I feel so bloguilty. How can I have been blog-awol since August? Here's a list of stuff I should have written about: 1. Christina held a cob workshop that mostly built the walls for the central building in Shambala,

a meditation site on a pavement on the side of the hill above the barn overlooking the lake and pond.

2. Joe and Kathy finished the plumbing (water and gas) to the cabin so its almost done. Just needs a loo and heater.3. Joe and Randall completed the water supply to both cabin and sauna, with cut-offs etc. 4. Sharon and friend stayed in the cottage in exchange for some painting and cleaning. Alarm over toilet flush. Now it all works. 5. Stewie (wwoofer) mostly finished a bamboo fence around the sauna, with a torii gate. This is to keep the goats out and create a garden for plants.

6. Rebecca and Garret (wwoofers) laid a stone path and steps down from the sauna.

7. The garden supplied LOTS of great veggies. Esp chard, toms, beet, basil and arugula. Next year need that watering system in. 8. Crissy and Emily (Nashville spelunkers) explored the sinkhole by the meditation space.

9. We started on the Yellow Bird Wordscape, with

Datura stramonium (Locoweed, aka Jimson Weed)

"Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae (unranked): Angiosperms (unranked): Eudicots (unranked): Asterids Order: Solanales Family: Solanaceae Genus: Datura Species: D. stramonium Binomial name Datura stramonium L. Synonyms Datura inermis Juss. ex Jacq. Datura stramonium var. chalybea W. D. J. Koch, nom. illeg. Datura stramonium var. tatula (L.) Torr. Datura tatula L.,[1] Datura stramonium, known by the common names Jimson weed or datura is a plant in the Solanaceae (nightshade) family, which is believed to have originated in the Americas, but is now found around the world.[1] For centuries, datura has been used as an herbal medicine to relieve asthma symptoms and as an analgesic during surgery or bonesetting. It is also a powerful hallucinogen and deliriant, which is used spiritually for the intense visions it produces. However the tropane alkaloids which are responsible for both the medicinal and hallucinogenic properties are fatally toxic in only slightly higher amounts than the medicinal dosage, and careless use often results in hospitalizations and deaths."

"Jamestown weed is known by many names: jimson weed, devil’s trumpet, devil’s weed, hell’s bells, locoweed, stinkweed, and pricklyburr are just a few. Its current name “jimson” is a contraction of “Jamestown”, where its history in the New World begins. What is Jamestown weed? This small, poisonous bush had long been used medicinally, criminally, and for recreational purposes throughout the world, long before the settlers at Jamestown came across it. It was used by thieves in India and Russia, where they used a mixture of ground up seeds and water to incapacitate and then rob their unsuspecting victims. A religious cult in India used it to murder people, and the plant was used as a poison in Renaissance Europe. Jamestown Weed’s Colorful Past Jamestown weed is not native to Virginia and is believed to have been brought in soil from the West Indies or Asia. It took hold there and settlers in the Jamestown area reported illness after consuming the leaves. Then in 1676, English soldiers were sent to Jamestown to squelch the Rebellion of Bacon. Apparently, Jamestown weed was boiled and added to a salad that the soldiers consumed. Whether this was accident or by design is unknown. However, the story was included in a book written by Robert Beverly in 1705. In his book, Beverly recounted that the soldiers presented “a very pleasant comedy, for they turned natural fools upon it for several days”. The soldiers were apparently suffering from hallucinations, disabling them completely from any part in the rebellion. It took 11 days for the soldiers to recover and they suffered from amnesia and remembered nothing about their time under the influence of the jimson weed. Jamestown weed has been used throughout history for all types of reasons: good and bad. But the story of the poisoned soldiers is certainly an interesting footnote in its colorful past. Jimson Weed, aka Jamestown Weed, is a popular art subject best known by the work of Georgia O’Keeffe. Jimson weed is admittedly to be admired for its beauty as well."

Datura stramonium here pictured behind the barn. Beautiful but deadly? Or on the edge? Text above from the web (Wikipedia plus).

Jack and the Beanstalk

The beans have been eaten to the point of extinction by something as yet unidentified. Perhaps Jack's mother, to keep him more earthbound. But some of the corn is over 11 feet high. I believe this is the corn I was given on that trip to the strip-mining sites in Kentucky last Fall. It's decorative (red and brown), not especially edible. But I need to find to what that means.

Last year crows ate the cobs straight off the plant. Despite the drought, and the soil problem, we are getting some serious produce, thanks to the regular afternoon rain. I plucked my first cantaloupe today, and cannot wait to test the idea that ripening on the vine really does make a difference, that locovor is not just a slogan.

There are more seeds sprouting in the nursery, and despite the bare patches, this whole network of raised beds will be full - probably with too many tomatoes. But I can never get enough.

And here's a shot of the garden from the gate.

Out with the old, in with the new

One old billy died last week (see Bye Bye Billy, below). He was an individual goat, this goat not that goat, and not just part of a flow of goatiness. With spectacles I can almost imagine him reading up on the variety of peach tree I had planted, and making some suggestions for future plantings. He did look wise. But here he is, half submerged in the water. Did he get stuck in the mud, fall over and drowned? Or did he have heat stroke, and died looking for something cool? Here is a sad image.

So Billy was not just a transient goat-phase. His loss is real. And yet, a few days ago, look what appears! A new kid on the block, brimming with bounce, a life that did not exist at all before. And now?

We can't just say he's a replacement for the old dead goat. And yet we do say - "Life goes on." Is that just a way of coping with death?

Goats and the Moral Vortex

I met neighbors Bob, Carol and their family at the weekend at the local Goat Show in Woodbury. Half way through had won a third prize. All the goats looked great - groomed and super clean. I wondered what the criteria fort excellence were. Well, they are meat goats, so what counts apparently is shape that reflects meat. I lamented my own decline in goat herd numbers, and my need for some new genes. I was told I could perhaps buy a new nanny for $80. Background: recently dead Billy in the lake, plus loss of one day old kid. But yesterday I spotted a mew kid on the block, all jumping around with his Mom. I abandoned plans to put both up in the barn, and let them wander off. So far so good. Dad seems to be hanging out with them too. How does he know he's Dad? I assume he's top goat and can claim them all. When I find myself hoping the new'un is a girl, I think about the effect of China's one child policy in which girl babies are often aborted. Am I playing the same game? I spend so much time and effort protecting fruit trees against goats and goats against predators. And their guardians (dogs) against ticks. Why? Perhaps they are symbols of the Other, with their destructiveness the best evidence of their not being reducible to my needs etc.

AnimalArtists in Residence

I am reading Ranciere's The Emancipated Spectator, in which he wrestles with the problem, especially in theatre, of reducing the spectator to being the passive victim of illusion on the part of those who know better, continuing a line of argument that breaks with Althusser's vanguardism in the name of a certain equality. This equality welcomes an ever broader sense of The People, and the possibilities of their participation in thinking, art, power etc. I am coming see something friends have long pressed - the importance of providing people with opportunities not just to walk and gawk, but also to shape and make. The WordPoem project works like that. Liz and Lauren led the way last week with their Swing Break installation (see attached)- notionally for humans but actually more adapted to the weight of dryads and fairies. I could direct wanderers to supplies of naturally occurring materials, and perhaps supply string, nails that sort of thing.

To which, I add, do non-humans get a look-in? In my work on Bangladeshi sandcrabs I explored the question of whether animals (incl insects, crustacea) could be said to be artists. At the vary least, contemplating this question can open up the question in new ways. There are two obvious ways this could work. First one could document existing animal art, perhaps commenting on its status. Second, one could try to encourage it by facilitating favorable conditions. So far, the best examples I have are from mudwasps, which have colonized both inside and outside the cob sauna. Inside they have built organ pipes. Outside, they have constructed burrows in the cob that look like the spray pattern of a shotgun. I am reminded of Jencks tolerance of the moles in his Garden of Cosmic Speculation. I want to go beyond toleration to celebration. Are they not artists in residence?

Going Japanese: Grow Your own Bamboo Fence

Some six years ago, we planted various kinds of bamboo down by the road. They are the spreading invasive sort. My theory was that I would in fact harvest them, making regular inroads into their invasiveness. This morning I started. They have started spreading up the hill away from the road, supplanting brambles (which is good), heading for the rocks where, I suspect, they will meet their match. The goats have resolved my dilemma over the sauna - whether to enclose it in a fenced garden or not. It seems a shame to do so just to enlarge the range of plants I can grow outside in planters without becoming immediate goat breakfast, but it has become clear that the shade of the sauna is a goat magnet, and their odiferous offerings are renewed on a daily basis. So, in keeping with the neo-Japanese theme, a bamboo fence is just what is called for. Google bamboo fence and images of two kinds appear - very close bound privacy screens, and much looser structures that will nonetheless keep out animals. The latter will suffice, and not give too enclosed a feel. Inside the new space will be limestone pavers, and tubs with scented plants: rosemary, basil, jasmine ... ideally hardly perennials. I cut about 50 tall bamboos, some 30' high. Now to trim and drag them back. Pictures soon. Suggestions for scented bushes?