Crashing Thunder, Misty Morning

As much as possible, I go to the woods in the morning to clear away the underbrush, so that eventually, we'll be able to get the trees down that interfere with the wires that hold the tower in place for the radio station that we own and operate. This morning I went out to work on it for about an hour and a half. Each day I can see where I am making more and more progress, but it is slow. What I thought was going to take a few days will actually take the entire spring and summer to accomplish. The underbrush is thick, vine-filled, and soon, very soon, the mosquitoes will be out to greet me each morning! Today however, there was a chipmunk that fled my arrival and two Baltimore oriels that flew right over head and landed on a near by branch. The sun was right on them and they were breathtakingly beautiful! They stayed there for some time, but I didn't have the camera ready to get a good photo of them.

There were some wonderful storms that went through last night, BIG THUNDER and lots of rain. There is that sweet, earthy clean in the air and the birds in the woods were singing brightly this morning. I wish I could record the sounds that occur while I am there. It is a choir of happiness with all the different birds singing, and the woodpeckers tapping out a beat unto themselves. I could stay there all day....and if I had that lovely yurt, maybe even longer.

The photos that I am sharing with you today are from the land I am working on. The first two are of the river view from the high banks. The later two photos are of the underbrush and the start of a clearing. As much as I love making felt, and I do dearly love it, there is also a farm girl in me who would love to live here, milk a couple of goats, and live a very simple, uncluttered life. Fantasies are free. .. Dream on

Ger, Yurt, Housing for Homeless

Photo is of the scarf I dyed yesterday, now being worn. Funny how the effect changes, softens somehow. Really like the effects of the color flow on this scarf. Am hoping to get some more done in the next few days.

I've been clearing some land that we own. Doing only a couple of hours of work each day usually in the early morning hours and using only loppers to get the underbrush cleared. It's about 7 acres that we have but I am doing very specific spot work on it for the time being. The land is on the High Banks of the Kalamazoo River and the vista from the land is calm and peaceful. I frequently see deer, geese, turkey, and coyote while I am clearing. I often tell my husband that I could easily live there and would love to put up a summertime yurt. So, as I am working I imagine what that yurt would look like, the feel of it, the smell of it, I wonder what thunder would sound like all muffled through the wool,...then I thought about the homeless, winters here in Michigan, the bitter, biting cold of the north wind during winter and my mind began to wander and wonder about the simple comfort of the yurt, the inexpensive housing of the yurt, the soft strength of a home of wool, the strength of the round shape ger in severe winds, the beautiful quiet that happens inside a ger or yurt.

I'm hearing from family and friends that tent villages are springing up all over the states, and not from people who choose to be homeless, but simply have nowhere to go. I realize that it could happen to anyone at anytime. Is the simple, lovely yurt a potential answer to our housing crisis? It's totally portable, easy up and down in a day, protection from the elements, and all things considered, very inexpensive housing. Now I realize that plumbing and electricity are issues, but I have to believe that a yurt or ger would be so much better than under a bridge, in a dumpster, park bench. I often wonder if the creative, artistic people of our world should not be more active in the problem solving aspects of the issues the world faces today. Creative folks already think out of the box, or as I often say "what box?" I'm going to keep thinking on this while I work in the woods.