We're been to the woods

Pete in the woods after transplanting the madrona (in the pot just in front of him).

Smooth stones outline the shape of VARDOFORTWO with wooden wheel blocks.

Pete leveling out a spot to put down the wheel blocks.

Jane Dog giving permission.

Mokihana with her O`o (digging & walking stick)

Yesterday Pete and I took the Fauntleroy-Southworth ferry from West Seattle to the Olympic Peninsula. We took a trip to foothills of the Olympic Mountains, to be in the woods. We went to ask permission of the woods and our friends Turtle and Pellet. The wee home on wheels and We ... Pete, Mokihana and Jots the kitty need a place to connect. As we decided which materials to use and as Pete flipped through his inventory of ways to do things, we have always had to make time to ask for clarity, and permission. Yesterday, we drove to the woods with a protocol of permission and rituals to formally ask permission from the firs, pines and hemlocks, the pohaku (stones) and the `aina (the ground). This journey of building a home is all inclusive with the beings that have been long before us.

Turtle, Jane Dog and I went to the spot that has been designed the Vardo Place. It was a chilly day, with morning temperature of 27 degrees. I brought a quilt along to the Vardo Place and Turtle and Jane Dog wrapped themselves on it as I brought the offerings of place to the women's ritual: 4 special tokens for the 4 directions ... three shells from my Island home and a fourth shell from the shores of Alkai Beach where I walk nearly every day. The trees and the land need to be introduced to the places that come with me. Turtle and Jane Dog live on and with these trees everyday, walk this land many times a day. I came to represent the newcomers.

We three women listened and asked permission. There were no objections, and Jane and Turtle were also told that Jots the Kitty would come with us ... she stayed home but her name needed to be included in the story. Turtle was thrilled to hear Jots was coming along, and Jane just needed to know in advance ... she doesn't like surprises. With the rituals completed, the two men who were inside the big house talking basketball, could get to the next part: bringing out some tools and agreeing on logistics. The vardo will be tucked into a spot just off the driveway overlooking a beautiful meadow and pond. The porch of the vardo will probably face north east. A clearing in front of the porch is our envisioned shared garden spot. Our compost pile (which we'll bring along) will find a home in that garden. Only a couple small trees, one fir and a madrona, needed to be transplanted to make room for the vardo. Stakes were laid to measure the 12 foot length and 7 feet of vardo width. Beautiful smooth stones from the land now outline the shape of VARDOFORTWO.

Turtle baked delicious lemon tea cookies, and brought them to the woods while warm. Yummy.
Slabs of salmon and Washington potatoes and carrots all from the West Seattle Farmer's Market was our Sunday meal. A feast of appreciation. The journey continues, with building a community in the foothills of the Olympic Peninsula. The trees, some of them two hundred years old, survivors of the clear-cutters make such clean pure oxygen. After a day in the woods my oxygen-starved cells were plumped, and we're excited!

We're back in the city with plenty to do before hitch-up time later this month.

Cheers! Mokihana and Pete