the best laid plans... sometimes lay down.
our van, retrofitted for mild & eternal september weather, harbored dreams of winter. how were we to know? sometimes we follow the bearings of somebody else's compass. the best thing to do, is ride along and get some warm socks.
short story is, instead of south, we went due north and threw an axle.
so we left the van in the hands of my great-uncle's mechanic and spent a couple months wandering the Vermont backwoods. as of the 20's, this state was clear-cut and pastured with sheep. the backwoods wanderer will find all the evidence they need the world grows back.
along a ridge of young softwoods, we would follow the 400 year old stately procession of property maples that three of us couldn't get our arms around. old chimneys and foundations loom up in the prickers, and an old logging town visible only in the cider apples that lined the old main street. a postal code, gone to seed.
larger wild areas, taller and broader ones, don't have the sense of recovery that New England does. we need wilderness. but we also need places where you can see how people might fit into the picture, faulty though we are and slow to learn. Vermont is a good tonic for spasms of ecological despair. the Northeast Kingdom is best of all for that.
the Kingdom is kind of like Down-East Maine. a sort of stoic and absurd sovereign republic where there's no reason to be if you're not, and no reason to leave if you're there.
we left the woods for a farm up here. the cold fronts come skidding off Lake Camplaign, just barely clear the Green Mountains, and sit in our laps all winter. just us (and five hundred chickens). more about that in a bit. happy holidays, and i hope you're as snug as i am in this little farmhouse on a hill.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Thursday, December 16, 2010
KONBIT SHELTER 2011
happy holidays.
breaking the internet ice again, for friends hard at the good work.
Reposted from SWOON & Upper Playground:
"The Konbit Shelter Project was created with the idea that a group of artists, engineers, architects and builders could pool their individual knowledge, resources and time to make a lasting difference in post-earthquake Haiti. Konbit Shelter is a rebuilding initiative, which uses dome-style structures and the super-adobe technique of earth bag architecture to create sustainable, inexpensive and dependable housing for the people of Haiti. While the structures are extremely resistant to natural disasters, they also have the major benefit of being comprised of 90% earth and requiring no specialized scaffolding and under-structure to build - making it a viable option for the people of Haiti to continue building on their own once they learn the method.
At the center of this project has been NYC-based Swoon, whose intricate wheat-pastes and paper-cutouts have been seen on the walls of countless cities and galleries. While humanitarian architecture and street-based art that Swoon is known for appear to be vastly different mediums, the concepts behind them remain the same to her: "To bring things of beauty to people where they are, where they need it. To turn up where you are not expected to be, and to make everything out of love."
During the summer of 2010, the team behind The Konbit Shelter Project traveled to the village of Bigones, Haiti with the goal of educating and employing the local residents while constructing a community center using this technique. Now, the team will be returning again on December 21st to begin construction on single family homes, and the sale of Swoon's WALKI PRINT will immediately go towards funding the construction of these homes.
RELEVANT LINKS:
The Konbit Shelter Project: http://www.konbitshelter.org
Walki Print: http://shop.upperplayground.com/p/SWOON-WALKI-PRINT-
KONBIT-SHELTER-PROJECT/UP40610PT
Upper Playground Web Store: http://shop.upperplayground.com "
ps. the print is beautiful. and so are the shelters.
breaking the internet ice again, for friends hard at the good work.
Reposted from SWOON & Upper Playground:
"The Konbit Shelter Project was created with the idea that a group of artists, engineers, architects and builders could pool their individual knowledge, resources and time to make a lasting difference in post-earthquake Haiti. Konbit Shelter is a rebuilding initiative, which uses dome-style structures and the super-adobe technique of earth bag architecture to create sustainable, inexpensive and dependable housing for the people of Haiti. While the structures are extremely resistant to natural disasters, they also have the major benefit of being comprised of 90% earth and requiring no specialized scaffolding and under-structure to build - making it a viable option for the people of Haiti to continue building on their own once they learn the method.
At the center of this project has been NYC-based Swoon, whose intricate wheat-pastes and paper-cutouts have been seen on the walls of countless cities and galleries. While humanitarian architecture and street-based art that Swoon is known for appear to be vastly different mediums, the concepts behind them remain the same to her: "To bring things of beauty to people where they are, where they need it. To turn up where you are not expected to be, and to make everything out of love."
During the summer of 2010, the team behind The Konbit Shelter Project traveled to the village of Bigones, Haiti with the goal of educating and employing the local residents while constructing a community center using this technique. Now, the team will be returning again on December 21st to begin construction on single family homes, and the sale of Swoon's WALKI PRINT will immediately go towards funding the construction of these homes.
RELEVANT LINKS:
The Konbit Shelter Project: http://www.konbitshelter.org
Walki Print: http://shop.upperplayground.com/p/SWOON-WALKI-PRINT-
KONBIT-SHELTER-PROJECT/UP40610PT
Upper Playground Web Store: http://shop.upperplayground.com "
ps. the print is beautiful. and so are the shelters.
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