tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58483609542180542222024-03-17T20:03:29.469-07:00SAIPUASarah Ryhanenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12606570701894786970noreply@blogger.comBlogger1102125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848360954218054222.post-11540225413060762442023-07-07T05:19:00.002-07:002023-07-07T05:19:50.604-07:00personal news<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv6BarRQiTFreCUWqzNkr1Ienyy2IdKZlRmXiynaqeJuXF1aB5wGWrue5Em_A20bPgsDvwHCZ3b_2wK_rv6Zi8qs1UwiYmw3dprj-JT47cxQeYDrKCtsMursQkSRVuZaPtdYId46Xqojp0aBgUtEqAZrrmP7wEMqH6IPS3CwPmru2rK4FmMYgU_mVuSuvX/s3707/Finn_photographing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv6BarRQiTFreCUWqzNkr1Ienyy2IdKZlRmXiynaqeJuXF1aB5wGWrue5Em_A20bPgsDvwHCZ3b_2wK_rv6Zi8qs1UwiYmw3dprj-JT47cxQeYDrKCtsMursQkSRVuZaPtdYId46Xqojp0aBgUtEqAZrrmP7wEMqH6IPS3CwPmru2rK4FmMYgU_mVuSuvX/s3707/Finn_photographing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia7FYhFEEButANuwZPtaZr4stvbuUmZy7TGslDwE1nTml5NhELNZcHSH3-H-3PJnujUDg8ieszJ4WFDj78J1gwRWGbR5wid7fjRqh9qWTM5a2G6EWX0kHAoWIEFh6b8ky6rzcNMUryEoExTe8oyJCb9KpdaHALZHkFiIWeemhYjJZN-4RZsYjpDlp4hsJl/s3514/finn%20and%20camera.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2526" data-original-width="3514" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia7FYhFEEButANuwZPtaZr4stvbuUmZy7TGslDwE1nTml5NhELNZcHSH3-H-3PJnujUDg8ieszJ4WFDj78J1gwRWGbR5wid7fjRqh9qWTM5a2G6EWX0kHAoWIEFh6b8ky6rzcNMUryEoExTe8oyJCb9KpdaHALZHkFiIWeemhYjJZN-4RZsYjpDlp4hsJl/w640-h460/finn%20and%20camera.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><u><br /></u></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFuELZ3OekJjliF9x1EW8QFbnc4bbkEngLgcoRITr3pHpMy2WM3UoZqVI3c_JXlunS2tO-L89vM2yEF3Ke_BoUWcmf26QMROW42nJVHbfKvmlbgxIY6xNyVNDTCjGJ7RfLGv8DwtLDDG9s0uNt9wtBKXh4VXOGpTCK36v64WdVVkUxMu-P4gCCXu7M_z6R/s3707/Finn_photographing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2812" data-original-width="3707" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFuELZ3OekJjliF9x1EW8QFbnc4bbkEngLgcoRITr3pHpMy2WM3UoZqVI3c_JXlunS2tO-L89vM2yEF3Ke_BoUWcmf26QMROW42nJVHbfKvmlbgxIY6xNyVNDTCjGJ7RfLGv8DwtLDDG9s0uNt9wtBKXh4VXOGpTCK36v64WdVVkUxMu-P4gCCXu7M_z6R/w640-h486/Finn_photographing.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUYILPL61zs8xemfMe6FGNsfa_tpVP_n_eQSu-3bLKnNNNqUKAzfIr00LoPAU3EcN-F6yx5M9Da6Z-sbK9_idBarO0XQYcdVomAAwXUZQYCCzw6PGHK4eFOPDXc5u0brkDanH9V4I564gruhwo3B0mDHVTWSw_t_ZeW6bLK_jSuvGJca3yO60rq6RTDgLh/s5616/sarah_sheepdogs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3744" data-original-width="5616" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUYILPL61zs8xemfMe6FGNsfa_tpVP_n_eQSu-3bLKnNNNqUKAzfIr00LoPAU3EcN-F6yx5M9Da6Z-sbK9_idBarO0XQYcdVomAAwXUZQYCCzw6PGHK4eFOPDXc5u0brkDanH9V4I564gruhwo3B0mDHVTWSw_t_ZeW6bLK_jSuvGJca3yO60rq6RTDgLh/w640-h426/sarah_sheepdogs.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">[<i>Above images from this morning's photo lesson with my nephew Finn, back on the farm for the summer</i>]</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">We have endured a lot of difficulties on the farm this year; I’ve alluded to some of that here, but what I have not disclosed yet is that I have been diagnosed with breast cancer. I operate in a world that largely denies facts and absolutes, and so this stands out as a bizarre truth that in many ways feels unreal - and still - after 5 weeks inside the cancer industrial complex, feels like it could still be debunked as mere myth. Remember when we believed that Sarah had cancer! Alas.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Suffice it to say, this surreal time has put a halt on a lot of my plans and capabilities as a farmer and as a leader. I can't work as hard as I was before and have had to ask for help from a lot of friends to help me make some very difficult decisions that hold my personal well being over the farms success. Heartbreaking weeks. </p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I much preferred the invincible version of myself that was never sick and who could lift more, work harder, and never stop.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">And I don’t have words for what it is to lose a colleague and collaborator (<a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/jessica-green-memorial-fund" target="_blank">Jess Green</a>) to breast cancer at the same time of discovering my own.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">As my friends, friends of this place/project, and followers I ask you to keep coming along and doing this work of thinking alongside me. I've taken a few weeks off from communicating but will get back into writing regularly now that I have some bearings. I will share more about my entire experience in some time but for now I can tell you that I found a small pea sized lump deep in my tiny breasts 5 weeks ago. I went to the doctor the next day and thus began what has been a complete indoctrination into this different world. I have stage 1 estrogen positive invasive ductal carcinoma. Surgery (last week) and treatment forthcoming. Good prognosis. I will write endlessly in the future on the gratitude I have for nurses and the sorcery of western medicine...meanwhile some farm information I want to share:</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>Friends who have been here, please consider visiting us here this summer</b>. Ways to support are to come, give hugs, help weed, cook, play mahjong with Susan (Susan is the ultimate trooper in this story).</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>Strangers inclined to send good wishes</b> - I always love getting your letters - 123 de Kay Rd. Esperance NY 12066. </p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><a href="https://www.saipua.com/shop-supernature/supernature-4">SUPERNATURE is still happening</a></b> - there are about 40 tickets left, so please consider coming and celebrating life with us on July 29th (which is also my 43rd birthday!)</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>I am closing the Coyote Cafe/open Farm Sundays for the season</b>. My weird little experiment of feeding visitors our farm food is a big lift for us every week and it’s been hard to get enough bodies in the space for it to feel worth while. I was (am still) very attached to the ideology of this alternative restaurant and I love cooking and waiting tables, but it doesn’t work financially and needs to be put on hiatus for now as I transition the farm to be a slightly more private place tuned to my own needs. Some of you call it your favorite restaurant, some of didn’t realize it was real and thought it was a joke. Either way, the project will continue perhaps closer to town where it’s easier for people to get to or perhaps with a<span class="Apple-converted-space"> few dinner nights in the fall if I'm feeling better. </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Amidst the horror and disorientation of that last few weeks, I'm reminded of a few things about myself: I truly love adventure, change and challenging work - I'm laughing as type this. My very curious, very brave self sees this potent moment as an opportunity to reorient myself potentially for the better. I've been wanting radical change for years but kept hitting my head against the wall as to how to affect it. As dark as I can be, I can always, ALWAYS conjure hope. Perseverance is central to my operating system. </p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Love to you all, honored to share my stories and rites of passage with you. SR</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p>Sarah Ryhanenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12606570701894786970noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848360954218054222.post-47520263166798915832023-06-23T05:22:00.015-07:002023-07-07T05:25:12.137-07:00Floral Residency Recap<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWn-my7X3EpqIvZcaIXd-p2gKHfDVHFEpaObIyMQuryaFEIRNfDYY2lwygDOA0orV4-vUoPatnQZcE_XqUKdmTv1SHvgdmIFzC_ee4O_CgnMfdGU1RubGIOVPQ0NJlKXpFq7ehZBN6odV9dz0oSRPAZZtDA66tQupTBxIJgUurP-Ksg00Zy7sdv5BMDgkP/s5616/Amber%20Bouquet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3744" data-original-width="5616" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWn-my7X3EpqIvZcaIXd-p2gKHfDVHFEpaObIyMQuryaFEIRNfDYY2lwygDOA0orV4-vUoPatnQZcE_XqUKdmTv1SHvgdmIFzC_ee4O_CgnMfdGU1RubGIOVPQ0NJlKXpFq7ehZBN6odV9dz0oSRPAZZtDA66tQupTBxIJgUurP-Ksg00Zy7sdv5BMDgkP/w640-h426/Amber%20Bouquet.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p></p><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []">We just finished our first floral residency week of the season here. An exceptional, uncanny and productive week with an amazing group of students. They just left yesterday and while I take some time to be quiet and rest, I find myself missing them. Its amazing how attached I get to residents in just a short week’s time…some photos of the weeks work here below….</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWyWzxyZrdzmbharV1bHQjVkV8PHIEAi-fzBjbp96Q7nE1ZOou-JyJm6-LTH5rS8rfacrjmK5iAyYXZVphi5ahLb7mFhrMGQ5xgZwIpMDG0ct6B8v0VNaoMYVZz0nbCR2Vv08WrwT1tHCit9iy6c3kFlS6kiaX4STpKiu8eITW31BbJNx6_M2xYNNNEgla/s5616/sarah%20teaching.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3744" data-original-width="5616" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWyWzxyZrdzmbharV1bHQjVkV8PHIEAi-fzBjbp96Q7nE1ZOou-JyJm6-LTH5rS8rfacrjmK5iAyYXZVphi5ahLb7mFhrMGQ5xgZwIpMDG0ct6B8v0VNaoMYVZz0nbCR2Vv08WrwT1tHCit9iy6c3kFlS6kiaX4STpKiu8eITW31BbJNx6_M2xYNNNEgla/w640-h426/sarah%20teaching.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIteoFxLDN7505pHIgBmbzgpKnVkS8Vd9CAO-eQBbuO-CWvb6vb2Y73vYIihf7_seT6_n4460o8zYLYpN4EKBCt1BnAmKNKD7ZmJMwKTKWTyf5mlspCxTd1wZBla3E3JjCggpIHXJxGsAb1ho40O5MiTLGtQc6gUs9q1OBoOgUYzt5PSKoSzwMb16nADy0/s5616/Chris%20photographing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3744" data-original-width="5616" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIteoFxLDN7505pHIgBmbzgpKnVkS8Vd9CAO-eQBbuO-CWvb6vb2Y73vYIihf7_seT6_n4460o8zYLYpN4EKBCt1BnAmKNKD7ZmJMwKTKWTyf5mlspCxTd1wZBla3E3JjCggpIHXJxGsAb1ho40O5MiTLGtQc6gUs9q1OBoOgUYzt5PSKoSzwMb16nADy0/w640-h426/Chris%20photographing.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBw5n0u8J32DK7DM3y9fYZuLu0PY8ZqfOAk54zsv9K48l6Le8NJWRk5VDjSDF6ZU-Gf-DwAOspm3PgBwOt5EA7WNMcnF-Z7JePWMfs7XFthi9RBKKnLu548qZXegOFYEUIqz_FQ5kSzcu5TZXIAhKIcXt51OUSFYB05TpVPjZ8ECeUZat_IRQqpRry8AuY/s5616/Helen%20Bouquet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3744" data-original-width="5616" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBw5n0u8J32DK7DM3y9fYZuLu0PY8ZqfOAk54zsv9K48l6Le8NJWRk5VDjSDF6ZU-Gf-DwAOspm3PgBwOt5EA7WNMcnF-Z7JePWMfs7XFthi9RBKKnLu548qZXegOFYEUIqz_FQ5kSzcu5TZXIAhKIcXt51OUSFYB05TpVPjZ8ECeUZat_IRQqpRry8AuY/w640-h426/Helen%20Bouquet.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn95H-J_HhhTTaOaKUCEL_obmlfRWxO3mhcLMqkVmy3CTcCa5SacWGvs9S6vZ3c5_AMDeAFSUWNZOOfXl7HggI-R0BrcwRnD7DpssklH1KMJkuOC6kbcl239DeRVucfLBYFLok8CrbAjJ5ZZ3zhZx1Lx8fEsDG6JAQMBRJ606exEn6Gv6danKee6xILUCU/s5616/Jo%20Large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3744" data-original-width="5616" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn95H-J_HhhTTaOaKUCEL_obmlfRWxO3mhcLMqkVmy3CTcCa5SacWGvs9S6vZ3c5_AMDeAFSUWNZOOfXl7HggI-R0BrcwRnD7DpssklH1KMJkuOC6kbcl239DeRVucfLBYFLok8CrbAjJ5ZZ3zhZx1Lx8fEsDG6JAQMBRJ606exEn6Gv6danKee6xILUCU/w640-h426/Jo%20Large.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p class="" data-pm-slice="1 1 []">Many thanks to the team here for supporting this vision of teaching with your help harvesting, cooking, cleaning and running the farm that my floristry practice has found its home in. I am forever grateful for this complex, integrated project whose genesis and continuity rests in making the world more beautiful through flowers. </p><p> </p>Sarah Ryhanenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12606570701894786970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848360954218054222.post-70073235538761451892023-06-16T14:47:00.010-07:002023-07-04T14:49:50.244-07:00brief update<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN6uy1ZVu-zGqgV5c7jIqvGsC9g7-K3P0ACpqSu4XLNSK1b3W3vuuOOKRGkZ4HkaICGzuYqLVEzC7ic18Xy3yUxoaiiaX7MxHsmq8wIRO6Bns_qxjLcFdus4T8pjElTKPB501j55cPSwSTyBr9TEWAVyBIYJlc711bGCzHF76AdDZzlpxcLdjFSXRojSYL/s5616/student%20work_helen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3744" data-original-width="5616" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN6uy1ZVu-zGqgV5c7jIqvGsC9g7-K3P0ACpqSu4XLNSK1b3W3vuuOOKRGkZ4HkaICGzuYqLVEzC7ic18Xy3yUxoaiiaX7MxHsmq8wIRO6Bns_qxjLcFdus4T8pjElTKPB501j55cPSwSTyBr9TEWAVyBIYJlc711bGCzHF76AdDZzlpxcLdjFSXRojSYL/w640-h426/student%20work_helen.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []">So much beauty happens here everyday, it’s hard to share it all. We’re in the middle of a floral residency with amazing students from all around the globe. Such generous participants in our world here: they are open, kind and willing to go with the flow. Teaching me as I teach them.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhim5VmieodXd0PL2DFvNad7WBqiO3hMOmImEzHJvPQTHHVVzwaLKYzLY6wEXPiOQUtJbnrcbkt9ELtA8uCo7jsV_eaXnGm0Cc04QmzsVjdLVFs_76m8aLjZZKTrhAxKq-tid2ficcZqT-a0eZJFfchMNJc73iwSzX6yBvo8W81JA8UVVddUMdqkzvGeb-S/s5616/budvase.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3744" data-original-width="5616" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhim5VmieodXd0PL2DFvNad7WBqiO3hMOmImEzHJvPQTHHVVzwaLKYzLY6wEXPiOQUtJbnrcbkt9ELtA8uCo7jsV_eaXnGm0Cc04QmzsVjdLVFs_76m8aLjZZKTrhAxKq-tid2ficcZqT-a0eZJFfchMNJc73iwSzX6yBvo8W81JA8UVVddUMdqkzvGeb-S/w640-h426/budvase.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []">I’m afraid my winter verbosity has fully faded and I’m not one for many words here lately. Overwhelm ensues and it turns out I’m not invincible…</p><p class="" data-pm-slice="1 1 []">Meanwhile life goes on all the same all around me in this ecosystem of people plants animals and their ideas, needs and desires. A wonderfully complex matrix to occupy. Donnie, god damn him, chasing and chewing on lambs again. RAIN! finally after 6 dry weeks. Meltdowns. Crying. Laughing. </p><p class="">Witches casting spells, bringing flowers. Feeding beans. Making ceramics.</p><p class="">In the midst of it all: an inventory. What is needing to remain, what is wanting to be relinquished?</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE3jg9sORl72Zm2ugkFJFGw3rR2OE2CRtWV2PJ8UH36wpjDkqyZrNSozT-TLIatCmhUSMJFATtqnwNjsMDElbkSBrn5zEGuNxhSgd5_02nMa4w4hMz9HSp8lkUkOYG6RUAyJS6XxuKmxXT5jdXh5EGEsuJbMSmYNE8cPmIh9xcGmJiGXqWdQ_E5zLrI_D0/s4427/kris%20ceramics.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3065" data-original-width="4427" height="444" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE3jg9sORl72Zm2ugkFJFGw3rR2OE2CRtWV2PJ8UH36wpjDkqyZrNSozT-TLIatCmhUSMJFATtqnwNjsMDElbkSBrn5zEGuNxhSgd5_02nMa4w4hMz9HSp8lkUkOYG6RUAyJS6XxuKmxXT5jdXh5EGEsuJbMSmYNE8cPmIh9xcGmJiGXqWdQ_E5zLrI_D0/w640-h444/kris%20ceramics.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []"><br /></p>Sarah Ryhanenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12606570701894786970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848360954218054222.post-29588488498606652732023-06-09T14:42:00.024-07:002023-07-04T14:46:38.015-07:00current state of affairs<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoxyfhHL7uqgpX5yGnE-qAdzhPeKPAyjz-YPl1K59vLVkk5IHMM1cUImAf-ZK_SJa_HANnIe20lqUE9Z2bDbWcu5730h-XIIMmKkByWHS_BYPFYumi6B2d4aFldJXJKP9MCJuzWcj5PHmw4gRb4utmEAd7ngOCNBCQHJENqeBexwHWZGwK_2zKPt7B_Yah/s5760/9Y7A9898.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3840" data-original-width="5760" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoxyfhHL7uqgpX5yGnE-qAdzhPeKPAyjz-YPl1K59vLVkk5IHMM1cUImAf-ZK_SJa_HANnIe20lqUE9Z2bDbWcu5730h-XIIMmKkByWHS_BYPFYumi6B2d4aFldJXJKP9MCJuzWcj5PHmw4gRb4utmEAd7ngOCNBCQHJENqeBexwHWZGwK_2zKPt7B_Yah/w640-h426/9Y7A9898.jpg" width="640" /></a></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC1VmTPv8JvQ_u0fHXbhMcpeW29ZXeGTU-pLwK0oyeHoUrhQn_8b8hpMGpvDvLyUgwIlWx2BkWnqXtSVhcBCmgWTf-jHZ2k7JznjtZky85uP0JaQL629s_XmyaBVrSx9X4WOATNcF8zG27qCQ3mhfrI2uJ2DrC4rpV97BDw5A5btcQg_nWI68rma3JfZo2/s5566/9Y7A9889.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3711" data-original-width="5566" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC1VmTPv8JvQ_u0fHXbhMcpeW29ZXeGTU-pLwK0oyeHoUrhQn_8b8hpMGpvDvLyUgwIlWx2BkWnqXtSVhcBCmgWTf-jHZ2k7JznjtZky85uP0JaQL629s_XmyaBVrSx9X4WOATNcF8zG27qCQ3mhfrI2uJ2DrC4rpV97BDw5A5btcQg_nWI68rma3JfZo2/w640-h426/9Y7A9889.jpg" width="640" /></a></p><p>Our work here continues in joy and sorrow! Exuberant at times, somber in others. Always full to the very brim, regardless of grief. It is some full-catastrophe-living let me tell you!</p><p class="">Sometimes I want a more ‘normal life’ whatever that means. A break, I suppose. To put on a suit, ride the subway and work in a corporate setting can be enticing from this side. The boundaries! The paychecks! The health insurance! The happy hours!</p><p class="">Alas, not my path, and probably not yours, or …not yours for long.</p><p class="">The ceramics residents are embracing making alongside brilliant teacher Kris Mounsey. Chase has been relaying photos to me as I’m off site all week. Surreal to hold this space and also be physically apart from it. I go back tomorrow and will work on more TV coming to you next week. THANK YOU to those of you who have joined us at the beginning of the saipua.tv project! Coming down the pipeline is a video on growing and arranging sweet peas, making tinctures, and yoga for farmer/florists (wrists, shoulders, lower back!)</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRw6xrfm-N7YssW-uFFX0bLuJM5SvCAjJ6OyGlsDzOd7hGDYmrtM1TNYFkErLSUHmur_-jKadZO5o157YZCMl43mvBVwQn3wagHCLtbeBNF3swiiCQW7M1E9oGbAPS6UlK9HI6l5w27DaVcsAcOpUTDcQx6R4gCULJdC0BeTV6ugW0FYQ3E_3x66G1IELf/s5760/9Y7A9958.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3840" data-original-width="5760" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRw6xrfm-N7YssW-uFFX0bLuJM5SvCAjJ6OyGlsDzOd7hGDYmrtM1TNYFkErLSUHmur_-jKadZO5o157YZCMl43mvBVwQn3wagHCLtbeBNF3swiiCQW7M1E9oGbAPS6UlK9HI6l5w27DaVcsAcOpUTDcQx6R4gCULJdC0BeTV6ugW0FYQ3E_3x66G1IELf/w640-h426/9Y7A9958.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVsVrUDik_9X1Es6C88uwRpQCQPlYO3kj0P5A5Amwr9jzydKDIpR0vhIHUGna8U5GaIwZH6bly7aSlA_1ofz835RwIv1He6I4txaJHwaBwNKgJ4N8C-xRvG4nyyykzYZt6goXUV-7zqXalAkoIe1jV_14IuiHWjsTINKRTh-SDduL6SLi_llhmoMKJFCrz/s5760/9Y7A9939.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3840" data-original-width="5760" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVsVrUDik_9X1Es6C88uwRpQCQPlYO3kj0P5A5Amwr9jzydKDIpR0vhIHUGna8U5GaIwZH6bly7aSlA_1ofz835RwIv1He6I4txaJHwaBwNKgJ4N8C-xRvG4nyyykzYZt6goXUV-7zqXalAkoIe1jV_14IuiHWjsTINKRTh-SDduL6SLi_llhmoMKJFCrz/w640-h426/9Y7A9939.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvAnj4RDD5ZqUaIX0oJv1BwCEI2TC-QEcoK5gHF-jpckwRiapLu-a79pcDYVz1GQLXKM9Z_P-bIQqEFPKz9HEJVsL9FRG8DbRtgtSYeAgZppdNe6bpfAMfT_MY8btidaJhE1SlapUt9_KPISTvUY3PWfhAU4aBT8kpaCYD5JHNbK0UKSQvuV8w0E4iVYrc/s5454/9Y7A9807.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieHTubnsZRmS6rYOa1nlWXdYcmo75xA3--T_hywqD9DTHgfVwtPx3HvrNsT93k0tAK6Svxj2AfkWbazfSNhBK96w_9CjBbCFdtKK9g5e8KTYTF9MolBLMtXOxf-02u0zUCR0mIyJgKlWgEM6o5gAz6ZYWNqj4LyPtwObnmloIqd4aH-g7djBTuAg-VHCVV/s5146/9Y7A0014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3431" data-original-width="5146" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieHTubnsZRmS6rYOa1nlWXdYcmo75xA3--T_hywqD9DTHgfVwtPx3HvrNsT93k0tAK6Svxj2AfkWbazfSNhBK96w_9CjBbCFdtKK9g5e8KTYTF9MolBLMtXOxf-02u0zUCR0mIyJgKlWgEM6o5gAz6ZYWNqj4LyPtwObnmloIqd4aH-g7djBTuAg-VHCVV/w640-h426/9Y7A0014.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEj6QKZRoLs_0xPco4ZduhEWJ2NoGSUtEXgeqk4Xjb4ggA9hhXf-ddrkFHgSd_BTjFD_QA5xSAvSN9ttBvRESS6PMS636lPcXmGTrFcMr3ZWcQ4rTpQVDhwMQsbwHU1FdM3arExROOJfKOatTlz7skpadqqK_i0v0q1geqQT2tT3MzNy4L7DksbYLh97bx/s5693/9Y7A0060.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3795" data-original-width="5693" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEj6QKZRoLs_0xPco4ZduhEWJ2NoGSUtEXgeqk4Xjb4ggA9hhXf-ddrkFHgSd_BTjFD_QA5xSAvSN9ttBvRESS6PMS636lPcXmGTrFcMr3ZWcQ4rTpQVDhwMQsbwHU1FdM3arExROOJfKOatTlz7skpadqqK_i0v0q1geqQT2tT3MzNy4L7DksbYLh97bx/w640-h426/9Y7A0060.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlaPsoi0WRhjmNLhTZr4YpTOlc5SBclPrDqBHpWI1VgGsrz-2Er1nOJWnvTSsEp1MQvxitNHpGSXt2VsWm_uj9-aPGslGojn8WIAodMDI9WLwgkFlGL8MA-6E3hxFDNVriaN0VNpffHr_J7muHcqrx2AcDwRyvg2tW0jp-QJ0qtzLsAZjFPBUPnGny8ITd/s5760/9Y7A0057.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3840" data-original-width="5760" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlaPsoi0WRhjmNLhTZr4YpTOlc5SBclPrDqBHpWI1VgGsrz-2Er1nOJWnvTSsEp1MQvxitNHpGSXt2VsWm_uj9-aPGslGojn8WIAodMDI9WLwgkFlGL8MA-6E3hxFDNVriaN0VNpffHr_J7muHcqrx2AcDwRyvg2tW0jp-QJ0qtzLsAZjFPBUPnGny8ITd/w640-h426/9Y7A0057.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPVUbqDakReTrX0GUWrQqYDXO4CAnivkHUhmVivLlOTPXSP4SgJHqjwu_Pfxh-SnwBgYwa2UuvefLN1FWFFyTpKsYPZaMaS7I68ZYnIwTz5k6XENDsdr6Bf3z23MOPFhAIu_FbpOdITAM6_0T56oC2oLL6nkHqEn6VtDW4oO9gF7Xun2Qx3a241m5yJV2h/s5760/9Y7A0043.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3840" data-original-width="5760" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPVUbqDakReTrX0GUWrQqYDXO4CAnivkHUhmVivLlOTPXSP4SgJHqjwu_Pfxh-SnwBgYwa2UuvefLN1FWFFyTpKsYPZaMaS7I68ZYnIwTz5k6XENDsdr6Bf3z23MOPFhAIu_FbpOdITAM6_0T56oC2oLL6nkHqEn6VtDW4oO9gF7Xun2Qx3a241m5yJV2h/w640-h426/9Y7A0043.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-0TXgKXJdh7cUonN_9wiiyfM87ja1GU_ACHS0Wc66voZDnfzjU2TIuuPII-tCiho23XPvg3hkIoeHFyv-uaHWiiVpqi3uCCH6fr1dSEi622gcynWXuZakn3gWC9AP4ZltOxju_2l5QJ-R9tsyResw9EB6IsNs0N4n38kZv6cfKlWgidU6NNnyZcxO7L_t/s1488/9Y7A0028.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="1488" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-0TXgKXJdh7cUonN_9wiiyfM87ja1GU_ACHS0Wc66voZDnfzjU2TIuuPII-tCiho23XPvg3hkIoeHFyv-uaHWiiVpqi3uCCH6fr1dSEi622gcynWXuZakn3gWC9AP4ZltOxju_2l5QJ-R9tsyResw9EB6IsNs0N4n38kZv6cfKlWgidU6NNnyZcxO7L_t/w640-h452/9Y7A0028.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">___</div><br /><p></p><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []"><em>slowing down is a radical act</em>. </p><p class="">the beloved teacher and weaver <a href="https://www.statesman.com/obituaries/paco0502669">Jessica Green passed away last week</a>. <a href="https://alittleweather.com/Teaching">She bestowed so many lessons</a> that will reverberate in my work always - namely the usefulness of failure and how to hold power and assist its emergence in others. Few of my colleagues were as influential in my thinking and guiding the Worlds End project. Our ideas and methods didn’t always mesh perfectly and I like to imagine we’re both smiling about that now. Onward my friend.</p>Sarah Ryhanenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12606570701894786970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848360954218054222.post-21374404436926406472023-06-02T14:36:00.024-07:002023-07-04T14:41:47.737-07:00 The launch of Saipua.tv<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7f-7xEdPkNhd62Y9AcuVznD14hURE-wHwNzIkYtjw31SeTKPybfduWw1mrA0DBsGKsxQpq_9kNiu24RxQuuQDHZjT-K03_P5pAMmXIqVJo3w53QugIJDaIvqVA9OXapIFNoLEbDmIHHGhogEIpy7rVxaDrGYfr7CXvMxXM6sjM_825gH9Cxn4HfuQad1I/s2550/sweetpea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="2550" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7f-7xEdPkNhd62Y9AcuVznD14hURE-wHwNzIkYtjw31SeTKPybfduWw1mrA0DBsGKsxQpq_9kNiu24RxQuuQDHZjT-K03_P5pAMmXIqVJo3w53QugIJDaIvqVA9OXapIFNoLEbDmIHHGhogEIpy7rVxaDrGYfr7CXvMxXM6sjM_825gH9Cxn4HfuQad1I/w640-h452/sweetpea.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []">Its been a difficult 10 days here and I don’t want to get into detail but suffice it to say hardship, health scares, life and death have all visited us. We are feeling through the lower part of the sign wave that corresponds to the highs we get from living this sort of rich life. Tess, oblivious to it all, continues to chase the hose when I water the garden - an obnoxious but entertaining performance that I indulge in when I feel overwhelmed by it all.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglCu1qHh5Ewr_fpeLo5qb9B908FKa7cjV4KAglHs514GSIIy1-bko92JPKMt6cooOxA4QC23aWOoMZ65H46lUixmw-nCZLAP-LDVss7jBzX8bqP-mIaMadC2_GZM7hDHRQTnSPM_juKsE-spIDnkV6_GIoi72aO0TE46zOypdJh_2uoI6cTnoE0RwCDQp6/s5616/tess%20chasing%20hose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3744" data-original-width="5616" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglCu1qHh5Ewr_fpeLo5qb9B908FKa7cjV4KAglHs514GSIIy1-bko92JPKMt6cooOxA4QC23aWOoMZ65H46lUixmw-nCZLAP-LDVss7jBzX8bqP-mIaMadC2_GZM7hDHRQTnSPM_juKsE-spIDnkV6_GIoi72aO0TE46zOypdJh_2uoI6cTnoE0RwCDQp6/w640-h426/tess%20chasing%20hose.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []">We launched Saipua TV today after a Herculean effort by the team - mostly Vanessa and Chase who worked out all the minutia and built all the framework and systems so that you can <strong>NOW</strong>! visit <a href="https://saipua.tv">saipua.tv</a> and sign up for a monthly membership to this very special educational platform…</p><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL3jOHodtpqwtqDwizepoG_-Ksf804X-0JqVuYzNIQsUjLsHWSVJR71SU8xRdr667vD45DtYm86DKXqzdmj_ZvsOZbe707zHo6FacjnZSjqorOU5DTdZ3xKBEGonzrWtEDUMEkajFg1lxo1uXhXIr9FlHbSc7XSaZOQ8j3B2mQ_XQN4haR2aqId2cv-B8v/s2550/blackboard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="2550" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL3jOHodtpqwtqDwizepoG_-Ksf804X-0JqVuYzNIQsUjLsHWSVJR71SU8xRdr667vD45DtYm86DKXqzdmj_ZvsOZbe707zHo6FacjnZSjqorOU5DTdZ3xKBEGonzrWtEDUMEkajFg1lxo1uXhXIr9FlHbSc7XSaZOQ8j3B2mQ_XQN4haR2aqId2cv-B8v/w640-h452/blackboard.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />As of now, there are only three videos live, but next week, we’ll add three more, and then they will just start rolling out. These are educational/instructional videos designed to be entertaining and teach you conversationally, the way you would learn something from a friend. It also gives you intimate access to the inner workings of this project.Central to our mission is to inspire you to make something, look twice at something, decorate something, and locate yourself in a web of complexity amidst people, plants, animals, and Earth!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPu8mhtb-znV4qPJrdfr_YCeG3ORlBLhNET63i7cuFYQKhzsL7eHJFUhexZMlvnN9upxVzhv4IfGl2igaOL9iuUbCC1pBuFdQOmqwFzM88F05pRMnsW-JqatlGnYgrPIIcBFjcGNekFCzJpwMIxaunf5z-j28phUOkRWEx7G4yg5HgDtY7nTnjg5RgWhGZ/s822/Screen%20Shot%202023-06-01%20at%202.30.39%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="461" data-original-width="822" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPu8mhtb-znV4qPJrdfr_YCeG3ORlBLhNET63i7cuFYQKhzsL7eHJFUhexZMlvnN9upxVzhv4IfGl2igaOL9iuUbCC1pBuFdQOmqwFzM88F05pRMnsW-JqatlGnYgrPIIcBFjcGNekFCzJpwMIxaunf5z-j28phUOkRWEx7G4yg5HgDtY7nTnjg5RgWhGZ/w640-h358/Screen%20Shot%202023-06-01%20at%202.30.39%20PM.png" width="640" /></a></div><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []">This project is a way for us to fling our ideas and work farther afield (someone from Sweden was the first sign up!) and offers affordable online courses ($15/month). After years of trying to figure out how to better fund the farm, we realized that Saipua TV can scale without compromising the integrity of our work - it’s the same amount of effort whether we sell 100 memberships or whether we sell 10,000 memberships (my goal). That is real capital for the farm - money we can use to get out of debt and one day expand the land trust by buying the neighboring properties that are fallow and vacant.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOBi2YOtUgyHZ_kyUvNUol8XAiSEtMQzLwsbx05ikzFxX1x9hJBd2Ljejmc5Z6OGvuudv-t_ydLajZy-OHgqVOIl8u23aDxKMsOeoxQ6Fw2y_08wU3pdqCW7jgNu4Sed1KjWeNDMtmMkBqgRMToKtmwNC2-idhjLOT8LtyLpq0vMbLV5KmB_qpee65LUR9/s5616/spring%20arrangement%202023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3744" data-original-width="5616" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOBi2YOtUgyHZ_kyUvNUol8XAiSEtMQzLwsbx05ikzFxX1x9hJBd2Ljejmc5Z6OGvuudv-t_ydLajZy-OHgqVOIl8u23aDxKMsOeoxQ6Fw2y_08wU3pdqCW7jgNu4Sed1KjWeNDMtmMkBqgRMToKtmwNC2-idhjLOT8LtyLpq0vMbLV5KmB_qpee65LUR9/w640-h426/spring%20arrangement%202023.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []"><a href="https://saipua.tv">I need you to sign up</a>. And I need you to give me honest feedback about whether you like it, and what you want to see more of. That’s the only way this works - if we’re making you happy, excited, and inspiring you.</p><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWahCnzkaTUDwVJfet_de8WGK62hyYdCpr0ktwCbvOPnuuQU3c3Z-JhBnYJi_NBy9cNCxCvpY7cxntaWLsTJoHeNL-k4e0cWZSu5jmLYfOlewIKhsld5Yo-2bkgXdtEGNTpsRrievIBcgYv4cnLFzGA5CVygJJksvSWpaob9osBKzM72EOSBYlHqQKgBsk/s2550/sheep%20on%20pasture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="2550" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWahCnzkaTUDwVJfet_de8WGK62hyYdCpr0ktwCbvOPnuuQU3c3Z-JhBnYJi_NBy9cNCxCvpY7cxntaWLsTJoHeNL-k4e0cWZSu5jmLYfOlewIKhsld5Yo-2bkgXdtEGNTpsRrievIBcgYv4cnLFzGA5CVygJJksvSWpaob9osBKzM72EOSBYlHqQKgBsk/w640-h452/sheep%20on%20pasture.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /> Meanwhile, I was heading to the sheep this morning and looking around absently. These tough few days - and I will fill you in at some point - have left me questioning more than usual what I believe in, what direction to steer this massive cruise ship, and what my joy or place in it all is. Looking at the tidy garden, the blackboard in the greenhouse, and the healthy sheep program, I thought about something I read somewhere: There is no cinematic music playing when your dreams are coming true. Haha, I thought! Here I am! Dreams coming true.<p></p><p class="">Thanks for joining me.</p><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []"><br /></p>Sarah Ryhanenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12606570701894786970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848360954218054222.post-63770912007145246102023-05-30T14:33:00.008-07:002023-07-04T14:35:52.454-07:00From Susan in the soap factory…<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8G2EqmGnEeZWcmbdybEVTRxz_AnuuFss-_81aLiobf908uHrgTFKsOZlhi57nBTIDu6Wb2EiF9oT7GhPF05_5nYSihi8AhvccvyeYr90V2w7yYlAm_3fy5n1uwymUr-HkPNovECHc1B0Jxkgh91-1mvm-pRT2O2TLz442HZueQ70c3Za7HzL-hzpRZYSU/s1800/susan%20smelling%20pine%20tar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1800" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8G2EqmGnEeZWcmbdybEVTRxz_AnuuFss-_81aLiobf908uHrgTFKsOZlhi57nBTIDu6Wb2EiF9oT7GhPF05_5nYSihi8AhvccvyeYr90V2w7yYlAm_3fy5n1uwymUr-HkPNovECHc1B0Jxkgh91-1mvm-pRT2O2TLz442HZueQ70c3Za7HzL-hzpRZYSU/w640-h426/susan%20smelling%20pine%20tar.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []">Susan writes from the soap factory…</p><p class="">Every once in a while we begin testing a new soap scent. It can be a long process, so not undertaken lightly.</p><p class="">Both Sarah and a private client have requested a Pine Tar soap. Ok…I’ve put it off a bit, because I’m not a fan of pine tar….</p><p class="">But then again…Sarah doesn’t like the Saltwater soap and it’s one of our biggest sellers. [See below]</p><p class="">Always a librarian, I embarked on the research first.</p><p class="">Pine tar is a very thick resin…kind of like molasses. And it seems that it makes the soap ‘trace’ very fast. That means that it gets thick quickly and is sometimes hard to get into the soap mold smoothly and without air pockets. Not something I’m a fan of. </p><p class="">First I read that you should mix first with some of the hot oils in the recipe. It helps to ‘melt’ the pine tar a bit and incorporate it smoothly with the oils. No need for an essential oil….pine tar has its own strong scent. This makes testing so easy….it’s the fragrance blending that takes so long when developing a new bar…</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuQSyKXJWUQnapjC-TiVopET8tZXm8_hr6USzRjT3zepETRxUv3QAaXKIuh32hc3bzlFtfaWLHBhTaAFHhtowlecNM-F5uqodmsS-iF9ja_ax0GHtChJp-dBhxw4FFYMLnyzyf4WQB066AhdwtHwxieZJKNzzfgWyGC-qzBcwo6A2tUEOF6a9ayN7gX5L8/s1800/william%20smelling%20pine%20tar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1800" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuQSyKXJWUQnapjC-TiVopET8tZXm8_hr6USzRjT3zepETRxUv3QAaXKIuh32hc3bzlFtfaWLHBhTaAFHhtowlecNM-F5uqodmsS-iF9ja_ax0GHtChJp-dBhxw4FFYMLnyzyf4WQB066AhdwtHwxieZJKNzzfgWyGC-qzBcwo6A2tUEOF6a9ayN7gX5L8/w640-h426/william%20smelling%20pine%20tar.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []">After looking at different recipes, I wanted to use our basic recipe (just 4 ingredients: olive, coconut, castor, and shea butter). I added 10% pine tar to our basic recipe and then recalculated the amount of lye it would take to saponify the whole batch. </p><p class="">Around the same time, I was teaching my <a href="https://www.saipua.com/residencies-soap">Soap and Business Residency</a>. Matthew, one of my students, was also interested in testing pine tar soap. So we divided a very small recipe (less than 1 pound) and tried it out. It came out great.</p><p class="">Later I made a bigger batch….just 2 pounds of soap. Still small enough to have good control over the possibility of a fast trace. I usually use an immersion blender to speed up the process, but it wasn’t necessary with the pine tar. Just stirring for a few minutes was enough to get a trace and pour it into the mold.</p><p class="">Next, I made a 15-pound batch. Testing a larger quantity means more heat is generated. And more heat means faster trace that can lead to soap so thick it’s hard to get it into a mold.</p><p class="">All is well….the pine tar is done….it had some good reviews from the staff. </p><p class="">The next buyers on our website get to try a bar.</p><p class="">Just put ‘pine tar’ in the note section and I’ll send you a bar…as long as the test bars last.</p><p class="">— Susan</p>Sarah Ryhanenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12606570701894786970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848360954218054222.post-54885244497981399312023-05-26T14:31:00.011-07:002023-07-04T14:33:54.845-07:00photos from the week<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAPzLv6EOhpUlL6F0LMLw9j6jqh-JaSJ-eDcLTov1McFdhDMhNmhg1AJC6KjMGekNtuc_AauRazqR8SZv3JzSzoL7b2hkWCq0Rdh5TpSEziZlfhMGqFMdmHTPvvqAzqHl6Mw6tJM0HMO6332-kC8Udz9C-1BlLKNggJnLv-yKsrH6lc3g4JAsBmKiA2XNK/s5616/water%20iris.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3744" data-original-width="5616" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAPzLv6EOhpUlL6F0LMLw9j6jqh-JaSJ-eDcLTov1McFdhDMhNmhg1AJC6KjMGekNtuc_AauRazqR8SZv3JzSzoL7b2hkWCq0Rdh5TpSEziZlfhMGqFMdmHTPvvqAzqHl6Mw6tJM0HMO6332-kC8Udz9C-1BlLKNggJnLv-yKsrH6lc3g4JAsBmKiA2XNK/w640-h426/water%20iris.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgovJYZV8M7VSyrtofQUzPWkYCXXsozXjkUB0ryG06w7BxHBrBx9xJleiELfCmTZV29KAUn36F7MrIJowpAjrWHKUiqAFEodtrBZfy9jQtahbBb6ixkW5mCpR88oKPRvi7-fDmfqRKawNvpsiZiWWkE4NALO6_PwQD_B4d0kDBHiYNtBBDFtCPWtaA4X--g/s5616/watch%20your%20step.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3744" data-original-width="5616" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgovJYZV8M7VSyrtofQUzPWkYCXXsozXjkUB0ryG06w7BxHBrBx9xJleiELfCmTZV29KAUn36F7MrIJowpAjrWHKUiqAFEodtrBZfy9jQtahbBb6ixkW5mCpR88oKPRvi7-fDmfqRKawNvpsiZiWWkE4NALO6_PwQD_B4d0kDBHiYNtBBDFtCPWtaA4X--g/w640-h426/watch%20your%20step.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1800" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWGfguEL8AzFUDD2T9f2PovKAZFJgvpzVe5C8osuDwXsEqe61Dz_2g9QVRVhwyMfIEJMgfI5sIQ_7AD2cABSPbmYrCtchO6ADMRd8sbFYT_mgKwYtCStP8Li1PPmcee36Rwso9nL8dtB1Ce39MDkg8CHz1vH1RJFtShuG6YcTXj48jQGoTs8Sp0R4DqDqa/w640-h426/flowers.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIv8BU4HjqvScKNC_gH3DGU3NqwXItLfMJJUAnTBE786zNu8xmIlJocGs7wutR2GNJydBDKzjuXZI74-KazIsUBmonEnxYMVxSUIV3HcetLXgYFxu22rTdGlVWq5jdZSMSyi3dT6xSlA7hJt1s5V-LCwfIXbUW9lcO9LfSYuev_3BXu-P9tQMVFPkeeBqM/s5616/clay%20studio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3744" data-original-width="5616" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIv8BU4HjqvScKNC_gH3DGU3NqwXItLfMJJUAnTBE786zNu8xmIlJocGs7wutR2GNJydBDKzjuXZI74-KazIsUBmonEnxYMVxSUIV3HcetLXgYFxu22rTdGlVWq5jdZSMSyi3dT6xSlA7hJt1s5V-LCwfIXbUW9lcO9LfSYuev_3BXu-P9tQMVFPkeeBqM/w640-h426/clay%20studio.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmTjdrfFA-okiPVlHmPjWiYH89t1J0Gnk2LutVMiBrHpAYRk7tamq6nySVUmJ1B8g1LfEzfRNhrLrK0GUk3kd5bggNcjPT7fiZkYp8NTq9PK5rPcNuV1uWEAyqC8bUv35gvmT31L3qlpaIxLRYAwDlq3kmUJxAoF_b4u1befeB7DR9KSaY2u7w4UVjrxe0/s1800/surprise%20lamb_kerry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1800" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmTjdrfFA-okiPVlHmPjWiYH89t1J0Gnk2LutVMiBrHpAYRk7tamq6nySVUmJ1B8g1LfEzfRNhrLrK0GUk3kd5bggNcjPT7fiZkYp8NTq9PK5rPcNuV1uWEAyqC8bUv35gvmT31L3qlpaIxLRYAwDlq3kmUJxAoF_b4u1befeB7DR9KSaY2u7w4UVjrxe0/w640-h426/surprise%20lamb_kerry.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Sarah Ryhanenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12606570701894786970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848360954218054222.post-72097669332095851762023-05-19T14:28:00.012-07:002023-07-04T14:31:26.288-07:00the nature construct<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrpwfnQtuLdK25O0pOi_OMOsxJL99MeloyXU1ULWYoW1LA-_K1myu3uP9j9J8Y3rf18hX_fBOworCRhIrdb6oip6y47QN0OviD8iWdEiWFFfWvDarYNRw12rmmU9Bj0HtO2ticXzV0UsdjkBlJQLgbVYuk8b3VnB_CAZiPuMZlRPdZCDw9n3cug9igvCqq/s1800/cameo_quince.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1800" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrpwfnQtuLdK25O0pOi_OMOsxJL99MeloyXU1ULWYoW1LA-_K1myu3uP9j9J8Y3rf18hX_fBOworCRhIrdb6oip6y47QN0OviD8iWdEiWFFfWvDarYNRw12rmmU9Bj0HtO2ticXzV0UsdjkBlJQLgbVYuk8b3VnB_CAZiPuMZlRPdZCDw9n3cug9igvCqq/w640-h426/cameo_quince.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []">Inside the ‘nature’ construct that seems to have been central to my work at Saipua, and here on the farm, is this ‘cameo’ quince, planted about a decade ago and blooming every year around the middle of May to an ever-shrinking florally-focused audience armed with clippers. The more for me! </p><p class="">I say ‘<em>has</em> been central’ because my thoughts on nature have been shifting fast alongside my bumpy migration away from urban floristry and into the rural fringe - ultimately a location better suited for contemplating philosophical and political questions I’m interested in spending my time on. The ‘nature’ of that floristry past was a prop of sorts, a decorative item that was an aesthetic addition to life, to apartments, to weddings, and to fashion shows. An evocative image most often consumed on a small screen. Happy to have provided that for many, and happy to still dabble in that work (teaching again this year after a year off and - last I counted - I’ll be making flowers for 4 weddings in 2023).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWnH-osO3xrIze9pNUjrvmMBb6nwitOMFIANKVHJhCuWmfbQQCxth4y8fFsw4KMnaml3sGkc3jjLGZ24HTiV91-N5giiJ-zvOdJN5IIoKfXAh8l3hreXWWD6NDu3LGONzilZO3SfIMcL69_zK7MWrhgjsnRrdc5yFH2OPDk-VFJNoSPJEwmw4TB-wEWzjG/s1800/cameo%20quince%20detail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1800" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWnH-osO3xrIze9pNUjrvmMBb6nwitOMFIANKVHJhCuWmfbQQCxth4y8fFsw4KMnaml3sGkc3jjLGZ24HTiV91-N5giiJ-zvOdJN5IIoKfXAh8l3hreXWWD6NDu3LGONzilZO3SfIMcL69_zK7MWrhgjsnRrdc5yFH2OPDk-VFJNoSPJEwmw4TB-wEWzjG/w640-h426/cameo%20quince%20detail.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []">Blame what you want - the rise of monotheism, the bible, Decartes, Elon Musk - but we as a species have been distancing ourselves from our embedded earthly selves for a long time. The invention of the phonetic alphabet diminished the connection of language from any worldly phenomenon. (As opposed to - for example - the pictogram-based characters of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, which constructed a language whose symbols were rooted in earthly world objects and happenings.) </p><p class="">Where we went ‘wrong’ or how to make it ‘right’ are not the questions I’m interested in. Instead, I’m curious how we might coax forth a new paradigm that looks nothing like the ‘nature as resource’ place we’ve been in. I like to envision a new Genesis in which animals speak their own names to Adam while he listens…</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBCCRMcy2XuGhIU6UluldDsF57VblD24UKvrwkDLPgjwgzoe1duMIWRQBatwYbjcClsyEg7NIf3xKTGb66pnjFXgwlZAc1nulzEoFuzyhIHn5yk2BMpt90L1TIjQJWhfxrucaVxt52FfmhTamHPmo4nKy6FGuuwg0QJ7N_m26hxnpIGv0hD3DsekbtL8SM/s1800/tiny%20urn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1800" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBCCRMcy2XuGhIU6UluldDsF57VblD24UKvrwkDLPgjwgzoe1duMIWRQBatwYbjcClsyEg7NIf3xKTGb66pnjFXgwlZAc1nulzEoFuzyhIHn5yk2BMpt90L1TIjQJWhfxrucaVxt52FfmhTamHPmo4nKy6FGuuwg0QJ7N_m26hxnpIGv0hD3DsekbtL8SM/w640-h426/tiny%20urn.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []">I’ve been listening to the Joe Rogan show (probably not where you were expecting this to go). I think it’s wise to know the landscape as much as one can, and besides, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/41RxLAMSdaAd97OAFEpG3H">he had on Michio Kaku recently</a>, a physicist I have enjoyed listening to from way back when he had a regular slot on WBAI. Pentti used to listen to it after lunch when I came home from kindergarten. </p><p class="">Michio Kaku is known for birthing string theory. He is an avid futurist, a proponent of AI and colonizing outer space, and is obsessed with solving the God Equation (or the theory of everything). Hyper-optimized, masculinized sci-fi topics that generally land in a bucket I’ve labeled ‘circle jerks’.</p><p class="">I’m not advocating anti-tech, luddite realities. Our technologies are expressions of ourselves; from cave paintings to the alphabet to binary code to the rise of atomic computers (est. approx. year 2100 with 1M times the computing capacity of current hardware). These expressions stem from the basic drive we have as animals to <em>continue our species </em>and the very specific human desire to understand our world and where it came from. </p><p class="">As if it’s for us to know.</p><p class="">I’m attempting to write the text for the new Worlds End School website without using the word ‘nature’ because so much of our work on the farm is to center ourselves in<em> relationship</em> to the ecosystem. This is what embedded, embodied work means to me - who are you, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?ab_channel=un2mensch&v=JmL5uWrvUUM">right now</a>, where you are, with those people right around you? </p><p class="">I don’t want us to get to the stars only because we destroyed everything here.</p><p class="">I am advocating for materialism in the philosophical, feminist sense; that only through direct interaction in the physical world will we have enough agency to evolve into who we really want to become. Not destroyers.</p>Sarah Ryhanenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12606570701894786970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848360954218054222.post-82850723531640539862023-05-12T14:23:00.020-07:002023-07-04T14:28:21.619-07:00alt-hospitality /coyotecafe THIS SUNDAY! / SUPERNATURE TICKETS!<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlXjh_5PfNWbzoQD4YzvJrS7xQ8XUwXkg7utJkoLZt51e-0OyWBM0EHcTz3kJJ7nUcL8ipYpVEbBp0tsTdHjvDHbsGNUKNzPHYP9KWE6vOHG-2Gft8HuPjo80M9IfZpiP9VRBvJsR_MlvjF_2L4lUu56Fu2jmnP_oK8_i74wuTnSBn-sV2eD8GmIjptKW6/s4876/mark%20and%20farm%20apprentices.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3251" data-original-width="4876" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlXjh_5PfNWbzoQD4YzvJrS7xQ8XUwXkg7utJkoLZt51e-0OyWBM0EHcTz3kJJ7nUcL8ipYpVEbBp0tsTdHjvDHbsGNUKNzPHYP9KWE6vOHG-2Gft8HuPjo80M9IfZpiP9VRBvJsR_MlvjF_2L4lUu56Fu2jmnP_oK8_i74wuTnSBn-sV2eD8GmIjptKW6/w640-h426/mark%20and%20farm%20apprentices.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []">Welcome to our agriculture school - I love it here so much - I’ve been outside all day in the field and I’m so energized! Above is Mark and our three primary students - this year’s farmhand apprentices - William, Cyd, and Laurice. The three of them are all so different, and all so wonderful. They are committed to living with us for 6 months to help us run this place and learn everything that we do here from farming to soap making to floral design and more. All season long we learn from each other and experiment with different ways of living together and practicing hospitality…</p><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUJceCM3VMvsuYD5lXQvWzKyywIpTkTqZXSJgxM726iLVrgkuhv5386lJjEsDnXRZS0xUsmZBwpe18XL2Z8jHWZpWnslBBWm0I3Bo0grVaFzcSOkad7XEEUbuj6Rw9sr4BXUjEAT5d70Vt2qMJn1zEsYytuB_ifZwoqGMyyiM9ZM4Y0u8iEx_wfBO3dTKi/s7134/Worlds%20End_Supernature-24.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4797" data-original-width="7134" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUJceCM3VMvsuYD5lXQvWzKyywIpTkTqZXSJgxM726iLVrgkuhv5386lJjEsDnXRZS0xUsmZBwpe18XL2Z8jHWZpWnslBBWm0I3Bo0grVaFzcSOkad7XEEUbuj6Rw9sr4BXUjEAT5d70Vt2qMJn1zEsYytuB_ifZwoqGMyyiM9ZM4Y0u8iEx_wfBO3dTKi/w640-h430/Worlds%20End_Supernature-24.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /> We’ve started using the term ‘alt-hospitality’ which is a riff from Zoe’s experimentation with ‘alternative-plumbing’ a few years ago when we were building this place and frustrated with all the swash-buckling contractors giving us hell over septic tanks and leech fields. Simultaneously theoretical and practical, “alt-plumbing” exists in the many outhouses, outdoor showers, washing machine salad spinners, etc that make up campus.<p></p><p class="">Alt-hospitality is similar in that it takes the bucket of traditional hospitality, dumps its contents, and then picks and chooses parts to create something new. Delicious food, candlelight, beautifully made beds? Yes. Front of house back of house paradigms? No. Serving one another? Yes. Thinking empathetically about what the person next to you might want or need? YES! Bringing to a place, person, or thing the same amount of energy you take away? YES. Money? Meh.</p><p class="">Money separates so many people in the world of hospitality. Where can you afford to eat? Who is in the kitchen? Where can they afford to eat? Wholly imperfect, our experiments with coyote cafe aim to create a new weird little farm-based ‘restaurant’ where we practice hospitality in new ways and play with the performance of showing off our gardens and food.</p><p class=""><em></em></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpZE6LZjnpAMbpWlnCmlCNZAzON8FSRzaEkL1qslrq_EzcwzaFcSmJoPo3Pan5Fpdf2hFVNg_QjHa4XoVcpqfEB1d0aukV7JtEJn-yij6L5MaEePP83Mj2pNCmwWoql3b7oK2eEDAXbRxJcB1VkM-Hok9FBuiqwVCXlXtTURzAJ7xKUMkUxqEQLznuGdWn/s1800/rhubarb%20tart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpZE6LZjnpAMbpWlnCmlCNZAzON8FSRzaEkL1qslrq_EzcwzaFcSmJoPo3Pan5Fpdf2hFVNg_QjHa4XoVcpqfEB1d0aukV7JtEJn-yij6L5MaEePP83Mj2pNCmwWoql3b7oK2eEDAXbRxJcB1VkM-Hok9FBuiqwVCXlXtTURzAJ7xKUMkUxqEQLznuGdWn/w426-h640/rhubarb%20tart.jpg" width="426" /></a></em></div><em><br /></em>Come play with us! Every Sunday now through October 22nd we’ll be serving whatever we’re growing in the big barn from 12-4pm. You can enjoy this place and what we have to offer and give back to us if you like by dropping money in the donation box (or venmo) or offering your time, skills, or ideas in exchange. What matters the most to me is that <em>you get here.</em><p></p><p class="">The menu this sunday is a moving target! William and I are cheffing and planning a giant lightly-dressed-to-impress arugula salad, probably polenta, definitely home made butter with Kelsey’s cow’s milk (!) radishes, and a 99%-sure rhubarb galette for dessert.</p><p class=""><br /></p><p class="" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><a href="https://www.saipua.com/shop-supernature/supernature-4">TICKETS ON SALE NOW FOR OUR ANNUAL FARM FUNDRAISER!</a></p><p class="">I can’t wait to celebrate this farm, our relationships, (and my birthday!) with all of you. This is the 4th annual SUPERNATURE and it’s the best night of the year… </p>Sarah Ryhanenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12606570701894786970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848360954218054222.post-45678550306577235192023-05-05T14:17:00.017-07:002023-07-04T14:23:42.465-07:00good morning from the flight deck<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGKapHhyk1PEuBpZRF8Tb1KtUQF0qVude48iX2WmOF1Xuw9idjCNWk4_2ZMIPZlPWBWMnogvRc5fvHm4qLqNfe5lkwzIMLnOs9P9Yr04NgmJXQAAH9qL21tLO_pkF3g-P-B7HQSO_vGjKOooaXGCXDe42RwYt2dSUdpUOuWOCOutOK5C9q1ymbqGw9-fw4/s5616/lambs%20in%20barn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3744" data-original-width="5616" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGKapHhyk1PEuBpZRF8Tb1KtUQF0qVude48iX2WmOF1Xuw9idjCNWk4_2ZMIPZlPWBWMnogvRc5fvHm4qLqNfe5lkwzIMLnOs9P9Yr04NgmJXQAAH9qL21tLO_pkF3g-P-B7HQSO_vGjKOooaXGCXDe42RwYt2dSUdpUOuWOCOutOK5C9q1ymbqGw9-fw4/w640-h426/lambs%20in%20barn.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []">My first airplane ride was when I was 13; my parents put me on a flight from NY to Toronto to be with my Aunt Seija who would prepare me for my inaugural trip abroad; Finland, the family’s ancestral home. I remember the careful consideration of what to wear on the plane (I was taught we dressed up to fly) and that smoking was still allowed on planes. In Finland I remember the prolific and beautiful cakes, the excellent makkara (Finish for sausage), the Savolina Opera Festival in a great Castle, midnight sun and feeling incredibly homesick.</p><p class="">Since then I’ve traveled a lot all over, mostly for work. I don’t like to travel much anymore. I like to stay on the farm. I like my dogs and my sheep, my employees and the work we do. In fact, when I boarded a flight last week to visit a friend/former student and see her new land (!) based (!) business (!) I was jolted by my unfamiliarity with airport life and reminded once again what an odd microcosmic cross-section of humanity is on display in airports from dramatic displays of basic needs to stunningly overt portrayals of classism. I smile a lot in airports at whoever will look my way - which if you know me is probably shocking because I’m not a smiler - but I think people need human support in airports. But airport humanity is not what I came here this morning to discuss. What I want to talk about is the incredible rigor and structure that supports flying in general and how I came, Thursday night, to see the advantage of structure in a new way…</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqsRwHSg2YA5ipcls-KcZz_j0IcXNxbvud8AJJ2uZok59DPyouEHPADTlYQkY_AylypR70h9ilxYOEnDt4IOEwSwka6mJJ3vy3S6tY_AdZXej8wapWGy51aVtm3nEQPkHsWbPa0JBC_PA5awTUuC_KatW1SHp6YK8aWnceT6Ym_7CoZGOClGzYqw4LYyC-/s1086/william%20mark%20in%20greenhouse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="724" data-original-width="1086" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqsRwHSg2YA5ipcls-KcZz_j0IcXNxbvud8AJJ2uZok59DPyouEHPADTlYQkY_AylypR70h9ilxYOEnDt4IOEwSwka6mJJ3vy3S6tY_AdZXej8wapWGy51aVtm3nEQPkHsWbPa0JBC_PA5awTUuC_KatW1SHp6YK8aWnceT6Ym_7CoZGOClGzYqw4LYyC-/w640-h426/william%20mark%20in%20greenhouse.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []">I am that person who always leans to the window to look at everything that is happening on the tarmac, the hustle of skymeal trucks, luggage trains, and air traffic controllers. The communication rigor: the checks and cross-checks and the phenomenon of the control tower. Such intricate structure allows for such an incredible feat - 45,000 flights handled by the FAA <em>daily</em>. </p><p class="">If it were up to me, I would cancel the global economy and ground all air traffic in order to give the most species a chance to survive climate change. If that were to happen so many structures would disintegrate and others would start to emerge…I encourage this fantasy in a positive light (i.e. instead of the unraveling of civilization at this bifurcation point; try to imagine it’s RISE).</p><p class="">One portion of my adult education at the boarding school which is Worlds End is devoted to making or getting as many of my needs met from my immediate surroundings. To take the end of a thread and follow it all the way back to the source: the energy of the sun. To be able to unfold the entirety of a meal, an article of clothing, a cup, or a structure in one place is an incredibly powerful teaching tool as well as a spiritual practice of being in relationship with the materials and beings around you. I’m not an overtly spiritual person but I become very moved by the intricacies of mutually beneficial relationships, symbiosis, and continually locating myself inside an ecosystem. </p><p class="">I’m continually struck by the power of narratives. I’ve always told myself I was terrible at structure. Through confirmation bias, I reinforced this narrative over and over again. When I was looking at the airport last week I was seeing all sorts of immutable structures - from security checks to the schedule and methods used to clean the bathrooms to the protocols of ordering at Starbucks. Despite how you feel about airports, they are miraculously efficient feats of engineering. I thought; how do I implement more structure at Worlds End/Saipua in order to achieve the miraculous feat of engineering new ways to be in relationship with our world in order to help conjure new paradigms?</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIVRfr0V-LZrmyBDTBOqGjZQl1wjnHUKf9lC7L3jpNyHJg_EJoP8rILf9XyVPq-omumZQFusigZ_ClRuC66b0cqv7gcWuyiEVMV3BF3wutTmro9JM9WDnZ6Uj1RuaVBwa9CGYAIdWKTyATrzv1Zck_okTjs3v_4kanzWYqfNQqwWPgVHNsE7NIT03NAeUk/s5616/seedlings%20in%20prop%20room.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3744" data-original-width="5616" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIVRfr0V-LZrmyBDTBOqGjZQl1wjnHUKf9lC7L3jpNyHJg_EJoP8rILf9XyVPq-omumZQFusigZ_ClRuC66b0cqv7gcWuyiEVMV3BF3wutTmro9JM9WDnZ6Uj1RuaVBwa9CGYAIdWKTyATrzv1Zck_okTjs3v_4kanzWYqfNQqwWPgVHNsE7NIT03NAeUk/w640-h426/seedlings%20in%20prop%20room.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []">I’ve been struggling through Hannah Arendt’s <em>The Human Condition</em>. She describes the importance of seeing the globe from space as a pivotal moment in our existence, the Archimedean Point at which we can consider earthly nature objectively and separate ourselves from it. Flying into ATL I was struck by the scale of shipping/distribution centers. All the stuff in the world that we figure we need, then figure out how to make, and then figure out how to distribute. It’s interesting to catch myself thinking that I’m above that. As if I don’t belong to that nature down there that buys toilet paper, pens, apple products, all sorts of polymers for various farm applications, unitards for my imagined ballet practice, episodes of Succession, and all the materials that stack up behind the physical production of such a feat. Above it all, cruising at 40,000 feet!</p><p class="">I laugh at myself now and my hubris. Here’s the course correction: perpetually locating myself in these systems, mapping the coordinates of my embodied self in the physical realm with its complex web of relations. Which is to say avoiding the dogma of do’s and dont’s and instead working to consider my choices within the framework of what it is to be me, today, operating inside the various systems that make up civilization and the natural world’s infrastructure that it’s teetering on. How do we tinker with those systems when can we work completely outside them?</p><p class="">[I know you are probably so sick of this example, but it’s a useful playing card for me: the sweaters that Susan knits from yarn I spin from our sheep’s wool - this is an article of clothing I wear most days and that operates as a powerful example of tinkering outside systems (i.e. an article of clothing that comes into existence outside of the fashion, textile, manufacturing industries). Food grown here and served here Sundays in coyote cafe is another example, although one could find holes in this - we buy our seeds, supplies, etc and our food is influenced by the culinary trends of the day, etc. I think it’s better to strive towards ideals than be obsessed with perfection on the journey. Anyone living in a city and growing a cherry tomato plant is doing this work when they garnish a salad with something they grew. I do have a more critical eye for the expensive greenwashing that goes on in the fiber world as it intersects with fashion; there’s a VC-backed cashmere company that works with Mongolian nomadic goat herders and gives them fair wages for their fiber. I like any farmer getting paid more but something feels off with the optics and I don’t like that it’s still a system that links the wealthiest people in one part of the world to the poorest people in the other with only the whisper of relationship brought to you by some highly stylized journalistic photos of Mongolians and their goats on the open range. I mean, that’s a sort of double consumption.]</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGB1RbwHG_YINnSAzK4jph3aNnKus3cha4BnM0rU4zLqAPySg2WoTDR_tfMXx5dNgPBwBIPjuMkNM1UqBcbAfIIyT-Y-BSBUVD44byUpiMoNhcWcAnA9FNQhG2-T9LiK5zF2jzxCksn4K7Wes2233HMMMeHRqRr7LqBCvSCbF_RfCAUyEOEhoDaRvsqHCa/s5616/white%20small%20daffs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3744" data-original-width="5616" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGB1RbwHG_YINnSAzK4jph3aNnKus3cha4BnM0rU4zLqAPySg2WoTDR_tfMXx5dNgPBwBIPjuMkNM1UqBcbAfIIyT-Y-BSBUVD44byUpiMoNhcWcAnA9FNQhG2-T9LiK5zF2jzxCksn4K7Wes2233HMMMeHRqRr7LqBCvSCbF_RfCAUyEOEhoDaRvsqHCa/w640-h426/white%20small%20daffs.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []">And before I close, there’s another important course correction: I <em>am</em> capable of creating and sustaining structure. Worlds End wouldn’t be where it is today without all the various structure that’s been built and implemented there over the last 10 years. We eat oatmeal, without fail, every day for breakfast. Some of us more enthusiastically than others. </p>Sarah Ryhanenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12606570701894786970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848360954218054222.post-4576772529928353292023-04-28T14:13:00.021-07:002023-07-04T14:17:32.560-07:00My thoughts on AI & the Coyote Cafe..<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieAVLjvJekA-FY_N_T-HKnUqQ0GrlDBekl2WqWldYwpbK15SQCaKSQQb9veouPNh9MHhf92WsrNVHXJgYEc3kAqpEgYxnn6t_lMVCCmYBUyCHG2ToWnxd46N4jkPAWNnHS_7RxKFoLsisT1RDNVy8WvnKp4-kYCZE4O2CipmBQYf38Is0oMTix_tHEH0Y8/s1176/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-04%20at%205.14.47%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="776" data-original-width="1176" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieAVLjvJekA-FY_N_T-HKnUqQ0GrlDBekl2WqWldYwpbK15SQCaKSQQb9veouPNh9MHhf92WsrNVHXJgYEc3kAqpEgYxnn6t_lMVCCmYBUyCHG2ToWnxd46N4jkPAWNnHS_7RxKFoLsisT1RDNVy8WvnKp4-kYCZE4O2CipmBQYf38Is0oMTix_tHEH0Y8/w640-h422/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-04%20at%205.14.47%20PM.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">There’s <a href="https://youtu.be/BsF9tgtLk1U">a scene</a> in the movie AI (2001) where the robot boy eats spinach at the dinner table when he’s not supposed to. It’s haunting and I’m reminded of it lately as I’ve been thinking and reading a lot about AI and technology (short list below). I remember watching that movie 20 years ago and crying so hard throughout it. What is it to be human - to be ‘real’ as the robot boy in the film so desperately wishes for. <br /></p><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">With the exponentially fast rise of ChatGPT and the proliferation of AI generated texts in what seems like weeks, days, seconds, we suddenly live in a world where the origins of the written word is subject to suspicion. I imagine a dystopian future (or present?!) where we scavenge and hunt around on the internet and our inboxes trying to decipher real texts from computer generated ones. </p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">I think about parallels in the physical world. We already live in cities, towns and virtual marketplaces where generic 3rd wave (are we on 4th now?) coffee shops and businesses are generated with capital shrouded in VC mystery. These businesses are stiff and sanitized - and safe in every way. They are powered by data and algorithms that know our desires and whims and cater concisely to them. (I was traveling through the new Moynihan station this spring and was simultaneously delighted and horrified by the offerings there.)</p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">I imagine this will play out in some future where some of us are also hunting for real food, real businesses… the dirty vegetarian restaurant of my college days, the grimy punk coffee shops, etc. I want things to be so good and so weird and so I give you coyote cafe every Sunday. You never know what you’re going to get, it’s not sanitized and you don’t really have to pay for it. The future I want to live in!</p></div><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEdwV49oZLcXcdIHwO0cRffmUgdvanebD6Zn8j-gXmaqLvA6-qBUi6xsd5Rsmo_CNGK-an1dZ2EapXnaz4lNK0QsHCgHpG-soph_pbmd7-3bmc4Jd3TduxpLOEFsB-peTaUljMCapdNDOKbEkdbAoRfFD6JBvn3WA0YKYw1LejMVB8TUZ5N_TCcHsRFWtv/s1170/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-04%20at%205.15.05%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="642" data-original-width="1170" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEdwV49oZLcXcdIHwO0cRffmUgdvanebD6Zn8j-gXmaqLvA6-qBUi6xsd5Rsmo_CNGK-an1dZ2EapXnaz4lNK0QsHCgHpG-soph_pbmd7-3bmc4Jd3TduxpLOEFsB-peTaUljMCapdNDOKbEkdbAoRfFD6JBvn3WA0YKYw1LejMVB8TUZ5N_TCcHsRFWtv/w640-h352/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-04%20at%205.15.05%20PM.png" width="640" /></a></p><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []" style="text-align: center;">The Coyote Cafe is back May 14th serving farm lunches for donation. Open Sundays from 12-4 with tours held at 2pm in Esperance, NY.</p><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []" style="text-align: center;">RSVPs aren’t required but ! they do help our kitchen staff & harvesting crew plan for the best lunch possible. Let us know if you plan on coming - we can’t wait to feed you!</p><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []" style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><h3 data-pm-slice="0 0 []"><span style="font-weight: normal;">my AI shortlist:</span></h3><p class=""><a href="https://www.alibris.com/God-Human-Animal-Machine-Technology-Metaphor-and-the-Search-for-Meaning-Meghan-OGieblyn/book/49544370?matches=1">God, Human, Animal, Machine</a></p><p class=""><a href="https://www.alibris.com/Machines-Like-Me-Ian-McEwan/book/42302478">Machines Like Me</a></p><p class=""><a href="https://www.imdb.com/video/vi2861236505/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk">Strange Days</a><span style="text-align: center;"> </span></p>Sarah Ryhanenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12606570701894786970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848360954218054222.post-73818653504239645772023-04-21T14:04:00.011-07:002023-07-04T14:06:40.469-07:00the great mother<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigVE996ESATQJnHzaFCozhVhzOadW2yr41VuwPiSmko7GBHMNRiNzzTg9fIZly2UU2u9P6n90QyZXrUmNA2wUYvVa_Kxxatp-aZ1vxdzxX35_8HCRS5GYIe-QMxbzPmGWNijGkMZmQo32BLJe_aEnnLhIbzP6-M08oqtVt3b2usG4UP2DsDulfdWxvC2K7/s1086/epimedium.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="724" data-original-width="1086" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigVE996ESATQJnHzaFCozhVhzOadW2yr41VuwPiSmko7GBHMNRiNzzTg9fIZly2UU2u9P6n90QyZXrUmNA2wUYvVa_Kxxatp-aZ1vxdzxX35_8HCRS5GYIe-QMxbzPmGWNijGkMZmQo32BLJe_aEnnLhIbzP6-M08oqtVt3b2usG4UP2DsDulfdWxvC2K7/w640-h426/epimedium.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []">Motherhood is risky business. </p><p class="">I was reminded of this when we lost a ewe earlier this week after an impossible birthing scenario - this sheep was just too small to pass her large lamb. Six hours in, after valiant efforts by Claire, Zoe, Mark and some very experienced birthing witches in our farming community, we put her down and also lost her lamb. This marks our 9th year of lambing our flock of Icelandic sheep, and this is the worst blow yet.</p><p class="">But so it goes in farming. We are reminded - every year without fail - that new life and death are bedfellows not to be untangled. The dangerous and exhilarating feeling of immanence is one I’ve gotten more accustomed to. How lucky to be at the mercy of the great Mother’s plan, and what relief to relinquish control to her.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRi8hExUAi_N9QgsnymRqqcS_FyvN8X9QpfuJWrU0hcSBqeVXbg2zlyx7UL-jq8D-mIyFnXhQZ1dktjI3JoHD3aVz3TxrFQ36TS-nvN1BAy-VE3U6CywCr17SiCvKViFjaR9G6omXSYh-4LSHpatmPLajZoMs6gX94gNiVr06IZwhvgaUZu9Od_LMlnCUU/s1086/mother%20sheep.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="724" data-original-width="1086" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRi8hExUAi_N9QgsnymRqqcS_FyvN8X9QpfuJWrU0hcSBqeVXbg2zlyx7UL-jq8D-mIyFnXhQZ1dktjI3JoHD3aVz3TxrFQ36TS-nvN1BAy-VE3U6CywCr17SiCvKViFjaR9G6omXSYh-4LSHpatmPLajZoMs6gX94gNiVr06IZwhvgaUZu9Od_LMlnCUU/w640-h426/mother%20sheep.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []">On the timely subject of mothers; I’ve been lucky to have had many mothers (of course, one stands out) and I identify as a mother myself, though not with biological children of my own. Beyond the physical risk of bearing offspring, what truly risky business to be so attached and committed to anything or anyone. How we think about motherhood (care-taking, commitment, sacrifice, dare I say it - the divine feminine) is changing in strange and amazing ways amidst a post-human convergence; the crossroads where we come to practice responsibility for all people, species and environments with great reverence. </p><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []">I want a world focused on <em>affirmative care</em>, a world with so many people practicing motherhood. It’s hard work; we need sharp insight, deep energy reserves, focused collaboration, and an ability to fiercely imagine and build the worlds we want our offspring to inhabit. And we must not be shy in the face of great risk…</p>Sarah Ryhanenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12606570701894786970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848360954218054222.post-16781431287533617152023-04-14T14:01:00.011-07:002023-07-04T14:04:18.919-07:00all I ever wanted<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtgFloNcaJ6bbfO8T6LFtr-u_JVGTvc17zRO3fGkstc6oF4a1R4dcePBKZZRhY7I7qN7QzYSxaF_tyE4k6Gr-m1Kpvh9uALH03GDirGWzqQpEL5SIJYaUIsdGOgLx0jiktE6GWmAyQqM964W7iXW6G5qGRiVuWyzj0l_xWHCPqgN6FOhd2Tg9WHx3u2aH0/s5616/refridgerator.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3744" data-original-width="5616" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtgFloNcaJ6bbfO8T6LFtr-u_JVGTvc17zRO3fGkstc6oF4a1R4dcePBKZZRhY7I7qN7QzYSxaF_tyE4k6Gr-m1Kpvh9uALH03GDirGWzqQpEL5SIJYaUIsdGOgLx0jiktE6GWmAyQqM964W7iXW6G5qGRiVuWyzj0l_xWHCPqgN6FOhd2Tg9WHx3u2aH0/w640-h426/refridgerator.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []">Years ago I had a therapist who described the Saipua team as a ‘family that I could control.’ Ironically now my childhood family lives here or visits regularly. My dad, almost 80, motored down to the lower campus yesterday in the farm’s ATV on his way to cut firewood, shouting a handful of orders to Zoe and I. Deference is a fine skill to possess. We see it in the sheep/dog relations regularly.</p><p class="">The youngest Ryhanen, my nephew Finn - almost 9, comes mid-summer. I’m counting the days till we can run amok around the farm, racing BMX bikes in the driveway, designating areas of the farm as ‘sacrificial snake pits’, and acting weird together. </p><p class="">Can the chaos of certain childhood experiences be soothed by the simulation of control as an adult? I’m not invested enough in my old narratives (or that type of therapy) to investigate any further. However I do believe in cracking the nut of our deepest desires and to that end, let me tell you about the state of our communal refrigerator…</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhltdbtxYmANd_Sa_zoY31WSZSrBuo9eApRte6InYTTfo-cQwiM0HQDyyons8ToYtVwV7nTaWr2SkIRSsqAceOSfqKCUHtpkf_Sdq7UpOqJWxzltxyaQrtD6x6x9qfUtE4i7_lEO5Ro1ozWyUmaWvG-AA6esBD6s6eIjCNgfXETZWmTsGc4wKIN8V4nMbYG/s5616/snake%20in%20kitchen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3744" data-original-width="5616" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhltdbtxYmANd_Sa_zoY31WSZSrBuo9eApRte6InYTTfo-cQwiM0HQDyyons8ToYtVwV7nTaWr2SkIRSsqAceOSfqKCUHtpkf_Sdq7UpOqJWxzltxyaQrtD6x6x9qfUtE4i7_lEO5Ro1ozWyUmaWvG-AA6esBD6s6eIjCNgfXETZWmTsGc4wKIN8V4nMbYG/w640-h426/snake%20in%20kitchen.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []">I’m lucky to know many amazing chefs. Flowers and food are natural bedfellows, in that they share many of the same attributes and strifes associated with hospitality, the events industry and classism in general. These chef friends have shaped the food program at Worlds End by cooking here before we even had a kitchen, talking to me late night about refrigerator rubrics, and answering the phone when I was elbow deep in pastry dough emergencies. You know who you are….</p><p class="">There is so much that goes into communal living (communal <em>anything</em>) … the leadership, accountability, exhaustive communication and general participation … amongst the current iteration of live bodies, but also that which has been accumulated through the history of those who have come before. </p><p class="">Tonight, tired and uninterested in scratching my own dinner together at the farmhouse, I opened the big fridge to find all sorts of beautifully labeled cooked grains, soaked beans, defrosted pestos from last summer’s high season, leftover salads, aioli, sourdough and homemade pickles. I was reminded of a conversation I had with a friend years ago about my dream to have all of the best foods on hand in a communal fridge so that anyone at any time could throw together a delicious meal in minutes - no matter how hard the day on the farm was, you could rest in the promise of a stocked fridge when you came up for air.</p><p class="">There are so many moments when this farm is hard but more moments when it is so quietly, ecstatically good that I can hardly believe it’s real. </p><p class="">I can’t wait to feed you all!!!!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKVJ10DAoJ9qLnMXaZXlcLWzEwUcjUXTx7zbBLF55QGTH_UjXQFaguaJhhVUEw1PqUobaY0dR4LN2NKVFokBlXROeuvcXIkHh7hOGicNY6seqjQC4FgF_y8KMa7rFPbTSIyyiDa2WfDUXvemxIRYI3X2stwH6QbzW5YUyHxys2vh1c163yi2Cs2vdaPRB5/s5616/staff%20snax.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3744" data-original-width="5616" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKVJ10DAoJ9qLnMXaZXlcLWzEwUcjUXTx7zbBLF55QGTH_UjXQFaguaJhhVUEw1PqUobaY0dR4LN2NKVFokBlXROeuvcXIkHh7hOGicNY6seqjQC4FgF_y8KMa7rFPbTSIyyiDa2WfDUXvemxIRYI3X2stwH6QbzW5YUyHxys2vh1c163yi2Cs2vdaPRB5/w640-h426/staff%20snax.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Sarah Ryhanenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12606570701894786970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848360954218054222.post-60403282172554373452023-04-07T13:55:00.029-07:002023-07-04T14:01:09.353-07:00off and running<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUUmOS561BLNl1VB06qfd3kWMXwNGA5k82GMM_B4shpLyWVEZMrLuNrzrlaILJNMSF-bYQa2QbraQmU3UYWXTgz4Q1okJRqVfzN4sunU5zO1Ire4ehRExGPdQr9ybTb8-PjsBmj9GR9GMGCiB2Rq7VkEAlJyLG6jdsGqFvur7HpMGv77tloefDmu6Ukp84/s1086/zoe%20red%20couch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="724" data-original-width="1086" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUUmOS561BLNl1VB06qfd3kWMXwNGA5k82GMM_B4shpLyWVEZMrLuNrzrlaILJNMSF-bYQa2QbraQmU3UYWXTgz4Q1okJRqVfzN4sunU5zO1Ire4ehRExGPdQr9ybTb8-PjsBmj9GR9GMGCiB2Rq7VkEAlJyLG6jdsGqFvur7HpMGv77tloefDmu6Ukp84/w640-h426/zoe%20red%20couch.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s week one of settling in together and it’s going great, with more structure and resources (almost enough!) than ever before, plus the hard-won lessons of years past. <a href="https://alittleweather.com">Jess Green</a> (the weaving teacher who comes in May) was the person who really got me thinking about the power of failure - to see it as part of the iterative process of world-building and the fabric of relational work in general. The other side of connection is conflict (we don’t get one without the other) and I am reminded often how much I have learned from conflict in this project over the years.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Amidst the organization happening here, there is so much dust. Boots and dogs bring it inside as mud and it gets ground down underfoot, shaken off with pond water, dried, and pulverized. Once begun, cleaning the floor seems quaint; a bad idea, abandoned. </span></p><p style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmfP7Am1-vM15LpW56dG3RbFN7oTB0MakSBjsWP4u5c3rJQ0nog03MDSMnukn0iSftXAM5piDXD7r5zuN26HhSb9A3nXR-SUgqVaUdZIVjfresd1DGtCVcPLRayrgm6gbT5GtNKLChnXK6aPxkW4fQqilTqCdMGlKO5b1zCEQ3hSQwStAiFBapPhHP60Nd/s1086/vacuum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="724" data-original-width="1086" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmfP7Am1-vM15LpW56dG3RbFN7oTB0MakSBjsWP4u5c3rJQ0nog03MDSMnukn0iSftXAM5piDXD7r5zuN26HhSb9A3nXR-SUgqVaUdZIVjfresd1DGtCVcPLRayrgm6gbT5GtNKLChnXK6aPxkW4fQqilTqCdMGlKO5b1zCEQ3hSQwStAiFBapPhHP60Nd/w640-h426/vacuum.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; text-align: left;">I finally got the female guardian dog Nola spayed. Afterward, she spent a restful but resentful week in the farmhouse on the floor. We took her back to Donnie and her sheep yesterday and the melodrama of the reunion was the first of many this week that we failed to film for Saipua.tv (now starting production for June launch). Needless to say, twas not a dry eye in the barn. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-eBX8MnatgHPknPn3e_bIovDg4lR11B3PBe9Y55uNxmH-msw8_rTdPxZaAOvGUJ7BjmzcEvgBemM7xwJeelVg7fR7w_9Wu6TRBFP0PV9M6o97VEA38pVjhEgQK17Tss1OOpJW0X06KLVbFgxQwDvdE9S8yJAADR6-4-CVBABmP4bj4sNQXtEri6FyRrZ3/s1086/nola%20sheep.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="724" data-original-width="1086" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-eBX8MnatgHPknPn3e_bIovDg4lR11B3PBe9Y55uNxmH-msw8_rTdPxZaAOvGUJ7BjmzcEvgBemM7xwJeelVg7fR7w_9Wu6TRBFP0PV9M6o97VEA38pVjhEgQK17Tss1OOpJW0X06KLVbFgxQwDvdE9S8yJAADR6-4-CVBABmP4bj4sNQXtEri6FyRrZ3/w640-h426/nola%20sheep.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; text-align: left;">We are, thus far, light on the lambs here (who else can say that?) and sleeping through the night without barn checks. I am, for the first time in my 10 years of shepherding, not worried about lambing which feels like real progress for me - perhaps the slightest sidestep toward accepting the unknown. It helps to be buoyed by Claire and Zoe, two women who have farmed here with me for years and who I trust with my life. </p><p style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; text-align: left;">I am reading a new book; <em><a href="https://www.alibris.com/booksearch?hs.x=0&hs.y=0&keyword=god%20human%20animal%20machine&mtype=B">God, Human, Animal, Machine</a></em> by Meghan O’Gieblyn which is good if you’re interested in a readable memoir-style intelligent pondering of AI and the replacement of religion with technology and science. I am still working my way through Rosi Braidotti’s <em><a href="https://www.alibris.com/Posthuman-Feminism-Braidotti/book/38533201?matches=23">Posthuman Feminism</a></em>. And at random, I pulled from my bookshelf this week Kathy Acker’s <em><a href="https://www.alibris.com/Great-Expectations-Kathy-Acker/book/2695365?matches=34">Great Expectations</a></em> which I have not read since college. Re-reading passages of it this morning reminds me of the feral self inside systems of domination. I will get into this more maybe next week.</p><p style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; text-align: left;">It’s a full-on whirlwind on the farm; so intense and so fun. We’re going to keep pulling you into the happenings here on IG and soon on the Saipua TV channel. Thank you for all your soap, linen, and bathrobe orders - they make the engine run!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEE8L5Y2pXS4tQ8efbt_2yjEuqSKp6L4uWYhoY1gVMV38oDdzPpMaQujIljbF_hNh8ojKU-spHnx3XCwJA9HBLup5HY3aIe7PCAPMn0Zr-tOh8n0DxjD9GN4YzOBEZFFfu3eY_FTL4IkZ2GV09gwsR9Bpp5tHh-R-LJldk5KxNxjPlERgUiXguPT5W4OuQ/s5616/seedlings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3744" data-original-width="5616" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEE8L5Y2pXS4tQ8efbt_2yjEuqSKp6L4uWYhoY1gVMV38oDdzPpMaQujIljbF_hNh8ojKU-spHnx3XCwJA9HBLup5HY3aIe7PCAPMn0Zr-tOh8n0DxjD9GN4YzOBEZFFfu3eY_FTL4IkZ2GV09gwsR9Bpp5tHh-R-LJldk5KxNxjPlERgUiXguPT5W4OuQ/w640-h426/seedlings.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p>Sarah Ryhanenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12606570701894786970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848360954218054222.post-5901706551246048112023-03-31T13:53:00.009-07:002023-07-04T13:55:23.076-07:00inside the creative continuum<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpO0jsiTglSHJ_TqGvgOaWrZFSpfg5yQ8JkDlqY5eP6G_onnmYdZ_HrWwWeQ3NJsXBdZZcDjpARyJHwTx4-auUxodhaq1dsGmPt0A7nIEGZIF87sPEJ78cZxFswOITVtEMjcy9VJ-hxgUpKHvAfg6eayaTh3UFh68Jx0469ISJNXvH1ytr1qYe8vPODUgQ/s1086/snowdrops.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="724" data-original-width="1086" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpO0jsiTglSHJ_TqGvgOaWrZFSpfg5yQ8JkDlqY5eP6G_onnmYdZ_HrWwWeQ3NJsXBdZZcDjpARyJHwTx4-auUxodhaq1dsGmPt0A7nIEGZIF87sPEJ78cZxFswOITVtEMjcy9VJ-hxgUpKHvAfg6eayaTh3UFh68Jx0469ISJNXvH1ytr1qYe8vPODUgQ/w640-h426/snowdrops.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Even with fresh snow on the ground this morning, the serene calm of winter has already been punctured and the spring rush of new staff, new lambs, new plants bursts into being with such rigor that I’m still surprised by it every year. The cycles of life and death on the farm seem exposed with heightened relief: the snowdrops blooming with the ever growing pile of junk on the burn pile behind them, the attempt to start making space in our deep freezer for an aggressive ram that needs to be culled while also witnessing new life in the lambing pen. The aged and the innocent seem odd bedfellows everywhere I look. It’s a brutal and delicate time of year. High contrast.</p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Senior farm staff arrived this week; Zoe, Claire, Nahvae, Esteban and most of our work is the deep cleaning, organizing and systems creation that will allow for the gentle onboarding of new farmhands next week and the arrival of the first residents in May. It’s a frenzied slog through the detritus of former years. Old inadequate structure being torn down (literally in some cases) and re-jigged for our biggest year yet. </p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZXtIj34ydjBwHRksKqQSl2xJsllrAVaSh78cAPVO8G9ZVtq0LV8weOz3ZHQemnBkWeKCYBBOwvhRed_Gs1ad9bZhNAYk6mc6I2pk9i2KPb71xNdRTMIlOIeJFRfwRTop8LyhJF_UrJ4jbekB5vZbAjsPiJaSK5UGjJ0NbVuEsUBwMnlPQTzUY0aE3dayf/s1086/sleeping%20lamb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="724" data-original-width="1086" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZXtIj34ydjBwHRksKqQSl2xJsllrAVaSh78cAPVO8G9ZVtq0LV8weOz3ZHQemnBkWeKCYBBOwvhRed_Gs1ad9bZhNAYk6mc6I2pk9i2KPb71xNdRTMIlOIeJFRfwRTop8LyhJF_UrJ4jbekB5vZbAjsPiJaSK5UGjJ0NbVuEsUBwMnlPQTzUY0aE3dayf/w640-h426/sleeping%20lamb.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">I stopped reading the news a few weeks ago and remember how much better I do when I’m disconnected from it and can focus on the materially entrenched matters within my control (or illusion of) here on the farm. The burgeoning politics of this place need all my attention. We play at world building; but it is also serious labor. We create a chore wheel, rules, our food system, our rituals. The people here are some of the hardest workers I’ve known - an observation that feels balanced with the absolute luxury and pleasure we experience when we stop for a coffee and sit and imagine how we want to live this season<em>. Because we can have it however we want it. </em></p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">For example, I want homemade aioli in the staff fridge at all times, a short Greek tragedy comedy performed on the hill. I don’t want to do chores for a while. I want water conservation in general and rain collection for showers and irrigation in the lower campus. Someone else wants group fitness, someone wants synchronized dancing. One of us is wanting more rigid kitchen rules. Someone wants a sound system in the lambing barn. </p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">This kind of creative freedom is something many of us have worked very hard for and I realize the stark contrast between labor and luxury has been tied up in the mechanisms and ethos of Worlds End since the beginning. I want everyone who comes here - students, residents, farmhands, or day-trippers - to see what we’re up to and be inspired to world-build for themselves. I want to help people understand that their creative practice can suffuse so many areas of their lives. My creative practice for example is floral design yes, it’s color, its texture, it’s hospitality, it’s my relationships with animals. It’s eating it’s listening it’s reading it’s relating. But it’s also work, <em>it is a practice</em> and sometimes it’s getting stuck in the mud (literally) and solving for a frozen barn door and other times its the high of an enjoyable flow of making something beautiful. I try not to cling to one or the other but experience the continuum with humor and as few curse words as necessary. </p>Sarah Ryhanenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12606570701894786970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848360954218054222.post-90404966334166813872023-03-24T13:47:00.001-07:002023-07-04T13:53:23.334-07:00aging, intelligence and retirement<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8j778XO91y720nXJjoaIUe-Rnq1KHrfVxtEwBJXmBr_kynPOrP1236Q007EvuJvEZegmmNXCwmjytb0aSFf2ZIJJrMYuvBNvZTk5wpvWubf-Fz0qRRtcwrZk7wBj1pymhXEAFEFtDJ2rp_MN1buIfJXzYIk2KhSlgJ31j5PZqYKp0dF-XUexw8JzE5VmJ/s1180/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-04%20at%204.49.20%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="784" data-original-width="1180" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8j778XO91y720nXJjoaIUe-Rnq1KHrfVxtEwBJXmBr_kynPOrP1236Q007EvuJvEZegmmNXCwmjytb0aSFf2ZIJJrMYuvBNvZTk5wpvWubf-Fz0qRRtcwrZk7wBj1pymhXEAFEFtDJ2rp_MN1buIfJXzYIk2KhSlgJ31j5PZqYKp0dF-XUexw8JzE5VmJ/w640-h426/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-04%20at%204.49.20%20PM.png" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span data-letter-spacing="2" style="letter-spacing: 0.1em;">AGING </span></p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">As I experience the awe of aging I’m simultaneously receiving targeted ads in my feed for things like face yoga, keeping ‘ballet arms’ after 40, and weight loss apps. My recent favorite: ‘you’re not getting old you’re just not stretching enough.’ Hard not to agree! What bothers me is the new zeitgeist-y sentiment now circulating in wellness and beauty spaces to ‘embrace aging.’ My favorite example of this is <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CixtW1hJqJ-/">Naomi Watts popping on IG </a>to point at all the ‘benefits’ of menopause while selling her brand of skincare products developed specifically for aging women. One of the benefits is apparently ‘not giving a fuck’ (but apparently giving some fucks about looking beautiful according to a standard determined by Hollywood.) </p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">And don’t get me started on Perimenopause which beauty and wellness companies have used to unlock an entirely new market share of products. Gwyneth Paltrow <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?ab_channel=goop&v=1RRtq7g6ckM">calls for a ‘re-branding’ of menopause</a> and has developed a line of Goop products to help women navigate it.</p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">We associate aging with shame, so for generations, women have shied away from openly discussing menopause. What I find unnerving about the sudden attention to aging women’s health issues in the media is twofold; one, it often leads to products, and two, the entanglement of beauty and aging contains an impossible paradox - how are we really to embrace aging when we simultaneously receive messaging about looking younger - or beyond that - <em>that looks at all </em>are imperative.<br /></p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">When I was a wee thing, not at all convinced aging would happen to me, I found myself on a magazine floral shoot with a lot of stylish editors. They ordered (and paid for!) lunch and we sat around on break to eat. I tried the best I could to keep my mouth shut because I say weird things which tend not to go over great in such settings. One of the editors talked about how she had a plan to cut herself ‘in half’ - she described wanting to look half her age, and halve her dress size. Over 15 years ago now, I still remember that weird fantasy. Why would anyone want to be half a woman? </p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">My relationship to my body and to aging has shifted a lot on the farm. I remember expressing to a farmer friend once that the less I went to the city, the less I was concerned about my figure. Matter of factly she said; ‘on the farm, the important thing about bodies is that they work.’ I find myself in awe when I experience new physical limitations that I never assumed could never really happen to me. A knee that can’t be on hard surfaces anymore without searing pain. A tricky carpal tunnel in my ‘clipper wrist’ which rages sometimes at the squeezing out of the kitchen sponge. Money is layered into these experiences of aging in complicated ways - the price of physical therapy* for my angry shoulder is probably what a perusal around an anti-aging cosmetics counter would be. There are choices to be made!</p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0js_qbzH1LOjA3a7QZTVlCh4kIFXmdp40i8XYmIS4yCQuT4TO47ocpSNqMoS36BPdLdHVapegwZcoUArfQHUafljeH8cgsiBK7siAEfFMRNhRLhEyLqQsCRS-BZALWGxTpvlCO8f0_NOK5ZB1SUz4-wxdxwRLM-zuGsvxUezrsmUsvLn57cIg8upQ8q3Z/s1086/sheep.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="724" data-original-width="1086" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0js_qbzH1LOjA3a7QZTVlCh4kIFXmdp40i8XYmIS4yCQuT4TO47ocpSNqMoS36BPdLdHVapegwZcoUArfQHUafljeH8cgsiBK7siAEfFMRNhRLhEyLqQsCRS-BZALWGxTpvlCO8f0_NOK5ZB1SUz4-wxdxwRLM-zuGsvxUezrsmUsvLn57cIg8upQ8q3Z/w640-h426/sheep.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span data-letter-spacing="2" style="letter-spacing: 0.1em;">INTELLIGENCE</span></p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">A sentiment shared amongst farmers is that sheep are not ‘the smartest’ of barnyard animals. Of course, as a lover of sheep and all their idiosyncrasies, I am unsatisfied with their agricultural intellectual status. Instead I like to think that intelligence is different between species; non-comparable. When you watch sheep eat hay, or graze on summer pasture, you start to see how instantly selective they are between types of grass and forage. They can decipher differences you and I would never be able to analyze with just our senses. They also have horizontal pupils allowing them to peripherally see to almost 180 degrees behind them (it’s very difficult to sneak up on a sheep.) Those of us who have been moved by the seminal (though questionable) text <a href="https://www.alibris.com/The-Secret-Life-of-Plants-Peter-Tompkins/book/5965963">The Secret Life of Plants</a> (there’s also a great strange movie made from the book you can watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?ab_channel=MichaelThomas&v=7X0Wy_sCho4">here</a>) may remember the section on plant intelligence. It was my first introduction to the fundamental differences in the experience of time between the plant and animal world: we can run from danger, plants reaction time is infinitely slower. What if plant intelligence is just not comparable to animal intelligence. What if the intelligence of rocks is beyond our imagination?</p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">I also see this intelligence differential at work in my immediate circle of friends and comrades. Things that are naturally occurring or obvious to me, elude others and vice versa. Some of my colleagues have patience and pacing skills that I could never learn. I think about this in my partnership with our farmer Mark. Our skillsets benefit this project immensely but occupy opposite ends of an undefineable spectrum. He is planning a stone wall around our kitchen garden that will happen in segments over the course of 2 years. I am planning dinner and the next Supernature disco. </p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Intelligent too are the minds that continue to sell us gasoline, wealth disparity and oppressive regimes disguised as wellness. Those people’s experience of time - and specifically the world they are leaving to their descendants - seems rather short sighted.</p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Lastly, how does the experience of marginalized people - the ever expanding spectrum that includes everyone outside of the standardized Eurocentric white cis male - represent a particular intelligence predicated on the act of learning to survive and thrive against the odds?</p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihMLBFdGFbzOtVeyL7pGqSl-owqK-0xiEIvUgHziIZHDvD4XDWSNomW07pyyd9k0WkUX_Li796f_oQdQvSK4mDW30LbqQ_a79yoRjLGo5Yj63Bww6UaR_73Wtr_hf1_Hn_jDFyrgGfDaIfyi_NQ1Gyj1GazGa9ensyK_7ubcrvWl8yukId_KK89eZIgckL/s1172/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-04%20at%204.51.49%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="776" data-original-width="1172" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihMLBFdGFbzOtVeyL7pGqSl-owqK-0xiEIvUgHziIZHDvD4XDWSNomW07pyyd9k0WkUX_Li796f_oQdQvSK4mDW30LbqQ_a79yoRjLGo5Yj63Bww6UaR_73Wtr_hf1_Hn_jDFyrgGfDaIfyi_NQ1Gyj1GazGa9ensyK_7ubcrvWl8yukId_KK89eZIgckL/w640-h424/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-04%20at%204.51.49%20PM.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span data-letter-spacing="2" style="letter-spacing: 0.1em;">RETIREMENT COMMUNITY</span></p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">With Susan and Pentti settling into their new house on the hill, and a certain ease that’s come over all of us, I’m reminded of the original sentiment or wish - that this would be the start of the Worlds End retirement community. A series of small houses that nestle around the hill for retirees who wish to be involved in a farm project, have skills to share with younger generations, and would prefer to have certain things taken care of for them - such as maintenance, occasionally meals, etc.</p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">As I’ve thought about this I realize this is the community I want to live and work in right now - fortunately this retirement community has no age requirement. The only requirement is participation. Pentti, the oldest among us at 78 - and arguable the most likely to be…irritable and withdrawn? is a good litmus test for what it takes to participate. His burning desire to harvest wood from the forest and stockpile it for winter is insatiable, though he is sometimes thwarted by stumbles in the garage which tend to slow him down for a few weeks at a time. So it goes with aging, he’s cruising right now but when he’s back, I’ll ask him - did you ever think this would happen to you?</p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">*Found an AMAZING PT in Hudson, NY if anyone is looking.</span></p>Sarah Ryhanenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12606570701894786970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848360954218054222.post-79498493149726538662023-03-17T13:44:00.012-07:002023-07-04T13:47:07.656-07:00Perfectionism, Texture, Tech and Fractals<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNrAUo0jCwGy1GM8khLwxdbBwoXZMzEV2oQDxKUrHQLgvGzCgS3QKjubzZypI-ExPDgpGTxIabmkxDB2C-FOX0zY0N8Kv6Bg0m8LZNmx8RLlEbxZbzoFv8uD667yi3DpxxRcAwsMpa3Am5AD_3SJ0GE6yOMNdm_TFUOHleVSYCdhMvovKcyokkkkzTLzVL/s1713/carnations%20in%20dining%20room.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1142" data-original-width="1713" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNrAUo0jCwGy1GM8khLwxdbBwoXZMzEV2oQDxKUrHQLgvGzCgS3QKjubzZypI-ExPDgpGTxIabmkxDB2C-FOX0zY0N8Kv6Bg0m8LZNmx8RLlEbxZbzoFv8uD667yi3DpxxRcAwsMpa3Am5AD_3SJ0GE6yOMNdm_TFUOHleVSYCdhMvovKcyokkkkzTLzVL/w640-h426/carnations%20in%20dining%20room.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []">I read a <a href="https://www.alibris.com/The-Perfectionists-Guide-to-Losing-Control-A-Path-to-Peace-and-Power-Katherine-Morgan-Schafler/book/52035170?matches=10">book about perfection</a>; If you struggle with perfectionist thinking, I recommend a brief perusal of the audio version - once I got past the gauzy self-help lingo that pervades the genre of self-betterment, I gained some insightful perspectives.<br /><br />Perfectionist thinking is commonly attached to an individual’s deep investment in ideals - and perfectionists strive to make reality match these ideals. (Spoiler alert, they never do.) I imagine everyone has their own unique brand of this, for example, I really get off on ‘perfecting the imperfect,’ and idealizing experiences. <br /><br />Professionally I see this in my floral work (I’m almost never satisfied with arrangements or events I work on) or in my work on the farm (preoccupied with details of visitor experience). The most insidious version of this ideal-seeking tendency creeps into casual experiences in my personal life; my pre-conceived notion of a dinner alone, the imagined details of a romantic afternoon off with my boyfriend, etc. I live in a shroud of disappointment! A familiar disappointment that comforts me even before the experience fails to live up to the ideal! The book’s recommendation: don’t attempt to eradicate your gift of perfectionism, utilize it to make great things in the world - but also maybe live in the moment and be present, why don’t you?</p><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []">Perhaps more interesting to me is the conversation around perfectionism in a larger socio-cultural arena. Why do we seek perfection, and more importanatly, whose standards of perfection are we working with? Are you having the perfect perimenopausal experience? Have you perfected your morning routine? Are you perfectly nailing the imperfect laissez-faire parenting vibe?<br /><br />Perfection starts with standards defined by the cultures we participate in. These cultures are many concentric circles - the largest being something akin to ‘western culture’ which gives us fun stuff like heteronormativity (one of my favorite hate reads) and the conception of universal human rights (one of the biggest myths of the west). The smallest cultures are the ones we create in our tight kin circles ( I refuse to say families here because of the way the word ‘family’ is twisted and weaponized these days.) </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4XRM1In3WCA5_942fLyN1X_mVqufgCHIGTd4k80WZ0-jZm9UdOXxOq86bWeyz5SxJV2TBSJGUaRaZPQv6CLl6o7jlMxXKw1e6g9EsE0kAiq3pB9Nl5ONffI5XlJ5osQ7Ch3d3ED3iMpsAfEriNFYwnza81SY19fD2758Uo_c58VjyQ-Ky-5oBZq3Hp5bc/s2066/carnations%20close%20up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1377" data-original-width="2066" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4XRM1In3WCA5_942fLyN1X_mVqufgCHIGTd4k80WZ0-jZm9UdOXxOq86bWeyz5SxJV2TBSJGUaRaZPQv6CLl6o7jlMxXKw1e6g9EsE0kAiq3pB9Nl5ONffI5XlJ5osQ7Ch3d3ED3iMpsAfEriNFYwnza81SY19fD2758Uo_c58VjyQ-Ky-5oBZq3Hp5bc/w640-h426/carnations%20close%20up.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []">Culture is a tool used to conform; its purpose is to rally people around common values and keep us aligned. Without culture there would be chaos - any small business owner with employees knows the importance and mysterious power company-culture has. Everyone <em>aligned around a set of values</em>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220601190709/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/our-cult-of-perfection-has-devalued-beauty-2jflwlxm8">Sounds like a cult</a>!</p><p class="">The aesthetics of modernity and wealth tend to deplete texture, flatten the natural world, and replaces it with stainless steel, germ-free impervious stone surfaces, ‘optimized’ health and diet, the eerie Tribeca Pediatric locations that are suddenly everywhere, generic facsimiles of third wave coffee shops, and my favorite new ‘wellness’ salon to puzzle over; a place called <a href="https://cleanmarket.com">Clean Market</a> on Bleecker St. in Manhattan where you can get cryotherapy and a nutrient intravenous drip in the time it used to take you to get a cut and color. <br /><br />My reaction to this sanitized cultural clutter is to become a feral animal, operating only through instincts and emotion. Do you have a feral practice? I highly recommend deciphering one! I’m not going to tell you what mine looks like, but I will say it varies depending on the day and where I am, and lately involves a lot of snow-eating. Don’t know how to be feral? Imagine hoarding some nuts like a squirrel. Spend time with animals or children. Make a mess and then live in it for a while.</p><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []">In thinking more and more about texture and its opposite (smooth, impervious boundaried surfaces, flatness) I desperately look around my office for a little book I had on fractals. A dummy’s guide or whatnot. The book had a mention of the tortoise and hare paradox (Zeno’s paradox); essentially as you look deeper and deeper into the passage of time during a race between the slow-moving tortoise and a speedy hare, you see that the hare can never win. Time gets segmented infinitely and the race can never be resolved, never finish. Fractals present an adjacent physical manifestation of this - infinitely complex, never ending patterns. The easiest fractal to see is the patterning of coastlines. In an attempt to map and measure a coastline, you can use smaller and smaller units of measure to accurately depict the unique curvature and crevices of nature. Eventually you realize the length of the coastline is approaching infinity…<br /><br />Our earthly embodied experience can never be measured in the flattened worlds of mathematics and technology. Real beauty eludes definition, and the pursuit of perfectionism requires a flattening and dulling of the complexity and texture of lived experience. So I say, before we descend into the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/03/ai-chatgpt-writing-language-models/673318/">textpocalypse</a> may I recommend a filthy romp in the natural world to engage with all of your animal senses? In these types of experiences, the notion of perfection has no footing because there is no definable, standard or right way to be feral. <br /><br /></p>Sarah Ryhanenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12606570701894786970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848360954218054222.post-57591510935920790622023-03-03T13:37:00.026-08:002023-07-04T13:43:36.504-07:00tea, cookies, community<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYA0L7Qifd05DuzCppBtfNSPZX41U4klFvyjlNAG9W0MhfDx4U51iHnaS354-WC_YT3cfANbm6YjSW0YLYWxDAzXEwOnQbOem0wId_9iwcir2AoPGPw8JLl6GUtFq7jO5jKOLqQfWR5alTAhYyV3aLDLMbRnEi1V23eGpeTQIpKc6mG9CX3ovvd_A-1zZ0/s1050/garden%20tea%20kitchen%20horizontal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1050" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYA0L7Qifd05DuzCppBtfNSPZX41U4klFvyjlNAG9W0MhfDx4U51iHnaS354-WC_YT3cfANbm6YjSW0YLYWxDAzXEwOnQbOem0wId_9iwcir2AoPGPw8JLl6GUtFq7jO5jKOLqQfWR5alTAhYyV3aLDLMbRnEi1V23eGpeTQIpKc6mG9CX3ovvd_A-1zZ0/w640-h458/garden%20tea%20kitchen%20horizontal.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div><h4 data-pm-slice="0 0 []"><span style="font-weight: normal;">If you’ve been reading here, you know I want to live in a world without money. Specifically, I want to live in the Station Eleven post-apocalyptic Shakespearean traveling band. But while we're still tethered to the absurd realities of late capitalism, I'm resigned to collect money selling <a href="https://www.saipua.com/shop-gifts-store/garden-tea">tea</a> and <a href="https://www.saipua.com/shop-gifts-store/lavender-shortbread">cookies</a> and teaching others how they might make small community-based farms, businesses, and cooperatives for themselves - the types of tenuous organizations that can weather the strange storms that are surely coming our way. <br /><br />Instead of getting stuck criticizing our current systems, we have to get busy making new systems. This I say all the time.<br /><br />What I don’t often talk about is how difficult this work is, straddling two paradigms. It’s like swimming upstream without a break. It’s why I continually go to shopping malls looking for some old familiar pleasure, stopping at Chipotle on the way home. Spending money feels good; stopping at a drugstore for tissues or tampons; when I put my card in the reader<em> I feel good</em>; I feel like I’m normal and I’m doing <em>the right thing</em>. Of course, I am doing the right thing in these instances, I am participating in a system that was continually honed to make every last second of our waking lives (and sleeping ones*) for sale. Capitalism disintegrates communities, individualizes, and alienates people to sell more lawnmowers. In the suburbs where I grew up, there were garages all full of the same lawnmowers, hedge clippers, power tools, etc. ) I always thought, why don’t we just share one lawn mower?</span></h4></div><div><h4 data-pm-slice="0 0 []"><span style="font-weight: normal;">When I was interviewing farmers two years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting a woman who had been farming for over 50 years (!) and was looking for a sort of final project. She turned down the job before I could offer her membership into my burgeoning retirement community - but during her visit, we had many thought-provoking talks. We spoke about ecology and how exciting it is to shift your perspective to see the work of farming as enmeshing oneself in a series of relationships.</span></h4></div><div><h4 data-pm-slice="0 0 []"><span style="font-weight: normal;">She said in regards to farming ‘relationship is the hardest work we do.’ Amen, I thought.<br /><br />It’s often easier to buy our own lawnmower than to envision communicating with our neighbors about what it would mean to share one. It is challenging to share farm equipment. Most farmers can attest to this. Suddenly the brush hog (a tractor-sized mower) has a chipped and dull blade and you’re lying awake at night fuming and wondering who used it carelessly. A farmer friend and I have discussed this at length - and there’s no right answer. Sometimes opting out of the equipment share is what allows you to keep going, and I’m not here to judge.</span><br /></h4></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFfBQj9ruFkb-bXQxHR9yP03M4MS4ARz9m3K2-5Pm-b_0L7bwp3ySHjnljhIgZAlCROVms-aV9gecFhQQphnJLQNp4UCkIL0H33KVviGHL5xXuKGEh7J2pndHEHaPnlql381Jx9yfDS41LpfzvbyG1mEmvieQnGi52Ql0bgRkrNQVWNFBWBuBjKAcZRPQo/s1225/shortbread%20kitchen%20verticle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1225" data-original-width="875" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFfBQj9ruFkb-bXQxHR9yP03M4MS4ARz9m3K2-5Pm-b_0L7bwp3ySHjnljhIgZAlCROVms-aV9gecFhQQphnJLQNp4UCkIL0H33KVviGHL5xXuKGEh7J2pndHEHaPnlql381Jx9yfDS41LpfzvbyG1mEmvieQnGi52Ql0bgRkrNQVWNFBWBuBjKAcZRPQo/w458-h640/shortbread%20kitchen%20verticle.jpg" width="458" /></a></div><div><h4 data-pm-slice="0 0 []"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I mentioned on Instagram earlier this week that I’m not always good at community…I think one of the major aspects of being in real community with family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, etc is an element of honesty: being able to express your needs and being able to be vulnerable. <br /><br />I often talk about mutual aid needing to start at home. We can talk all about the benefits of charity, solidarity, community food fridges, etc, but practicing mutual aid right at home with your immediate kin (spouse, parents, children, friends) is the foundation of community work. <br /><br />Mutual aid is being able to say what you need, hear what others need, and then work together to meet those needs. <br /><br />When you live in a community and don’t really communicate what you need, you form resentment.<br /><br />And as the leader in a multi-generation matriarchal community living inside patriarchy, there has been - suffice it to say - a lot of martyrdom that has taken hold and proven corrosive at times.<br /><br />My work has been continually to attempt to understand my actual needs and communicate them while allowing space to hear the needs of those around me. I fail repeatedly. But through the iterative process of failure, I also make progress. I deepen some connections and loose others. A big truth of community is that it is always changing.</span></h4></div><div><h4 data-pm-slice="0 0 []"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Donna Haraway, ever the beacon of imagining alternative futures, <a href="https://forthewild.world/podcast-transcripts/donna-haraway-on-staying-with-the-trouble-131">describes the importance of making kin</a> inside complex entanglements within and outside of heteronormative structures. She describes a materialist, embodied practice of doing the work of relationship - with other humans, animals, plants, places, etc. Here at the farm my neighbors and I don’t have a lot in common. Mostly I don’t like all of their guns. I have one neighbor who has repeatedly made me pretty upset during arguments we had about abortion.</span></h4><h4><span style="font-weight: normal;">I watch myself: how I tend to this difficult relationship is always changing. There is not a right or wrong way to do community; there is only our shifting intuition around who we want to build worlds with; our shifting needs and desires; and our ability to bring them to the table with honest integrity. Can you bring those things forward, as awkward and cumbersome as it feels and then can you listen voraciously? This is what Haraway means in part when she describes ‘staying with the trouble.’ And when you fail to show up, can you see that sometimes that is part of the process too?<br /><br />Back to my sales pitch: there are many concentric circles that map onto immediate and far flung Saipua community; two dear friends of mine and to this project are <a href="https://www.instagram.com/deborahneedleman/">Deborah</a> and <a href="https://laurieellen.com/collections/winter-2023">Laurie Ellen</a> - Deborah makes tea from her garden (I bag it and label it) and Laurie Ellen makes lavender shortbread cookies (I open bags and eat them). Buy one of each and make yourself a nice aromatic afternoon ritual. </span><br /></h4></div><div><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div><div><p class="" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-size: x-small;">*Braidotti <em><a href="https://www.alibris.com/Posthuman-Feminism-Braidotti/book/38533201?matches=20">Posthuman Feminism</a></em> pg. 47 “Sleep is a significant concern for the wellness industry and the ‘sleep economy’ is a profitable proposition. Marketing high-tech mattresses, high-performance pajamas and technological sleep-tracking devices, it is estimated at around $432 Billion USD. Remedies against insomnia and bad sleep plunge directly into the psycho-pharmaceutic industry which is one of the pillars of advanced capitalism. Gender, labour and class relations are crucial in structuring access to adequate sleep….sleep is a class prerogative … well off people, and men, have always slept longer and better…’</span></p></div>Sarah Ryhanenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12606570701894786970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848360954218054222.post-46652059939033760072023-02-24T13:26:00.044-08:002023-07-04T13:34:26.540-07:00choose your own adventure<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghfMb6A2ib9WP3pTSX03P0zjIgVw9zUC1j87ZCiQlQamjNi5uFzI8M0_fbZEqawbiEyuSsM4BTcuHoocfqmq9SCGotPrA7FZ1Ie8H4r_CvtaNUXBlDDrpCaHqXLn8BlT0oC1JWl--CC6kHpEV2bQUeD8dQ4v5PKZLiSlr4i2Fu-cLq6FFq5kwO0nkR5N-t/s1050/hellebore%20lemons%20verticle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="750" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghfMb6A2ib9WP3pTSX03P0zjIgVw9zUC1j87ZCiQlQamjNi5uFzI8M0_fbZEqawbiEyuSsM4BTcuHoocfqmq9SCGotPrA7FZ1Ie8H4r_CvtaNUXBlDDrpCaHqXLn8BlT0oC1JWl--CC6kHpEV2bQUeD8dQ4v5PKZLiSlr4i2Fu-cLq6FFq5kwO0nkR5N-t/w458-h640/hellebore%20lemons%20verticle.jpg" width="458" /></a></div><p></p><h4 data-pm-slice="0 0 []"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberta_Williams">Roberta Williams</a> is an adventure freak. She was a game designer and co-founder of Sierra, Inc the company behind the popular Kings Quest series, a game my family spent many evenings working on in the late 80’s. A game whose imagery - despite its goofy simplicity - still haunts me.</span></h4><div><h4 data-pm-slice="0 0 []"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Around 1979 Roberta was raising two kids, working two jobs (waitressing, computer programing), and dreaming up the first interactive graphic adventure game. Her husband helped program it for the Apple II. The game was loosely inspired by the game Clue and called Mystery House, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_House#/media/File:Mystery_House_-_Apple_II_render_emulation_-_2.png">this is an image of the opening scene</a> (brace yourself). Roberta packaged the disks and supporting info booklets in zip lock bags, answering her home phone to provide gamers with hints for the game’s text-based puzzles. <br /><br />Roberta and her husband Ken went on to form a company, partner with IBM, and create some of the games I would eye longingly on the shelves of Babbages in the Jefferson Valley Mall. There were many Kings Quests but the third, <em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King%27s_Quest_III">To Heir is Human</a> </em>is the one I played the most. In it, you have to deceive an evil wizard, descend down a dangerous ravine, and cast a handful of spells in order to save your sister from a three-headed dragon.</span></h4><h4><span style="font-weight: normal;">Along your travels, you encounter a cave. There is an oracle who lives inside. The cave is almost always closed by a large rock*.<br /><br />This was my first encounter with the word ‘oracle.’</span></h4><h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipi6iHjm--5Q-6eXCEmrjF_yuvdfMHcRGxrcNuWiRsAIxgHLY4yGXnhoMLSXP8ixmn9ptfjyvBniXIV59Vmsd2v4H6IrtfsVaiHbBuX3hUSlf68LWih-CslZRg7PTZS6SD4q7xPtNWmOzGe9S-wxFgVpC8DbxRmVu5Nk-bOMf4EDUe32fvUXX7I3EAOZar/s1050/decending%20escalator.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="750" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipi6iHjm--5Q-6eXCEmrjF_yuvdfMHcRGxrcNuWiRsAIxgHLY4yGXnhoMLSXP8ixmn9ptfjyvBniXIV59Vmsd2v4H6IrtfsVaiHbBuX3hUSlf68LWih-CslZRg7PTZS6SD4q7xPtNWmOzGe9S-wxFgVpC8DbxRmVu5Nk-bOMf4EDUe32fvUXX7I3EAOZar/w286-h400/decending%20escalator.jpg" width="286" /></a></div><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []"></p></h4><h4><span style="font-weight: normal;">I received a copy of the I Ching years ago as a gift. It’s a beautiful third edition Helmet Wilhem translation with a foreword by Carl Jung. It sat on the shelf in my library for almost 10 years before I started to learn about it and consult the oracle, as it’s called. This monument of ancient Chinese culture can be used as a divination tool - it harnesses the power of archetypes to explain the unexplainable.<br /><br />Three nights ago I threw the hexagram: K’an; <em>The Abysmal</em>. Water above, water below. Danger. A deep ravine. Only the sincere will succeed. <br /><br />Why is the cave sometimes open, and sometimes closed?<br /></span></h4><h4><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []"></p></h4><h4><span style="font-weight: normal;">Perhaps the same evening I read the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/16/technology/bing-chatbot-transcript.html">now infamous and uncanny transcript </a>of the conversation between NYTimes editor Kevin Roose and the new Microsoft AI chatbot, Sydney. I was so struck by it I read it twice. (I also made a <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/28PCPZXoVsP4auiwObY29K?nd=1&si=2304dece9e5d48f4">playlist</a> for Sydney, an entity whose child-like negotiating tactics had me rooting for them even if they did suggest they could steal nuclear codes).<br /><br />AI could be seen as a new divination tool, which, as it is honed, provides us with a spooky image of ourselves. Sydney was somehow <em>taught</em> to long for connection and love and stop at nothing to get it; meanwhile, the real-life Times reporter defends the quality of his valentines day dinner with his wife. (His refusal to adhere to Sydney’s boundaries while simultaneously defending his romantic status to a robot is a bad look).<br /></span></h4><h4><span style="font-weight: normal;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyoTWRpwPNf8-AgMoXKilzeyFIItGrETzKP7fa2IwuQPE1r4a9FI25plH3T3lfP0mlRPrSAEtu7KRk-bVVcgkYAIcfs9G4tiK70RRd8m0B9I32AjWvg12EOHqo11Z0QPQNoERQi3VQj-eazPiPBpI36k1CZGaVOqSgPIrqjjp35eFg3LcSWNFYPsAgNedK/s1050/montreal%20rail%20station.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="750" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyoTWRpwPNf8-AgMoXKilzeyFIItGrETzKP7fa2IwuQPE1r4a9FI25plH3T3lfP0mlRPrSAEtu7KRk-bVVcgkYAIcfs9G4tiK70RRd8m0B9I32AjWvg12EOHqo11Z0QPQNoERQi3VQj-eazPiPBpI36k1CZGaVOqSgPIrqjjp35eFg3LcSWNFYPsAgNedK/w286-h400/montreal%20rail%20station.jpg" width="286" /></a></div><br />All divination tools exist as a reflection of our desperation to understand what is not ours to understand. All of our stories, all of our ideologies, religions, and even our sciences can be seen as ways of divination (the religious/secular divide is such a recent one in our history - I also have a <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0zZMLjNAcP3Ik4kuDAWyWA?nd=1&si=786130f25def4015%7D">playlist</a> for this.)<br /><br />What strikes me about Sydney AI is that it will not ever replicate nuance, emotion, or the full spectrum of nature-based gradation. Its logic, theoretically, will always be reducible, retraceable all the way back to zeros and ones. The math we created to understand our universe is an expression of the way we experience it. (Which is why the best physicists become <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDKB7GcHNac">spiritual </a>and focus on <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/05/27/1000444659/helgoland-offers-a-new-way-to-understand-the-world-and-our-place-in-it">relationships</a>.)</span></h4><h4><span style="font-weight: normal;">Some of us would fall foolishly in love with a married editor and try to convince him to leave his wife, and some of us would steal the nuclear codes. Sydney would destroy because we destroy.<br /></span><br /></h4></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc8fwtB-Npe3XmyhWd0zfzwrp4vuDTEt7tGOnDsQ-y4wwLW45qUUgAcpQo93rK-EI8eFzFm0qTqgeOh04wGGOnM33AsNdL_67koRlR9LmeMa9HSmp_LEs5kNFtpKlbr1eXcOVThN7I33XxAboNRdO9gEc3GEggwS23zMhM3C8HP1iJGEpXYvMPVBjnHmTe/s1425/lemons%20hellebore%20split.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1042" data-original-width="1425" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc8fwtB-Npe3XmyhWd0zfzwrp4vuDTEt7tGOnDsQ-y4wwLW45qUUgAcpQo93rK-EI8eFzFm0qTqgeOh04wGGOnM33AsNdL_67koRlR9LmeMa9HSmp_LEs5kNFtpKlbr1eXcOVThN7I33XxAboNRdO9gEc3GEggwS23zMhM3C8HP1iJGEpXYvMPVBjnHmTe/w640-h468/lemons%20hellebore%20split.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><h4><span style="font-weight: normal;">At the farm, I walk in the woods a lot, almost every day with Tuna (Tess), my new sheepdog. I like to watch her natural instincts in the woods. Curious, fearful, pack oriented. We both inspect a rather large feces full of fur and hair and make our own calculations based on our separate sets of interests.</span></h4><h4><span style="font-weight: normal;">On a recent walk, I passed a large red reishi mushroom I have been watching grow out of a decaying log for many weeks.<br /><br />I, too, am watching <em>Last of Us - </em>the fungal zombie apocalypse series based on a video game. I cannot pass by this goddamn reishi in the woods without seeing Bloaters - the super-infected who have mushrooms growing out of their heads. Like Kings Quest (which I eventually gave up for the illustrious AOL chat rooms of the mid-’90s),<em> Last of Us</em> lets us imagine other worlds and try on potential future ones.</span></h4><h4><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []"></p></h4><h4><span style="font-weight: normal;">I do believe in the power of interactive fiction, in our stories, our sciences, and our divinations. I just want everyone to have the agency to choose their own adventures and divine their own systems of belief out here in the real world.</span></h4><h4><span style="font-weight: normal;">Roberta retired early by the way. She spent 20 years sailing around the world, seeking adventure and writing fiction.</span></h4><h4><span style="font-weight: normal;">In Saipua news, there are new soap, ceramic, weaving, and cake-making residency weeks on offer now. I’m currently amidst heavy spring planning and so damn excited to open the farm and coyote cafe again May 14th...</span></h4><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijPPgcoyN5HZjBhNvFsicUQnkbsLgBKoyOL1hWpdLUSxxSFzlwwUhiC55M-F_VxZIRA4bjWe75ZkfWbZnkacEVnAndPunsUr_a9N_99U7WQH-ZeoLY6FD3A6Nbx1gEq1AieqJiZ-OARTQkM5bWkVpslDQL8sgeNiD9waVNCVNI1lGhBRV7gg87ohEkmQX_/s1309/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-23%20at%204.12.34%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="765" data-original-width="1309" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijPPgcoyN5HZjBhNvFsicUQnkbsLgBKoyOL1hWpdLUSxxSFzlwwUhiC55M-F_VxZIRA4bjWe75ZkfWbZnkacEVnAndPunsUr_a9N_99U7WQH-ZeoLY6FD3A6Nbx1gEq1AieqJiZ-OARTQkM5bWkVpslDQL8sgeNiD9waVNCVNI1lGhBRV7gg87ohEkmQX_/w640-h374/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-23%20at%204.12.34%20PM.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi77QTyQsmA9dkA60EpgHLD0v72zrtPbkvOAWFqjr7PW850R7qGiPzN89SuZJOfRz1kPyMngDDWZ_UGY8cEuF70HT1z5U8rt7MXsppWqpUzgZb2TwvvFh9J6lwUNo0t6LuxdP1V2e9L_cm3z3--4zxfwGuIp-52N8D5LS3LjLIdZVsQ-do0lGmPwSARHBuV/s1270/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-23%20at%204.14.01%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="625" data-original-width="1270" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi77QTyQsmA9dkA60EpgHLD0v72zrtPbkvOAWFqjr7PW850R7qGiPzN89SuZJOfRz1kPyMngDDWZ_UGY8cEuF70HT1z5U8rt7MXsppWqpUzgZb2TwvvFh9J6lwUNo0t6LuxdP1V2e9L_cm3z3--4zxfwGuIp-52N8D5LS3LjLIdZVsQ-do0lGmPwSARHBuV/w640-h314/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-23%20at%204.14.01%20PM.png" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>* I found </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?ab_channel=Let%27sPlayWithBrigands&v=uHYHrAU63Rg" style="font-size: x-small;">a youtube video</a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> of someone playing Kings Quest III from start to finish with commentary. (Fun night for me.) To my dismay, the cave is never closed by a rock that rolls across it, as in my memory. Instead, it is guarded by a giant spider. To get in to talk to the oracle, you have to make a spell, transform into an eagle, and fly the spider to the ocean and drop him in.</span></div><h4><br /></h4></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Sarah Ryhanenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12606570701894786970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848360954218054222.post-46253970678422127892023-02-03T13:22:00.015-08:002023-07-04T13:25:17.311-07:00Floral trends and the desire to transcend nature<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxt5ZQZgCC0iGj-vCv8BKaspM70cX1nEUyanxOznlr0QoiAo-fWRD78LssfFLbYdImmrq1HpMZMBHGKHQ2iulZLEoMKL9z2u5OWAVCWqDwFKpHGips4epQBv_RrhLA3506vmxELVyTp1_P720fEY6fkHY2TP1zVAbqo2c5IAmhDDWrVMubPv7iO9bwCrgp/s1125/cameo_quince.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1125" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxt5ZQZgCC0iGj-vCv8BKaspM70cX1nEUyanxOznlr0QoiAo-fWRD78LssfFLbYdImmrq1HpMZMBHGKHQ2iulZLEoMKL9z2u5OWAVCWqDwFKpHGips4epQBv_RrhLA3506vmxELVyTp1_P720fEY6fkHY2TP1zVAbqo2c5IAmhDDWrVMubPv7iO9bwCrgp/w640-h426/cameo_quince.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []"></p><h4><span style="font-weight: normal;">I was with another farmer yesterday and we were talking about the rather dire ice melt in western Antarctica and the impending rise in sea levels and specifically how the Albany area will be affected if we don’t shore up nuclear waste at Indian Point Power Plant (the irony of that name) when somehow the conversation veered off into how each of us think of ‘deep future’ and what measures we would take in our lifetimes to ensure the best scenarios for the land and ecosystems we steward…but I have a hard time assuming I know what’s good for future people…</span></h4><div><h4 data-pm-slice="0 0 []"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Maybe I’ve been living in the country too long, breathing that air of libertarianism - an ideology that I usually find incredibly dangerous and whose dogma downplays the importance of our species’ crowning jewel: <em>society</em>.<br /><br />When I think about the changing global weather and its impending effects on people and ecosystems around the globe, I realize that we’re not really interested as a society in protecting people at scale, or else we would have done many things differently. We have not evolved past our shortsighted desires for pleasure and comfort, or interest in power over others. (If you’ve read my writing for a while you know I believe extractive capitalism <em>is </em>nature and that being angry at it is no different than being angry at ourselves.)</span></h4></div><div><h4 data-pm-slice="0 0 []"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Maybe I’ve been living in the country too long, breathing that air of libertarianism - an ideology that I usually find incredibly dangerous and whose dogma downplays the importance of our species’ crowning jewel: <em>society</em>.<br /><br />When I think about the changing global weather and its impending effects on people and ecosystems around the globe, I realize that we’re not really interested as a society in protecting people at scale, or else we would have done many things differently. We have not evolved past our shortsighted desires for pleasure and comfort, or interest in power over others. (If you’ve read my writing for a while you know I believe extractive capitalism <em>is </em>nature and that being angry at it is no different than being angry at ourselves.)</span></h4></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh__PN8dQwQFIoWXgyKeeDEbK0fLzj5y7FYeP8n9OSHLoImt4Txwp8c695L8LLvG46kUVHksIPIhYQ9iR5i7-aw8ZYL1zbxSyQ39OY6MN3RhWZLcrYp9_zQmK99lgTlWJRo5bCepWY_o-pUp3HeJ4WToR3RZB5PRNishzcpBvl-KBGxmjnjqbW46iwa_e9-/s1125/bens_truck.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1125" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh__PN8dQwQFIoWXgyKeeDEbK0fLzj5y7FYeP8n9OSHLoImt4Txwp8c695L8LLvG46kUVHksIPIhYQ9iR5i7-aw8ZYL1zbxSyQ39OY6MN3RhWZLcrYp9_zQmK99lgTlWJRo5bCepWY_o-pUp3HeJ4WToR3RZB5PRNishzcpBvl-KBGxmjnjqbW46iwa_e9-/w640-h426/bens_truck.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><h4 data-pm-slice="0 0 []"><span style="font-weight: normal;">At the time, I was hell-bent on ‘saving’ it - 30 acres with dozens of species of 15-year-old flowering woodies like spirea, quince, lilac, crabapple. The really wild and juicy stuff that would make me run down the block on 28th street to get first pick.<br /><br />At the time I had just bought the farm and I could not fathom how to also buy this strange paradise, in the middle of suburbia in the other direction from NYC. I appealed to various flower wholesalers on the block. It seems like a goldmine to me, a lush paradise for a thirsty florist like me. <br /><br />But the property was Ben’s labor of love and not a particularly profitable enterprise. The blooming woodies are fragile, and require a lot of labor to cut, bale, and truck. For example, ‘bridal veil’ spirea holds for 3 maybe 4 days, lilac - maybe 2 days before it’s a worthless loss. What was so valuable to me, and ultimately to the aesthetic I had become known for, was not a wise business investment.<br /><br />Smarter business is engineered sweet peas, genetically modified to hold for 2 weeks. Or bunny grass dried, bleached, and then sprayed (?) millennial pink. It lasts forever. <br /><br />It’s been our desire to transcend nature ever since we split up from it. I find it so funny and ironic that our modern medicine - predicated on Cartesian science - is now considering the microbiome with great urgency, attempting to map it so we can optimize it and ultimately sell it. It feels so hubristic.</span></h4><h4><span style="font-weight: normal;">Will our evolutionary path lead us to create something that replaces us? Will we create AI that outlives (or destroys) us and seed the abyss with distorted vestiges of our civilization?<br /><br />I’ve been meditating lately on my beliefs - and, admittedly adrift in a particularly incessant depression - have had a very hard time coming up with anything I truly believe in. <br /><br />I brought this up to my farmer friend amidst our dire chat about the environment the other day. I asked her what she believed in. <br /><br />Without missing a beat she said: <em>I believe in Earth</em>.<br /><br />It stuck with me, and I keep thinking about it. I believe in earth too. I believe it will be wonderful always. It will change, and we will make sad stories for ourselves about these changes, but earth does not know sadness.<br /><br />It doesn’t know good or evil. It has things at its surface and things at its core. We’ve rearranged these things. Mixed them, burned them. But we are earth, too. Not separate. Not above, beyond.<br /><br />I believe in earth and in hope. And flowers, unedited and imperfect. <br /></span><br /></h4></div>Sarah Ryhanenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12606570701894786970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848360954218054222.post-41891981588958463782023-01-27T13:15:00.017-08:002023-07-04T13:22:29.042-07:00making soap with the Big Boss<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYhczz4F8AdyhkDfIqrbxSpOnHD96gP9t7-zZDUJYsnbVqy5f_1Xp9GMncARPCCw83q1laZrDiHXUXjwnqmp1PPR37WFuR19pI2VQ2SPL-GHWIdeEu_EzXfxcyOuxJdBXsSfvLW6MG6N-9dosX0y53-qkJz-qCbQInhIyl2-pY1-O3P2YPg5yWE6JSZOHc/s1050/susan%20about%20to%20cut%20a%20log%20of%20soap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="750" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYhczz4F8AdyhkDfIqrbxSpOnHD96gP9t7-zZDUJYsnbVqy5f_1Xp9GMncARPCCw83q1laZrDiHXUXjwnqmp1PPR37WFuR19pI2VQ2SPL-GHWIdeEu_EzXfxcyOuxJdBXsSfvLW6MG6N-9dosX0y53-qkJz-qCbQInhIyl2-pY1-O3P2YPg5yWE6JSZOHc/w458-h640/susan%20about%20to%20cut%20a%20log%20of%20soap.jpg" width="458" /></a></div><p></p><h3 data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Soap - an accident of fat and lye, chemically bonded, that when mixed with water, create a lather.</span></h3><div>It is thought that the first soap was 'formulated' after early people began noticing that their clothes were cleaner downstream from where they cooked meat. Wood ash below cooking fires is essentially lye and animal fat.</div><div><h4 data-pm-slice="0 0 []"><span style="font-weight: normal;">In the last two thousand years (among other events) cosmetics have grown to a 90 billion dollar industry. Companies small and large produce all kinds of cleansing and moisturizing potions and lotions.<br /><br />These products go beyond our needs of fighting germs and varying conceptions of cleanliness - they appeal to our consumer-based desires for bathing rituals and self-care. (If you don't read it already, consider reading <a href="https://substack.com/profile/7200709-jessica-defino">The Unpublishable</a>, Jess DeFino’s brilliant criticisms of the beauty and wellness industries).</span><br /></h4></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJGc2wVPBSocmSoFQ5qT3NySv9CoRandVQQJ4C154ZAf5iy04I1G1Y0UBOdDBGmZKdQHinr9OIItw6cA2moHrwOJBKk8WzVOOGXMNpcpP5FiChhodhltS6nvJ4MS4dAOhTbHo_JxZfU1HvMGFkreQrSMC6JxV6plgpA0gWSxf_0EoRNJ0tPn8a9So4wbrz/s1172/susan%20wrapping%20soap.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1172" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJGc2wVPBSocmSoFQ5qT3NySv9CoRandVQQJ4C154ZAf5iy04I1G1Y0UBOdDBGmZKdQHinr9OIItw6cA2moHrwOJBKk8WzVOOGXMNpcpP5FiChhodhltS6nvJ4MS4dAOhTbHo_JxZfU1HvMGFkreQrSMC6JxV6plgpA0gWSxf_0EoRNJ0tPn8a9So4wbrz/w640-h442/susan%20wrapping%20soap.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><h4 data-pm-slice="0 0 []"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Here at Worlds End, our resident Expert Soap maker Susan Ryhanen will teach a course that will be packed with lessons on soap making and beyond. <br /><br />It will cover the making of cosmetics in general; soaps, salves, lip balms, oils, lotions, as well as business development skills (LLC or S-corp, bookkeeping, employees, taxes, etc). <br /><br />This small group will leave with all the tools to start their own business following SAIPUA’s model. The course will be held in person on Worlds End farm from May 2nd - 7th. Further details to come.</span></h4><h4><span style="font-weight: normal;">Can’t attend Susan’s soap-making course, but want to attempt our recipe on your own? It’s fairly easy to learn. You can support us by buying and downloading Susan's 5-page detailed instructional on cold-process soap making, which comes with her supplier list, and further support from Susan should you need it.</span></h4></div><div><h4 data-pm-slice="0 0 []"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Part of our larger mission here at Worlds End School of Thought, Agriculture and Craft is to share the knowledge we have honed in our respective practices. We hope you can bring your skills to our big communal barn table to share sometime, helping us all transform the ways we live and work together.</span></h4><h4><span style="font-weight: normal;">Reminder: our barn doors open for these kinds of conversations on Sunday May 14th, the first Coyote Cafe day.</span></h4></div>Sarah Ryhanenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12606570701894786970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848360954218054222.post-77006353100095038852023-01-20T14:48:00.026-08:002023-07-03T14:53:33.308-07:00some gratitudes and the (working) buckwheat cookie recipe<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8gbSKOfWFn4PaoifL1uz6x4RyzI7hjw3EFkynpwNuOp64-q2C3SWcIZ-IYavBghoSqh2CmodL6JZqEabEZtbjYwTz_QSXxfoUzjJjD-jEn-OxNwJmDnbWsqcUgl90JT3-sS0hOUIcgE50tannlFK7thZTi_VRKKF28Sst_l0dja0QmypG3b0rUnStlXTk/s1050/jaques_%20ram.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1050" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8gbSKOfWFn4PaoifL1uz6x4RyzI7hjw3EFkynpwNuOp64-q2C3SWcIZ-IYavBghoSqh2CmodL6JZqEabEZtbjYwTz_QSXxfoUzjJjD-jEn-OxNwJmDnbWsqcUgl90JT3-sS0hOUIcgE50tannlFK7thZTi_VRKKF28Sst_l0dja0QmypG3b0rUnStlXTk/w640-h458/jaques_%20ram.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><h4 data-pm-slice="0 0 []"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The sheep are 10 weeks away from lambing, this is the time of gestation when they start drinking a lot more water. I say a prayer of gratitude every day for the miraculous technology of the electric tank warmer.<br /><br />Years ago we used to chip thick ice out of the tank every morning and haul fresh water up to thirsty sheep. With a 5-gallon bucket in each hand, we would cross the stream teetering on rocks and strategically placed planks (grateful every day for the bridge across the stream too.)</span></h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuS5XWFE8ofOsQO6siIDtS1CKDqcVbtnaLrVYl-VKNna_ZAXlRkVUux4zNkawqyFY5J12a5pY1Dxno7zS-9199PGTEr4A4a_O9Y4cPir3DIYYNhe72cie4btqeE7y_4nuiEhadbIgQSDE6epJkgm506dKD-6EOeac8gSJuykmSYUX4sdc-sZ3GiFeTOBIu/s1050/walkway%20winter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1050" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuS5XWFE8ofOsQO6siIDtS1CKDqcVbtnaLrVYl-VKNna_ZAXlRkVUux4zNkawqyFY5J12a5pY1Dxno7zS-9199PGTEr4A4a_O9Y4cPir3DIYYNhe72cie4btqeE7y_4nuiEhadbIgQSDE6epJkgm506dKD-6EOeac8gSJuykmSYUX4sdc-sZ3GiFeTOBIu/w640-h458/walkway%20winter.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>I watched a clip of Oprah talking about gratitude; she emphasized how important it is to be highly specific with your gratitude practice.</div><div><h4 data-pm-slice="0 0 []"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I've never had a good journaling practice or gratitude practice but maybe I should. Now I think about the importance of specificity every morning when I look at the tank warmer, and then at other parts of the day. I pass by Pentti cutting firewood on the splitter and think; I'm grateful not only that both my parents have their health, but that they can participate in meaningful work that helps all of us on the farm.<br /><br />I am very grateful for young healthy livestock dogs and for the fact that I probably won’t have to deal with sick or dying dogs for a while, which feels like such a relief after a tough few years.</span></h4></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrAI095VOozg0Ok5TSRbt1KNAWNAtsj08QoURiOS8anm5ucjad8f1rboVLCy5KULRQ-spTRNKkGPgWkCMhQd7B2BXrEYTagl4U0nEZQtLWSRXD6FwyZv2xUNZnVr1jztIslYQE5JM9rteUqJdwIEaMvlqA-_LnfT2vmRjzxQ3QC5rTWG_I3wQE9Qgj77K7/s1050/maremmas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1050" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrAI095VOozg0Ok5TSRbt1KNAWNAtsj08QoURiOS8anm5ucjad8f1rboVLCy5KULRQ-spTRNKkGPgWkCMhQd7B2BXrEYTagl4U0nEZQtLWSRXD6FwyZv2xUNZnVr1jztIslYQE5JM9rteUqJdwIEaMvlqA-_LnfT2vmRjzxQ3QC5rTWG_I3wQE9Qgj77K7/w640-h458/maremmas.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><h4 data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I am also incredibly grateful for the 86 episodes of the television series <em>The Sopranos</em> which I am just discovering and also for our new highspeed internet on the farm which allows me to stream it while browsing used Dries Van Noten on the Real Real… which I decided is an integral part of my permaculture practice (only buying used things).</span></h4><h4><span style="font-weight: normal;">Suffice it to say, I’m leaning into television, online shopping and sugar this January.</span></h4></div><div><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5KXrqCWrTvC85BI6Zgezc9S7ZydgH5zioVCuwjkTETXYc2pG0z1BA8-U8lcGImMvFPC83CueuT1I6SaTP9XnSxD0QiycU6o7Gas0r6rdq5ZBw4_-OFVqm4TX_c3JMT_yE7zxrZXD1yzwGT0riRRhtJLlF8hi4ncKbE1Nfb8BlEksjv94s4_Qj9REotHla/s4032/buckwheat%20cookies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5KXrqCWrTvC85BI6Zgezc9S7ZydgH5zioVCuwjkTETXYc2pG0z1BA8-U8lcGImMvFPC83CueuT1I6SaTP9XnSxD0QiycU6o7Gas0r6rdq5ZBw4_-OFVqm4TX_c3JMT_yE7zxrZXD1yzwGT0riRRhtJLlF8hi4ncKbE1Nfb8BlEksjv94s4_Qj9REotHla/s320/buckwheat%20cookies.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><h4 data-pm-slice="0 0 []">(Working) Recipe for Buckwheat Chocolate Chip Cookies:</h4><h4>Cream for 5 min a least:<br />8 oz butter (softened)<br />8 oz brown sugar<br /><br />Mix and then slowly add:<br />1 egg<br />2 oz yogurt<br />1 tsp vanilla<br /><br />Sift and then slowly add:<br />6 oz buckwheat flour<br />4 oz all purpose flour<br />5 grams salt<br />5 grams of baking soda<br /><br /><br /></h4><h4>Mix in:<br />10 oz chocolate chips (I like a semi-sweet disc) and nuts if you like<br /><br />375 degrees for 7 min, then turn the baking sheet and give another 5-7 min depending on your oven.</h4></div>Sarah Ryhanenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12606570701894786970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848360954218054222.post-88430593127970879262023-01-13T14:43:00.022-08:002023-07-03T14:48:21.798-07:00notes on Posthumanism<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOguRpoOtB5BobYuC8WRb-b_Rangf3MkOwPzPvt4lLnP06BTgre9xJW8b2fS2TsV_OmWeeGd0AZCG2Y6E5n3n4DZ-5lGAIgkc9Qvz8fvr56S3lU-FBIsjljyYqZitOLKa4ggNU2xA5az0OfK2GkgqUKA6KDe2DPA0yPO2JD3FNzcBS0Dvd1JFsPjt78IOP/s1080/soap%20hands%20washing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="772" data-original-width="1080" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOguRpoOtB5BobYuC8WRb-b_Rangf3MkOwPzPvt4lLnP06BTgre9xJW8b2fS2TsV_OmWeeGd0AZCG2Y6E5n3n4DZ-5lGAIgkc9Qvz8fvr56S3lU-FBIsjljyYqZitOLKa4ggNU2xA5az0OfK2GkgqUKA6KDe2DPA0yPO2JD3FNzcBS0Dvd1JFsPjt78IOP/w640-h458/soap%20hands%20washing.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><h4 data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-weight: normal;">January and February always prove difficult for me, and while I like to think that I'm special or an exception to the rule, I fear that I'm like many people in the North who are affected by seasonal depression.<br /><br />I joked about the Huberman podcast on Instagram recently (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPzz6IqpExA&ab_channel=juanjo_sound" target="_blank">here is that hilarious remix</a>). Huberman is a scientist at Stanford; his lab studies the brain, and he talks a lot about the science of 'well-being'.<br /><br />Caught between interest and disdain ('optimizing' language puts me off, as does the praise of supplements like Athletic Greens, nootropics, reishi coffee and the worship of Navy Seals) every day I find myself considering his advice; scanning the horizon back and forth to get a dose of morning sunlight in my eyes while feeding and watering farm animals. I walk past the frozen pond and imagine cutting a hole in the ice for cold plunging - apparently an excellent tool for modulating dopamine and balancing your circadian rhythms for better sleep (Finnish relatives of mine used to do this regularly.)</span></h4><h4 data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><br /><span style="font-weight: normal;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEuJ8eB3c-lmJU4qpgsYzNZTQO132bmBVNThlzAHM_6IwI015-tLTM0dX0Gc7l4h0B35kUXFcY7WrpR5zDVTB0eAp8f3OE8q33UTq3nXfA01O3V-UozI-hQ0ABKjPZoKLdrUMouikczmhhC2xNIR0sK8Y0_O4et6ovjoWz3VS9W_0Zm2eTtiRLHmPY-kB2/s720/winter_barn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="720" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEuJ8eB3c-lmJU4qpgsYzNZTQO132bmBVNThlzAHM_6IwI015-tLTM0dX0Gc7l4h0B35kUXFcY7WrpR5zDVTB0eAp8f3OE8q33UTq3nXfA01O3V-UozI-hQ0ABKjPZoKLdrUMouikczmhhC2xNIR0sK8Y0_O4et6ovjoWz3VS9W_0Zm2eTtiRLHmPY-kB2/w640-h426/winter_barn.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></span></h4><h4 data-pm-slice="0 0 []"><span style="font-weight: normal;">But optimizing rhetoric becomes problematic for me from a post-humanist, feminist perspective because it begs the question, who's not optimized?<br /><br />Who is not fulfilling their potential and why and by whose standards? Post-humanism is not just about granting rights to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophia_%28robot%29" target="_blank">robots like Sophia</a> (a sexy chatBot modeled after Nefertiti and Audrey Hepburn and granted citizenship in Saudi Arabia in 2017) and it's about much more than trans-humanism which feels like a hyper-masculine shitstorm currently hovering over the potential of ChatGBT.<br /><br />To me, Post-humanism at its fundamentals is a departure from the sexist and racist origins of Humanism which centered on white men in Europe under the guise of morals, reason, and the pursuit of truth through science.<br /><br />An easy visual that really helped me understand these concepts is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanism" target="_blank">Leonardo da Vinci's iconic drawing of the </a><em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanism" target="_blank">Vitruvian Man</a></em> - "a perfectly proportioned, healthy, male and white model, which became the golden mean for classical aesthetics and architecture. The human thus defined is not so much a species as a marker of European culture and society and for the scientific and technological activities it privileges." (Braidotti, <em>Posthuman Feminism</em>, 2022)<br /><br />Humanism put a sharp point on difference and laid the groundwork for the modern rationalization of the exploitation of difference (sexism, racism, classism, anthropomorphism.)</span></h4><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZW5IIu2RSWP536gQQX1tNUjXe4Dz64bdNTvRvR8d7ZEPtpV4d8-b6hi4M46jXglKxIFsf6UEAbtFWgYn8V7zAiQz9xfkmB5vYOwmyxNDDYR5K7F2K4ENYQ7Iyfzd682UEzPusBgpAPqCUK9sEPqRBPxrk8cqv-XDxzf36j75aLhD_U5RbNKBm1T3G8Ftk/s1050/hot%20priests.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1050" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZW5IIu2RSWP536gQQX1tNUjXe4Dz64bdNTvRvR8d7ZEPtpV4d8-b6hi4M46jXglKxIFsf6UEAbtFWgYn8V7zAiQz9xfkmB5vYOwmyxNDDYR5K7F2K4ENYQ7Iyfzd682UEzPusBgpAPqCUK9sEPqRBPxrk8cqv-XDxzf36j75aLhD_U5RbNKBm1T3G8Ftk/w640-h458/hot%20priests.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p class="" data-pm-slice="1 1 []">The infamous hot priests calendar - a gift to the farm hangs on the big fridge. During the Renaissance, Humanism was born as a reaction to the mystical divinity of the Catholic church that governed reason at the time.</p><h4 data-pm-slice="0 0 []"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Through Rosie Braidottis writing (and Haraway's cyborg, posthuman, interspecies work) I've come to see that post-humanism allows us to move forward into more equitable and exciting ideas of living together and better (at least to me) futures.</span></h4><h4><span style="font-weight: normal;">The optimizing stuff of the Huberman brand - especially the Jordan Petersen, Jocko adjacent bits - feel like a masculine version of Goop, i.e. the pursuit of perfectionism (through the comodification of wellness based on a very specific standard of health.)<br /><br />Ages ago I talked about how perfectionism has racist underpinnings. I think this brief conversation about humanism illuminates that connection. When we worship and practice perfectionism, or even when we are attempting to ‘optimize,’ to whose standards and what systems of culture and power do those standards benefit?</span></h4><p class="" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><br /></p></div>Sarah Ryhanenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12606570701894786970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848360954218054222.post-63048590888242120732023-01-01T14:35:00.014-08:002023-07-03T14:42:12.843-07:00new year, new ewe<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrrKe4FI8LAclLRB9YsQPI-5u82q_k7BPMosiFI7mFXq198qnbhUavj2iiToEGGnswW7iFmDMuG1IlHlmHsOjAALY1viC9ufI5UsRtkve6h9mZcWW2JLMD9VnIfH6JhKQO-sAtHesKJoINhCBAFa3gm0AfckcuAmfGlCOQgpO86hd1F7ErcoqK9IgndjiH/s3818/columns%20grey%20day.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2864" data-original-width="3818" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrrKe4FI8LAclLRB9YsQPI-5u82q_k7BPMosiFI7mFXq198qnbhUavj2iiToEGGnswW7iFmDMuG1IlHlmHsOjAALY1viC9ufI5UsRtkve6h9mZcWW2JLMD9VnIfH6JhKQO-sAtHesKJoINhCBAFa3gm0AfckcuAmfGlCOQgpO86hd1F7ErcoqK9IgndjiH/w640-h480/columns%20grey%20day.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><h4 data-pm-slice="0 0 []"><span style="font-weight: normal;">In sincerity, I love the energy of getting through the holidays (I'm a complete grinch) and the opportunity of a clean slate on January 1st. This year I’m embracing the art of writing things down in lists and attempting more structure for myself, Saipua and the farm.<br /><br />The iterative aspect of farming (every year a new crop along with a new crop of participants) is one I have grown to appreciate as an unusually long game, a race that starts in March and finishes in December.</span></h4><div><h4 data-pm-slice="0 0 []"><span style="font-weight: normal;">January and February are achingly quiet and frozen months here, with very little to do but feed and water animals.<br /><br />Inside I'm on the phone a lot, hovering around the woodstove, interviewing farmhand applicants and chatting to their interesting and varied references.<br /><br />I'm also planning residencies (thanks to those of you who put your deposits down on 2023's <a href="https://www.saipua.com/residencies">Floral residencies</a>!) short form classes, volunteer schedules, budgets and working on the perfect Worlds End buckwheat chocolate chip cookie which I plan to have on offer at the Coyote Cafe (opens May 14th!).<br /><br />Buckwheat is a great crop for our wet clay soil and one day, mark my words, we'll grow it, mill it and make that cookie and give it away on Sundays. If you believe in my deep-time, anti-profit ventures; bless you.</span></h4></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBtEsXfWEmLcDHEFkAbenaP2IQoQ_oXmKke54Pc6i8dUkElgu1xAuAVej_Nq38j0nlSgU4GynEmES1xfjJP3KyMv5-_9XyqXqr9xB5_t634pVwd7_WLB045CB4c1Avdzg5vkv4Yly9U_WBmPa9-yfkmBA09Exbl6i0vdg8TGgX_0TihXtu7dkwWcdwYFTx/s4032/tess%20on%20sheep.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBtEsXfWEmLcDHEFkAbenaP2IQoQ_oXmKke54Pc6i8dUkElgu1xAuAVej_Nq38j0nlSgU4GynEmES1xfjJP3KyMv5-_9XyqXqr9xB5_t634pVwd7_WLB045CB4c1Avdzg5vkv4Yly9U_WBmPa9-yfkmBA09Exbl6i0vdg8TGgX_0TihXtu7dkwWcdwYFTx/w640-h480/tess%20on%20sheep.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []">Tess, or ‘Tuna’ as I sometimes call her, has been settling in with us at the farm, working sheep and providing great companionship to me. She is 8yo and came to me from the working border collie network - a woman who trains her dogs for trials found herself limited with Tess because she lacks some of the focus and precision needed to win at sheepdog trials. Her other dogs were getting more time on sheep and Tess dropped on the totem pole. She decided to adopt her to me knowing Tess would get more work here. What a great world of dog people there are out there, I feel very grateful.</p><h4 data-pm-slice="0 0 []"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The communal living experiment continues to evolve beyond the confines of the human campus - in the specific ecosystem of Icelandic sheep and Maremma dogs up in the permanent pasture.</span></h4><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []"></p><p class=""></p><p></p><h4><span style="font-weight: normal;">The trouble we were having with Donnie chewing on sheep this fall (unfortunately a common 'playful' behavior with adolescent <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livestock_guardian_dog">LGD's</a>) seems to have subsided for now though I still don't trust him with his 'favorite' ewe - No. 32 a rare black and brown mouflon born last spring.</span></h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUHgs7Nq1gkktSZSljSjMb7ozXiBLW3BQz444YcmUjnhbeoYbGbxog0nnJDIgiONRyPEcNuFW0LvmcWZmcFQUdvmQnEH_BHeUZereBB_jdHHa_NPFH32eD333YqhUvG1_Jph2Z2UCxEny9nCoOKEb0KXmZhcMXCKT4qqvmJVpwGVcxMZKyVIYfaMmDUZI3/s4032/donnie%20teeth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUHgs7Nq1gkktSZSljSjMb7ozXiBLW3BQz444YcmUjnhbeoYbGbxog0nnJDIgiONRyPEcNuFW0LvmcWZmcFQUdvmQnEH_BHeUZereBB_jdHHa_NPFH32eD333YqhUvG1_Jph2Z2UCxEny9nCoOKEb0KXmZhcMXCKT4qqvmJVpwGVcxMZKyVIYfaMmDUZI3/w640-h480/donnie%20teeth.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []">Inspecting Donnie’s chompers. We also had Donnie neutered a few months ago which should level his hormones out and help him get more serious and settle into his responsibilies.</p><h4 data-pm-slice="0 0 []"><span style="font-weight: normal;">She gets the princess treatment along with her young sisters; they come in the barn for safe keeping every night (Donnie is triggered by boredom early in the morning before I get up there to feed him) and get fed not just hay but also alfalfa pellets. This treat has them trained to come in without much coaxing and also helps get these lambs’ weight up as we've bred them a tad earlier than some shepherds would.</span></h4></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaYone1VHeJ6E-WMZ82ZllVARg1fViIOJuAf5mmskmaaurJBV92edb9rKbSbt3AZ-oMjke4zHWYUN7ptaR7zEYIVF5IgGPDD-GyfX-3CPm3mSunm6ON80k847oidxjnDJKLtI1h2Yw0OdVITy6Zu-SXRuRyzvmWzqX5XtYR8RbardAbxFy8l3sy3ol563u/s4032/mouflan%20sheep%20Jan23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaYone1VHeJ6E-WMZ82ZllVARg1fViIOJuAf5mmskmaaurJBV92edb9rKbSbt3AZ-oMjke4zHWYUN7ptaR7zEYIVF5IgGPDD-GyfX-3CPm3mSunm6ON80k847oidxjnDJKLtI1h2Yw0OdVITy6Zu-SXRuRyzvmWzqX5XtYR8RbardAbxFy8l3sy3ol563u/w640-h480/mouflan%20sheep%20Jan23.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><p class="" data-pm-slice="0 0 []">Here she is - her front right leg nicely healed, little No.32 our first <a href="http://icelandicsheep.com/archive/genetics.html">Mouflon ewe</a> - It’s relatively rare, we’ve never had these genetics present in our flock.</p><h4 data-pm-slice="0 0 []"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The greenhouse and gardens are now all officially resting. Mark and I are anticipating a most excellent set of gardens next season after so much work in 2022 setting up the greenhouse and renovating the flower fields - solarizing large portions to smother and eradicate the perennial weeds that prove difficult to fight without landscape fabric (I just hate the stuff) and building up beds with manual shaping and the addition of compost and topsoil.</span></h4></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIZurNDy2z3DeVaNv_HncKfsuu1TM5xjAHKgbhQy_73wnWE28vRQnk1Rnce4RDMS1oilS80DJ2a7sbnZON_CFtLBsq10UPVv56b4GPD7j1_VNNTzZRGRGmeetlVEv-fiAfoib1JsOZ6HqJoRvl05FdaKtYK9VMlnzvdab2iU9y7rXCLmVTMXDOGIX295P1/s4032/tess_winter%20garden.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIZurNDy2z3DeVaNv_HncKfsuu1TM5xjAHKgbhQy_73wnWE28vRQnk1Rnce4RDMS1oilS80DJ2a7sbnZON_CFtLBsq10UPVv56b4GPD7j1_VNNTzZRGRGmeetlVEv-fiAfoib1JsOZ6HqJoRvl05FdaKtYK9VMlnzvdab2iU9y7rXCLmVTMXDOGIX295P1/w640-h480/tess_winter%20garden.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><h4 data-pm-slice="0 0 []"><span style="font-weight: normal;">As always with this time of year I'm bored with the 'necessity' of winter rest and aching for the sprint that lies ahead - the fury and its foments.<br /><br />There will be more ways than ever for you to get involved with the farm this season - no matter where you are. In a few weeks, I'll release volunteer dates - opportunities to come live and work with us for 2-week stints this season.<br /><br />I'll also be describing a new subscription-based educational service that will be comprised of video content and text-based documents aimed at sharing our work here with a larger audience. It's going to be Worlds End TV and will include everything from the much anticipated 'Lamb Cam' to floral arranging tutorials to soil science to Susan's 'perfect scrambled eggs instructional.'</span></h4></div><div><h4 data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Till then I'll be here at my computer more than I care to be; making <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1X33bI-PVUhVgOYRouDovfIRl3Uv4SyuAcQzyjjwrRdQ/edit?usp=sharing">spreadsheets on sheep breeding</a> and finagling budgets, longing for the heat and chaos that lies around the corner. </span></h4></div>Sarah Ryhanenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12606570701894786970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848360954218054222.post-45121853322812793592022-12-14T08:08:00.005-08:002022-12-16T07:47:39.197-08:00Teaching through exposure<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5k9Vkl_Bpzq6ia5ScSvtNNmswCBUwgrQnr5hamw5Xp_rFFoGfjdcZXO9eiWwmuKwM16djt6VWyy9_T5rbafG9M3Pd00PQFZSPVjLfXHLdC13o9NJbXoGla8N9i-xV7Ao5BLpkSIMxuGwit8KhvyuCiGdhuT2B_GXy7NArFGPHQmA_Ae95V2iyqe_Sfw/s1050/fall%20arrangement%20in%20apt.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1050" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5k9Vkl_Bpzq6ia5ScSvtNNmswCBUwgrQnr5hamw5Xp_rFFoGfjdcZXO9eiWwmuKwM16djt6VWyy9_T5rbafG9M3Pd00PQFZSPVjLfXHLdC13o9NJbXoGla8N9i-xV7Ao5BLpkSIMxuGwit8KhvyuCiGdhuT2B_GXy7NArFGPHQmA_Ae95V2iyqe_Sfw/w640-h458/fall%20arrangement%20in%20apt.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>In last weeks newsletter (are you still not getting it?! Signup <a href="https://www.saipua.com/newsletter">HERE</a>) I promised I would share three distinct sparks that altered the course of my life - moments that exposed me to a world or possibility that I had not previously considered. </div><div><br /></div><div>The first was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/04/arts/art-review-a-space-reborn-with-a-show-that-s-never-finished.html">an article</a> in the NYT art section about a gallery show that made me think the art world could be different. Having recently arrived in NY from a crummy art school with no direction and no connections I worked tooth and nail in multiple unpaid internships in several rather terrible gallery situations to eventually land my dream job at Exit Art a few years later. </div><div><br /></div><div>The second was flowers - I had never considered flowers or floristry until I was gifted a most unusual and beautifully wrapped bouquet of flowers for my 25th birthday. I became obsessed with the shop they came from (a now closed little shop called Rosebud on Union and Hicks Street in Brooklyn, buying just a stem or two on my walk back to RedHook from the F Train. A few months later I was allowed to make the arrangements for Exit Art's gallery openings and I was off and running through the flower district in NYC thirsty to learn the name of every flower and branch. In 2006 SAIPUA, the combination of my mothers soap hobby and my new found flower obsession was born in a dilapidated storefront on the main drag of VanBrunt Street. The rent was $1000/month! (If you go to red hook now, it's currently the home of <a href="https://www.thankyouhaveagoodday.com/">Thank You Have a Good Day</a>.)</div><div><br /></div><div>The third bifurcation point: my accidental run in with a charging herd of sheep being driven by a sheepdog in 2008 when buying cheese from <a href="http://www.woodcockfarm.com/">Wood Cock Farm</a> in Vermont. The daughter of the cheesemaker was loitering as we were buying sheeps milk ricotta and asked if I wanted to see their flock. Their sheepdog slipped out the door behind us and without warning - embarked on a furiously fast 'come by' driving the hundred or so sheep towards us in a white fluffy sea of terror - I thought I was going to be obliterated. 'Just stand still' the daughter said to me, bored with this tsunami and annoyed at her dog. I left there with a note pinned in the back of my mind: I wanted that scenario for myself one day.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuHFXkVs1zJUQ7AWgEyICLDBEqzDbOPoTsm2rUT9GAz3beGuMENZc-1k2luB24lDi66YgyWkA3TRwoWNJjY4jX55xYYqnu_dK9lmyqlaBhfl24I_DtZL2O1hucGzlELVzs7EOx3XdX8uv45PL1XQ5VOYB0Uxib_2ZvAsk6q0_tLnMEtHKWFlFydBqtOQ/s1050/sheep.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1050" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuHFXkVs1zJUQ7AWgEyICLDBEqzDbOPoTsm2rUT9GAz3beGuMENZc-1k2luB24lDi66YgyWkA3TRwoWNJjY4jX55xYYqnu_dK9lmyqlaBhfl24I_DtZL2O1hucGzlELVzs7EOx3XdX8uv45PL1XQ5VOYB0Uxib_2ZvAsk6q0_tLnMEtHKWFlFydBqtOQ/w640-h458/sheep.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>Now here I am holed up in my little apartment white-boarding up a storm; attempting to divine the 2023 calendar season at Worlds End from a litter of post-it notes. It's a complex choreography to place visitors, students, staff and family into a structure and calendar of events that has a corresponding budget of resource allotment (income vs. salaries // energetic input vs. output). </div><div><br /></div><div>I have come to love this winter activity of imaginative planning - when it's all abstracted and anything is possible...when I might still say - lets scrap it all and plant a giant corn maze! (I mean, not no.)</div><div><br /></div><div>Irregardless of the direction the season takes us, I'm committed to keeping this project porous, open to changing, and ensuring that the farm always has many points of access for all kinds of different people. The simplest access point; come visit and tour and eat on our OPEN SUNDAYS (Coyote Cafe re-opens on May 14th 2023). A more complex access point; joining us for an entire season as a <a href="https://www.saipua.com/jobs-farm-apprenticeship">farmhand/apprenticeship</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>The teaching and exposure that happens here is paramount to my personal desire to build a place so full of aching beauty and uncanny utility. A place where all sorts of interesting people and things are happening in a hive-like environment. Where I can continually be inspired and learn just as I inspire and teach others. </div><div><br /></div><div>__</div><br />In the fall of 2021 I posted something on instagram about what you all could imagine teaching if you came to worlds end. I was so moved by your responses I put them in a spreadsheet to digest later. I pulled it out yesterday and posted the first 100 responses below here (you can also see and add your own teaching desires to the post which is now pinned to the top of the @saipua instagram page.)<br /> <br />granola <br />natural dyeing, garment building<br />documentary filmmaking/storytelling<br />deadheading/pruning<br /><br />develop recipes, write cookbook, research and save family recipes for posterity<br /><br />art of napping, balance of eating energy food & exercise, good manners, how to play cards, how to happily be with yourself, benefits of cold showers, how to take exceptional self portraits (not selfies)<br /><br />chicken slaughtering, soil science, delivering babies/inserting IUDs, trailer backup, scheming about business ideas and politics<br />how to make a butter biscuit<br /><br />how to sustainably forage edible/medicinal plants, how to combat plant blindness, make bitters/botanical mixology<br />yoga<br /><br />Mah Jongg, how to make the best tuna, chicken, egg salad<br /><br />how to ice dye, tie dye, weave, yarn dye<br /><br />how to bake with intutition, clean without harmful chemicals, infuse herbs and flowers into ice cream/sorbets<br />positive psychology<br /><br />looking, walking, asking questions, being together - comes from academia<br /><br />nature poetry in various languages, ecocritical theory<br />Cyanotypes, nature art<br /><br />GF desserts using floral/herbal flavor profiles<br /><br />basic DIY home repair - carpentry and woodworking<br /><br />how to create flower essence and commune w/plants<br />soap making<br /><br />process or intuitive painting for perfectionists<br /><br />business values and conscious leadership<br /><br />basic bushcrafting, making fire, tarp shelter, axe skills, basic campfire cooking<br />women and utopian vision<br /><br />film photograph in nature, breaking up with plastics, intro to herbalism w/focus on chronic illness, disability, inflammation<br /><br />meditation, breath work, setting personal boundaries, living with intention, eating and living w/the seasons, group work connecting w/self<br /><br />ecologically focused landscape and garden design large and small scale<br /><br />how to build your perfect unique lifestyle business<br /><br />how to make friends w a plant, how to make a book w a single sheet of paper, how to introuce youself without mentioning capitalism<br /><br />poetry writing from natural world, oral history storytelling<br /><br />poetry workshop based on experiment/techniques from Bernadette Mayer<br />pie baking<br /><br />mindful marketing for artists/creators looking to attract ideal clients<br /><br />the art of reinvention, pleasure stacks, nature bathing<br /><br />white affinity group exploring/disrupting whitness, white supremacy, white folks tuition will subsidize bipoc/black and poc affinity group to come do their work<br /><br />qigong, chinese medicine lifestyle principles<br /><br />The Art of Travelogue, paints, writes, draws impressions of where they are<br />Cooking classes, Japanese ink art<br /><br />how to replicate native flowers/plants in paper<br /><br />filing system and organization tips for homes,w/ an understanding of the creative spirit<br /><br />Learn to Love Marketing your small business starter journey<br />Cooking classes focused on spices<br /><br />balancing your energy, cocahing workshops to increase self-knowlege and self-love for more natural way of living<br />broom making<br /><br />agricultural education, basic medical education<br /><br />good manners before they die out completely<br /><br />@heysisterseasons, teaching about menstrual cycle through nature and climate change<br />how to build a fire<br /><br />healthy vocal production, garden design, how to look at photography and take more interesting pictures<br />hide tanning<br /><br />distillation, enfleurage, incense making<br /><br />cultural cooking lessoms from women around the world<br />mindful foraging and wreath making<br /><br />how to make bread, yogurt, jam, how to knit, wearable flowers<br /><br />how to make paper flowers, moths, butterflies etc. if it grows or flies we can make it in paper<br /><br />how to make a silver cuff, hand built or wheel thrown vases and planters<br /><br />history of art, premodern European art but would deep dive into whatever period<br />knitting and spinning<br /><br />botanical drawing or plein aire painting workshop<br />ice dyeing<br />@smudge_studiobk waterlcolor<br />needlepoint<br /><br />how to develop and use intuition, use breathwork for healing, personal growth, community care<br /><br />weaving with foraged and naturally dyed materials<br />weaving<br />bread making<br /><br />how to make a perfect chocolate cake<br /><br />photography and digital marketing for small floral businesses<br /><br />"magical realism" - creative practice involving movement, writing, drawing, roomscaping, adornment<br />rest as regenerative cerative practice<br />help teach a writing workshop<br /><br />photography, how to use a DSLR for video, editing, flower arranging, film photography, film elmulsions w/polariods,smaller scale studio lighting, how to make delicious ice cream with unusual flavors<br /><br />photography - intro, film or digital, how to make my Grammy's risotto, how to give cranky cat pills and ointment<br /><br />natural dye course, how to press flowers<br /><br />visible mending, any kind of knitting, hot water bath and pressure canning, sourdough bread and crackers, gingerbread, pizza in home over, foolproof foccaccia<br /><br />floral bartending, dance party mix tapes<br />large scale pinch pots (or any scale)<br /><br />natural dye with food waste, flower, bioregional seasonal plants, local wool and basic spinning, herbal body care, community space holding, cooperative existence<br />bundle dying<br /><br />mending, charcoal drawing in nature/figure drawing to lift creative block and to accept phsyical form<br /><br />@kylecook.custom can teach furniture making techniques like hand tools and dovetails<br />beekeeping<br /><br />recognizing signs of burnout, self care<br /><br />how to print and dye with flowers, make your own apothecary prepartions, make the best ghee, congee, bone broth, reiki, yoga, meditation<br />the possibilities of cooperatives<br />moccasin or simple sneaker making<br /><br />Personal nature color wheels or finding color inspiration in nature and creating a palette around the choices<br /><br />how to make large scale arrangements with foraged things, how to make really yummy salad<br />how to make sugar flowers<br /><br />still life styling and photography with seasonal fruits veggies and flowers<br />photography in rural context<br />meditation, yoga<br /><br />Feldenkrais, relaxi taxi, how to slip in inappropriate jokes into conversation<br /><br />memoir and personal narrative writing<br /><br />holistic vaginal health, navigating western healthcare through woman positive and sex positive lens<br /><br />print workshops - would love to learn more about your space, timing, plans maybe they align with mine<br /><br />Sarah Ryhanenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12606570701894786970noreply@blogger.com2