S

S is the shape of things to come. Those things are a shower and a toilet.. Friends from the Hill Country, Elena, John, and Jaime stopped by Earth Language on their way to Taos for a several days. I met all of them at the natural building colloquium in Kerrville last year. They are on an ongoing mission to transform natural materials into functional spaces. I am ever thankful for their stop here in terlingua.

I didn’t exactly have a project in mind before their visit, other than the ongoing dome project. But together we thought of a new, and very needed addition. We decided that, while the Luggable Lou and the solar shower have been working fine, it is time to upgrade.

We brainstormed about different ways to do this. Elena drew out a simple design for a structure in the shape of an S, where the curve would serve as a wall for both the shower and the toilet, and would require less resources and labor as a result.

One thing there is an enormous abundance of out here are rocks. All shapes and sizes, great for building. We spent some time checking out the old ruins around town to see how they used the rocks for their walls. Since no one was too jazzed about using cement, we decided to dry stack the rocks, the same as they did back then. Instead of mortar, we dribbled small rocks, pebbles, and sand into the spaces between the larger rocks.

We spent two days gathering rocks…LOTS of them. We then spent one day stacking them. The wall is not as thick as the examples we saw in town, but since it is not a structure to be lived in, it doesn’t have to be as stout.

I'll be uploading some more pictures from the project, so check back SSSSSoon.

Back in Terlingua...the Adventure Starts Again

As I was driving back into Terlingua, I passed by 3 cyclists who were riding up an overpass in almost 100 degree heat. I later found out that the three cyclists were a mother, father, and son who took a year off of work and high school to ride thousands of miles around the country on a birdwatching expedition. They couldn’t leave out Big Bend, being that it boasts more varieties of birds than any other national park. This is also the time year to see them….the rainy season.

Speaking of the rainy season, Ruby, my Volvo, is patiently waiting for me on a muddy road. It'll take a couple of sunny days for the mud to dry out before I could get her home. I tried to beat an approaching storm when visiting my neighbor to pick up a 5 watt light bulb. I got to his house, but when trying to head back after giant raindrops started bombarding the ground, I didn’t get far. As a result, John Wells, my neighbor, had an unexpected house mate for the night as the road out from his house to the highway is unforgiving when it storms. The next morning, I walked the two and half miles out to the highway as the mud clung desperately to my shoes. Soon after I found out that bare feet was easier, John’s neighbor, James Kirk zoomed by on his tractor and lifted me back home.

This ended a week full of adventure which included a concert performance with friends down in an old mine shaft, an impromptu song circle with local celebrity, Butch Hancock, a visit to the almost secret Cattail falls in Big Bend, and a day of pouring a friend's adobe floor.

Green Thumbing Across Texas for a Gig

As a performing songwriter, I am expected to be a troubadour as well, traveling from town to town, serenading strangers in different settings. But driving from town to town is not so green. Nor is it cheap. I sat down and did the math for a performance I had scheduled last weekend in Far West Texas, one of the most remote regions in the country. The truth in the math suggested to me that I should cancel the gig. Why ? The round trip in my red Volvo, “Ruby”, would cost me about the same in gasoline as I was getting paid for the gig. And driving solo all the way across Texas is the sort of guilt which keeps me awake at night. Not wanting to let down the venue or lose work ethic points, I was determined to find a solution.

Amtrak services the Big Bend area, but from Austin, it is $150 round trip and includes a 9 hour layover in San Antonio overnight...making the total journey over 50 hours long on the train ( vs 16 hours round trip in a car ). There is no bus that goes out to Big Bend from Austin and no mass transit of any kind once there in the area.

So the only answer was to find drivers already heading that way.

I had participated in many rideshares before, but only between major cities, and never for a gig where I needed to haul my guitar and other related paraphernalia. I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to pull this off. I closed my eyes and thought about all the vehicles whizzing around everywhere with all their empty seats. Surely I could do this. The adventurer within was awakened.

The first part was easy. I got on craigslist and searched the rideshare ads. Luck struck ! There was a driver heading out West from Austin Texas to Marfa, TX for a Film Festival. I contacted her. Even though her email alias was tagged as “Creepy”, I took a chance. I attributed the name choice to the Greenland/Iceland reverse psychology theory. She turned out to be rather normal, not overly normal, and a very good driver. The other passenger and I had some friends in common. After our rideshare team was assembled, we headed out west. The trip to Alpine cost us each $13 in gas in her Toyota Corolla, and placed me within 80 miles of my final destination. My Volvo would have charged me close to $60 each way if I had driven these 400 miles solo. Ruby demands premium gasoline. I have tried to trick her a few times, but she knew the difference and did not react kindly.

In Alpine, I stood on Hwy 118 and stuck out my thumb. Hitchhiking is technically illegal in Texas, but when the sheriff drove by, he smiled and waved. A new red pick up truck pulled over. Kaleb told me that he had seen me perform in Terlingua before and offered me a ride. After he dropped me off about 15 miles from Terlingua, I accosted the mailman. He told me he was heading into town, and so I rode with him to Terlingua. Once in Terlingua, I got lucky again and encountered the bartender of the “Thirsty Goat” in Lajitas, the bar I was playing in that night. Against the will of the drivers, I pitched in for gas for these shorter journeys to help the drivers a bit with their guzzlers. All in all, I got from Austin, Texas to Lajitas for $22.

In addition to the savings and free adventure, my final reward came from a very appreciative gentleman in the audience who started throwing $100 bills in my tip jar. No Joke !

Yes, it pays to travel green.

whereabouts

I'll be hovering around Central Texas for family events and music festivals and will return to Far West Texas in Mid June to work some more on the dome.

greetings from new york city

I'm in NYC visiting my sister. Some say that New York City is the greenest city in America. For example, only 20% of the population here own cars...the rest use public transportation. This is a polar contrast to any other city in America. Much of NYC has curbside composting and residents risk being fined if a recyclable item is found in their trash. Extreme dense living lends itself to less resources used per person. Still, one month's rent in NYC costs more than buying 5 acres of land in Terlingua, TX. OUCH !

Spring Visitors

Besides the giant bluebonnets, we had many human visitors in the area this week for Spring Break. This includes some of my family and friends who all made the journey out here over the past couple of weeks. I have been very fortunate to be able to spend quality time with friends and family out here. Here is a link to some of their photos.

Thanks to everyone who has been writing. I have heard from a few people about the link to this blog not working. Please note that the old URL ( terlinguajournal.com ) is no longer active. Feel free to bookmark earth-language.com instead.

Stocks on Steroids

Is it really the right solution for the federal government to inject the economy, particularly the stock market and credit and loan bureaus, with 200 billion more dollars worth of federal emergency loans ? Where is this money even coming from when our nation is already in debt trillions of dollars ? Who does this injection benefit ? Who will pick up the tab and when ? What do the federal interest rate cuts actually do and what is the lasting benefit ? Are there any policies or rebates which encourage people to save, be resourceful, and avoid debt ? What are the tangibles which back up our currency ? Is it oil ? Is it housing ? What will we do if our currency can no longer purchase cheap goods and services from subordinate countries ? What if our leaders' eye on the prize in the middle east doesn't result in a return on our investment as they had hoped ? These are important questions to stop and think about. As the true reality of our economy presents itself, we may find great opportunities to be creative and make positive and necessary changes.