Liz Jackson got hurt in Big Sur and had to go home. We miss her so much! It was really scary, but she’s ok. We were very fortunate–> with lots of helpful people on the scene, LIKE:
Christian, a volunteer firefighter who had a neckbrace and radio on hand. Christian ended up driving our bikes to the hospital and bought us delicious eggs benedict later on in Big Sur.
A pair of engergy healers who were visiting from Florida. They hovered around Liz until the ambulance came and took her away. It was a bit intrusive at first, but then they moved off to the side and performed their magical ways.
a man who handed us $100.
We hung out with Liz in the hospital and watched some movies like Hocus Pocus and Feild of Dreams. The day that Liz got out of the hospital, we ate take-out chineese food and watched Jurassic Park. It was a sad, yet, nice goodbye.
The day before her accident, Quinn (the newest broad to the clan) took us to the Sykes hot springs in Big Sur. We hiked 20 miles in bike shoes with cleats… Heres a photo:
Get your mind out of the gutter people, I am speaking of good ole wholesome, non-psychedelics. That’s right, I got to stay a whole week at this amazing small farm in Sebastopol, CA, New Carpati Farms.
I spent the week pruning raspberry bushes,
eating raspberries (amongst a boat load of other amazingly delicious food!), stomping on cob,
weaving willow and cobbing a bench,
before...
day 2ish
... sort of AFTER! still needs to 'get plastered'
pasteurizing straw,
they're glowwwwwing
OH BABY! mushroom block party!
picking oysters and shitakes,
sarah whippin up some mycelium bread mix
before...
... 2 days later!
mmmhmmmmmm
2 days of magic!
blue oysters, trumpeting music to my mouth
herding sheep,
lured these guys back into the yard after about a week of roaming the lagoona. they have minds of their own, that's for sure! and about 4 horns each! WHAT
and I even got to run the mushroom stand at the farmer’s market!
new carpati stand! how could you resist buying from those cutie pies?
New Carpati was a wonderland… Steve and Selena were not only wonderful hosts and loving parents, but both have led really interesting and active lives, working on a multitude of social issues! Selena worked in the bronx upon many other places, and is contracting herself out to work whenever and wherever she’s needed, currently on some big stuff with new laws regarding mandatory autism healthcare in CA. AND she’s a fellow crafter, I mean she was banging out homemade lanterns like it was her job!
she saw tom waits, the sebastopol local celeb in the grocery store on the 4th of july, decked out in shaggy red hair, buying a mop
And Steve, among many other things, started Farm Trails CA, a fantastic web of open farms that share the wealth of knowledge and even some surplus.
I have always lovvved mushrooms, but in the past few years my awe has definitely ballooned… Until a few years ago, mushrooms and their associated growth were the largest living thing on Earth! And people like Paul Stamets are constantly proving the gigantic filtration capacity in the world of mycelium (the connective tissue that lives underground… you can think of it as the roots and stems of the tree if mushrooms were the fruit)
…and attempting installation for bacterial and oil cleanup in New Orleans, along the gulf coast,and even right in the center of the universe, Madison, WI! I worked on a project at Vilas Beach last summer where we brainstormed different methods to cleanup the beach and surrounding shore, including installation of floating islands, wetland habitat, and mycelium growth under the beach where the geese hang. I haven’t kept up with them since I’ve been on my travels, but I’m guessing they lost a bunch of funding just like the rest of the great environmental movements in WI (eg. the DNR was slashed big time in 2008 or 2009, guh, I have seen and heard too much about wonderful programming being cut! There is an upside- communities are growing stronger and developing their own creative solutions, but there definitely needs to be more collaboration with people who have loads of money and power.)
Anywho, not only do mushrooms have an incredible ability to filter bacteria and other harmful agents in our environment, they can be incredibly healthy for us! (Although Steve says that eating raw mushrooms is apparently not as good for you as cooked, and button mushrooms are not only not beneficial, but they may actually be unhealthy! Not sure who to believe anymore, so I’ll be looking into the primary research on this one. CRAZY! I don’t have to stretch my imagination too far to believe it though, probably has much to do with many other food problems- over-hybridization, depreciated soils, etc., food for thought anyway). They have huge immune system support and anti-inflammatory properties, amongst many others that are either less studied or not well-understood. I want to dissect!
better than chicken soup. eatchyoshitake
Ahh, the glory of the mushroom continues… apparently some researchers recently found that the mushroom kingdom is the closest to the animal kingdom! We are more related to them than we are to the bacteria that fills our air or the vegetation that gives us food, water, shelter, and even weather. And sarah went mushroom hunting with some hard-core shroom shreaders in WA this year and her pics and stories make the world of mushrooms an ever-growing magical mystery to me. I can’t wait to hunt and grow and maybe move to port townsend where wizards and castles don’t seem that far off.
So many confounding conundrums in this here world. Speaking of which, the kids I was staying with at New Carpati created this little theatrical production for Shevat. I had the pleasure and honor to live with hermione and crookshanks for a week!
If it didn’t make any sense to you, welp, it’s another magical mystery. Just like their land
fog retreating from the lagoonaaaaa
Opa, and here’s a pic of the fam,
and their parallel calico critters fam (who T was taking a pic of in the previous pic, hahahhah, whatta world of picture taking upon picture taking)
why hello there
They were so fantastic! I can’t believe it. Can’t wait to get my hands dirty in some more mushroom growing and installation. woooooo
That’s all for now, folkssssssssssss. gettin’ ready to bike off to the beach in this 80-degree weather. I am lost. It is almost december! HOLY WOW. I can’t wait to see snow and be cooped up in the cozy cold and work and knit and read my days away. To all those gasping in horror, someone once told me I have the soul of a grandma and that was like 3 years ago, so according to how long it took me to get to grandma stage, I am technically now about 120 years old and really enjoy that stuff I metaphorically grew up with. weee ooo craft!
Upon observation, the Clan of Spokey Doke Broadship exhibits many and diverse habits and rituals:
1. Wake-up call / Thermarest-hissing
Unlike other human clans, the broads to not awaken to the sound of an alarm clock. An alarm clock does ring, habitually at 7:00 and 7:05 every morning, but the broads perpetually disregard it. Instead, the sound of a Thermarest releasing air in a hissing-like manner, occurring usually much later than the initial alarm clock, springs the broads into action. When one broad deflates her Thermarest, the remaining clan members know it it truly time to emerge from their sleeping bag cocoons and get ready for the day ahead of them.
2. The quotidian coffee ritual
For the broads, coffee is not just a stimulant, nor simply a beverage, but a rich and complex ritual to be observed on a daily basis (if not on multiple occasions a day). In the morning, intense conversations surrounding gender and politics, and gender politics, accompany the coffee ritual and often lead to a later start than desired.
a mid-day coffee ritual indoors.
a leisurely morning coffee ritual in the redwoods
3. Lingering in places for longer than necessary, yet just long enough to establish relationships with kindly folk
Example #1: after a harrowing 8-mile ride on Highway 1 from Arcata to Eureka CA, wherein Broad Molly’s brand new tire got a flat, the clan parked itself at the food co-op for many hours until near-dark. A curious co-op employee named Jim was bemused by the clan’s antics and called his wife to ask if they could stay the night. Upon arrival at Jim’s house, the broads were offered wine as they cozied up to a film – Machete – with Jim’s wife Lisa.
Example #2: riding along the Avenue of the Giants, a glorious redwoods venue, the broads approached one campsite which did not meet their satisfaction. With the sun slipping away, the clan trudged forth onto the next campsite – but not before a visit to the local bar. A few beers and rounds of pool later, the clan had met new friends. Amy, an intoxicated and slightly agro (as well as charming and friendly) gal bought Broads Liz and Ilana drinks before even speaking to them. Meanwhile, Michelle, a flaming country lady, quickly bonded with Broad Ilana over young love and the Green Bay Packers. She offered the broads Swiss Chalet leftovers of breaded shrimp. Having not eaten for a few hours, the ravenous clan devoured them, and with this renewed energy set off into the night to the nearest campsite.
lollygagging at trader joes for hours on end, Broad Ilana replaces her bicycle with a motorized shopping cart
4. Resourcefulness / Scavenging
The broads, being a cycling clan on a budget, are a resource-sensitive folk. They are quick to see the multi-purpose nature of all things. Petroleum, for instance, a substance dreaded by many a cyclist, is reframed by the clan as a cheap and accessible source of gas for cooking stoves. The clan has also come to understand the tampon’s use as a makeshift bandage, as first experience by Broad Liz on a rabble-rousing ride on the 101 Freeway into San Francisco. Getting her wheel caught in a sketchy metal grate, Broad Liz broke her fall with her hand, which unfortunately landed on a shard of highway-side glass. In pain but anxious to get off the freeway, Liz bandaged her finger-wound with a spare tampon, which aptly absorbed the blood.
Broad Molly exhibits territorial behaviour while scavenging strawberries
so my buns are still steal too, but i’ve been in bed now for about a week. The broads are still doing their things riding in California. Victoria in San Fran, Orla in LA I believe, and Ilana and Molly in Irving celebrating thanksgiving with Molly’s aunt. The dream is still alive! and very much in my heart, though I am not with them. My heart was soaring so high, I was feeling pretty invincible, and I didn’t listen to my body enough one day, and met a pile of rocks in Big Sur that I had never quite met before on my ride. They were so unfamiliar on the highway that I didn’t really recognize them until it was too late. They were big and yellow and jagged. Then I lost control on my bike… and that’s all I remember until the ambulance.. but I hear there were some strange and interesting times in between. hahaa. I am so happy and thankful that I had friends there to look out for me, and give me lot of love. I love you guys! and miss you so much! I’m looking at my cut open jeans, wondering if I can salvage them, and they still smell like big sur california, and also the campfires Quin made. Essentially they smell like sulphur hot springs, sand, dirt, trees, and fire… also like medical supplies from when they were nearly removed from my body. sooo, as I may have hinted at, I am home in vancouver, because I injured myself. basal skull fracture. maybe I’ll do a drawing or post some of the ct scans sometime this week, but up until right now I haven’t been able to put too much energy into the computer, or really into focusing on anything for too long because it makes me dizzy -concussed. Thanks to everyone who supported me on this trip and from home. there will be more adventures to come
this is just as we were about to cross over deception pass. I was enthralled by the buts i’ll admit -and trust me, they only get better.. and stronger from september to november. ow! babes!
crusin down a 7% grade for a few miles, prince blaring in my ears, fresh off a mega monster climb i got to thinkin. fear? it no longer exists.
after 4 weeks with the broads (after meeting up in portland oregon, post traumatic thumb injury, Fuuuck) i’ve learned not to fear. mostly its the hills (tho other stuff too). we’ve come to a point now, where its all the same. yeah sure some kill you a little more than others, but it has more to do with the amount of calories you have in your body to burn than anything. if powered up enough, we all zooom up. take a big gulp of water at the top, and then in for a fucken-delightful tear jerking (from the wind whipping in your eyes) kinda downhill thrill ride. its fun.
as an introductory post to this clan-blog-land, just want to suggest a big fist up and bump to all of the broads. we can now climb up mountains and push through some rough terrain with 40 plus lbs on our bike like it aint no thing. pretty awesome feeling. you should check out our legs. anyways.
… since we took off the occupy movement has spread all over. i kept thinkin the spark started back in Madison Wi, last Feb with the uprising at the capitol but was unsure what it all meant. its clear now something big is brewing. seeing all the small town Occupies, especially in Oregon and northern california, folks all over honking their horn at orlas big 99% sign strapped the back of her bike, coming up to us and striking up conversation about what this all means, feels pretty big. coming into Oakland on the same day as their first General Strike since 1946, hearing warnings up to 20 miles away about whether we could board the public transport or even get to Oakland because they were really shutting stuff down…its incredibly exhilarating.
in Oakland its big. I spent an afternoon cruising all over. looked at the smashed windows, then boarded up of Wells Fargo, felt an incredible amount of…well…sounds cheesy, but—solidarity, with people in the streets, attended the open forum at the Occupy where a vigorous debate (really, a sorta processing and coolin off of what had happened the day before) anarchists, versus peaceful protest versus sometimes smash stuff but please think tactics, but in the end, how beautiful.
somehow this relates to fear…who knows where this occupy stuff is going, i mean its been inspiring to see it happening all the way down the coast, but what is wonderful is seeing that fear wipe away, people going out, confronting police, confronting bosses, confronting politicians…its a big step. who knows where we can go from here. just gotta keep pushin through up those hills.
Spent hallow’s eve in the most perfect place for freakery and FUNky foolery you could imagine! whitethorne/garberville/redway, Humboldt County, ca baby. one of those hippy centrals, but chock full of young homeless folk and giant trucks!
after a blistering bright and beautiful ride out of the coastal range, feeling stretched like putty, I stocked up on veggie chips and a wasabi snack mix that would blown your mind.
#wasabipuffedalmonnnd
We doddled for a while, searching for coffee and Internetz, and spent much too much time at treats, a café/Internet central/ice creamery/burger joint. There was such a party parade of kids trick-and-treating at all the local shops. check out this CUTE girly and her dog!
And this Charlie Brown fam!
We met some friends who immediately tried to find us jobs and invited us to join for karaoke at the brass rail in redway. mad glory! so we quickly assembled costumes from the thrift’s leftovers and a things shop called blue moon, then threw our faces on outside a pizza parlor. Michael went as his traditional womyn, Micah was crazy eyes, mary an octopus, Sarah a wizard, and me, a gypsy moth.
Hope y’all had a hoot-hollerin haunty hallow’s eve too!
Oh, and the eve of the eve of the eve of all hallow’s eve, I was a slug, cuddling a redwood. -v
We’re in Gualala, California right now and hopefully we’ll celebrate Halloween near Jenner or Bodega Bay depending on how far we get today! Oh lalalala.
Biking along the California coast kind of feels like this song:
We have been so lucky with weather lately! California is the best.
The Clan of Spokey Doke Broadship 