the cric house

welcome to my blog barbara and bruce!!!


michelle and i decided we wanted to start woofing ( www.wwoof.org)at the cric house the following day so we called emmanuel in san francisco and ended up being able to stay at his place. we took the train from berkley to san francisco although we went the wrong way for about 40 minutes. we dropped our things off at emmanuels and went down to the bay where we had a great view of the golden gate bridge and alcatraz and we ate more hummus in the moonlight. so romantic mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
the next morning we got on the bus to santa rosa where we would have to get on another bus that would take us to sebastopol. some young kid that was wearing a sports jersey and a way to big hat sat next to us.he seemed nice. he gave me pokemon cards to look through and warned me not to scratch them. i do not care about pokemon at all.
we had arrived in santa rosa and started walking around because the next bus wouldn't be leaving for another 2 hours. while we were walking this realy nice lady sitting in her car at a traffic light gave us some very delicous pizza and told us about how she used to backpack all around when she was younger. then we walked into a store called kindred which sold only fair trade products. the lady who worked there noticed our bags and asked where we were headed. michelle bought a really beautifull and colorfull skirt. then some lady who was talking to the cashier said , hey if your going to sebastopol i can give you a ride. so she ended up giving us a ride all the way to the cric house. we got to the cric and were given a tour by a youngin named ben o. the cric house dumpster dives 80 percent of there food. its sounds gross getting food from a dumpster but in most cases it is in some type of bag. dumpster diving saves money, saves perfeclty good food from going to waste and its fun. they have a grey water system which converts the water from the sink and shower and filters it through a system of different plants which is outside. by doing so they are bypassing the process of the city using chemicals and such to clean the water. and all the energy that goes into that. also they have compost toilets. the compost toilet is set up just like a regular toilet but it stead of a bowl that you poop into and then flush and goes to a water treatment center and al that, there is a bucket. you make your deposit into the bucket and then add carbon material like straw or woodchips to absorb moisture and control odor, and there is none. with there system they empty the 5 gallon bucket into a bigger bucket and when that is full it gets put in a pile with cow manure and other things to undergo composting.

today michelle used a chop saw for the first time!!! we were cutting wood with a guy named roland to make raised beds. raised beds are easier to work with because you dont have to bend down as much, the soil doesnt get taken away by the rain and everything stays tidy. here the ground is very hard and the roots would have trouble getting through the soil.after the building of the structure was done we put in a layer of cow manure, then dirt that we had to sift to get out all the rocks out , then a wee bit more manure, then top soil for the top layer. after all that we planted some peas. michelle now has a very awkward tanline on her back.

a new wwoofer just arrived. its funny because when we were couchsurfing at emmanuels in san francisco, she was there. the weather has been great so far. good good good.

also, i have no phone reception here.

we are in berkeley now

after our stay with david we spent some time at the library trying to research hostels in the san francisco area to stay at. after a hour or we decided to take a break and go for a walk. on our walk we would ask random people if they might like to take us in for a night. after not to long we walked by a girl with real long dreads at an atm. we walke past her thinking we should have talked to her. 30 seconds later she came up to us and asked us for a pen, and we asked her for a place to stay. she said she would have to ask her roomates, so we went over for tea. we ended up staying with katy and her friends and going to see live music with them later that night. her and michelle traded dread beads.
while in SF we got a lot of recomndations to go to berkeley. we went online and found some communities there and called a few. one guy told me to go to a place in berkeley called fort awsome. we took the train over and then walked for a while to the adress we were given. when we got there the guy told us they had no more room but they suggested we go to a place called lothlorean. he pointed it out on our map and we walkd for about 40 minutes or so. on our walk we stoppe for a sit at a park called people park. and it just so happens that at that park at that time Food Not Bombs was there. food not bombs is a 40 year old organization that started duing the war. it originated in boston. here in berkeley at peoples park they give away free, hot, delicous food 5 days a week. in boston they do it twice a week .
lothlorean is a huge housing coop made up of 2 houses next to eachother and 60 residents altogether. when we showed up we told them our story and they said we could stay for atleast 2 nights in the bubble room.
yesturday michelle and i wen for a long steep hike up through the woods. the view was amazing. you could see the bay and the golden gate bridge. the weather was perfect. after the hike we went back to people park and ate lunch with food not bombs. after that we went to the college and posted a note on a billboard because we are trying to find a ride north. while we were there we ended up watching some live music because there was a battle of the bands going on. also, there was this homeless guy with a laptop pwered by a solar panel blasting awfull pop music. after that we went to a restaurant called smart alecs. really inexpensive and tasty food.
not sure yet what will do today. we might stay here or go back to SF or try to hitch hike up to sebastopol.
the people here at lothlorean are really great.

david

yesterday michelle and i walked from emmanuels house to the golden gate bridge. it took about 2 hours just to walk to the beginning of it. we walked along the water the whole way. very romantic!!! from far away the bridge looks small, but when we got there i was really amazed. michelle and i walked all the way across then back. i looked over the bridge down to the water and got real dizzy. after we crossed the bridge and came back we walked down the path a while and got on the bus that took us to haight street. we spent a few hours there walking around but we were sooooo worn out from all the walking we had already done. we sat at the golden gate park for a while. while we were sitting i noticed this cute little mole or something keep popping its head out of the ground. i've never seen that before. we gave some dirty looking guy some almonds, then we walked some more. we ate dinner at the Red Vic. michelle had spring rolls and rice and i had a crepe with blueberrys, banana, nutella and whipped cream. and also we saw the gratefull dead house. on haight street we were offered pot about 3 times.
the whole day we did not know where we were going to sleep. we were just hoping something would work out. nothing seemed to be happening so i decided to call around to a few hostels and i found one that sounded good so i booked a room. we got the bus back to emmanuels where we had left our bags for the day, said goodbye to him and walked to the bus stop. while at the bus stop we were just sitting there waiting and waiting and this guy comes up to us. he was so friendly and laughed alot. we talked to him for a few minutes and then he offered us a ride to whereever we needed. we didnt have and bad feelings about the situation so we took the ride. David was so happy to be able to help us. he told us that if we need a place to stay we could stay with him, so maybe tonight that is what we will do. he brought all the way to the green tortoise hostel, which is in china town where all the strip clubs and what not are. michelle and i were so gratefull for his kindness. we were saying goodbye to him and he forced us to take money from him. after all he had already done he gave us money too!!! i told him we didnt need it and all that but he just laughed and stuffed it in my hand.
when michelle and i walked in the hostel i looked at the money and he had given us 45 dollars!!! he pretty much paid for our stay. michelle and i were in a triple room and for a while we had the room all to ourselves, but at 3 in the morning some one else showed up. argh. didnt sleep so well cause of all the drunk english guys stomping up the stairs and being real loud, but it was still an interesting experience.
we are still at the hostel now but we will soon make our way down to the green festival that is going on today. another wonderfull day of being in san francisco. i love it.we are really having a great time. :)

hi from san francisco

michelle and i have been in san francisco for almost 2 days. we like it here so far. the first day we found our way to emmanuels apartment and dropped off our stuff. we met emmanuel on couchsurfing.com he said we coul stay at his place for a couple nights. michelle and i were talking of walking a couple miles down the road to cafe gratitude. emmanuels friend said it was on her way and she could drop us off. the staff there was so so nice. the food was great too. michelle got a side of veggies and a side of brown rice. my meal had brown rice, sprouts, avacodo , mushrooms and a bunch of other stuff. cafe gratitude is a raw vegan restaurant.
after we ate we walked to the rainbow grocery which is the biggest co op i have ever been too. and all the food is local, grown in california! delicous oranges.
we have been walking alot. yesturday we got out of bed real late and then headed downtown to the hayes valley farm. a small organic farm in the midde of the city! the guy that gave us a tour said that in 1989 there was a major earthquake the destroyed alot of the highways and hayes valey was were the on and off ramps were. and after years of the area being deserted a few people got permission to turn it into a farm. they managed to truck in a bunch of dirt and compost from local places near the city and build up the soil. they also used sheet mulching which is cardboard, manuer and mulch. it only started 4 months ago and it is looking amazing. they have about 50 fruit trees, many terraces which are growing fava beans to fix nitrogen into the soil, they have lettuce and lots more. michelle and i volunteered there for 2 hours. after hayes valley we went back to the rainbow grocery and got some dinner and headed to duboce park were they were playing back to the future on a projector outdoors. hundreds of people out there. it was fun and smelled great. we stayed at the park for a little while and then went to this club that emmanuel told us he was at. there was music and art.. i liked the art but the music we didnt like much. we left shotly after getting there. we hopped on the bus and called it a night. today we will walk across the golden gate bridge then go check out haight ashbury. and no, we dont know where we will sleep tonight, but that will work out just fine i'm sure.

my next move

Michelle and I bought 2 one way tickets to California. Our plan is to spend a few days in San Francisco then travel north to do some wwoofing. WWOOF stands for World Wide Oppurtunities On Organic Farms. I have a 1 year membership on their website and they sent me a book. I can find farms and communes all over the country. So that is what we are working on now, finding interesting places where we can do a work exchange for a couple weeks or a month. Michelle is thinking she will go to Virginia in August then in October she will be going to Israel. I don't know what I will end up doing.
Not a whole lot has been going on in Canton for me. I still have some sprouts going and i make bread occasionaly. I made a raised garden bed for my mom and mulched some trees at my grandmas.

what ive been doing with my time

yes, i do not have a job right now so i have alot of time. as i mentioned in my last post i am trying to get some volunteer programs going on around here and i am thinking about organizing a potluck. i am trying to figure out a good place to hold the potlucks. the other day i went to the senior center and applied for a volunteer position. Michlle and i both filled out a cory form and diane, the lady in charge will be getting back to us. michelle really hit it of with this man named joe. also michelle and i walked around putting letters in people mailboxes offering a voluntary service of snow removal, cooking, and anything else we might be able to help with. the other day i went to town hall and asked if there were any volunteer organizations in town i could help out with. the lady looked at me like i was absolutely crazy. in this town there really is no voluntary organizations. i left her my info and she said she would get back to me. if i dont her back from here by tuesday or wednesday ill go back. if things dont get going in a month or 2 i am leaving this town and going somewhere more progressive. i don;t much like the suburbs.

lately ive been really into health. i am interested in learning more about food and cooking. ive been growing sprouts since i got back. mostly mung beans and i also started on some chickpeas. i think i will soon order some more seeds and beans in bulk.there is a free sprouting workshop on the 22nd! almost everyday i have a green smoothie. in the smoothie i put kale, banana, apple, cinnamon and sometime carrot. today my smoothie was beet,carrot, zucchini, kale and banana. it sounds not so tasty but it was delicious and purple. i also made some breads. my favorite was the whole wheat and sunflower seed loaf. i also made flourless black bean brownies but they ended up in the composting bucket after they fell upside down on the floor. i was going to eat them but i was reminded that the dogs walk in that area a lot, and the dogs are always stepping in poop.

ive been trying to prepare food for my parents and my uncle more often. i've been doing a pretty good jobi think. t im reading more up on food combining and digestion.


i see michelle almost everyday. we really have a lot of fun. im lucky that she is around. i showed her and my sister how to ferment cabbage. then michelle and i made sourdough starter that should be ready tomarrow. yesturday we went to her grandmas , ate ice cream and watched guess whos coming to dinner. one of my favorite things about michelle is that she helps me be in the present moment

also im trying to organize a eastern massachusetts permaculture group. i started a facebook group under the name " eastern massachusetts permaculture" one person interested in the group recomended a hike, which i think would be a great bonding experience for us eastern massers

i think i will be getting my car back on the road sometime soon which will be nice.

im back and rather motivated

ive been back in the states for almost 2 weeks. europe was amazing and i miss it very much. it was very strange coming back. i remember going for a walk around these suburbs the morning after being home and noticing all the ridiculously huge houses with the big fancy cars in their driveways and the huge lawns of chemically fertilized grass. i have been feeling anxious back here. for the past few months i have been around people who share the same interests as i do and now im back here, in america, the land of excess and selfishness. but its not all bad, its a great country and all. i met alot of americans and people from england who have moved to europe to escape their country, and for a while that was my plan. but like my brother said if everyone ran away everything would fall apart and no positive change could be made.i could be pretty much anywhere i want to be right now but im chosing to stay in this town to try to get things going.( and michell is here too) there is no sense of community here. we need to work together as a community. i have had some thoughts on what i can do about this. i am interested in renting out a space in town and having weekly potlucks or something like that. it would be a good opportunity to bring people together. also i am interested in starting a group of maybe 10 or 20 people who pair up in groups of 2 and visit with people and maybe cook them some good healthy food.