Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Location: Tucson, Arizona

A few days before picking up Liz I finally decided to bite the bullet and, after three years on the road, buy a proper bed for my van. I’ve been sleeping on what is probably a toxin leaching memory foam mattress from Walmart for a while now. I’ve found in the extreme heat of the desert that there have actually been fumes in the van that I find disconcerting. So while up at Prajna I came across some trifold foam beds that are made from non-toxic foam, have 5 year warranties, and fold away for neat storage. I ordered a custom setup for the van and now Liz and I are staying in Tucson’s Roadrunner Hostel while waiting for its delivery.

Today I interviewed water harvesting guru Brad Lancaster who wrote the books, Water Harvesting for Drylands, and Water Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond. It was a really good interview session with Brad dumping loads of figures about water harvesting and how our world could look very different if we simply changed our thinking in regards to our water consumption.

It’s been amazing for Liz and I to drive around Phoenix and Tucson and think about how these cities are built in absolute desert environments. In many peoples opinions these cities shouldn’t even exist. There are huge issues in terms of water, energy, and the water energy nexus that will definitely come to the forefront in the next few decades. It’s staggering to see such immense sections of urban sprawl expanding out in all directions. Throughout this sprawl we find ourselves taking shelter from the heat in air-conditioned stores, and the realization soon occurs that we’re surrounded by an artificial climate controlled interior reality. All of this climate control soaking up an enormous amount of water and related energy.

Brad spoke about how we could be awash in water simply by building simple technological rainwater harvesting systems. In building water harvesting systems we would also be increasing the amount of plant life in our community in the form of permaculture.

At Brad’s home and workspace there are great examples of rainwater feeding the living connected home. Here rainwater is harvested, used to do laundry (using biodegradable soaps) and then used to water Brad’s orange and date tree, from which he eats, then adds the organic matter to compost. All of these trees whether fruit of other variety also provide huge amounts of shade which acts as a natural form of air-conditioning and protection from the hot summer sun.

Tucson and Phoenix have miles upon miles of ten lane roadways and along most of these roads is very little shade for parking or cooling off. The roadways also increase the cities microclimates by as much as ten degrees. Meanwhile these cities harvest vast amounts of rainwater that is all sent into storm drains and out of the city. Brad pointed out that one mile of standard Tucson roadway collects enough water to irrigate four hundred dry climate trees. Four hundred trees per mile, equals lots of shade, potentially lots of food, and to requote Bill Mollison again and again, “When I look at a forest, I see a standing lake.” which means a healthier water supply and base flow for all life concerned.

peace,
d

Sunday, June 14, 2009
Location: Fort McDowell, Arizona

It’s been a mad rush since White Sands to get out here to Arizona where today I met with Liz. She flew out to Arizona on the 11th to attend a Childbirth and Postpartum Professional Association (CAPPA) conference as part of her path towards a career in Midwifery. Liz is currently a labor Doula in Colorado, while she finishes her B.A. in English. Next year she hopes to go to Midwifery College in Taos, New Mexico. But right now she is spending some time living in a van with Moses and I.

It’s really nice to work our selves into each others processes and I’m looking forward to spending more time out on the road with her. She seems much better prepared than the last time we were out on the road, mentally, emotionally, and physically, since she knows what to expect of van living. Not to mention that it’s probably nice for her to be able to go back to actual walls and bathrooms in Colorado. We’re both working our personal dharmas, as this summer she will spend more time traveling and doing birth work, including a short stint in the Dominican Republic.

I’m really excited to spend time with Liz on the road, while I work on the film throughout Arizona. It’s nice to have someone to Come Van To.

peace,
d

Saturday, June 13, 2009
Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico

From White Sands I headed back up to Albuquerque where I met and interviewed Allan Savory. He spoke to me about how, in his view, Global Climate Change is just one of three aspect of the “massive environmental malfunction” occurring on the planet today. The other two factors aside from Global Climate Change are Land Degradation (often called desertification) and Biodiversity Loss. It is these three things together that we are facing on an unprecedented level for the first time in human history.

Savory believes that humans have the capacity to help solve the problems facing Nature, but that we must approach it using the framework of holistic management, a term he coined and has been working with throughout the world for over a decade. He spoke at length about how we must not approach things with a linear compartmentalized scientific framework, but instead holistically as animals in a complex self-organizing natural system. I personally feel not thinking linearly is one of humanities greatest challenges. I consider myself pretty non-linear, yet I still found it difficult to let go of direct thinking while in conversation with Savory. Countless times I would draw conclusions or make points only to have him bring me back to a holistic management view, for which I am grateful.

I’m including a link here to Allan Savory’s A Global Strategy for Addressing Global Climate Change. It’s well worth the read if you’re interested in our world and the challenges we face, and I encourage you to send it along into your own personal sphere of influence.

peace,
d

Thanks Helen.
peace,d

http://cdn-static.viddler.com/flash/publisher.swf?key=ce56603d

Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Location: White Sands National Monument, New Mexico

A few days ago my friend Jeff in Colorado was telling me if I was down around White Sand, New Mexico I should definitely check it out. “It’s like being in a black and white movie!” he exclaimed, and man o’ man was he ever right.

I pulled into White Sands just after four in the afternoon, after safely making it through various U.S. Customs Check Points. Did you know they have Check Points all over the southern US… I didn’t. I always get nervous that they’re going to arrest me, throw my dog in a kennel and disassemble my sweetheart Veronica. Not that they have any cause, aside from the way I look, but still, being above the law, they have that affect on people. My strategy is wear a cowboy hat… lol… strange but true. Back on the Piikani Reservation, Morris used to always say, “You should wear a hat, people like people in hats.” I think he was mostly referring to the Native horsemen we were riding with, but it seems to me the same holds true in the south. If you can wear a cowboy hat well you’ll find it builds grace with the locals.

(Note: It helps if the hat, like mine, has been through hell with you, fits well in windy weather, and has some broken-in grease/dirt/life stains throughout. Otherwise a hat is just a prop, and is likely to get you thrown INTO jail, rather than keep you OUT ;-)

I paid three bucks to enter the monument and three bucks to camp backcountry. No van-camping allowed so after some initial hiking and touring the dunes I hauled my tent, camera gear and water a mile into the dunes to set up. Moses was supposed to be on leash, but with no one in sight and vast huge dunes to rip around in, I let him go.

This place is one of those places that gives you rushes of excitement. As you stand a top the dunes you can’t help but feel, WOW… and not just wow.. but WOW, as the blood rushes through you, shivers run up your spine, and your eyes tear up in the wake of the pure beauty of it all.

It had been a long day and the driving had really knocked me out, but I still pushed on to capture some beautiful images of the dunes in the evening light. You really have to go to this place… my ability with words is failing me.

For dinner Moses ate dried chicken strips and drank out of my stainless steel camping mug, while I dined on a peanut butter sandwich, almonds and dried mango. It was almost dark as we headed out to sit atop a dune and listen to a bird calling as the stars came into being.

The next morning I filmed a bit in the morning light, packed up the tent and gear, headed back to the van, ate some trail mix, and headed out to hike some more. I was carrying only film gear and water, as we set out into the desert, ready to film before it got too hot. We were a quarter mile away atop a dune when I heard a siren blip. I looked back towards the van and there was a ranger vehicle alongside it. The sound travels here, so I listened as I heard the ranger talking into his radio. “Yeah, backcountry camper… I saw him here awhile ago sitting in his van… no he’s gone now… should be close.” What’s going on? Did Customs call and they decided to dissect my poor Veronica after all.

I watched as the ranger hiked up a dune looking away from me. I whistled and he turned towards me waving his arms, and I began heading back.

We met halfway to Veronica and he informed me the military was about to do a missile test and they needed to clear the area. Oh and your dog should be on leash, but I’d let mine run wild here too, so don’t worry about it. Yeah, seriously, more important things to worry about…

After they brought all the hikers together in a central spot out of the backcountry they informed the military who then fired the missile. I was standing on a dune top with my camera, and I saw it go up, but then it was gone, followed by a far off invisible explosion.

I headed back out to the desert but the heat was really picking up and the morning light was gone, so Moses and I only lasted long enough to shoot a couple frames of film and photography.

The military testing changed White Sands for me. It took the purity of the place away and replaced it with thoughts of war games, death and destruction. But the place is still pure, even though the men wielding their weapons of death may not be. And in time the place will live on, while the men will come and go, lost in their self-importance, at the end of their lives perhaps regretting only what could have been.

peace,d

Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Location: Silver City, New Mexico

After the Garage I headed down to the river where I had interviewed Van Clothier yesterday. Yes, Van from the Prajna river talk lives here, and we had a great creek side chat about water restoration.

I headed back today to take photographs of all the old cars that line the creek banks. I had gone back yesterday after the talk but Moses, who loves creeks and walks, had started acting strange and crying. There are a lot of homeless and rough looking drifters that live/drink down in this ravine, so I figured I’d trust his canine intuition and come back this morning.

There was a big flood in the early 1900’s and it washed away Silver City’s main street taking all the cars with it. It let this huge ravine right through the center of town and these cars downstream.

I spent a few hours taking photographs and film of these cars, since I love the idea of the Nature reclaiming humanities ‘progress’. While I was shooting the phrase from that film kept repeating in my mind, “A River Runs Through It” and in time, through all things.

peace,
d

Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Location: Gila National Forest, New Mexico

Last night I drove all the way up to the Gila Hot Springs to have a soak. I had seen some pictures online that lead me to believe it was a large natural pool just off the Gila River. I drove for an hour up a long and twisting road to arrive just before sunset. I then headed down through a ranch to the springs. There were three pools, they were roughly the size of children’s wading pools, they were fairly warm but not hot, and there was quite a few people there soaking. I ended up soaking for about an hour with an older man, his three sons, and granddaughter who were all doing some forced bonding.

The man and I spoke about Mt. Kaylash, Tibet and Nepal, and it turns out the man was a practicing Buddhist. It was nice to connect with these people, but I was sad not to have a large deserted mountain hot spring all to myself.

However this morning I woke up in the Gila National Forest to this beautiful view, which made the trek up all worthwhile. I would have loved to go for a hike with Moses (pictured here deep in meditation) but instead had an appointment at a Silver City garage to attend. Veronica’s speedometer has been acting wonky affecting my transmission… but it’s nothing major I’m sure.

The garage greeted me with NRA signs everywhere with sayings like, “My neighbor doesn’t believe in guns, so I’ll respect his opinion and not protect him if someone breaks in!” I immediately headed back to the van and removed the ‘allergic to republicans’ sticker on my dash and tried to make the place look a little less hippied-out. Good Luck!

After being a little frustrated on the lack of communication at the garage, I began talking to the mechanic about his antique bullet collection on the counter. Well if there’s a way to an NRA’ers heart that’s it! He opened up to me, talked about history, war, how we’re all really the same ‘mixed bag’ when it comes down to race, and how it’s silly we’re all out killing each other. You can’t judge a man by his NRA poster!

I agreed to change the speedometer sensor even though it wasn’t for certain the problem, paid under a hundred bucks for the part and a few hours of labor, and was on my way.

peace,
d

Monday, June 8, 2009
Location: Silver City, New Mexico

I got up early this morning and headed five or six hours south to Silver City to meet up with author Stephen Harrod Buhner. The drive was long and beautiful, the deeper I head into New Mexico the more I fall in love with it. I love the desolation, the seemingly ubiquitous lack of wealth, and a sense of politics that to me doesn’t seem to know if it’s for or against ‘the man’.

I interviewed John Nichols last week and he told me that New Mexico has a patina of wealth and beauty, but in actuality, is a fairly poverty stricken rough place to live. The deeper I go the more I see the truth of his words. Since being here I’ve learned that per capita Espanola is the U.S. center of heroin, and that heroin permeates Taos to the North, Santa Fe to the South, and the rest of New Mexico. I’m not sure how the heroin gets to the center of the continent or why, but it seems like an effective way to kill people off, I can’t help but wonder, why New Mexico?

Anyway, my interview with Stephen Harrod Buhner was fabulous! We covered a lot of ground talking about the concept that Nature doesn’t make mistakes, human growth and synchronous destructive tendencies, and plants and how they behave throughout the natural world.

This idea that Nature doesn’t make mistakes stands out for me. See if humans are undeniably a part of nature, and nature doesn’t make mistakes, then this whole process of humanity, the industrial revolution, and global warming is all part of a larger process. This process is echoed everywhere throughout nature in the growth of species, the subsequent impact on the ecology, followed by the inevitable die-off of the species. Round and round we go.

Many humans hold this notion that we are separate from Nature and are on a divine quest to reach either immortality or global enlightenment. I would agree that our quest is clearly divine in nature, however I would argue that we’re really not going anywhere. We’re simply a divine play… maybe a tragedy.

But hey that’s not all so bad when you realize that being here is an extraordinary gift in and of itself. This place is magical and extraordinary, filled with wondrous incarnations and manifestations of life in all its beauty. So what if it’s tragic… it’s only tragic if we fasten our seat belts tightly around our personal egos, holding onto the belief that it’s more than just a ride.

The industrial revolution took place in under two hundred years… the earth is four billion years old… and in that time has changed A LOT.

peace,d

Sunday, June 7, 2009
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico

My time in Santa Fe is finally at a close, for now, I’m sure I’ll be back to this beautiful place. I’ve been sucked into this place much the way I’ve been sucked into others throughout the journey. Every place has its own particular resonance and the vibes here are good.

Yesterday I went up to the Sangre de Christo Mountains for a overnight hike with my good friends Mark and Helen. We left late in the afternoon and after hiking for a few hours came to a clearing at the base of a large rock slide, we pitched tents, drank tea, chatted, ate a wonderful dinner prepared by Helen the day before, and sat by the fire long into the night. Upon awaking, we packed up and then ditched the packs in the bush and headed uphill towards a mountain lake at 11,000ft.

I’m now laying back writing on Mark and Helen’s couch while they are out with some friends. I can’t help but think how again family and community have built up around me. Everyone I’ve met in New Mexico has greeted me with openness and warmth and I will miss my now very dear friend here, both up at the mountains of Prajna, down at Upaya, and in the various households scattered throughout the city.

I haven’t been writing much and I’m not so sure why.. but I’ve had many thoughts to write up on. So I'll try to get them all down in the next few days.

Last night as we sat by the fire we were talking about the spiritual path and I was expressing how although I love so many aspects of the world's different belief systems, I don’t think I'll ever find myself devoted to a single one. I will never be fully Catholic, Native, Zen Buddhist, Yogi or Shaman. I will most likely continue to dabble and learn from all the great traditions and find my way down the road that rests between them… or perhaps rather on the roads they all share in common.

Mark pointed out that it’s the practice itself that is important. And I love to practice! I love the idea that practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect. But here’s the rub, I don’t want to be bound up in ‘perfect practice’, I want to find the practice that is 'perfect for me', my own truly personal practice not tied into any system or larger whole. I know for me it lays in a layered, multidisciplinary, and multi-faith approach.

I believe that all roads do in fact lead to Rome, that is that all paths, if we carry the intentionality lead towards enlightenment. Perfect practice helps us along the way, and to find a good practice I think is central for those out seeking. But I would also say that it’s important not to become a victim of your own discipline. It’s important to not lose sight of the forest for the trees. It’s important to maintain fluidity as we grow, shift, change, spiritually die and are reborn into something else entirely.

I’m grateful for the time I’ve spent meditating and speaking about meditation with others. It’s been a long time since I really sat in mediation and it’s nice to come home to the silence. I met a man the other day who has meditated twice a day for the past thirty-five years… he says he’s only missed sitting three times in all that time.

It’s wonderful to be in the presence of a man with such a quiet and centered grace about him. It’s nice to see that it’s possible to find the calm center amidst all the chaos of today’s reality. It’s nice to realize that maybe it’s not even chaos at all, but only perceived chaos that we find ourselves projecting from inside ourselves out into the world.

I know that when I sit regularly I feel a distinct difference in my being and the happenings I once perceived as important make way for the things that are truly important. Love. Bliss. Joy. Beauty. Happiness.

So, I’ve been inspired by Roshi, Sensei, Roger, Mark, Temple and all other fellow seekers, and I’m picking up this old practice of meditation where I left off years ago. I have no interest in being a Zen Buddhist or anything else but a man named Daniel, but I do have great respect from those who have chosen this particular way, and I’m grateful for every insight they have to share.

For those who dedicate themselves wholly, often become the best teachers, since in their dedication; they truly understand the meaning of practice.

So that’s some of what I’ve been thinking ;-)

peace,d

Some beautiful slide guitar and singin' from my friend Iowa Bill. This was recorded grit-style out of a old garage up at Prajna Forest Mountain Refuge.

peace,d


Iowa%20Bill.mp3

This creatively limited title has been created so that other internet DIY (Do It Youself) builders can find this project online and build their own solar shower. I had a hard time locating info, images and/or plans and wanted to fight the tide of all the links to commercial solar showers online.

So if I say Solar Shower a lot in this post.. or DIY.. You'll realize it's so the metacrawlers pick it up and it will maybe appear in google.

So the DIY Solar Shower project up at the Prajna Refuge started out as a terraced design (Images 1,2,3) that I slapped together just to see if it would work. The gravity feed worked out ok, but as soon as the sun went down the cold air around the hoses cooled it off quirte quickly. And on a west exposure the water temperature was only warm on totally sunny days. (Note this shower is at 9400')

So after some observation and assessment we (the team was now forming around the project) decided it was best to put the whole unit in a box. We collected some lumber leftovers, some plywood, some extra reflective bubble insulation, and Marty was able to find some shower doors at Habitat for Humanities Restore for 2$ each, to use as glazing.

(Image 4) We used a router to create groovin' wood caps to hold the glass in place so we can open and close the unit for the time being until we figure out humidity etc. We also drilled some holes on one side to act as vents for excess heat or humidity. This whole unit is built using 400' of half inch irrigation hose so it's soft and I was a little worried it'd actually melt. From everything I've read, 400' of half inch hose holds about 10 gallons of water in the heating coil. this is all fed by a 55 gallon holding barrel on the roof. 1 gallon of water equals something like 8 pounds of pressure, so with a roughly 12ft drop there is ample pressure at the shower head.

We moved the whole box unit with legs, to keep it level so the water doesn't have any resistance, to the south facing roof top. (Image 5) The solar shower unit was now pretty much complete (Image 6). We waited a few hours and honest to god the water came out scalding hot.. hot enough to make tea.. toooo hot to shower in. At this point after some testing people need to wait for about two hours of clouds after sun before showering.. or have showers 2 hours after sundown.. which works out well. The unit holds hot-warm water for roughly 3 hours at this elevation with it's cold nights.

We then went to work building a platform for the shower beside the cabin. (Images 7,8) Using fir and lagbolts we notched and framed the structure that will soon support the lattia enclosed shower stall complete with shelves and towel hangers. The platform overlooks the Prajna Garden and surrounding landscape. Hot showers in the great outdoors... nothing better on earth!

This is where I had to leave the DIY Solar Shower project in good hands and head back on the road to continue filming.. but I look forward to updates and photos as the project is completed. There may eventually be a cold water inlet installed, otherwise it'll just be a matter of charting the water temperatures and sunshine to coordinate showers.. which isn't such a bad thing since it puts us in touch with with cycles of the sun :-)

Big thanks to the Prajna team (Image 9, left to right: Me, Marty, Iowa Bill, Maria and dogs Moses, Shannon & Dominga). Not this image is Don who helped by sharing his tools and providing his insights).

I already miss you guys! Happy bathing!

peace,d

A new friend of mine sent me a link to some of his poetry.. this one is apt.
peace,
d

Ode to the Nomadic Urge - Will Stevensen

All alone, the sediment of years unsettled
Searching for something lost in the clarity—
Through endless forms and conditions
I move from state to state.

Unsettled like Jesus
With nowhere to lay my head;
The nomadic urge beckons,
Promising the transcendence known to travellers.
To wander free and aimless, a vagabond,
A new journey always awaits
With nothing to lose
And nowhere to gain.

No home, no land, no family;
Ancestral Visions fill the empty spaces.
Crossing prairies, deserts, swamplands
Forbidden lands, hidden cities, undiscovered races;
Summoned forward by the magical unknown
Like a wild insatiable beast on the prowl
The promise of intrepid freedom
Gnaws away at one’s bones.

The mundane repetition of the householder
Holds no mystery.
The creature comforts of home
Lull us to sleep like a nursery rhyme.
The possessions we acquire
Own us.

Like the awakening stick
Wielded by the Zen master
The nomadic urge strikes to the marrow
The mercenary’s cry jolts us
From the slumber of everyday life.
Distant cries from a long gone era,
Encroach on the dreams of the soul
From a time before settlement,
When maurading hordes roamed uncharted lands
Searching endlessly for the Elysian fields.

Whispers from deep in the soul
Voices from an archaic realm
Draw us inward
Backwards through this lifetime and others
To the time before the dawn of reason.

The precivilization of the psyche
An untamed morass of primal experience
Undiluted by the anaesthetizing effects of plenty.
A time when the tyranny of the present moment
Rules awareness with an intensity
Unmet in the modern adult world.
This intensity, both wondrous and terrifying,
Attracts like an invisible gravitation
A flushing spiral catching up the watchful and reckless alike
A centripetal fugue outside the measured bounds of formality,
A numinous influence calling from abroad.

Daytime worries, one after the other,
Enclose us in a prison of our own devising.
In the twilight between
The sleep of day and the sleep of night
Between:
The empty forms of thinking, and
The ethereal forms of imagination
There is an opening beyond
Where a new trail begins
Guarded by patient, fearsome dragons.
Only caravan camels and their kindred
Unburdened after their long desolate journey
Are allowed entry through this needle’s eye.