from above...

I think I've traveled by plane more in the past 12 months than I have in the past 12 years. I'm not a huge fan of flying, but I did start to get into a sort of groove with it and even enjoy it some. There are a whole host of things that spring to mind to share--things I liked less: self-important/ angry travelers, the strangeness of airports, the culture of fear security; and things I liked more: the airlines that still give complimentary drinks, my high levels of productivity when stuck in an airport, and the view.

Mostly the view.

Grass removal plan--step 2

Before I took off for my international traveling circus we took the time to go hiking and do some 'homework.' I think I may have mentioned that the previous owner of our home had a fondness for velvety green grass, so much so that it was watered twice a day. I don't think it even had time to absorb all the water between watering some days. So we turned off the water and have been watching the grass languish all year (sick pleasure). We knew that we didn't want to keep up the watering and maintenance regime--we still don't own a lawnmower. So our first step was to add to the yard some things that we wanted: fruit trees and a fire pit. Then we started to plot about the front yard.

Xeriscaping seems to be the best option for the high desert--although you wouldn't guess it from a glance at our street, which is one row of green interspersed with driveways. Most of the folks on our streets have dogs or kids though, so it makes total sense to have a grassy area for play. We have neither, just a big eyesore of a dead lawn. So we rented a sod cutter (it actually ended up being 3, not the best maintained machines...) and had 4 yards of bark and 4 yards of gravel delivered. I posted online that we had free sod for pick-up that was only in need of watering, and over two days 4 or 5 different groups of people showed up to take away our rolls of half-dead grass and put it down for their dogs. It made me very very happy. For a couple of reasons, first, people were excited to take it away and create a non-dirt space and, second, it meant that at the end of the weekend I only had bits and pieces of grass that I had to pay to get rid of at the transfer station.

So we started with this:

Before.

Sod removal.

4 yards bark, 4 yards gravel

The set-up

Last year we responded to a post that listed free lava rock. We were not entirely sure what we would do with it, but we filled our truck with as much rock as we could and now almost a year later we are putting it to use. Joe also brought home some recycled 'super sacks' from work--one at least had some un-malted barley in it that has sprouted. I thought it was zombie grass (die! die!) until I pulled it out of the bark and a barley seed came up with it. Joe also brought home some nice pallets and we spent a good few hours the evening before the sod cutting taking them apart and staining the pieces.

So, free rock and pallet border, free grass removal--thank you fellow residents (even our sod-cutting rental ended up being free because of all the machinery problems).

And what we now have is this:

After.

 

Someone who worked for the city 'happened to be driving by' and knocked on the door the Monday after our epic work weekend and asked when we'd be clearing the mess. With as much politeness as I could muster I explained that we'd already cleared quite a bit and planned on getting the last of the sod and gravel off the street during the week....which is actually true, but all the same.

So, Joe moved all the gravel into the backyard (which we cookie-cutter removed sod from as well) and I loaded the sod and took it to the transfer station recycling/yard debris side, where I was met with this somewhat shocking sight:

Mountain of unwanted sod

Our offering...

I am really proud that of all of the grass that we removed all that was left fit into our little pick-up truck. It cost $4 to get rid of.

We're not total grass-haters though--I really do hope that some of our neighbors derive amusement at the new plants we got to spruce up the front-most part of the front yard:

Clumping grass

Deer-resistant!

We have other plans for the backyard, which will come as another installment, right now it's just a hodge-podge of gravel, leftover grassy space and dirt. But we received notice of a neighborhood meeting to discuss the plans for building 14 new houses across the street from our backyard, so the impetus to get to work again just got stronger.

...maintenance free?

No need to prepare

I know it's going to rain. I know this. It's the rainy season.
But this just doesn't suit my sensibilities:

Otra Vez...

The garden entryway where I'm staying

I'm in Mexico again. I may have mentioned that at some point. But this time feels very different. I'm staying with some friends at a beautiful home and commuting to the Universidad de Tierra for my lessons in autonomy with these folks. It doesn't really feel as though I am here.

The classes are very much on campesino time, so we are up early and late. But I never feel bad because they're up earlier and later.

We're in "lecture" for three hours and then we have a pozol break for an hour, and then we have three hours of reading and study time with our own personal Votan (read: person strongly affiliated with the social movement). We then have a two hour break for lunch and then back to class for question and answer for two more hours.  I had some fabulous plan for working on my dissertation since I was going to be staying in the city. Hah!

It is an amazing gift of time and knowledge. I hope I can get it all. Sometimes after a full day of Spanish my brain just shuts down.

Learning 'autonomy'

For a couple of years I've been wanting to attend this seminar in Barcelona--and the draw was mostly the seminar, with the city being the perk. I finally received funding to attend this year and as I sit in a train station, class finished and taking a couple days to myself, my mind feels ready to explode with the weight of my attendance.

This is where I went to class

The seminar was many things--not quite what I expected, but also, at the same time, more than I anticipated. I think I made some good connections and I have a lot to think about going into my dissertation writing.

The travel itself was both exciting and daunting. I feel as though all I have been doing since November of last year has been traveling. (I set a record for days home the week before I left for Spain--8 days in a row!) I'll have another week at home and then I'm off to Chiapas again for one last reconnaissance research trip. So yes, travel, lots of it. I feel a bit fatigued. But also very rewarded, because I get to be present in all of these really fabulous places and meet new folks and so on.

My only experience with Europe prior to this past month was the UK, which in my memory feels very different than Spain. In fact,

Furnicular

Spain reminds me more of Mexico than either my experience or my imaginary of Europe. I like using the Euro and I love the underground and the other myriad forms of transportation available--in the past two weeks I have been on the metro, the light rail (yes they are different), high speed train, furnicular, cable car, taxi, bus, and my own two feet. And I have to admit I walked whenever it was feasible distance-wise--and more than I meant to due to my awesome navigation skills (more than once I wandered some miles because I took a right instead of a left--I am a brilliant geographer).

My class was at Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona in a less-touristy neighborhood, which was really nice. Anytime I went to a more touristy venue I started to feel claustrophobic.

Because my visit was only punctuated by short ventures out, there's not the same storytelling to be done. I did take some photos (over here on flickr) and the ones in this post are just a few of my favorites. It was almost impossible to not take too many photos of the rocks in Montserrat and the cathedrals in Valencia--every time I thought I had captured them I saw something new (er...this means, lots of pictures of rocks/bricks and mountains unfortunately)...

I started to compartmentalize things that I liked and didn't about being here.

Un cafe = espresso

Some of my favorite things were:

• espresso to go
• the buildings - mostly just that no matter where you turned there was something fabulous to look at
• the food (meat, cheese, bread, wine...repeat). I had to take myself to the mercado and get some vegetables to feel normal again.
• the transportation (as I've already extolled above) -- also, being whisked through the suburbs, which randomly have 15th century cathedrals or other century castles just hanging out in the general area...

Things I was less enamored by (or at minimum amused by):

Available in cans too...

• dog shit, everywhere. In a city where the majority of green space is defined by trees poking out of patio there's no where to go...
• fashion, there's a whole new level in Barcelona, I felt like a hiker amongst ballroom dancers--also the baring of bras I'm not a prude, but it took a little getting used to
• finding out the hard way that 'clara' translates to 'shandy' and not to 'lager' (as it does in Mexico)
• Catalan. Seriously, I thought I would have a rough time keeping up with Castilian and instead I was faced with not knowing Catalan--oh well.
• getting lost was really easy for me and not nearly as fun as when you're with someone else (read: Joe) 
• Also, when they take all the other place-settings away, which I realize is not necessarily a thing here in particular, but just made my individual travel all that much more visible to me.

  

  single-serving again

I'm finishing this post in a hotel bar near the airport and I feel relieved to be traveling tomorrow.

One last round of tapas and ridiculously cheap and delicious wine. Bed. 3 planes. I arrive the same day I leave, just barely (with 9 hours difference). My major goal this week is to recover from jet lag before I get it again.

The snowline

Broken Top

I'm sure I don't need to explain about all of the crazy weather that we've been having--but we've had an idea to go camping on the holiday and thought we'd check out the snow situation. Since we've been snowed out and lost before we thought a nice day hike up in the mountains (read: get out of the 90+ weather in town) would be lovely for a break and some reconnaissance.

The snow line does not look favorable for our planned camping trip, but it was absolutely beautiful. Also, I've said it before and I'll say it again, I find it incredibly unfair that there should both be snow and mosquitoes at the same time. Ugh.

The trail--now you see it, now you don't

We actually abandoned our effort to do the loop and check out a moraine lake due to the complete inability to continue on the trail from this point. Instead we headed to a lower elevation to check out a more ambling stroll on this beautiful lake with views of Bachelor. Not the challenging hike we were attempting to put in in preparation for a multi-day camping adventure, in which I will have a cameo (I'm hiking back out to catch a flight next week), but a gorgeous view and a nice moment to catch the early wildflowers.

Grass removal plan--step 1

While I was in Mexico I had a thought about a really fabulous way to get rid of a lot of grass in our backyard, which didn't consist of a greenhouse so we could extend the season and possibly grow veggies here. Summer here is really quite fabulous and I love the idea of extending our evenings outside. So when I got back, we discussed it, walked the yard and plotted out a nice circular pattern.

see circular pattern with rope

We also planted some trees and thought about pathways and other privacy/noise reduction strategies that we could initiate this summer and watch grow over the next year or two. You can see the new trees in the background of some of the photos below...

I haven't been home many days since I returned from the field, but we've made excellent use of the days I have been here--it helps that Joe went all pick-axe on the grass on some of the days I was gone. And so, in many steps, we created a fire pit.

 

The sod.

Who needs to rent a compactor when you have a full keg?

 

   

Trying to fit my whole shadow into the circle

DONE.

A very personal inaugural fire, from the dead wood of the bubala