Summer's Halfway Gone!!

Oh my gosh!! So August is now here, and that means we're halfway through our season of farmer's markets here in Manzanita. It's crazy how fast time can just fly by. We must all do our best and most thoughtful work, because this moment and many others even yet to come will pass by in such a hurry. Last evening we took a bit of time out together to share and enjoy an evening as a farm family, which was quite pleasant. The activity of the night was going to see Harry Potter's Half Blood Prince in Seaside, OR. It was Brian's night to cook dinner, and he opted to take us out to eat, so it was a nice treat to eat out. A little bit of greasy food now and then, followed by popcorn, and a movie is kind of awesome!! I really enjoyed the movie, and then on the way back home, I came out of a half-sleep state as Brian slowed the car down for a baby coyote running down the road looking confused. I said, "can we take him home, please? I'll train him, and I promise to not let him eat the chickens." It didn't work, no coyote dog for me, oh well!! So then this morning was friday market morning, which means early-rise and all day picking, followed by an evening market. Whew, glad to have yet another one out of the way. Today was a bit sluggish, but we're working like a well-oiled machine now, so "Gin" and I had no problem just rolling real easy with everything and making it all happen. The crazy occurence at this market was that the band which was playing, led by Kid Segall a local bluesman, started playing this tune "Busted," a Johnny Cash number, which was also covered by Ray Charles, and probably countless others, but the coincidence was that I had been working on that tune and singing it all week long prior to this market, so there's the power of music for you. Travelling vibrations and intentions is what it is I tell ya! Magical stuff, that music! So, also starting this Sunday, we'll be conducting a cobb oven building workshop out on the farm, which will be held over three consecutive Sundays, ending on Jesse's birthday, for which we'll be baking fresh muffins and celebrating together around our new outdoor baking oven, bench, and firepit. It should be a fun and educational farm/community project. So, stay tuned for that. Anyways, hopefully I haven't bored you to death with this write-up, but for those of you who have made it this far in the reading, thank you for checkin' out the happenings. I'll try and put more up soon, with pictures as well. Much love to you all, and blessings for each and every moment!

Portland, OR a wonderfully freaky place!!

This past weekend, I and the two girls from Revolution Gardens, Ginger and Jesse, took a field trip into Portland. I had visited Portland before, but not really experienced it in all it's glory. In my opinion, the only way to explore the city of Portland is to do it by bicycle. Portland is an amazingly bike friendly place, and there are bike lanes there that give the rider a feeling as if he or she has their very own peddling highway. Also, with all the shops, restaurants, art installments, and overall weirdness in general, a bicyclist has plenty of sights to enjoy along the way. With all the other cyclists around, it is very easy to immediately feel a part of the peddling community there as well. Basically, all the cool folks in Portland are out there on bikes, and if you're on one too, well, youre on your way to hipsterdom.

So, for our first evening in P-town, we arrived at Dan and Persephone's house to visit for a bit and also to be entertained by Dan's comical rantings. The guy is relentless, and he'll keep you in stitches for the duration of any encounter. After our initial safety meeting, we all geared up and headed out by bike for an evening of Roller Derby fun with the "Breakneck Betties." Our ride across town, over the bridge and down by the river was quite an enjoyable cruise, and we grabbed a nice dinner at a nearby brewpub before the match. I had macaroni and cheese, blue cheese topped, and a salad with garlic chees bread, oh, and I also had the LSD IPA to drink. Watch out, it'll twist yer mind!

After dinner we were on to roller derby, and we missed the 1st half where the Bettie's were losing, but after our arival the Betties came back to win by over 80 something points. Good job Betties! This was my first roller derby experience, and it was really cool to see all these skilled skaters taking big hits and speeding past one another with such agility and calculation. I certainly wouldn't want to mess with any of those girls! Good job Betties! So, afterwards we headed to the pub to celebrate the win with the girls, but somehow on our way, Jesse and I got separated from the crew, and for about 45 minutes we were lost in Portland not sure of where to go, or where are friends had gone. It is kind of an exciting feeling I must say. Anyways, we found everyone and spent some time there at the pub revelling among the Betties.

The real excitement of the evening didn't occur until later, but the truly amazing spectacle to be experienced is that of Peddlepalooza, which is a wee-long event with all kind of bike related events, rides, and workshops. As for this particular evening, we were going to try and make the "naked bike ride." It wasn't hard to find. Very quickly we ran into a crew of peddlers who seemed to know where they were going, and one bike had a side car with a boombox blaring, while another bike was a double decker, about 8 to 9 feet tall, ridden by some girl in costume. It was a small parade that grew quickly, gathering up riders as we went. Everyone was still clothed, but soon enough we arrived in the industrial district to a mass of folks, who were all disrobing and preparing for the ride. Wow! This was amazing. Before long, folks were all stripping down and preparing to ride. I told myself, "when in Portland." The next minute our Revolution Garden crew among several thousand other folks began the ride through town. It was quite the amazing experience. I was grinning the whole time, and people lined the streets to cheer us on. Police blocked off the side streets and folks stood by with high fives for the riders.

The whole time I thought wow, what a crazy-ass city, I love it!! It was the most amazing way to experience a new city, not that all cities can be experienced in this way, but I would certainly recommend it to anyone feeling a bit new to an area. Nothng says "here I am folks" quite like a naked parade through the streets of town.

The ride was certainly the highlight of our visit, but the next day we did also make it down to the Gay Pride parade, which Jesse was very excited about. Farm girls' gotta be on the lookout for them city lesbians y'know! Ginger spotted a courier bake with coffee dispensers mounted on it, so we had to check that out, for business research, so before I knew it we were in the parade. So, that takes care of all my gay needs for the year! My favorite was the dragqueens on seguays, scooting around and waving frantically. Such divas!

The rest of our trip was about good food. Whole Foods is an amazing place, almost dangerous how much good and tempting looking food they have there. However, the most amazing meal experience was had at this tiny little sushi place called Saburro's. This little hole in the wall place has a line that forms for dinner out front as early as 4 pm. So we stood and waited, but when we finally got in and placed our order, the food that came was amazing. I've never seen such large suchi rolls. Also, the cuts of fish were so fresh and large. We are not sur ehow they manage to stay in business serving such food at such low prices. Maybe they are some kind of Japanese mafia, and the restaurant is just some kind of a cover for their undercover operations. Whatever the deal is, they've got amazing sushi.

So, that was Portland for the weekend. That place definately has all kinds of things to do and experience. Powell's books is one of the most amazing book stores ever. Next Adventure is also an awesome independant outdoor store with a whole basement filled with used gear for sale, and Andy and Bax is a true military surplus heaven. There is so much more there for me to discover, so I'll have to do more research for next trip, but if you're ever in the area, you'll certainly not be lacking for things to do.

You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go, KAYA!!!

1/19/08 "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go, KAYA"
It's such a momentous day in our Nation's history, such an amazing time to be alive! MLK Jr's Birthday was just yesterday, and it is amazing to think of the many wonderful things we can accomplish together when move forward without fear, but instead with hope and excitement for things to come and the times that we do have.With that being said, it is with my great regret to inform you all that my greatest friend and companion, trail partner, and adventuring-mate, Kaya, KayaBear, trail-dog extraordinairre, has now passed on from this life and is adventuring now into the next. There's no explanation for why it had to come so soon, but Kaya was definately one of those bright-burning shooting stars. Her time was so short and fleeting, but in that time she was able to shine so brightly and touch so many. She lived several lifetimes over in the very short time that she was with us. Being rescued from the streets at an early age, a child of transition, she learned the struggle of family, identity and ultimately love. She came to me by coincidence or perhaps some sort of divine happening on an evening of celebration and friendship, a potluck dinner for a friend 's return. "That's yer traildog there," Mike said to me. "She loves you Zach, why don't you take her home for a test-drive, seee how it goes, you can just bring her back in the morning," he assured. "I'll even kick in a bag of dog food, leash (kayak tiedown), and a six pack of beer to go with her." He was layin it on real thick. Good salesman, that Mike!!! So, she came home with me that night, and from then on we knew we needed to look out for each other. Kaya's 1st adventure with me was a paddling trip over to Little Tybee, she was still small enough to fit, sitting in my rear hatch, although she still thought she'd try out the water on the way over and coming back, and she loved running up and down the beach, playing in the sand and coaxing me to chase her and come play. We learned together and worked on our communication between us in preparation for the" Big Hike." Kaya and I set out together, on March 31st, from Amicalola Falls State Park just before Springer Mountain, on the Appalachian Trail. We were bound for Maine and mount Katahdin, but mainly we were bound for adventure and glad to be sharing it together. So apart from Smoky Mountain National Forest and Baxter State Park in Maine, dog regulations, Kaya accompanied me for over 2,000 miles of my journey. She met so many wonderful people and other dogs along the way, that she learned to look excitedly forward to each new discovery that would be next to come. For those of you who did get to meet her, you know that she was a lover. You had to earn that love, trust, and respect though, but once you did, you were a part of her pack and she would let you know. I am so grateful for the time I did have with her and the many friends that we made together along the way. Last night after the accident, a sudden convergence of two beings and one of the automechanical nature, I collected Kaya's broken, and limp, but beautiful and toned body from the pavement. The passing came quickly for sure, and Kaya never came to know the suffering of aging and sickness. She was at the very peak of her prime. She really lived well. So, last evening, around 10pm, I and three of my very close friends paddled Kaya out to the place of our very 1st adventure, and we laid her to rest on her very own, uninhabited, barrier island. Many good sunsets, sunrises, and passing tides will be visible from that spot. It was an amazing way to say goodbye to a friend. Thank You all for sharing some of that time with her and especially remembering her through this reading.

Some lyrics my best friend shared with me this evening from a Bob Dylan song;
"You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go"- "I'll see you in the sky above, tall grass, and the ones I love, youre gonna make me lonesome when you go."

, Love You Kaya

If you do have any comments, memories, thoughts, or stories to share of Kaya I would love to hear them. Thank you all for being a part of our lives, and if you can, try and live it up the way she did, so lively, full of excitement and a posessing a real enthusiasm for life.