Durham, North Carolina

Question of the Day:

What is this person saying?

We saw Charlotte, NC!


We liked it, despite ourselves, as it flew by our windows for about 15 minutes.
It was clean and had a bunch of art around and statues of metal people we don't know, and flesh people of many colors.
It was intriguing upon this very first glance, and that's about all we know of it.

We happily arrived in Durham, NC to the house of our now-friend Kym Register, of the band Midtown Dickens, who was out and about being that it was her second to last night before leaving for India for a week. She was going to talk and learn from Hijra there, a group of transgender men and sometimes women.

So, she left the key in a secret place which clearly i will not divulge to you.
All of a sudden it happened, we had a house all to ourselves with even wireless internet and a kitchen to cook on!
Despite the indoorsness of it all, we found ourselves drawn to the one-degree-cooler front porch as opposed to the one-degree-hotter insides.


We called a Suzuki dealer, as for the past bunch of days, our trusty steed

had been popping out of 5th gear into neutral in a sudden and jarring manner.
While it was getting looked at for a couple of hours, they hire the nicest man named J to take you to 9th street, the part of Durham that has Whole Foods, an ice-cream parlor, and restaurants and shops you are sure to enjoy.


9th Street, however, did not hold our hearts.
It was ho-hum.
J, however, fondly holds our hearts.
He told us about the tobacco farm he grew up at, and how he missed the feeling of his hands in the dirt, and the fresh onions and potatoes they would eat from the ground.
He would direct a mule to pull the tobacco that had just been picked, and in the middle of the hot day he would sneak off to a shady grove to find the juciest watermelon and scoop out the pulp.
Our mouths were watering.

J

When we got back to Suzuki, Ronny was another charming character.
He told us about the Carolina Shag, which he teaches part time, and how if we moved to north carolina we would just have to learn it. He also told us they couldn't fix the transmission, that they'd have to put in a whole new or used one. So we went on our way with now Ronny too in our hearts.


We took Melanie to the train station in order to staten-island for 6 days.
We took the car to Frank who said he could rebuild the gear that was worn.
Before Melanie left we took to making whole wheat pasta with steamed broccoli, zucchini, chard, carmelized onions, tomatoes, basil, and parmesean cheese.
We also made the most delicious salad with lettuce, spinach, avocados, raw cheddar cheese, cherry tomatoes, onions, edible flowers, and blackberries.


It was 101 degrees in an oven house, a little stir crazy, but good.
I worked on some b'b'salmon songs on this here backpacker gi-tar,


keith stumbled a fan from Chris's room while he wasn't looking cuz it was dark (he said we could),


and we found relief in the most beautiful swimmin hole, which even itself was sweating.


The tiniest toads greeted (ran away from) us. And we caught many of all sizes.


Geo, a local boy who swims every day at the swimmin hole greeted us in a friendly human way, and told us that he doesn't like durham because it's boring and has gangs.
We swam long and good, and evaded bites from the looming (swimming) snappers.


On the way out we saw a fox!

We went and looked at land! Keith will soon tell you of the land and the fish on it that could be our future breakfasts.
This time, our guardians gave us plenty of paraphanalia, including 10 business cards in case we forgot to dream of their smiling faces.


Which we put happily to use with the most delicious frozen mango strawberry coconut butter and egg shakes while keith chatted up our next guardian.


We drove around Raleigh which was, as a big city can be at a first glance, undiscernable.



It looked like there was hardly anyone around, but Raleigh may just be the first place to employ city-camo suits making humans blend to the eye seemlessly with bricks and skyscrapers.

We did see something for a certain special Erin Gleeson:


We like this:


We went back to Durham and traded our car in for a new car for free!


Which means we rented one for the week and left keith's to be healed by Mechanic.

We decided to drive around Durham again to get a feel for it, mainly because we didn't quite like it, but didn't know why.

"Find Your Cool"

A strange mix of new developments and old forgotten buildings:




Back to our home in Durham where despite being lived in by Kym, Chris, and Chaz (of Chaz's Bull City Records in Durham), (3 of the friendliest folk), was empty almost the whole time, it was still hot at almost record highs and we were still trying fruitlessly to sleep.



At finally about 3am Keith and I both spontaneously arrose, as sleep was no where to be found. So we walked into the kitchen and stayed that way until the birds and sun started chirping.

The fruits of our wakefullness:


And after many moments of sweating and wondering in Durham, finally our time came to move on!
But not without capturing our new friend Chris!



Finals

Durham is like the boy next door who's kind of cute, but once you start talking to him you find out he smokes cigarettes and kills bugs for fun. You try hard to like him, because of the sheer convenience his proximity offers, and so you focus on his redeeming features, namely the Whole Foods he lives at and his friends Midtown Dickens, but that particular twinkle in his eye just isn't there.

From Madison County to Six Mile

We began our first land search on Sunday, the first of June, with Eunice Pearson, our guardian realtor angel.

After browsing the racket that is the Multiple Listing Service (a.k.a. MLS), we came across four properties within an hour of Asheville that looked promising.

Slanty Plains

The first, 68 acres for $340,000, was about an hour away:

"Laurel community. Build your perfect mountain getaway! This parcel has it all. Borders Pisgah National Forest. Bold streams, big game, wildlife, and long range views. Private yet only 2/10 of a mile from highway 208. Two miles from the Tennessee border and only 15 minutes from Greenville, TN. Ideal for mountain retreat or for investment."

After a nice chat with Eunice, we found the place, but not until after several wrong turns, educated guesses, and phone calls:



This place was very heavily wooded and very steep. In fact we decided it would be pretty hard to build houses anywhere because of its stepth.


68 acres is about a third of a mile by a third of a mile (a 10 minute walk), but we couldn't see the whole thing because the seller agent hadn't posted a plat map / survey on the MLS – so we didn't know where the property started and ended. This will be a recurring theme.

What's the Rope For?

After seeing this property we went to the next - only to find that we couldn't make our way up the mountain because Eunice's minivan only had four wheels. We skipped it and moved on to the next.

Cowy Acres



This place was interesting but seemed small. It had a nice combination of woods and cleared pasture land. It appeared to be long and narrow, bordered by a small creek and a road. Again we didn't get to see much of the property because we didn't know the layout.

Asheville area summary:

GREAT	DUMB
lots of mountains & streams proximity to Asheville few / no zzzoning laws	very expensive - a house on the property is nearly out of the question, and living within 30 minutes of Asheville seems equally impossible Asheville is being developed quickly and we may be surrounded by Dairy Queens in 15 years

Greenville, South Carolina


Next we dove south to Greenville, which supposedly is being rubbed off by Asheville. We could neither confirm nor deny this during our fifteen minute walk-n-sit downtown, but it did look cute.


As health food stores currently comprise our only metric for cities, Greenville went from an F to an A+ when we found its Whole Foods. We happily gave it a merit badge when we found vegan soy-free coconut ice cream in its cold section.

Welcome to Pickens County


Our next guardian was Robert Mixon, whom we met in the small town of Seneca, an hour west of Greenville. He explained passionately that the counties of Pickens and Oconee would be our best bets - Greenville County is being developed very quickly and is already too expensive for us, due to its location between the two Hip Cities, and its proximity to the Asheville airport.

We found some props to check and made our way north to Six Mile.

A Land of South Carolina




The blurb:

"Old Homestead sold As-Is. It is a farm house that can be renovated and used as a vacation/weekender or residence until you build. There are several great building locations on this 80% wooded property. Tranquil and private, there are trails throughout the woods, over 3 streams, gentle rolling hills and abundant wildlife. Hunting and horseback riding haven!"

After several vicious rap battles we decided we liked this place. A sad turtle near a sad stream fought a citrusy magnolia. A lumpy kitchen fought a nice clearing with snake. However, 33 acres is a bit small, and we moved on to the next property.

Sunset before Sunset

"57.52 unrestricted acres located in Sunset. This property has a nice combination of mature trees and green pastures with clear mountains streams. Perfect land to build your dream home. Very private with rolling hills and great long range view of the mountains."

With this plot of land we finally met our match. It took so long to walk into the property that we even had time to stop for toads. A nice two-story house with a shed, a well, a septic tank, and grid electricity sat near a beautiful oak tree. A tiny stream rests on one border, and a larger stream lies at the entrance, very close to the road and at the bottom of the slope. We probably wouldn't live here due to the water location & flow, but the property was still very pleasant and we miss it already.

Fence Expenses

Finally we went to the last property - a lot of acres for some amount of money. Either way it was in a gated community and there were restrictions on what you could build (minimum square footage, etc.). We couldn't even get in the gate and so we called it a day and moved on.

Night Vision

We then headed off to Paris Hilton State Park outside Greenville, and after seeing a PETA truck,


we built our first fire using a cigarette lighter and our most precious future diary pages.



Coming soon on this here blog - our adventures further east in North Carolina, via Chapel Hill Road, Chapel Hill Blvd, Old Chapel Hill St, the Nelson Chapel Hill Highway, and Durham Chapel Hill Blvd towards Chapel Hill.

Missing Miss Melanie

We miss this melanie!!!! If you've seen her at a wedding in Staten Island, please send her back to the road ghosts c/o Atlantic Ocean North Carolina. We will gladly scoop her back onto the road with us.
thank you.
and quick!

Asheville North Caroliny

Question of the Day:

Raspberry Or Blackberry?

We walked out of New Orleans!

And on we went.

On the way away from Earthaven

to Asheville we saw quite the possibility in terms of naming the land on which we will soon eat most of our breakfasts:

Tada!

















We went to asheville!
We did ititititit!
We saw them!
We did s'more!
We sunk in.
We turned about!
We climbed up, and slept at the Colonial.

We saw some friends! We sneakily snuck them a note.

















But then we didn't have to! They asked us on a date in their beautiful home.

















Before that, we learned how to wash our hands.





























We washed our hands and then went out about into the town. We were climbing a tree
































when all of a sudden we heard the most beautiful sound!




With the help of long lost purchase college allies Sara Kinney and John Ruso (over the mystery of the spelling of their names which no one seems to know) we learned about the abundance of beekeeping and permaculture classes in Asheville, and about how there are lots of people there who would be supportive and excited about us living in the way we dream of.

















(The only picture we have of these wonderful people! (one of which here is posing as keith but is actually sarah))


Then we went to a river by the city and pretended to fish with a stick of bamboo.



















There by the river some homeless people started gathering, because a Christian group comes there to hand out free meals around 7:00. As we were about to leave a man asked us if we wanted to see a baby raccoon. We turned around and sure enough, there on his shoulder was a ridiculously cute little creature.

















The man told us a little about himself and the raccoon, then thanked us for listening, and we were on our way.

That night we stayed with the McNally Family Friend Susan the Camel, in the lovely home of her lovely family, where we cooked our first melanie-heather-keith-cooked meal of the trip, and it was delicious and satisfying indeed.

















Susan told us a little about the vibrant contra and square dancing communities in Asheville.
She also told us that the people that live in the mountains around there are kind people.

Quickly again, we were on our way, this time to look at our very first properties!! We celebrated the occasion by saying we should celebrate this! and gazing at the fruit plants growing wild and free.


















As soon as a whistle we will tell you more about the lands that we saw!

Mountain Havens

From Evergreen, Alabama, a town formerly endowed with a movie the-ater, but now only populated by 3,600 of the kindest or rudest humans, we drove straight through Georgia and South Carolina to reach the outskirts of Asheville, North Carolina. A nice southern man wearing a nice southern hat tersely allowed us in the gate of Pisgah National Forest, but only after we promised to be quiet.

Our day having been shortened both technically and physically by our entrance into the final time zone, we each spontaneously awoke at 7am. (Alternatively, this may have been due to a gaggle of bees going ahead and mistaking our tent for some type of flowie.) The early rise gave us a chance to relax, sew buttons back on our clothes,


and also provided ample time to navigate the winding roads leading to Earthaven Ecovillage.


Sticks & Stones

A woman named Suchi showed us around Earthaven, introducing us to trees, water, buildings, and food. A hummingbird invited us into their conference hall.


Twice a month, all 40 members meet in this 13-sided round-pole timber-frame building for 4 hours to make decisions using consensus (rather than pseudoconsensus). Smaller committees meet more regularly.


This building also doubles as the school,


which children attend three days a week, to augment their parents' homeschooling. Clip-art demonstrates that the children are smart in 8 ways.


Many of the other buildings on the property were equally immaculate. This multi-story passive-solar timber-frame building houses many members, though we can't remember how many.


An abundance of windows on the South side and a dearth on the North side (pictured) keeps the building warm through all but the coldest days of winter, and keeps it chilly on the hottest days of summer.

Other types of buildings included stick-frame,


adobe brick,


cob,


and sword porch.


Recycled and salvaged materials were often used for flooring, insulation, doors & windows, etc.

This American Life

Many roofs at Earthaven sport photovoltaic solar panels, which provide a modest amount of electricity to human inhabitants.


Many buildings have refrigerators, laptops, and lights, and some have more energy intensive tools like blenders. Some members try to avoid the hassle and expense of inverters and batteries, for example using root cellars.


Some members' homes are powered by a 600-Watt hydroelectric generator fed via a 4-inch pipe from the creek running through the property.


In the future, the waste heat produced during generation may be piped into a hot tub.

Most cooking is done with bought propane, and wood stoves provide the heat needed to get through the mild winters.


Earthaven has accumulated an 8-10 year supply of of firewood due to the extensive clearing needed on the previously heavily wooded (though second-growth) forest. I suspect this is also why stick & timber frames are more popular here than adobe or cob.

Useful Plants

Surprisingly, growing food is a relatively new development at Earthaven. Peter Bane, editor of Permaculture Activist magazine, keeps a "state-of-the-art" Permaculture garden, including perennial fruit such as raspberries, figs, peaches, and kiwis (seen here smothering the front porch awning in the center).


One of the neighborhoods' themes is edible landscaping - every plant in this area is edible in some way.


This neighborhood also features the hotttest kitchen.


Many members keep small garden plots, and some members run a several-acre CSA farm, which provides produce boxes to other members in exchange for Leaps (the Earthaven currency).

Mid-Terms

Earthaven was beautiful and impressive. In less than fifteen years they have built a village where everyone seems genuinely cheerful and comfortable. Members' personalities, needs, and ages vary widely, but this appears to be a more of a strength than a struggle. The variety of homes, gardens, designs, alongside the natural diversity of the mountainous forest, make for a very charismatic and interesting place.

Earthaven seems like a great bridge between American suburbs and sane, sustainable living. As Red Moon Song said, it is a "transitional community," still using propane and importing food. In our opinion, however, many of the buildings seemed overly extravagant and expensive – Suchi told us that the adobe house pictured above might end up costing $80,000 or $100,000.

We mused that perhaps the complex buildings are intended to prove that urbanites can live sustainably in an environment similar to the one in which they have grown up & grown old. And of course this is a reflection of the openness and acceptance that Earthaveners have for each other – there are no rules for style or materials for new buildings.

Suchi mentioned that usually it takes centuries for human cultures to build a village, but at Earthaven they are trying to do it in one generation. Their plan for housing 150 members means Earthaven is a perpetual construction site. For me this really affected the tone & feeling of the place - tractors and trucks parked all over, orange spray paint on the ground, half-dug-up pipes, buckets and piles of garbage on the side of paths. This will probably change as Earthaven matures, but that won't be for many years.

The driving distance from Asheville (about 50 minutes) seemed to be a good compromise. Many members go into the city on the weekends or for events – but nobody commutes there. Members who work outside Earthaven do so nearby in the country - landscaping, construction, excavating, etc. Suchi also mentioned that many women at Earthaven are finding it difficult to find work.

Earthaven also seems encumbered by laws, both beneficial and good-intentioned-but-backwards, as mentioned in Creating a Life Together. For example, in North Carolina, greywater systems are illegal (along with midwifery and raw milk).

Also, last year, due to a mostly uneventful Hepatitis-A outbreak at Earthaven, the county health department placed limits on their use of the land's 14 freshwater mountain springs. They are now required to build several wells and designate "water districts" so each water source serves fewer than 24 people (this part is NC state law). In the meantime, all volunteers, visitors, and work exchangers must bring their own water, because Earthaven cannot legally provide any for them.

Finals

We really enjoyed our tour of Earthaven and learned a lot that might take a while to sink in. We are now having a pleasant, organic time in Asheville – more on that soon.