milwaukee

getting to milwaukee involved an exilerating twenty mile bicycle ride on a cold and drizzly afternoon, mostly on a paved bicycle trail, to meet up with my ride near the I94 corridor at a park in Deerfield. anna, who i'd met at the evanston green living fest, then drove me all the way up to milwaukee. she lives about half way between chicago and milwaukee, so this was extra kind of her. we chatted all the way and upon arrival i was wishing the trip were a little longer. during the drive i ate some of the dinner that her mother had made for us, and some of the rhubarb pie, which she is famous for. delicious of course!

i stepped right in to one of the coziest potluck dinners i have been to in a while. several of us sat around the table and talked into the evening. towards the end we all got together in a game of 'writey-drawy'. it was really fun! i felt so blessed to be part of this gathering.
my host laurel and i rode back to her apartment, which she shares with two other fine young women, and settled in for the night. before i went to bed i had to get something i'd left in the garage with my bicycle and when i went out their cat slipped out too! i felt terrible about letting it happen... but the girls were really nice about it and just did what they could to find him. he was found three days later behind the garage, very hungry, but doing well otherwise.

while couchsurfing with laurel and her housemates there was applesauce and pasta saouce made from scratch. these are two things i love doing in the late summer and fall and it made me feel at home. we shared some meals around the table and even held hands once. all around the country i cherish these connecting moments.

most of the first day in milwaukee i spent writing a letter to the possibility alliance and superheroes who were finishing the permaculture course there. after getting that in the mail i went over and volunteered with the 'burdock brigade' at the urban ecology center (washington park location). this is near where i was staying and is where laurel works. joel had another volunteer and i help out with tidying up a nursery area where many small plants had died from lack of water. mostly we talked while emptying the soil into wheel barrows. it was a simple and satisfying work.

i had thought i might leave the following day, but laurel told me there might be a ride with them on sunday to madison and i decided i was not in any hurry after all. this meant i was able to go to the volunteer orientation at growing power on saturday! my experience there was very positive and valuable. the young folks who work there have a certain quality that i admire... i suppose it comes from the daily work of farming and coordinating volunteers in tasks around the place. there is a grace and confidence that they move with.
after the orientation and tour i got to work with a few others spreading compost material on top of a large 'worm depository' in one of the hoop houses. glad for the heavy work for a good purpose (what better purpose than building soil?) i felt myself glowing with vigor and joy. more conversation while working, always sharing stories...
the end of the shift i spent filling flats with their potting mix of worm castings and coconut coir. they grow micro greens in these... hundreds of flats a day.
it was so great to be there and get the feeling from all the subtle things about the place and energies of the people. the feeling of what growing power is. i don't know if i can explain it, but it feels really good, like good country living, but with an energetic urban twist.

i liked how the compost system at the urban ecology center(riverside location) was situated. a steep slope was utilized by making four large compost bin terraces, between which the compost is turned from the uppermost on down to the lowest. that lowest bin is on the level of the bicycle trail, where the vegetable gardens are on either side. there are private plots and one that is tended by the center and is public. i ran into joel, who i'd worked with the previous day, working near the garden. he gave me the okay to harvest a bit.

i enjoyed riding the paved bicycle trail through a green belt much of the way up to my destination that friday afternoon; the home of a woman i'd found on couchsurfing. she works with sanitation in post-disaster haiti, encouraging humanure composting and helping install these systems for residents or urban areas mostly. at her house she served us tea and we chatted for a while. i assessed the condition of her compost pile, which she said was getting as hot as it should. my recommendation was to increase the mass and cover it thickly with the abundant fall leaves. this cover material would regulate moisture and keep heat in.
it was my pleasure also to harvest and bundle up some of the herbs growing in here garden so that she could hang them to dry. sage, lemon balm, mint, and catnip make a fine mix for tea! i took a little catnip with me.

the last two nights i stayed with mike, who's house the potluck the first night had been at. we have tons in common it turns out. he likes some of the same obscure music i do, from the anticon family, including dosh and clouddead. he currently works with teens doing environmental restoration and urban ecology work. he is participating in a small community garden not far from his house.

on sunday i missed out on what sounded like an awesome mass and feast at the franciscan church. mike said there was great singing and the feeling of all the people coming together was uplifting. i had a headache and felt nauseous in the morning, so i decided not to go, even though i'd really wanted to. i thought it might have been from caffeine withdrawals... but maybe it was other factors. my neck has been feeling really tense. anyway i spent the day just sleeping, relaxing around the house, and reading a bit from a book on deep ecology.