Hey y'all,

-- Good news for me from yesterday: after exactly six months of trial membership here at Full Bloom Farm, I was accepted as an "associate member" for the indefinite future. Basically, I'll be a renter, with say in community issues. It's possible that in the future I could transition into being a full member, which means I'd be a part-owner, with a 30-year mortgage like the six other members of the collective, and with a say in decisions that affect the property. I don't have a reliable way of paying off the loan, and for now I'm quite happy to pay rent, participate in discussions and chores and meals, and work here on the land. So it was a happy day. I feel like I can move on with my life because I know where I'll be for the next little while.

....I've been plastering the new cob structure a bit in the past week, which I'm really enjoying. Basically, you make flour paste by boiling water and adding flour to it; then you add a mixture of sifted clay and sand, and some powdered dye for coloring, and there you have it! A nice smooth plaster. The inside walls are going to be a nice shade of red. The whole building is only 200 square feet; next summer they're gonna build a second 200 sq. foot building next to the current one.

It's 38 degrees outside right now -- can you believe it? Apparently there's ice on the windshields outside right now. I walked down to the flower garden with Ryan last night, and we noticed that
some of the winter squash we're growing down there had frost damage on their leaves. Coming from the Bay Area, where you can pretty much grow things year-round, it's shocking to me that the first frost is gonna come sometime this month (and the last frost is often in June).

....A friend of my mom's, who worked with her at Cody's Books in Berkeley, has started a new bookstore in San Francisco (it's called "The Green Arcade," on Market St. at Gough) that's dedicated to books exploring issues of environmental sustainability. I went with her to see the new store, and got to talking with Patrick, my mom's friend, who asked me if I would be interested in doing a presentation on Full Bloom at the bookstore. So I'm hoping that I can come down to the Bay in mid-October to do this presentation. That's pretty exciting. I'm gonna try and figure out how to use Powerpoint software, as well as find the little piece of equipment that transfers digital photos from my camera to the computer. Then I have to come up with the presentation, and a reading list that Patrick can order for his store to accompany the presentation. I'll let you know if this actually happens, and when -- it would be great to have friends there.

I'll end here with one of my favorite poems, by Charles Bukowski, which I'm gonna read at my men's group tonight; hope you enjoy:

THERE'S A BLUEBIRD IN MY HEART

there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too tough for him,
I say, stay in there, I'm not going
to let anybody see
you.

there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I pour whiskey on him and inhale
cigarette smoke
and the whores and the bartenders
and the grocery clerks
never know that
he's
in there.

there's a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out
but I'm too tough for him,
I say,
stay down, do you want to mess
me up?
you want to screw up the
works?
you want to blow my book sales in
Europe?

there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too clever, I only let him out
at night sometimes
when everybody's asleep.
I say, I know that you're there
so don't be
sad.
then I put him back,
but he's singing a little
in there, I haven't quite let him
die
and we sleep together like
that
with our
secret pact
and it's nice enough to
make a man
weep, but I don't
weep, do
you?




....Enjoy your day......