besides the interactions with people i stayed with, there were many opportunities to engage in positive exchange with projects i felt were aligned with my vision. some i sought out and some i just came across through happenstance.
a great example of a happenstance exchange occurred in the first week i was in tucson. i went to the post office to try sending a package for my niece's birthday and they were closed. since i had enough stamps on me to cover the postage all i needed to get it in the mail was some tape to seal it. i proceeded to look for a place to buy or ask for some tape. only a block away from the post office i came upon a place called the drawing studio. i felt drawn to it you might say. i wasn't sure if they were open but the door was unlocked and when i stepped inside i was greeted by a young woman who said she was just getting back from having some lunch. i noticed they were in the process of hanging a show. when i explained my situation she was able to provide some packing tape! i was so grateful and asked if i could be helpful in hanging the show. she said that would be nice because a couple of the volunteers had not been able to make it. after putting the package in the mail box back at the post office and having some lunch myself, i helped out for a couple hours, mounting artwork on the wall with long thumbtacks mostly. i was just thrilled to be engaging in this positive exchange spontaneously. it is one of my main goals of the trip.
i found the native seeds SEARCH store/seed library on my first trip into tucson after being out at neill's for a few days. i went back later that week for a salon in which two women prepared dishes that included indigenous ingredients. after the salon i filled out volunteer registration form and gave it to laura, the volunteer coordinator. she misplaced my form and it was not until after my time at sleeping frog farms that i ended up spending a few hours packing seeds at their seed bank. i found the atmosphere there very familial and relaxing. i got to meet the director and his wife, who seemed very pleased to have a cycle tourist come and help out.
i showed laura how to turn one of their bulk seed bags into a shopping tote. her baby boy gave me the blessing of his smiling spirit.
i would have liked to work out at the conservation farm, but alas, there was not time for that. others will have to do that good work.
my first day back in tucson after sleeping frog i went to do some work on my bike at BICAS. i'd gone there the week before and helped out for almost an hour cleaning headset parts to be reused in artwork. so i got to use the tools free of charge to true up my wheels, lubricate derailleur cables, and take off the pedals to thoroughly clean and lubricate them. i was going to regrease them but couldn't get the caps off. there has been a clicking sound coming from the pedals that i wanted to get rid of, and i was happy to find that this cleaning and lubrication with tri-flo did the trick! i wish i could have done more to contribute to BICAS. their positive impact in tucson is huge.
after leaving BICAS that day i went in search of the office of sustainable tucson, which i had heard was around there. while riding around seeking i was attracted to a little garden by a big road that was attached to a school. there was a class just finishing up and i decided to go see if i could have a closer look. as i approached i saw a sign that said 'Davis Community Garden', or something like that, and i was like, "that's my name!" what a coincidence! so anyway i was glowing as i went in and introduced myself. the folks there were very nice and one little girl asked me talked to me a bit. she asked if i was going to have a garden when i finished traveling. yup.
i harvested some beautiful rosemary, thyme, oregano, and one branch of italian parsley.
i asked if there were any other community gardens or whatnot in the area i should check out. they directed me to one very close by and asked if i had been to the food bank garden down in the south end. no i had not, but i told them i had contacted the manager there, chris, and not gotten a response. they said i should just come out and help out if i wanted. when they were telling me how to get there we found that the place i was going to be staying is that of their recent housemates! well isn't that just perfectly perfect? it was not too much farther south than this little community farm i had been wanting to see and help out at.
so the next day i went to Las Milpitas de Cottonwood community farm in the late morning. there i found the guys, one of whom i met the previous day, just finishing up planting some trees. next we began building some screens for sifting compost. it was really just a two person job, so i went ahead and used the one screen they already had to get started on the pile.
at this place they compost mainly in windrows currently, but i was told they have tried various things. one new component of the composting system is a large pit that they will be inoculating with worms and hopefully having a productive worm farm. they get materials donated from local landscaping business and from folks who have horses in the area. collecting food scraps from the local community has been difficult to coordinate, but there is one can by the gate where people can make deposits.
i was told that a composting toilet is part of the plan for developing the community center here. the details are being worked out by a committee.
these are several of the wonderful people i had the pleasure of spending time with in the last week i was in tucson.
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