A hole, a pole, a deck, a yurt

I am the dump truck,
you are the eggplant.

One step at a time...

This is a somewhat low tech construction project.

Because the ground is soft, it is difficult to get heavy machinery to places where it would be useful. Like the yurt site.

So, I am the dump truck. (Sounds Beatle-esque?)  

And I don't really mind. There is something rewarding to be found in sweat-of-the-brow labor.  I know how many shovels full to a wheel barrow load and how far each trip is.  I know where the path is smooth and where the pigs of the past have rooted the soil forming bumps and holes.  Little pillows and cradles in the soil.  The wheel barrow does move as well in these areas, so an extra grunt is required. 
The whole process makes me more physically aware and so then more in tune with my body and the environment surrounding me.

~

Yesterday by the gate I saw a very large bumblebee.  I was closing the gate, which on a farm is an important courtesy.  It is much easier to close a gate than catch run-away sheep! 
The bee was completely covered with yellow pollen, and as it flew a few scant inches under my nose, I smelled the most delicious fragrance. 
Very tropical, floral, and enchanting. 

A truly unique Hawaiian moment.

Thank you bee.

Sheep bleat, sibblings argue, and stone will not haul itself.



Sheep help keep the pastures open.



Well it has been a little bumpy here the past week.  While the weather in Paradise has been great, my brother and I discovered we have differing visions of the yurt project.  This is his farm. Rambling, with sheep and chickens and wild pigs. I am an invited guest.  But we aren't mirror images: we differ in many ways.  It came to some heated words. 

And I must say I don't do confrontation well.  I try to avoid it.  So the conflict came in 3 phases:

1.  We had a heated argument (details unimportant to you).  Just know that it was unpleasant.

2.  We took a couple days off then talked more civilly and "made-up".

3.  Then we talked again and we got the issues ironed out, for the most part, and now it's back underway.  (A truck load of stone arrives tomorrow AM)

A day at the beach.

In the process, I learned a few things, but perhaps those will appear in my writing blog...ah siblings!

News!  I have finished digging holes, at least for the yurt.  19 in all.

More good news, the stone  arrived on time.  The bad news, it needs to be wheel-barrowed 700 ft, all 4 tons.

A gift from Pele; 4 tons of rock.

Here's a drawing of the deck plan.  The small circles represent where the holes were dug for the piers.

One view of the deck plan.  24' in diameter.



What's Going on, Down-under...and Above Too

Demonstrating the use of a simple machine.

You can learn somethings digging a hole.  The soil here is an amazing micro-system.  The dirt itself is a clay-silt like mixture, mostly rock-free, which is sticky but very slick when wet.  Kind of like pottery clay.  The grasses and ferns have sent out copious networks of roots ans rhizomes, forming a dense mat of vegetation equaling the foliage above in biomass.  Lot's of earthworms busily making soil can be found, and of course all the fungi and other microbe, invisibly making it all possible.

Roots and stubble.

And its hard to dig through using shovel, boot, and back.  Fortunately, it comes to an end about 12 inches deep, so with some persistence and conviction, it can be dug through.  The soil here is a miracle of time, erosion, weathering, and the indomitable nature of life to caring on its imperative; grow and reproduce, carry on and survive, even upon the mother rock that was recently molten rock.

A hole for the foundation pier.  Need 22 of these...wanna help?

Digging requires an occasional break.  Fortunately near the holes above is a large pile of recently cut hay, aromatic and soft.  Perfect to sit down, lean back, and look up.

Meteorologists would love this
place!

You can learn a lot looking up.  The weather here is a fast-paced parade of blues skies, sun, wind, mist, clouds, and rain, ranging from a gentle warm shower to icy torrents, falling at the rate of several inches per hour, or more. People here with common sense are seen carrying umbrellas.  The weather moving over the mountains is sliced and lifted, changing the energy dynamics of the moisture and heat.  Often the sky is clear at night, brilliant with stars.  As the morning progresses the skies alter from partly cloudy to mostly cloudy to rain as the day wears on.  The sky is sometimes clear over the mountains but cloudy over the ocean.  And vice-versa.  Clouds can be seen at several layers: cumulus, stratus, and cirrus simultaneously. 

What a show!

Pouring rain 5 minutes later. alas, no rainbow.



Next: Pigs and sheep and chickens, oh my!

Whack job, Pt 2



Working with "manly tools."  Note the barn boots,,
They are all the rage in these parts.

 It has been another busy day.  The weed whacking we did recently to clear the brush got a buzz-cut, attempting to nub it down to the mineral earth.  Easier said than done.  Anywhere the grass has been matted down by the pigs, it is tough, literally and figuratively, to cut. They also make rooting holes in the dirt. Watch yer step!  By the way, there is a very sharp spinning blade at the end of the whacker shaft.  Tricky business.  I might just have arms like Popeye by the time this is done.
 Scot and I went to Home Depot and priced wood.  Since most commodities come to Hawaii by ship, things are expensive, and big heavy things, like 4"x8" beams, whoa Nellie.  But it's only money, some say.
We will be staking out the placement for the footers for the deck soon.  Here's how that will go: Dig a hole (where are those pigs when you need them?) then fill with gravel, and finally the precast footers.  They each weight 160 lbs. and there will be twenty-some of them.  Anyone got a 4-wheel drive truck?  Hoping for a little help via the aloha spirit.  As always, we shall see.
-P

Yurt in a Box/Wackin'Weeds

Hey from Hawaii.
 Just got hooked up online with a 3G wireless.  Thank you Verison.

The yurt is sitting in a pile of boxes just down the path from Scot's cabin.  Someone suggested a puzzle in a box.  It's fun checking the contents: roof, walls, doors, dome, etc;  I've been studying the assembly manual.
Went to meditation group to mellow out on Sunday.  It is good to get centered and gain the appropriate perspective.  Nice people.  We chatted a bit after on a lecture by Ram Das.
Today we repaired equipment and I did some weed whacking.  That's tough work.  The fields, including the yurt site are covered with a dense mat of ferns and tough grasses.  The yurt site is clear, so now we can start to put in the foundation piers upon which to build the deck. (pictures tomorrow)
 It was nice to make some progress after waiting for a neighbor to mow, which wasn't happening. 
Yurts in a box are good.  Yurts up are better.
Not everything is rainbows here; we caught a rat yesterday.  This is a farm but the cats don't seem to scare them away.
It's been sunny but we are trying to hustle before the winter rains.
-P

Getting Acclimatized and Going Hog Wild

Today is Friday. Time does seem to slip away.   I finally arrived in Ninole, my ultimate destination late Tuesday.  Several things have taken up my attention:  Hanging out and catching up with my brother, and trying to get into the local sleep cycle, which is 5 hours different from home in Salem, CT.  It seems a slow process.  I am ready for bed about 6 PM and have been waking at about 4 AM.  Somewhat screwy.

I’ve also been busy talking to several nice people about my bag, which went one way when I went the other, somewhere between Chicago and Honolulu.  It eventually arrived yesterday, so it required a trip into Hilo to retrieve it.  Hilo is nice, and worth a look, but for now just a nuisance, although we did have a nice lunch at a local spot called Kuhio Grille.  I recommend the pork and tofu stir-fry, and of course the Mac and cheese, an island standard.

(My doorbell and the ocean beyond from the yurt site)

 Among others thing, the bag had my camera.  Nice to see it again.  They airline folk were impressed with the yellow ribbon I tied onto the handle for identification. J  I have taken some video with my Flip camera, which I hope to post up soon.  From it you might be able to tell a little bit about what the land looks like here and where the yurt will go.  Currently the yurt is sitting in a big stack of boxes and bundles under a tarp.  Later today or tomorrow a friend will mow the yurt site so we can start putting in the foundation, a deck like structure which the yurt will ultimately sit upon.  It will be in a prime spot with views of both snow topped Mona Kea and in the opposite direction, a swath of the blue-gray Pacific.  How cool is that?

Wednesday evening we walked down the mowed trail to the yurt site.  I hung my doorbell (a gift from Melissa) on a nearby tree, took some video, and headed back.  Scot’s dog Gypsy was working the underbrush, nosing about, and flushed a wild pig out which ran right past me, perhaps 3 feet away.  I’m not sure who was more surprised.  I did let out a loud “Whoa!!” The pig, black haired maybe 120 lbs ducked into the woods nearby.  They are feral, and generally regarded as tasty nuisances, rooting up the ground everywhere they roam.

Ok, going to try and find some internet link to download this. 

-P

PS  How are you all enjoying the snow?  It has rained some, but it is sunny and 80 degrees here today.  (Sorry for the gloat!)

Islands

Hello friends.  I am at the Honolulu airport, 76 degrees and a purple-red sunset streaking the skies.  I'm off to Hilo, my destination in an hour.  Meanwhile here's a poem I wrote in transit. Stand by...

Crossing the Pacific, the plane briefly sighs.

On the way, on my way

Leaving the security and/or familiarity of

Cold and snow, Connecticut deep

Friends and family, love and sure things

(CT, the land of steady habits)

Crossing first through Chicago, with its broad shoulders

And mid-west sensibility,

Where kind strangers, doing their jobs, but with a song

Help book me straight through

On this time/place machine

And seated me in an exit seat too

No charge, leg room, a little luxury

(Good on ya mate, as my brother would text)

And I have no remorse, few regrets,

That may follow, though I doubt so.

I am gone long, but not likely forever

I am gone far, but not completely forgotten

I am gone deep, but still in their dreams gently,

So it seems.

And I know, when I land in Hawaii that it will inch me

Nudge me, osmotically

Move me a little closer to some other way

Maybe more carefree

Maybe more easy of spirit

Maybe I will dream and sleep

Listening to the rain

Feeling the sun on the tops of my feet.

I am willing to be enchanted.