Tribal counter-culture

For as long as I can remember tribal cultures have held a fascination and draw for me. As a young boy my mother would take me to American Indian gatherings where I was able to observe and participate in the arts and ceremonies of the culture. Juliana and I now find ourselves moving to North Carolina, which has one of the highest populations of American Indians of any state, to live out a more simple existence. A life more in tune with some of the aspects and spirit of tribal culture such as living in greater harmony with the land.

I recently picked up a copy of "The People's History of the United States" by Howard Zinn. Over the first chapter Zinn explores a lesser told tale of tribal society as it existed among North Americans before the onslaught of European settlers. Zinn paints a picture of an egalitarian society whose members lived in harmony with their natural surroundings, avoided gender discrimination, fought but never exterminated, and avoided defining them selves through material possession. They had no word for poor. Only members of a group working toward a common livelihood. It is sad to think how far we as a society have come in the opposing direction. Now nearly all is defined by material wealth and the average American thinks of casino owners and baseball teams when considering a modern American Indian.

Lay of the land

We have found a piece of land that would work quite nicely and are now in the process of putting the financing together. One the bigger pieces of the puzzle came in to place today when we recieved a message from a local excavator. It confirmed that we can do what we wish to do with the property for a price that we can afford.

The property is a hill side and so the ground must be graded in areas for us to build upon. Our basic idea is to place a driveway entrance at the N.E. corner of the property. We will then have three 50' graded levels dug out that will be separated by two 25' wooded slopes. The top level will be the 30' yurt and a parking area. The middle level will have the work shop and guest yurts on it. And the third level will be for gardening, chickens, a wood shop, and possibly goats.

We are planning to do as much of the tree management our selves and to leave as many trees as possible.

A story teller's ring

I am very excited to be wearing a wedding band for the first time in my life. Mine arrived shortly before we left to look at properties in NC. I actually spent the morning before we left hunting down the mail carrier because I realised at the last minute that I had shipped the ring to our old address.

The ring is a piece of Navajo story teller jewelry. Part of the story depicts a traditional Navajo dwelling, know as a hogan, that is a round wood and earth structure which I feel closely resembles a yurt. The ring also depicts woolly animals coming down from the mountains and a person running a rudimentary loom.

We have not made specific plans for a ceremony yet but I know that we are meant to be together in this life.

"...them there hills..."

Well we didn't exactly find gold on our property search through the Appalachians but what we did find feels nearly as exciting. We were fortunate enough to connect with a real estate agent, Ron, who has proven to be very giving of his time and who spent a day giving us the guided tour of one of North Carolina's SW counties. Even though we were shopping for land acreage in the 10k and under category and Ron stands to make very little from working with us we were given the true "Southern Hospitality" treatment.

We spent Tuesday strolling through the down town area of the county seat, were treated to lunch at the local coffee shop, and visited three properties at nearly opposite ends of the county. The town has a quaint and energetic feel and primarily supports locally owned stores in the downtown area. On the outskirts of town is a folk school that caters to a wide variety of do it yourselfers, hand crafted works men, and art enthusiasts. Natural food and farmers markets appear to be blooming within the city. The people we ran into were warm and friendly.

We have chosen one of the three properties as a potential site for our home and entered into the beginning stages of negotiations. The property is nearly an acre and a half, heavily wooded, and has access to a creek at its down hill side. The land can best be described as a hillside and will require some excavating to make a building lot. It is about ten minutes from the downtown area and is buffered by several nicely kept homes. I have begun drawing up some images for a three tier set up that would allow a single level for the 30' yurt, one for Julianas writing workshop yurt and a guest house yurt, and one level that would be dedicated to gardening and a wood shop space for me. I am envisioning a wooden stair and walk way that connects the three tiers and a privacy fence that circles the property.

We have ants in our kitchen...

We have had a few days of warmth and it is beginning to feel like spring is nearly here. Tonight I steeped out onto our back porch and heard a chorus of insects and possibly tree frogs or spring peepers. Then I spotted the first black ant I have seen in months crawling across our kitchen cabinets and scoping out our compost waste. Spring has really crept up upon us this year.

The yurt project has turned a corner and we are transitioning into a more specific design phase. The materials collection has gone well but it is time to draw up some more specific designs for the structure. We are leaving town in two days to visit family in GA and check out some potential properties. My goal is to have the basic structure, deck, hub, loft, and cover plans completed or well on their way by the end of our week long trip.

I spent some time this week sorting through our wood pile and was able to consolidate the whole thing into about half the space. If we get some sun on Friday I would like to catalog the pieces we have collected. It looks like there are some concrete blocks available near Julianas mothers home. We might pick them up and store them until our move.

Oldies but goodies

Last night we picked up a 1930's or 1940's gas oven/stove, the "Grand Oven" model, that Juliana had spotted on craigslist. It was manufactured by, "The Cleveland Co-Operative Stove Co," a small manufacturer that has since closed. The factory where our oven was made seems to be under threat of being torn down. As of March 2009 a historical restoration group in Ohio was attempting to save the building, the city of Cleveland wanted to build a new middle school on the property, but I have not been able to find more current information on what has happened since then. The oven is aesthetically beautiful and it's design is simple enough that I should be able to do any minor repairs that it needs. The man we bought it from only wanted $50 and I found the same model on an ebay auction starting off at $995 so I feel like we got a pretty good deal. It will need some basic clean up but overall is in great condition for a 70-80 year old stove.

On Saturday night we received an unexpected donation of lumber. While I was at work a man, who had seen the materials wanted flyer we posted at our local recycling center, dropped off a truck load of barn support timbers and tongue and groove pine flooring. Several of the barn timbers are heavy 12' 3x8" boards and I think may be hard wood. We have decided to put a hold on salvaging any further lumber until we can catalog our current wood pile. I think that we will probably hold off on the 16' rafters until we get down to the NC GA area and see what is available. I am hoping to find a pine timber operation where we can get the rafters as cheap rough cut boards or pole like limb timber scrap.