Grounding dreams, celebrating community, welcoming the New Lunar Year

Gung Hee Fat Choy, Happy New Lunar New Year of the Green Goat/Sheep/Ram.

"When the world was new the Jade Emperor created a calendar. Twelve animals were chosen for each of the twelve years...Ram was chosen for his courage." - from The Rooster's Antler's a tale of the Chinese Zodiac

Our computer is once again occupied by a bug that creates chaos with software; I cannot load photos using Blogger (it works this post). But, there are ways around that and in my primitive way I pin together methods on the border and offer you a way to see how Pete and I continue to ground our dreams, celebrate community and welcome the Year of the Goat/Sheep/Ram.


If you're curious LINK HERE to see our friends and community telling stories, making rattles, and dancing the Blessing Dance to feed the hungry ghosts and make space for joy, Grace and respect for place.

Vardo first ... then the community

I juggle writing content between the three blogs The Safety Pin Café, Makua o'o and Vardo for Two like I walk between the three separate tiny houses that make up home; wake up in Vardo for Two, walk to the Quonset and have a cup of hot tea, walk to the Hale for a hot shower or wash the dishes. Not unlike walking from one end of a house, or through a hallway except that our hallway is the forest floor and our ceiling the canopies of pine and fir up a hundred feet tucked beneath Earth's sky, the stars, Hina and the Sun. Today, the Sun is just beginning his brighten through the trees. The Quonset's heater is working overtime to keep the kitchen-writing room-kitty space warm. What it will really need is for me to start cooking something to get the heat going. But. For now I munch at an apple crisp and cold from being stored in a box outside. It's probably in the high twenties now. Cold for a Hawaiian. The rest of this post will lead you to a piece of writing that expands upon this juggling experiment we began when we first dreamed up Vardo for Two. It is truly an experiment in living and deeply digging into the potential that so often appears as a knot or cluster of knots with no solution but to abandon the mess -- leave it for someone else to sort out, or cut the tangle and if you're lucky there's still enough left over to start again.

Kalei Nu'uhiwa one of my favorite Hawaiian scientists and teachers is fond of saying (well she's fond of saying quite a few things but for now ... ) "I don't know about you all but I love chaos." In this video, and presentation at the 2012 'Aha Wahine (Womens' Gathering) Kalei expounds on the process of creating sacred space. Specifically she describes the rituals and foundations for women's role in creating sacred space. We Hawaiian have a huge capacity for embracing multiplicity: we see the connectivity of seemingly dis-similar events. What Hawaiians, a people bred on making sense of life with what is (through keen observation and documentation) practice is a highly evolved sense of community. Nothing and no one is an orphan, what happens here will and does affect something there. Our creation story, the Kumulipo begins in darkness with the coral naming the seeds and the birthing from the seed polyps. From the sea, to the land. From darkness into light. From Po to Ao. Over time. Every thing is named. Every birth is recorded. From chaos comes order. From the knot of potential everything is possible.


From The Safety Pin Café ...
"Five years ago (2010) my husband Pete Little and I found the South Whidbey Island community. Our former life was being rebuilt; we had to dig deeper for people, place and values to thrive in spite of a medical diagnosis with one basic 'cure': "avoid almost everything!" That's a bit of a stretch but not much of one. The short story is I was diagnosed with MCS Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, or Environmental Illness in 2007, pesticides, chemicals and common products of the everyday 21st century are the primary sources of harsh and often debilitating reactions. My immune system was unable to cope, or restore health. A house or public spaces? For years those were "no-can-dos". In 2008 we learned what materials were less toxic and lessened the body's burden brought on by exposures; we experimented and tested how to build a tiny movable space to live in and regain wellness. Then began the journey to become part of a community.



Above: Pieces of cloth from an earlier time are being reworked,
and become something beautiful in a new life freshly in the making.
Below: The sign says it all. We learn to live with Peace in our loyal 'Scout' the Subarus and discover how much is enough while remembering who and what is really important

We lived from this faithful Subaru and from it, we learned how little was necessary, and how much could be had with what was at hand. The photo below is an early stage Vardo for Two porch when we were parked on a ledge in the woods
 in early summer, 2009.

 

 

In the summer of 2010 we found a place in the woods of Langley to park our Vardo for Two. Life began to re-fresh knowing we had a home. That same summer we found the South Whidbey Tilth and Farmers' Market. At first, it was the companionship and laid-back atmosphere that made us feel at home. Then, we discovered Tilth's history as a place unsprayed with pesticides for three decades. Our shoulders relaxed, my immune system calmed for the first time in three years, we began to root, volunteer, share what we have learned about fragrance-free and chemical free practices and become part of the community. Link here to read the full post, and see how the untangling of potential and the belief that everything is connected just keeps happening. Like the man said, "If you build it they will come."
 

Time for thank you: Mahalo kakou

Many earth people, and traditions which value the connection of humans to all that is recognize the power of  prayer.  Beautifully crafted, embellished and enriched with song, drumming, dance or simply stated aloud or silently there is power in the word.  One of the most powerful prayers is simply "Thank you." All around us we see the evidence of structures being restructured/disassembled both on the collective and large-scale as well as on the personal and intimate levels.  The cosmic reordering can be explained (if that is a fit word) by seeing how the planets (Pluto and Saturn in particular, though other personal planets will play a role as well.  In our world, Pete and I are being reassembled at very basic levels.  I received my first Social Security Check today:  good news!  The check however, is made out to someone I 'once was' (a former married name); and though I worked on getting this change made to the federal government system my efforts and the 'system' still need to connect at the right place.  Short story:  I will need to keep working at it.  This process of being 'reassembled' is the theme of my fairy tale WOOD CRAFTING.  The characters and the setting are a blend of other-worldliness and our world.  In our real world though, the only way to be reassembled is to be DIS-assembled first.  That means, you gotta forget a lot of what you thought/did/believed before the new can be rebuilt.  I heard something on the radio yesterday while driving south from a special day in Skagit County.  In gently supportive context one woman said to the other, "Things are hard in the beginning."  It clicked a switch inside me and I felt the message at a deeply relevant place.  Things are hard in the beginning of most things whether it's learning to tie your first shoes or learning to live without gasoline or money to pay a mortgage.  It helps me to remember to take time to pray, and today it helps for me to say "Thank you."  It's a habit I have let slide, so today I pick it up again.

I'm closing in on my physical limit at the computer and the temptation to keeping spilling onto the page is a strong urge.  Still, I know it's better that I stop soon.  This is a post of thanks, mahalo kakou (a collective thank you) before the 'Ole Cycles (a time of no new posts for one thing) begin tomorrow.  Wonderful people and situations do surround me and my heart is filled with gratitude.  Here are my thank yous.

1.  Thank you to all the Followers and readers (newly come, and long-time readers) who stop to read our blog.
2.  Thank you JT and Lana for the beautiful prints created by Rima Staines.  They are off-gassing nicely here in the basement and we get to see them every day.
3.  Thank you D and L for the friendship and space here in Everett.
4.  Thank you 'B' for letting us camp on the strip of lawn between the two settled houses.
5.  Thank you folks from Transitional Everett for welcoming us into your circle; especially Hal for playing his harmonica in our basement what a treat!
6.  Thank you K for your support through the uncertainty of life with MCS.
7.  Thank you Christopher for the Wonder Wash.  It's making a difference in my clothes washing routines.
8.  Thank you to the folks at our Sno-Isle Cooperative for being there and being friendly and relatively 'stink-free.'
9.  Thank you JOTS for the furry feline love you share simply being a kitty.
10.  Thank you Pete for being part of my journey.

We are in Bend, Oregon

Our trek south and east was a success. We are in Bend, Oregon in Central Oregon. Bernadette the old Dodge truck hauled the dandelion covered wagon at a slow and steady pace off the Ledge and onto the busy whirl of freeways and mountain passes. We were quite the site turquoise truck and tiny wee wheelie home followed by the trusty green 'Scout' the Subaru. Cars, trucks, semis and mammoth travel trailers passed us by for our speed was a consistent just 50 m.p.h. Slow and steady as the tortoise, we left the ledge for the nine hour journey.

Jots' protests (for she did so love the Ledge and woods that surrounded her) calmed after the first hour, as she slowly mellowed into the rhythm of the road.

The fall colors were brilliant all the way south and then we were blessed with the incredible shift in scenery through the passes that climb around Mt. Hood in Oregon. At it's steepest, the elevation was 4,000. Bernadette earned her reputation for a working truck. The old Dodge attracted as many attentive and admiring truck coos as the curious looks Kolea Nani received.

The gods of travel and wandering were with us getting us over the steep climb before last nights snow and the icy rain that we woke to this morning. We are settled in a field with two friendly Rescue Horses and a pair of twin kitties who love to hunt mice. In the near while, we hope to have a few pictures of the new and very different place where we live. The blog looks different now, for this life is surely a chapter yet to be written. More changes to the blog will evolve as we settle into our new encampment of living in tandem with other tiny home haven folks.

New and compassionate friends have made our journey to a winter encampment possible. Leslie and Tony and their Janie are the welcome party and positive attraction fueling a dream of MCS-safe tiny haven community. There will be more about this dream of community to come from Vardo For Two. For now it is simply grand to note of the Wall of Dreams ... "Yes! A kind and reassembled reality is possible."

One of the miracles that we enjoyed last night was a sumptuous and lovingly prepared dinner of organic greens, beets, yams, rice and mahi mahi. We all helped with parts of the cooking in the straw bale home of our new friends. In a chemical and fragrance free home the invisible yet all encompassing vigilance that we who live with MCS carry was left on pegs, and for the first time in such a long time we enjoyed relaxed and real conversation and support. No excuses or distancing physical maneuvers (avoiDANCING) were necessary for that whole evening. A real kitchen, modifications that an MCSers noticed and breathes easily with, all made for a first meal in Bend, Oregon a great treat.

We laughed, enjoyed the new revelations and development of knowing that comes from making new friends with common and focused attention to a reassembled view of life on Planet Earth. Fun!

We'll be back with more from Vardo For Two in the while.
A hui hou,
Mokihana and Pete

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

Microfinance Success Stories

I've begun beating my drum to the tune of Savings Circles as a way to build a community that can and would wish to support me and Pete as we hitch VARDOFORTWO to a truck and begin Tiny Home life with friends. From the lack of comments so far, I wonder whether the concept of small and intimate financial support systems rings any bells for our readers? I hope in time, the readers who began sharing this Vardo building journey with us will see the possibilities of micro-finance in American/North American/Countries not (yet) defined as part of the identified poor.

While we are waiting for the spark to catch you, I have been out scanning the blosphere for people and stories that might be feeding on the same Stew of Solutions that I enjoy. Today Pete was doing his surf on the net and said, "Take a look at this ..." This turned out to be a story on Fire Dog Lake about a microfinance success story in Ghana. This is just what I was searching for. Beyond my usual travels on the blog trail, Pete led me to a place where I could beat my drum with like-thinkers. Here is the link to that story: http://www.oxdown.firedoglake.com/diary/3812 and the comments that are growing there.

What is a Savings Circle PART II

I was inspired to explore the intimate functions of a Saving Circle sometime late in 2008. The life Pete and I are creating seems to beckon to a method of humanizing our relationship with Value, and in the process reinvent our relationship with money. After more than 15 weeks of regular DREAM COMING TRUE Posts here on VardoForTwo, the shift from spending Dream Money to Saving Circle is to me, a natural progression. A tiny home lifestyle could be better served within a community that knows, trusts and values me, Pete, and all we touch.

Here's what I found in my mailbox a couple weeks ago. The following quotes are from the letter I received from Michelle Mungall of the Circle of Habondia Lending Society, in the West Kooteney Region of British Columbia, CA.

Dear friend,

We are writing you to introduce the Circle of Habondia Lending Soceity, to share our vision and to encourage you to invest in the women of your community. Through the sharing of resoures, we envision a society whee abundance is a way of life ...

From the Circle's Organizing Principles

Habondia, the real abundance, is the power
To say yes and to say no, to open
And to close, to take or to leave
And not to be taken by force or law
Or fear or poverty or hunger or need.

I have a long and varied history as an organizer and leader of future visions. As a young woman, I worked with a band of other young women and designed the first Early Childhood Education Programs where the teacher taught from the child's home. Those programs began Head Start's Home Base proto-type, still alive and well today, thirty some years later.

Something in me loves to spark new possibilities, or meld two existing separate pieces into something yet to be. That's how I feel about inciting the belief that Saving Circles are a hands on real solution to my community's sense of value, worth and resources. Pete and I are nearing our initial goal: Build and live in VARDOFORTWO. Each step of the way ... whether moving forward with a successful materials choice and completed wall or a step backward because my sensitive self could not be with a material, we have shared the journey. Blogging offers a level of transparency uncommon in past histories. Storytelling has reached new heights!

The next step: build a community we can support, and a community that will support us. In a few weeks we will hitch the VARDOFORTWO up to a rented flat bed trailer and make our maiden voyage to the foothills of the Olympics. Two friends with eight acres of Earth are willing to let us park VARDOFORTWO, and the four of us will begin growing a community. A whole chapter opens up to us with that next step.

Gathering and sharing the idea and practical steps involved in forming a Saving Circle is one of the things I will be nurturing this year.

"Informal savings clubs have a long history all around the world...But we have had to wait for the Village Savings and Loan Association movement to show how the same basic principles can be used by, and be useful to, poor and very poor people who, because of illiterarcy or isolation or discrimination, never before had a chance to test out the ideas..." -Stuart Rutherford, author of The Poor and Their Money

Definitions of "financial wealth" and "poverty" in countries like America are changing. Our personal story as a pair of old dears who live within a global society where environmental illness must be 'proven' rather than rectified at its source, has been enough to reinvent wealth and poverty for us. The poll we posted last week showed some interest in Saving Circles. I hope you will email us or leave a comment if your interest includes being part of forming a Saving Circle. We live in Washington state, and would welcome hearing from our neighbors interested in this form of Simplicity and Reconnection. We find ourselves at this stage of life more like the village "poor isolated or discriminated against" and yet, that does not turn us into victims of society. We are very conscious of the systems which challenge us. Equally though, we know what our strengths are and what resourceful souls we are. Our journeys (separately and together) define these strengths and our values. This blog is all about transformation. There is room for transformation in the way we support, save and value our resources.

I'll close this week's post with this excerpt from the book Village Savings & Loan Associations Chapter 1 "How the methodology works".

" The basic principle of the VSL system is that members of a self-selected group voluntarily form a VSLA and save money, in the form of shares...
The primary purpose of a VSLA is to provide simple savings and loan facilities in a community that does not have access to formal financial services. Loans can also provide a form of self-insurance to members, supplemented by a social fund that provides small but important grants and interest-free loans to membes in distress...
All transactions should be carried out at meetings in front of all the members of the association, to ensure transparency and accountability. To ensurce that transactions do not take place outside the regular meetings, a lockable cash-box is used, both to prevent unauthorized cash movement and to avoid the risk that records might be tampered with."

Here a link to another view of GROUPS in collaboration, 'Giving Circles.' There are ideas for forming a 'Giving Circle that might incite you to start one of your own, or transform these basic steps into a Savings and Giving Circle in your community.

Timing is divine and the time is now. Cheers, Mokihana

Community Redeux

Since the summer of 2007 when Mokihana and I attended Jay's classes on Tiny Houses and began drawing up plans for our Vardo, I now count more questions than answers about the life before us. Adjusting to a winter climate once again makes me wonder, will spring and summer arrive in time to properly prepare for the next cycle of fridgid wonderland? How about the opportunity for work in economically challenging times for a guy who considers working an essential ingredient everyday? Will the right mix of community appear to share in creating a life of caring and sharing, while fully understanding flexibility of the mind might be following the same course as tightening of the muscles and joints after almost 60 years? Where can I join an organization that realizes an earth friendly future beyond the realm of Costco ect. ? The answers that I seek consistently present themselves all day everyday in many surprising encounters with fresh air, soft touches, shadows reveiled, whispered assurances and guidance to act. Which leads me to the conclusion that it is time to do some work. A Hui Hou, Pete

Building the Vardo: Updates on insulation/door/reality of cold and MCS COMMUNITY Building

"Baby, it's cold outside." So this Hawaiian is mostly inside with toes curled in woolen socks and legs covered in wool long johns.


Pete's been outside cutting pieces for the brackets or molding over the steel plates holding the roof ribs together for VARDFORTWO. The temperature's dropped below 30 degrees so some work just has to wait until things aren't freezing ... like until we're not freezing. Paint won't work at this temperature, so we wait on that.


There is progress to document, and a growing community of MCS safe builders is part of that progress and process. So here it is:

The ceiling is painted with the first coat of milk-paint. The smell of oak seems to be neutralizing. After the temperature warms up, I'll do a sniff test.

• The inside trim for the windows is taking much more GARDEN SEED than Pete anticipated. Some pigment doesn't cover as well as others, and even though GARDEN SEED is supposed to be a darker pigment that covers better this is probably the fourth coat and still counting.



• Ceiling trim pieces are cut and ready to be painted and nailed.


• We've taken inventory on the remaining milk paint, and are preparing for a final order of HOMESTEAD HOUSE Milk paint for the inside walls, door and ceiling.
• Slim's working on the door. Pete checked with our door-maker to ask about the glue he's using the put the door together. It's a water-based glue that dries hard...I'm crossing my fingers and turning that one other to the goddess.
  
  

LATEST UPDATE ON INSULATION ... this decision has been a biggie. We posted at least twice before the difficulties we have had finding safe insulation. Leslie who has a terrrific blog THE OKO BOX Blog did a great post about 4 Types of safer insulation. I read her post, thanked her for the great research and commented on her discoveries and then I talked with another Leslie last night. Leslie Lawrence is building an MCS safe movable home in Bend, Oregon. Our conversation was community building and support in real-life. We talked about issues beyond the building of our tiny homes, and yet every thing connects to living in a safe home. A link on Leslie's Website stirred me to re-look at wool as an insulator. Here's a summary of what I've learned about insulation through the process of building a community of MCS support on-line:

1. From Leslie at The Oko Box, I learned that Fiberglass Insulation COULD be manufactured without chemicals. But, my intuitive sense about fiberglass is that it wouldn't 'work' for me because of the fine spun glass ... makes me itch to think of it. Through the 'COMMENTS' section of Leslie's post we explored FELTING WOOL as an option, like my ancestors the MONGOLIANS do to cover their yurts. I left feeling "okay, maybe I'd be crazy enough to try it, too."


2. From Leslie Lawrence I learned that eco-wool batting from The Shepard's Dream MIGHT work, except it would be pricey even though VARDOFORTWO is approx 80 square feet.

• Wool Felting is available through this Northern California resource, and I might order a bed size length of felt to use on our bed or as a rug (the felts are very versatile, and in general I am good with wool).


• MOTHS love wool. So Leslie L. cautioned me about the moths' love of wool, and said I'd have to wash the batting or felt with borax to make it distasteful to the winged ones.


• Leslie L. has found a wool-blended insulation originating in New Zealand and sold in Bend that is probably going to work for her. She is mailing a sample of it to me wrapped in aluminum foil so it doesn't collect any 'stuff' during transport.

BUILDING MCS COMMUNITY

I know it seems like such a long read. A good story takes time ... Last, and with such joy, we received a wonderful comment from Francesca in Italy this morning telling us that VARDOFORTWO is inspiring her as she builds her safe space in an old stable in the Italian hills.

FANTASTICO, Francesca!

Spreading the word and building community

There's a great string of commentary going on about VARDFORTWO over at The Canary Report. Susie writes:

"One our flock, Mokihana, has an article written about her amazing digs in Coming
Unmoored, a blog dedicated to the small home movement, responsible financial
stewardship, and living greener. Mokihana, originally from Hawaii, now lives
in Washington state and is building a “vardo” or tiny, safe home on a trailer
bed so she can move when necessary to protect her health..."

Mahalo to Susie Collins for her skills, resources, network of followers, and especially her generous heart. Like a true 'coconut wireless' the word is really starting to spread. Click to read Susie's whole story then read the comments from other Canaries, and add your voice to the chirping going on over there.

Our vision for a community of tiny homes is the grand dream. The dream calls to others of like vision, courage, resources and a willingness to intentionally re-invent. Building "Intentional Community" is a lot of work and building one which meets the needs of individuals with multiple chemical sensitivities is an opportunity to transform the limits of the illness. We have two friends in Tahuya, Washington who have begun to intentionally make changes to their lives to include us. It's a lot of back-and-forth, give-and-take. When we began talking about sharing space and resources we did it with the best of intentions and an open heart, stated up front that it was not our intention to change them into people they were not...does that make sense? We'll introduce them sometime soon, and share the steps we're taking to begin building community.

Your dreams, your needs, your examples and your comments for a gentle on the Earth, safe for Canary lifestyle can make a difference. The first poll we posted here is pau (finished). The question was: "What are your feelings about tiny homes?" Eleven votes were cast. Here are the results:

2=I'm fascinated, in a good way

4=I'm curious, and envision living in one.

5=I'm living in one, or intend to build one/have one built for me

How do you feel about a tiny home community? Have you any experience with Intentional Community?