Baron Michael Mojohito John Richerson von Tchudi

Like last summer, I’ve been slightly exposed to poison oak, leading to a systemic reaction.  This photo is of what I hope to be the pinnacle of the reaction, since I received a steroid shot at the Redwood Clinic in Redway yesterday morning.

The bad news is that the Great Basin Community Food Co-op board meeting was canceled, so I am not able to participate in the fun decision making process of grass-roots food distribution tonight.
The good news is that I can instead take a little time to write something for all y’all out there spread across the Earth who occasionally foster enough curiosity to read about what’s up in El Reno.

I am becoming more absorbed in the lifestyle of kombucha brewing, fostered in large part by a continually growing demand of my product, Hito’s Homemade, at the Co-op. It’s a fine balance, maintaining shelf space alongside GT’s excellent product, but as I’ve been having success bottling a sweeter blend (with fruit juice and ginger), the demand for GT’s has apparently decreased and I am having to tilt harder to produce enough to keep the Co-op well stocked.
So it’s become apparent that increasing capacity, and more than a little bit, is a priority. Suitable containers are not that easy to come by: wide-necked glass vessels are rarely larger than 2.5 gallons, and I’m reluctant to start hacking the top off of carboys just to get another four or five gallons. Ceramic is another great material. but even more expensive. There’s some talk on the Kombucha Tea tribe of using wood, but that isn’t an imminently available material (though picking up an old wine cask for the purpose is going on my “To Do” list).
I’d been thinking about using an aquarium ever since I first saw a culture dominate a cask, producing a wrist-thick, 13″ diameter scoby. And in fact, fish tanks are surprisingly cheap, with the possibility of going to 40 gallons for $50. Lo and behold, as I discuss this with my family over dinner, my Dad offers me to re-appropriate his 29 year old 30 gallon tank which has been over it’s life a salt tank, a fresh tank, and most recently, a terrarium.
I have some concern with the silicone used to seal the tank affecting the ferment or leaching into the beverage, but I haven’t seen any reports of folks who have had experience with this, and I figure that silicone is relatively inert (it’s questionable use in breast implants and common use in areas where organisms are sharing the environment [i.e. fish] somewhat reinforce this assumption), so the only thing left to do is experiment.
So I started a 12 gallon batch in the tank today to see what happens! (see photo)

Tahoe Yoga and Wellness Center hasn’t opened the doors in Reno yet, so my new job hasn’t really ramped up yet. My enthusiasm is still strong, and our grand opening weekend is going to be a blast, I’m sure. I’m having a meeting with the owner this week to discuss the specifics of my multi-faceted job (front desk, tai chi, lifestyle consultations, and maybe some computer technical work as well), after which I’ll nail down some liability insurance and other details. I have to admit, that having a steady income for the first time in nearly two years will be very nice indeed.

Cheetah is back in Reno and living in the house with the Folks, Heather and I. Of course he has his two herding dogs, Quinoa and Zero, who are nicely crate-trained and so only “terrorize” the house a couple hours a day. It’s lovely to have Cheetah around, but it’s clear that he’s antsy for the next thing; Reno doesn’t offer him much, when he really wants to be out working his dogs and working the land.
Mom and Chee are leaving town for a full week tomorrow to visit some more pieces of land and also to explore a couple of WWOOFing options for Cheetah’s interim, considering that land may not materialize for a number of months yet. Nonetheless, the Family intends to be out of this house and onto new land by June.

It has become clear to everyone that Heather and I are serious about pursuing our healing arts career(s), and surprisingly, Reno is a superb venue for that. So it’s pretty likely that we’ll start renting at that point, and… well, who ever knows what the future holds, eh?
I continue to feel confident that all the pieces or elements will come together to create a cohesive texture of lifestyle in which we all are achieving what we want to, while working together to co-create a life in which we all prosper more greatly than if we were working separately to achieve our goals. I’m dreaming of a Tai Chi Kung Fu Temple on the family land, growing food and practicing Taoist healing and combat arts, teaching our children, and manifesting the global future.

October will be a fun month in Mendocino County! First of all, it’s C’mon Home to Eat, local food month: the challenge is to eat within 100 miles of where you live. There will be a couple of great local-food potlucks and other events, including a workshop called Acorns for Food – a pertinent topic considering that acorns were the primary staple of indiginous people in California for porbably thousands of years; considering the risk of food shortages in the wake of peak oil concerns, this information may be invaluable in the near future! So: Sepember 30th is Oz Farm’s Harvest festival (www.oz-farm.com/harvest_festival.htm) and the Hoes Down Harvest Festival is on October 7th at Full Belly Farm in Capay Valley (www.hoesdown.org/).
Emerald Earth (www.emeraldearth.org/) is having a work party the weekend of the 7th and another workshop around the 20th. There’s a real push to get roofs finished before rain comes, and the energy is really electric.
Of course, I won’t be at any of these events, as my priorities are elsewhere. Yesterday we made an offer on 45 acres outside of Lower Lake, California. Today, offer received, and we’re in escrow. I’ll be doing a lot of research and meeting people for perc and hydrological tests, learning about the legal status of a defacto easement and seeking to negotiate a modification if necessary. Reno will be home base until the house is sold, and I’m expecting a lot of travel to Lake county for preparations. I am officially on the payroll.
Heather and I leave EE in four days. We’re antsy to transition, but know we will miss this beautiful land and the interesting harmony of community living. It will be interesting to return to a city with all of my new skills and abilities acquired while living and training in the boondocks. Interesting Autumn indeed.

After looking at land in Lake County and talking and considering and weighing and discussing, the Family has decided to make an offer. Mom & Dad have hired a handyman to fix up the Reno house in order to have it on the market in two weeks – a job I though I would be doing over the winter, but things are moving along more rapidly than expected.
I’m not exactly invited back to my parent’s house, since most of the work that I would be doing to earn my keep will already be completed by the time I finish my current obligation, and the fewer the people, the easier the place is to keep clean for prospective buyers. So Heather and I are looking to go back to Heartwood to work. True, the pay isn’t great, but as a place to maintain the lifestyle we so enjoy, getting paid at all seems worth it to me.
Provided that the offer is accepted and the house sells, we could be on the new land by year’s end. All of the questions are certainly not answered, and my job lately involves staying calm and focused, and helping others to do the same (with moderate success).
There is a substantial “wow” factor involved in the thought of being on our own land so soon, setting up some yurts for the winter, being settled enough to look for bodywork/nutrition jobs, and watching the land, listening to it, asking when and where to build.
Peace, peace, peace…