Poison Oak Update

So Laney's poison oak has gotten much better.


Even though our camera is busted, you can see how it is disappearing on her neck. It barely itches now.

Jameson on the other hand.

Temple at Noon

Everyday at noon Lorean, the high priestess and founder of Isis Oasis, leads the community in a noon service. It entails singing songs, offering praises to Isis, lighting candles, ringing bells, breathing in "inner sanctum" and out "infinite space" (that spells ISIS, by the way) then looking in a mirror to ask yourself for three things to get you through the day (for example: kindness, patience and reality, were my requests for the day).



This is a video of the "noon song" sung by Lorean.
It was raining today so only four people showed up to service, Lorean, Laney and I being three of those four.
People around here, really hate the rain.

Laney's adventures in Poison Oak

I don't know when or how it happened but somehow I am covered with poison oak. From my chin to my legs, itchy, bumpy, nasty red poison oak has taken over.
I was always so proud thinking that I was immune to poisonous plants, until now I'd never had a case of poison ivy, oak, sumac, nothing! So last week, when I found a weird rash on my neck and one Californian friend says, "oh yea! looks like you've got poison oak!" I felt betrayed by mother nature.



It's horrible. It looks bad, it feels bad, it generally sucks. I would put it in the same category as being bitten by a hundred mosquitoes. Not fun.



The internet has led me to all sorts of ideas as to how to treat poison oak; baking soda and vinegar, oat meal mask, oat meal bath, cornstarch, tea tree oil, calamine lotion, lukewarm baths, cold compresses, and on and on. I faithfully tried almost every single one and none of them healed me.
A friend mentioned that often right next to where the poison oak grows there grows another plant called Manzanita which carries the antidote to the poison.



You see in the photo above the manzanita is the red barked tree.
Jameson and I had to go on an adventure driving along the country roads searching for this manzanita. We finally encountered the thing, chopped off a few branches and brought them home where we made pots and pots of tea out of the leaves and bark.



That night I took a bath in cold manzanita tea.
According to Native American legend, the poison oak should be cleared up in three days.
I'll let you all know what happens on Monday.

This is Roy and Dale, the two gay turkeys that live on Isis Oasis.
When they were first introduced to the property they were thought to be of opposite genders. Large fairly flightless birds end up working pretty well as either male/female or female/female, but most of the time two males will compete for dominance.

This is not the case with Roy and Dale, who are both male and are in love with each other. In fact they will get in quite a panic if one turkey finds himself on the other side of a fence or barrier without the other.

So instead of running the risk of loosing one another they typically avoid much roaming and just sit together beside a window so they can look at each others reflection.

That is until either a new car drives up, because they insist on greeting people and checking to see if the car is reflective enough to sit by it, or when Laney chases them around with her accordion. Both happen, regularly.

Oh my Goddess!

We have found a beautiful and bazaar spot to rest and work for the month of May.

Isis Oasis!


Temple by day


Temple by night

Here’s the run down. The high Priestess that founded the church (The Church of Isis is legally recognized) moved her animal sanctuary and worship center out of San Francisco in the 70’s to Geyserville, after the city passed laws prohibiting exotic animals as pets.
Before that law, Loreon (the high priestess) used to take her pet Ocelots on walks around the city.

So now a very large resort/Isis worship center rests just outside downtown Geyserville, and by downtown I mean two blocks of mini marts and one stoplight.






A giant ancient tree sits in the middle of the property. The tree is believed to harness wise energy so white Peacock feathers are attached to its branches.





Geyserville is a place of constant tectonic plate activity. In other words there are earthquakes here, ALL THE TIME! But not movie earthquakes where everyone almost dies until Superman, or Wonder Woman, holds the earth together with super human strength. These earthquakes are very subtle and you may not even notice it until someone points it out to you and you think to yourself, “have I been sort of drunk this whole time?” Because that is what you think, you feel off balance the majority of the time you are walking or working and you begin to wonder what’s in the water (vodka?) Nope earthquakes.

The regular “shake” though just adds to the wonder of this place. It is very striking and has a very distinct energy. The facilities are colorful and warm and you’re surrounded by exotic animals, which I know is what you want me to get to.

Some of the Birds:






This is Peaches (above), very talkative bird who also knows how to raise the roof. Video footage soon.




Now we know Turkeys aren't exactly "exotic" birds, but these dudes are HILARIOUS! Again video footage soon.




We got to know these Emus pretty well after building a gate beside their cage and having them spit water at us, laugh, then peck at our tools.






The birds, by the way, squawk just before every earthquake, so they squawk a lot.

The Ocelots and large cats:








While most of the Ocelots are friendly, this large cat, who's species I forget, is rather angry most of the time.

Most of these animals are rescue animals from owners who could no longer handle them. Isis Oasis is a place they can live out the rest of their lives.

We have been working with retreat groups (We just had a Shamanic Tantra group have a retreat here, family be careful when googling that), cooking meals for groups, building cages for animals and working in the garden.



For more photos and information we strongly encourage you to visit their very “early internet” website.
www.isisoasis.org

Adventures in California Fruit: Part 1

This is a Rangpur Lime.

A few weeks ago we went gorilla fruitin with our friends from SLO and came across this little gem.

Don't be fooled by its sweet looks, this is no mandarin. In fact it is a mandarin crossed with a lemon, giving it a VERY tangy taste.
It ends up working out great for mixed drinks or lemonade with a hint of orange flavor.
It is also a classic central California joke; friend wants a mandarin and you toss them one of these. If they aren't paying to much attention to the subtle difference in smell then it makes for quite the sour face experience.

Also in case you were wondering, Gorilla Fruitin is when you pick fruit from trees that aren't yours. Don't worry karma, "it grows on trees" is an expression on abundance for a reason.

Here is a picture of our final loot.

Laney's Birthday

After leaving Orr Hot Springs, we drove a few miles down the road to an amazingly majestic Redwood grove named Montgomery woods. I keep referring to it as a Cathedral in nature. It was one of the most serene and awe inspiring places that I have ever been. In that grove there are some of the tallest trees on earth.
Here are some pictures below.
The camera is broken again, because it is being held together by electrical tape it has a sort of blurry "fish-eye" effect now... it works for this series though, i think it helps express the dreaminess of the place.

Working at Orr Springs

The four days before my birthday we spent doing a work exchange at a little northern California mountain cove called Orr Hot Springs. It's a beautiful little rustic retreat center with three thermal pools, a sauna, steam rooms, and private baths. We worked six hours a day digging ditches, pruning ferns, and clearing fallen trees from the hillsides and in exchange were given full access to all of the pools and were housed a cozy little private "yurt" with a heater and a skylight. All the manual labor made the hot springs always appreciated. I feel like Jameson and I really benefited from no internet of cell phone for four days, just us and the woods and the water, and of course the hippies naked and blissful, soaking their worries away. I wasn't allowed to take any photos of the springs due to the "clothing optional" policy of Orr, but I did snap a few of us working on clearing paths and eating breakfast.

N Street Cohousing project: Davis, Ca

Established in 1986, the N Street CoHousing is one of the more interesting community things in Davis. Years ago, about 10-12 houses on N Street all agreed to remove their backyard fences to create a private community area. They now have a community house and lots of gardens and play structures for their children.



We stayed here in Davis for two nights. A friend of a friend from Virginia had relocated to the Davis a few years ago and welcomed us into his home full of very cool interested and laid back roommates and nightly family dinners. They had built a loft bed over the washing machine and dryer where Jameson slept.



The community produced a lot of it's own food, each home had a little patch of garden which at this time of year was full of beets, arugula, spinach, and swiss chard. There were about 10 egg laying hens that I saw roaming around and eating bugs. They even had a bunch of bee boxes and the whole time we were visiting we ate from this massive mason jar full of crystlized honey.



In the back yard there were several giant citrus trees. The one pictured below was grapefruit tree. I made a really delicious honey and grapefruit dressing one night for dinner.



Jameson and I were both really inspired by the project and have been brainstorming how something like this could be possible to copy in Richmond. It seems like the perfect fusion of life in the country and life in the city.
To find out more about N Street Co housing visit: http://www.nstreetcohousing.org/