Saturday, July 19, 2008

At the theater, 20080719sa2013

Thai House, 20070719sa1848

Dinner at Thai House in Santa Rosa.

Highway 12 north east to Santa Rosa, 20080719sa1819

Tour of Jay's Home, 20080719sa1645

Jay is giving a second tour of his home after the day's workshop.
Participants have a few new questions after having more knowledge
about the building process.

Gypsy Wagon tour, 20080719sa1631

Jay is showing the Vardo and answering questions about its design and
construction.

Afternoon Workshop Session, 20080719sa1438

The afternoon Building Workshop session is going well. Today, Jay has
been presenting the details of how to build an efficient and enjoyable
small home. His presentation covers every aspect of building a home
from the foundation up, and the presentation is structured based upon
the construction process and timeline as events would naturally
transpire on the construction site. Workshop participants are free to
ask questions and share from their own experiences, which stimulates
some informative discussions.

In his presentation, this morning, Jay took the group through the
building process to the point that framing, exterior walls, and
weather wrap were on the house.

This is not a hands-on workshop. In order to present the most
information in a short period of time, the presentation uses detailed
photos, floor plans, and a complete list of tools required for
building. Most of the presentation materials Jay is referring to are
in an illustrated color workbook that is given to each participant.

The day began with a tour of Jay's home to give participants a look at
a finished product. Most in attendance seem to have some building
experience and know the general terminology of building.

The workshops are organic and improve with suggestions and feedback
from participants.

Patio dining area at HopMonk Tavern, 20080719sa1349

Finishing lunch and getting ready to return for the afternoon workshop
session.

The Veg sandwich at HopMonk Tavern, 20080719sa1321

www.hopmonk.com

Going to lunch in Sebastopol, 20080719sa1244

The morning workshop session was excellent. A group of us are now
going out to lunch.

The Workshop is Underway, 20080719sa0955

Apples at my doorstep, 20080719sa0951

Breakfast, 20080719sa0927

My favorite brands of food bars right now are CLIF BAR, LÄRA BAR, and
KIND. Clif donates funds to organizations that address environmental,
health, and social issues, such as Access Fund, IMBA, and Leave No
Trace. KIND donates 5% of profits to the PeaceWorks Foundation, www.PeaceWorks.net

I washes my running clothes this morning in the shower and now they
are hanging outside in the sunlight. So, they should be dry by tonight
and ready to use tomorrow morning.

There is an apple tree next to the Gypsy wagon that drops fresh apples
and they roll to my doorstep. I like to eat those for breakfast or
have some of the fresh berries and fruits that are growing in trees
here. It's nice to mix fresh foods with the raw food based bars that I
eat. The advantage of eating apples that fall from the tree and roll
to my doorstep is that it avoids the typical supply chain: farmer buys
land, farmer hires workers, workers pick food, corporation buys food,
food gets packaged, marketing department creates artwork for
advertising campaign, cable television company delivers advertisement
to home, consumer gets hungry seeing advertisement, consumer gets in
car, before car can be filled with gas a war must be waged in the
Middle East, gas goes into car, consumer drives car to grocery store,
trucks delivering product go to grocery store, product is
refridgerated, consumer buys product, throws packaging into landfill,
consumer is asked to pay for (or fight in) the war to get more oil for
gas for the car for going to the grocery store, the cycle starts all
over again.

Instead, having an apple roll to my doorway seems like a simple way to
avoid a lot of unnecessary trouble. So, that's why I try to
incorporate them as much as possible into my diet.

Returned from running, 20080719sa0849

I got back from my run a little while ago, around 8:30 AM, and helped
Jay with setting up for today's workshop. I'm going to shower and get
dressed.

Luther Burnank Experimental Farm, 20080719sa0825

My return run takes me through the Luther Burbank Experimental Farm
where there is an ocean of flowers and unique plants.

National Peace Site, Ragle Park, 20080719sa0747

It took me a little over 10 minutes to get to the park. I took a short
break, and now I'm going to continue my run. The opening to the trail
is just north and a little west of the National Peace Site in Ragle
Park.

Going running, 20080719sa0706

The sun is rising over the valley. The cool moist air of the night is
still settled in over the land here. I bought an Earth Flag from the
Santa Rosa Community Market Co-op yesterday. I like having the Earth
Flag flying anywhere I am working and staying. I have them at home in
Iowa at my office and home.

I'm going to run the full distance to the park this morning. I took a
lot of photos of this running path yesterday and of the many flowers
along the way. So, this morning I can simply focus on running.

I'll go from Burbank Heights north west through the various flower
gardens to Bodega Avenue, then west on Bodega Avenue (Highway) until I
reach Ragle Road. At Ragle Road, I'll go north and slightly west to
Ragle Ranch Regional Park and run the loop that goes over Bridge 4,
Bridge 3, Bridge 2, and then Bridge 1. Then I'll return by the same
path.

I have all of this in photos from yesterday that I hope to upload
later today. [0716]

First light of day, 20080719sa0542

Time for stretching, breathing exercises, meditation, and running.

www.ScheduleForLife.com

Going to bed, 20080718fr2324

We got back around 10:30 PM. I was responding to emails and now I'm
going to bed.