrees F and made for a cold sleep. Spending this following evening in a bed with crisp, dry sheets, without needing to bundle up considerably, and to have a bed to stretch out in, moved me.  It was another reminder to realize how much I had been taking for granted, in regards luxuries in our society that have become expectations for so many people. Gratitude further overwhelmed me for the community and support and abundance surrounding me.

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Little to no purchasing from stores was part of life here.  Similarly, money was not a strong focus.

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“The earth doesn’t need you at all.”  -Old Turtle

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The earth keeps giving; over and over.

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One can turn on the tap here and never have to think about water quality.  This is not the case now in many places.

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After taking the tent down and sleeping indoors for two evenings, I woke up congested, with snot in my nose, and a hoarse, dry throat.  If the surface and the bedding are comfortable and warm, sleeping outside seems to be preferable in most situations.  Particularly in a wall tent.

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Seeing the Forest Rd. neighbor’s property with its architectural gardening and elegant layout has a dramatic and positive effect on me.  The contrast between how properties like this feel in comparison to those with scrap vehicles and unkempt houses, is marked.  I would like to learn how to create spaces like this, and bring that creative process into my life.

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Bike rides feel so much different than driving in a car.  The pleasant yet invigorating experience is reinforcement of my desire to live in a place where car-free life is possible.

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Regular aerobic physical activity is critical to my balance and well-being.  Even dragging heavy logs, chopping firewood, a long day of butchering, or a similar energy-intensive experience is different than an aerobic one.

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I can build a small, cozy, ample place to live. No need to worry – just do it.

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Having a natural body of water in which to bathe improves the quality of my life greatly.  Even a small pond is amazing.

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While awake,
while asleep;
we’re all dreaming.

it’s all a dream.
it’s all a play of mind.

The dream is happening incessantly.
Look  into your thoughts – now.

Each one temporary.
Each, an imagination.

Being unreal and transient,
it would be foolish to  deem them reality.

What would happen,
if I let go?!

Release!
I am free.
No one is bounding me.

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Too much imputer.

This too, shall pass.  All of this.  Body, too.

Oh, but how to pick and choose?

Books and films; more than I could ever digest.

Forests, fields, deserts, mountains, cities, oceans.

Paths, roads, tracks, trails and highways.

So much skin, so many lips, legs, cheeks, and fingers.

Friends, lovers, teachers, artists.

What ever could be such a thing as boredom?

Squeezing and drinking the juice of this life piques my deepening fascinations and interests.  I am overwhelmed with abundance, ever-present, everywhere. Gratitude.  Learning to stop grasping.

Each night it has rained, leaving the Vermont forest lush and humid.  Most apprentices are camping in the dank understory, where our things never dry fully.  Days are sun-filled and after working all day in the heat, we have made the ride to our local swimming hole without fail. 

As I write this I am entrenched in gratitude for my tent, which keeps entrenchment from the unforgiving precipitation that thunders down around me in this bed of ferns.  Hail and wind, just millimeters away, remind me of a favorite adage, memento Mori.  So easy to remember now what humans have been experiencing from time immemorial.   A feeling we so often are shielded from in our modern, western world.

The forward leaning mind has not righted itself.  Old dreams meld and expand after hearing stories from new friends.   My worldview continues to broaden, living amongst inspiring doers, all living this fragile, finite and uncertain life.

   Seize and regret not.  Perhaps as I continue to directly pursue that which inspires me, this mind’s eye of time will right itself after all.

The Garden parties are finally starting to come to fruition.  Last year’s design is slowly becoming a reality, piece by piece.  These permablitzes have been a wonderful opportunity to learn how it feels to teach people about Permaculture.   And, they are all getting hands-on experience, making real, positive change on their community.   Turning lawns into food and beauty.  They will hopefully have some skills paired with understanding that could allow them to make transformations in their own spaces.

The idea came about naturally, triggered by the onset of sun and warm weather.

“Want to go camping?”

Just like my feelings with large bodies of water, I am hesitant but still curious.

Spontaneity is our structure.  We are free.  Why not go out on a Tuesday?

Letchworth was still so sparsely populated.  Camping hasn’t crossed their minds yet.

Upon the peninsula of the small lake, layers of amber pine needles were gentle under my bare feet.

Spring-colored sunlight projected blues and greens with a clarity unseen for months.

The fire is the evening activity, here.

The volume of the insects around us was unbelievable.  Even in close proximity, our voices were raised to chat.

Morning; cool and so slow.  Another fire.

Rail bridge and waterfall below.  Height and breadth could swallow a tall building.

Thank you for these gifts.

It is always difficult for me to tell people ‘what I do’.  There are so many activities that I engage in…  Anyways, onto the themes.

• aprons
• food on trays
• food ferments
• swimming in the Genesee
• cycling
• communal and shared meals
• social experimentation and learning
• permaculture design and systems thinking
• growing fungi
• examination and questioning of roles, expectations and assumptions of myself and others
• opening to the idea of, and exploring non-sexual touch
• straight razor shaving
• very little meditation – is this due to good weather?  was my pleasure not bringing me to a place where I usually seek internal conflict resolution?
• eating outside
• porches
• spontaneity

A current theme.

Let me know if you’ve got questions.

_S

Today was hot. A real scorcher.

First, we watered our tomato plants with a solution made from fish as a natural fertilizer. Next we hand-threshed our home-grown winter rye grains. Afterwards we harvested some potatoes and sowed some new oat seeds, in the style of a Japanese farmer, Fukuoka Masanobu. (He wrote “The One Straw Revolution” which has been quite inspiring to me.)

Lunch was all spelt-grain pizza with home-grown tomatoes, basil, garlic and herbs. I saved dessert – the brown-rice pudding made with raw milk and our eggs – for later.

Lastly we took a few hours to harvest fresh herbs from our garden to dry, and took some previously dried herbs and put them into storage containers for winter use. Today we worked with chocolate mint, spearmint, echinacea, lemon balm, dill, calendula and sacred basil.