Saturday, December 27, 2014

2015 euro + camino trip

I'm starting this blog to cover my adventures in Europe 2015 including the Camino de Santiago trail...

starting this blog a bit early....to learn how to do this on my tablet and get in the habit of writing... I may switch over to word press as I am slowly evolving away from google big brother...

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This morning I went outside to get the newspaper...5°F with -15°F wind chill...ahhh this is why I moved to California 40 years ago...  So I am in Salt Lake City right now on my annual holiday visit with college + friends...25+ years and going strong.

Two notable  things:
1) Driving over here, on 395 outside of Reno, there was a White tailed hawk chewin' down on some roadkill in the center median while trucks + cars were whizzing by at 65mph...i could see the stout bird of prey swing to the opposing wind shears, never missing a bite!  I thought about swinging around and catching a video of this...but I think it would've endangered other vehicles and the hawk... There's the evidence that animals can adapt better to humans than vice versa...

2) We've all enjoyed lower gas prices: it's $1.92 for a low here...Oklahoma has it at $1.84.   A few months ago the state of Utah raised speed limits on freeways.  Freeway speeds are 80mph outside the city and 70mph inside.
I could blog about Utah unique politics and LDS stuff...but that's so boring...
After the big New years dinner, I'm driving to Lost Valley in Oregon for a board of directors meeting...and fun with friends in Mt. Shasta.
Then home and prep for Europe and the Camino+++.

Stay tuned

Saturday, March 8, 2014

post european thoughtings...

After a few days back in the USSSSA... my whole perceptions are without comparison or judgment this time around.  I found the Bay Area 'hecticness' to be calm for me after the big cities of Europe.  I found supermarket checkout lines to be friendly and easygoing - one can actually converse with the cashier about 'life' outside the supermarket.  I found breathing deeply in city air was OK - I wasn't going to be second hand smoking on every other step.

On the other side, I did find the commercialization and advertising here to be WAY over the top - i feel inundated by every single media and visual stimuli to BUY SOMETHING.   I feel like recoiling into my own closed space of selected podcasts and downloaded video/movie rather than the commercial variety.

Everything feels bigger and roomier. Even the people  (as the DDR movie 'Friendship' said) are bigger and juicier.

Ok, did I really think I wasn't going to pass judgement?  nahhhh.... these are just mere observations... rriiiigghhhttt !

Sunday, March 2, 2014

good-bye EuroLand again...

I am a bit sad in leaving Europe.  For the first time (in my life?)  I am reluctant to leave - and it has a lot to do with special friends here, Sieben Linden, and the 1st hand experience in seeing Viktor Schauberger's insights.

In the next week (after the jet lag subsides) I hope to continue blogging about my Schauberger experience and the water Vortex along with the mechanical marvels: the Repulsin and fish turbines. 



A friend from Sieben Linden drove down to meet me for a cup of coffee yesterday...what a perfect end to this trip.



Today I concluded 31 trains (several hi-speed ICE) in 40 days and too many hotel changes.  What an enriching experience about what is possible in public transportation.  
I learn more about myself and levels of patience and tolerance for cultural uniqueness and different human habits + ways of living.  Even though there are more subtle differences in Europe than in the rest of the world (compared to the USA), there are still subtle differences that only get magnified after spending more time and having in-depth,  personal  connections.


I will miss the straighforwardness and directness of Germans, 
I will miss the passion and socializing of Italians, 
I will miss the scenery + pastries/bakeries of Austria, 
I will miss the many friends who took time out of their schedules to spend countless hours over great beer + food with wonderful heartfelt converstions;  
but most of all 
I will miss being closer to Sieben Linden - the ecoVillage in northeastern Germany - the 'metta' experience there still tugs at my heart... may it continue.



Wednesday, February 26, 2014

PKS + Joerg Schauberger

The highlight of my euro adventures was an invitation to visit the PKS (Pythagoras Kepler System)  center and an overview from Viktor Schauberger's grandson, Jörg Schauberger  in Bad Ischl, Austria.


With an email three weeks ago from Jörg confirming that indeed he did have time for me (follow-up from my similar request last year), I made room in my Europe itinerary to spend a day in the heart of the Austrian Alps (Salzkammergut region).  It turned into a 16 hour day, 1/2 on trains and 1/2 with Jörg.   A truly life enriching experience!


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After years of reading and studying Viktor Schauberger's work, I was thrilled to arrive at the PKS building that houses his life's work and serves as a learning institute for interested people from all walks of life.


[For those unfamiliar with Viktor Schauberger's work, the PKS biography + other information is a good start  { http://www.pks.or.at/menu_en.html  }  The wikipedia entry is terrible!]  For me, Viktor Schauberger in one of the few natural energy pioneers who was an original thinker, and like Tesla, Kepler, Galileo and others suffered terribly at the hands of the current establishment of scientists and technocrats.  As one scientist once put it when Viktor demonstrated zero-friction piping: 'if this were true, we would have to re-write all the textbooks'... and now, who wants to do that - especially these days!

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Jörg Schauberger graciously invited me into his home and learning center and proceeded to ask my interests.  He then asked me 'what happens when water is poured on tea leaves'.  The picture says it all:




Jörg then proceeded to show me the first of many interactive displays spread throughout the PKS center.  They are all very simple and illuminating.  
This one consists of sand particles in a cylinder of water whirled by a single shaft with a double bladed propeller.  There's a ring of blue LED lights on top and an angled mirror at the bottom.  It shows the natural distribution of particles suspended in water and their resonant distribution on the bottom when they settle.  My first WOW


I won't have time to show each and every display, chart, etc.  But this one is fundamental.  The water vortex, and how fish use it for levitation (more powerful and available than gravity!) was aptly demonstrated by this display:



It is amazing to see the intricacies of this 'twisted + knotted' water vortex coming simply from a 1" input hose - no hidden tricks! - just one of nature's secrets exposed.  In a later display with a plexiglass egg shaped container, simple air input is shown to do the same thing with a powerful upward vortex stream.  again WOW.

The mechanical and electrical machines such as the water turbine (90% more effective than current hydroelectric turbines), the famed Repulsin, along with various other spiral, cone, hyperbolas, horns, golden ratio examples, etc. were all on display before me.  
I truly felt like a child inside a paradise of natural energy wonders. 

I had a zillion questions, and several key ones answered:  Rudolph Steiner and Viktor Schauberger never met.  John Wilkes was responsible for the water flow forms that are commonly attributed to either Steiner or Schauberger, and others (many youTube videos are... well, not quite true!)

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 Jörg then took me to downtown Bad Ischl for lunch and a most delectable authentic Austrian pastry + coffee shop.  

We discussed many aspects of the established energy industry and how one can possibly intercede and bring Viktor's work (and other's) to the forefront - especially to young student's minds.  My own wish is to organized some sort of conference/symposium in Northern California around free energy, Tesla, Schauberger and others, and Jörg indicated that he would be willing to participate.


For now, I will conclude this brief overview.  My head is still spinning (hopefully like a water vortex!) with all the cultural riches here.  I will try to write more on this later.  i hope to incorporate some of my learnings here into the Living Energy Learning Center at WinSol in Northern California. 

....as my hectic + hi-paced Europe trip is slowly drawing to a close....






Thursday, February 20, 2014

onwards + concluding...

The highlight of my European adventures in 2014 were definitely the in-depth and community living at Sieben Linden.  We'll see how my meeting with Joerg Schauberger goes (Viktor Schauberger's grandson) later next week - but I have minimal expectations.



the hustle and bustle of european life is a bit much for me - more this year than most.  The body space, the assertion/aggression, hurriedness, jarring traffic + noises... how do europeans cope with this every single day? Their secret I think is that underneath all that hurriedness is a genuine social caring for each other, that is strangely missing in the USA.  There's a togetherness amidst the chaotic frenzy.   ahhh... color me country boy... forest retreat, Sierra mountain high driven...
------------------------------ It doesn't help that I am changing hotels/rooms almost every other day and jumping on another hi-speed train to somewhere.  I tried to give myself a relaxing vacation, but did not succeed.  Instead i find myself constantly coughing and wheezing from a lingering infection.  The stress, second-hand smoking, lack of fresh indoor air, and stuffy restaurants along with foreign foods doesn't bode well for a recovery any time soon. 
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Yikes!  It's really not that depressing... i am just in limbo with this head cold and can't seem to perk up!  i need my coffee fix in the morning, which I only got at one hotel in munich, and the occasional starbucks when i can find it.  The rest of the coffee in europe is not my 'cup of tea'... either too strong, too little, too artificial, or just simply - not.






Sunday, February 16, 2014

farewell again from Sieben Linden


I am sitting here in my private 'bungalow' overlooking a meadow at Sieben Linden ecoVillage. There are so many options one has at any given moment.  Right now I chose the option of finishing some web work while I still have a reliable hi-speed connection.  I'm finding that more difficult to get in Europe than before.

options
I could go and help in the kitchen to prepare for Sunday brunch.  I could go visit people lounging around in the breakfast area.  I could go for a walk through the orchard, forest, gardens, village area, etc.  I could find some friends and see if they'd like to chat.  I could sit in their cool library and read endlessly about permaculture, free energy, political + living style things+++
so many choices...



speech...
Last nite, I gave my presentation to about 25 people, on 'Living Energies'  subtitle:  demand is addiction.  The latter half of this was flat and not well received.  The idea though of natural energies via Steiner, Schauberger + wilhem Reich were extremely well received.  It was not my best presentation... feeling a bit under the weather, tremendous technical problems with Linux presentation software and video editors, etc.


Today we'll be bidding farewell to these 16 people who went through this intensive week of orientation for living here fulltime.  It is not a visitor program.  About half of us will come back in a month for a 2 week intensive time if 66% of the general population (140) say it's OK.  I would easily have that approval - I have so many friends and like-minded loving-spirits here.  But I cannot see giving everything up in California and coming to germany full-time.  Time will tell.  For now, I will be content to come back and work on some kind of energy permaculture project - they seem to be more advanced on permaculture here and I could learn (and teach) a lot, and add value.

seven Pledges of Sieben Linden


I serve Life.
I encounter in love and trust
I mature on what I encounter
I practice truthfulness
I accept responsibility
I engage myself for a sustainable world

(this is the credo of Sieben Linden)



: this is the german picture:

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Sieben Linden in depth part 2

 I ran across this web posting by my friend Michael Wuerfel about Sieben Linden that gives a lot of the details... of the village.

 Sieben Linden

Sieben Linden is a founding member of GEN (Global Ecovillage Network), and currently hosts its headquarters. It is reputed for the boldness and the richness of its experiments in terms of sustainable living. It is also supported by the UNESCO as part of the “decade for sustainable development”. In other words, it is a big player, perhaps a model of ecological village. To check this out we enrolled in the “young people experience Sieben Linden” week.
The ecovillage is located in the middle of nowhere outskirt of the little village of Poppau, Germany. It is nestled among wheat fields, wild meadows and (mostly) pine forest. We’re on time for check-in, – even though, we would learn it later on, it does not really matter here – the sun is setting, air is warm, wind blowing through the surrounding leaves…it already feels good to be here.
An archetypal day at Sieben Linden could be described as follows: yoga at 7AM, which is a delicate way to wake senses up and share positive energy. After breakfast, people gather in circle at the center of the village, to execute team building exercises. These included: going by trio in the center of the group to execute some dance moves, passing stones to each other by crossing arms and legs, singing, improving a move that everyone should mimic afterwards etc. It feels a bit awkward the first time, but it’s a good ice breaker when you don’t really know the people or are still antisocial/ sleepy. At 9h15, a few residents come to expose the work to do and gather volunteers.
The work did ranged from shoveling ground and clear bushes in future building areas, removing (metallic) fences from protected forest areas, unloading wooden beams, mowing the lawn, collecting wild herbs or stones, making stony pathways in the village, to improving the foundations of the amphitheater. Work goes on till 12h30, with a long break around 10h30, then resumes at 15h and finishes at 18h30, when dinner is served.
In the evening, the young people would usually gather at 20h for a round-table aiming at sharing feedbacks from the day and organizing future works. Furthermore, they would also use this meeting to share deeper feelings, like sadness and fears, joys and hopes, like in a Forum (link to toolbox). After the round-table, people can go back to their activities or to bed, but most of the time they stay together to play music or circus activities around a fire, party, watch a movie, or listen to someone telling a story or reading a book.
At Sieben Linden, community life is seen as the nexus of personal and group well being, as well as the root to connect with nature.
“Life in community is not just something that we practice here in addition to organic life, but the core of a sustainability-oriented life. Only when people learn to get along with each other, they have a future together.” *
The emphasis is put on respecting the diversity of people and lifestyles, through consensual decision taking and thematic neighborhoods**.
Individual needs and community objectives are matched in an ongoing process supported by working and living together, celebrations and cultural/artistic activities, but also by innovative communication tools such as the forum, talking sticks rounds, mindfulness and meditation exercises, « Fish Pool Discussion », (a rotating circle of people talk within a larger circle of lister that can step in the inner circle when a place is free), A-B conversations between two people, with each of them speaking for 5 minutes and the other listening, Nonviolent Communication, mediation, coaching, consulting colleagues, deep ecology etc. Such tools are also taught to non-residents during seminars***.




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Decisions making is mostly decentralized in small groups where residents must get involved, topped by a system of councils (residential community, social, Housing, Education Board, food supply), within total transparence and limited possibilities of appeal. There are still a few decisions that are made by the entire community in monthly general assembly, such as influx of people, expenses over 40,000 €, and allocation of land to other neighborhoods. In this assembly a clear 2/3 majority is needed to make a decision.
The residents are committed to improve their decisions processes by focusing more on shared experiences, mutual support and shared personal celebrations, persuaded that the best decision/solution would naturally emerge. Basis for the decision model is the consciousness of their common orientation:
  • I serve the living.
  • I meet with love and trust.
  • I am ready for what I encounter.
  • I exercise myself in truth.
  • I take responsibility.
  • I am committed to a sustainable world.
The residents put it into practice their strong commitment to sustainability and ecology by resorting to permaculture for food and urban planning, to renewable energies for heat and electricity, to advanced waste management and rainfall collection (Kläranlage), to simple natural living and political action. The site also features a forest kindergarten welcoming 15 children, some of which come from outside the eco-village.
Sieben Linden’s large permaculture garden produces many fruits and vegetables and manages to fulfill 70% of the village needs. The site is designed around the creation of many retreats for animals and small biotopes to foster biological diversity, for example by converting pine monoculture forests into mixed forest, creating ponds and mixing edible and non-edible plants in their fields. The garden includes a dozen beehives, a horse ranch**** – residents favor hand and horses work to machines – and herbs greenhouses. One day we witnessed a very harmonious scene: two women, one of them carrying a baby African style, horse-plowing. The baby was quiet, the two ladies were talking like friends in a quiet café and the horse knew exactly what to do. The cuisine of the common kitchen is mostly vegan with some vegetarian dishes, and suitable for raw food diet. The cellar is in free access, and wild herbs are served twice a week.
The buildings at Sieben Linden are particularly interesting. Much input has been given to their conception. They have been designed and naturally built – using local straw, wood and clay –by their residents for their residents, and are therefore quite diverse, each of them having its own unique character. In addition, heat and electricity (which consumption in Sieben Linden is ¼ of the national average) are mostly provided by wood, solar panels, geothermal activity, and intelligent design (south oriented houses and large water tanks, air exchangers etc).



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  • “Strohpolis” is one of the largest straw bale building in Europe (three storey, 530m²) and was built respecting vegan construction norms.
  • “Brunnenwiese” is designed as a spiral, with a wood, sauna-like, heating system at its core that diffuses heat through the walls. Its shape was also thought to favor healing, meditation and wellbeing of children.
  • Club99 (a group of radical ecologists) building (120m², two storey) was built exclusively by hand (no oil, electricity nor animals involved) with local materials for 5000€.
  • Since 2011, the village boasts its first passive house, the “Libelle”, which rely solely on its solar panels, natural flux and good isolation to provide for its energy needs (of 300 kWh / year).





A stay at Sieben Linden is a good way to realize how connected we are – or should be – to the earth, how much we need it, and how destructive our western social patterns can be. It is also a good place to learn alternative ways of interacting and working with people. Here putting ones emotions forward and trusting are not seen as a sign of weakness but are required to build a healthy community dynamic, and working is done slowly and sharing, often deeply, with others, in a harmless, fun, yet effective manner.
Over 15 years, the Sieben Lindeners have implemented a real holistic sustainable lifestyle, from alternative communication and decision making tools, to cutting-edge ecological construction, passing by education, political action and environmental stewardship in a way that is consistent with the permaculture and deep ecology philosophies.
QUICK FACTS
  • Initiated in 1989, the first residents moved in in 1997.
  • Founding member of GEN, it is currently its headquarters for Europe.
  • 150 residents organized in neighborhoods with different approaches to green living
  • 82ha of land, which comprises 44 ha of forest, 31 hectares gardens and farmland and almost 7 hectares of built-up areas.
  • The community practices a holistic sustainable lifestyle strongly inspired by permaculture and deep ecology
D.L.
FOR MORE INFO:
Check out Sieben Linden’s website: http://www.oekodorf7linden.de/
Read the book from Michael Wurfel, who stayed there for 10 years: “Dorf ohne kirche. Die ganz große Führung durch das ökodorf Sieben Linden“. Eurotopia press.

** http://www.siebenlinden.de/htmcontent2089.html
*** http://www.siebenlinden.de/english2037.html
**** Resorting to animal use has been heavily discussed among the residents. They decided to keep the horses, because they would have gone to a slaughterhouse otherwise.
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(c) Foto credits: Sieben Linden. More pictures: http://siebenlinden.de/bildarchiv/index.php/

Sieben Linden in depth part 1

Ok - finally some time to blog about my experience at Sieben Linden in depth.  Unfortunately I am a bit under the weather as the stress of hectic travel and cultural challenges has caught up with me... but what a beautiful place to be under the weather.  Last nite 5 different people stopped by to offer me hot tea and food in the bungalow where I am staying... such love and giving.


The team exercises here are world class.  They are advanced versions of things I used to do in the corporate world of team building.  My favorites are the 'forum': a very small version of a roman forum, where one person gets up and speaks their mind about whatever they want and the people act as mirrors back to them.  I readily participate in these, even tho my german is very basic. 

Today's topic was about money + economy.  We had an overview of the overall organization and cash flows, the cost control sheets, various internal jobs + payments, external jobs, etc.  We then broke into smaller groups and put in about 10 coins of various denominations.  The first exercise was to give money (no talking) to each other.  The second was to receive (only) money without talking. And the third was the ask and negotiate for money.  I was amazed that I ended up with almost double what I started by asking for money for starving kids in Africa. (i donated the proceeds to the 7L (which is what Sieben Linden calls itself)  medical center for kids).


Then we had a hour long meeting with the CEO of the overall ecoVillage and the CEO of the living business group.  They are divided into five sub groups here and have pretty rigid structures that have been worked out over 20 years on where monies flow to and from.  There's some built in flexibility, but the costs are distributed equally among members.   For people that make their earnings outside of 7L, they can donate their earnings to the village - or not:  totally flexibile.

Housing projects are difficult to start here.  They need a true champion and someone to spearhead it, start it and see it through.  Few do.  Larger projects are also a bit difficult since it required much discussion and input from the community. 

These seems to be a commonality that all ecoVillages have:  seeking input and agreement on major community-impacting projects, resulting in very slow change.


membership
I asked what Sieben Linden's waiting list was - and they said they had none... that it was us 16 sitting in the room (we each paid around 600 euros for this privilege).  Since all of their conferences, seminars, orientations, tours, etc are totally sold out months before they occur - i don't think this is true.  It's another cultural difference reflected in language.  How does one say in german 'how many people are waiting to get in, if they could'...   what is the pent-up demand?  It's probably in the hundreds.  But then again several people told me that most germans cannot and would not give up their cozy, habitual life in their city homes or apartments and willingly choose to live in the country where they would be expected to actively participate in a community. 

Part of Sieben Linden's success comes from their being extremely picky in choosing new members.  Of the 16 in this 'PIV' group, 6 will be chosen to attend a two week intensive orientation + preparation seminar.  From those 6, 3 will be chosen for a 1 year probationary period upon which they could move in permanently.  
During each of these phases, 2/3 of all existing community members must provide positive feedback for each prospective member.  In the last two phases, it must be 100%.















Sunday, February 9, 2014

4 th day @ Sieben Linden

quik update: 

Like all things, my experience at the ecoVillage of Sieben Linden is different than it was the last two visits.  This time I got insights into the complexities of running + managing an ecoVillage from one of its founders... who is shortly moving on after 25+ years.  Also the financial side is clearer to me now along with the complexities of running an ecoVillage on money rather than shared labor.  Quite different than the egalitarian model (Twin Oaks, Dancing Rabbit...)

I have very limited access to internet here... it's really not appropriate to be sitting at a computer while living here... they don't allow cell phones, have no wifi, etc.  all the EMF's are strictly minimized here.  

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The community building + introduction exercises here are some of the best ones I've ever experienced (i've gone through and done dozens myself).

An exercise today about drawing your own lifeline on a large poster sized paper and then taking 2 other people through it over 10 minutes really instills a deeper understanding of a person's journey of how they got to this point in time.  Maybe it's the german methodology and communication style - but this exercise really bonded us as a group more and created empathy and metta (loving kindness + compassion). 

Thursday, February 6, 2014

to EcoVillage Sieben Linden

This is the highlight of my trip... after two weeks in Europe, and one very intense Winter School at the Austrian University of Applied Sciences (FHS), I am looking forward to shifting to a more holistic + centered community of Sieben Linden in northeastern Germany.

I hope to have a deeper understanding and connection with this community which is a bit different from Twin Oaks.  They have a definitive facility, energy + infrastructure program (my specialty) that focuses on long-term stability, and I enjoy discussing various aspects of grid connections, biomass gasification ++  

Last year when I left Sieben Linden after 8 days, the whole outside world felt cold, stressed and hostile.  It feels a little bit like this now - and more so, as my heart is already starting to embrace the serene-ness and comfortable togetherness that Sieben Linden has for me.  This year I went thru Salzwedel - the castle here was first mentioned somewhere around 1200 - and a 10km walk this morning found me in the old city and the castle ruins.... too many cars for me, but the quaintness of the tight old buildings of a bygone era... wonderful!


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Here you will find some information and how a couple hundred people have figured out how to live together without raising their voices and in taking care of each other:  Three types of meetings at Sieben Linden...

This overview and weeklong intensive seminar is a prerequisite for another 2 week seminar which is the prerequisite for beginning a potential trial period of living at the ecoVillage.






this is the overview


Thursday, January 30, 2014

Austria teachings + learnings


The whirlwind of 200 students and 22 international 'coaches' have once again assembled for an intense 10 day learning process.   This year we are focusing on health care.



These are real world case studies with real world consequences.  The students are split into 13 teams and required to do a final presentation to a 'board of directors' type evaluation jury.  Expert lectures on various project management, financial, master/building/space planning, energy + waste processes etc.  It was good to see that this year the students were encouraged to supply ALL of the energy from on-site resources and to 'close-the-loop'.

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It's only the second full day, and i am recovering for a very late nite of curling team competitions (my team did win one of four prizes), beer + schnaps drinking and some authentic Austrian boisterous singing.  And then a second nite of late dinner and drinking and camaraderie.  This IS the essence of life.  The bond between teachers and students here reaches way beyond the classroom - there is a comfortableness (gemuetlichkeit) that is world class. 

1. here we go again...

As my annual euro trip begins, instead of Willie's song 'on the road again'  it feels more like led Zepplin's 'Stairwell to Heaven'....
 

 "And a new day will dawn for those who stand long,
And the forests will echo with laughter...
 Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind?...
 How everything still turns to gold...
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last.
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll.
"
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Coming down from the Sierra and my mountain retreat into the buzz saw of modern technocratic cities and then into the even higher speed buzz saw of Europe, what can I say?

This blog is mainly for the Sieben Linden ecoVillage visit (3rd year) and my learnings there and comparisons to Twin Oaks, Virginia... so stay tuned.   This is starting next week after an intensive 10 days with the Austrian university.
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It all caught up with me a couple days ago when I found myself on a hi-speed (ICE) german train with a heavily discounted ticket dated for the previous day!  yikes!  say it ain't so!... had to pay full fare plus a small penalty.  I've had fun with sharing that experience with friends at the university here in europe... and one person showed me his watch and explained that when the 'big hand is on the 12, and the little hand on the...  '  



My error was due in part to the many subtle cultural + logistical differences between the USA and Euroland.  Weekly calendars here start on Monday, ours start on Sunday... so I transposed one day.  Hey! that's my (rationale) story, and I'm stickin' with it.

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