The Arrival Week

We woke late morning at our cottage in Sonoma and barely made it out by the noon checkout. We had a quick lunch and picked up the 101 for the hour drive to Hopland, California. The rain and fog did not hamper the quality view of the surrounding landscape. As you drive toward Hopland it is a sea of grapevines lining the rolling green hillsides. The only thing missing was the large stone castles and you would have thought you were in Italy. Not wanting to stop watching the breathtaking view we decided to venture past Hopland to the bustling town of Ukiah about 12 miles north. Ukiah is the hub of Mendocino County and has the majority of the stores and restaurants. We were instructed by Sarah,the site manager, we needed to purchase waterproof boots to work in the garden due to all the rain and muddy conditions. We were unable to locate them in Phoenix-the store clerks kept saying something about there not being enough of a demand for them in the desert. We found a Walmart in town which had an array of different ones from which to choose. With boots in hand we headed back to Hopland and arrived at the Solarliving Institute (affectionately called "the SLI") late afternoon. We drove through the large iron "sun" sculpted gates toward the store passing through the garden and fruit and nut orchards. The parking lot boasts charging stations for electric vehicles and a biodiesel pump station. Our first stop was in the Real Goods store which is the "greenest" store on Earth. Not only is the store constructed out of natural materials and has no heating or cooling equipment, all the items sold are eco-friendly. Everything imaginable for sustainable living can be found in it from hemp clothing to compost toilets.

We introduced ourselves to the store manager Leslie and she led us to the SLI offices to find Sarah. After quick introductions to the staff Sarah took us on a tour of the site and showed us our accomodations. Sarah was correct about the boots. SLI is located in a floodplain and it had been raining non-stop for two weeks. Welcome to Mudville. Our temporary living quarters are in a clay/straw structure in the intern village. Sarah set it up perfectly for us with a futon donned with silk/organic cotton sheets. She even welcomed us with a bottle of organic wine and chocolate. You would have thought we were in a five star hotel.

The best part was having a drawer! We actually were able to unpack our backpacks and put clothes away for the first time in over a year. The cobb-made shower house is located just down the trail from our room. It sports an incredibly hot shower which is important because the structure has open windows and the cold air seeps through. Roby and I fight for the hot water. The kitchen and recreational room are located in a 40 foot diameter yurt. They have outfitted it with a large commercial kitchen and comfortable sitting area with couches and tons of reading material. A wood burning stove provides the heat which is needed often this time of year because you can often see your breathe inside late at night. The bathroom is located up near the store which is a slight walk from the intern village. The boys tend to fertilize the site during the day and I found a short cut through the trees to the store.

Now that we had the lay of the land it was time to get to work. After unpacking our bags we participated in the group clean of the intern kitchen. We were finding things growing "arms and legs" inside the refrigerators. To make it palpable local organic wine and snacks were served. It felt a bit like the Big Chill. Later that evening we met several volunteers who were staying on site. Gene and Jill are from the Virgin Islands. They had been at the SLI for about two months. Kieren and Tony are past interns who came back to do some additional work. Andy is a friend of Kieren's from Wisconsin. We developed our own little intentional community as they call it up here. We did several group meals and Gene gave Roby some guitar lessons. Several nights we had impromptu concerts. Conversations were never a bore. Gene and Jill are very involved in channeling and we learned a lot about the 7th Dimension? Our second night we did a big dinner and Jill invited a friend from town; a very important person to meet- the bartender at the Hopland Brewery-Sharron. She had been an international model in New York but now on a quest to find a new life. Her friend Clark came for dinner also and he is a jack of all trades-from construction to massage therapy. I can't even touch the surface of the stories we heard that night. All I can say is "Mendo" is like a vortex and people from all walks of life come through here. If this night represents our next nine months we are going to have the time of our lives.

Staying up past midnight on our first night of work made for an interesting morning. Thankfully we do not have to start until 9:00 am. Our work schedule is very lax. Roby and I only need to work 20 hours a week. As the caretakers we must keep the site clean, feed the chickens, and give tours of the facility to visitors. Once the 7 interns arrive we will be their mentors and help them with their projects and community issues. In addition, we have signed up for seven workshops ranging from biointensive gardening to solar installation and design. We are even going to learn about alternative building methods that are demonstrated throughout the site.

As practice Roby and I are helping to build our future residence a 96 square foot home. You did not read that incorrectly, it is less than 100 square feet. We decided to write a separate blog and document how to live in a "tiny house". It will definitely be a test of our love!! Maybe we can sell the story to the Discovery Channel.

Gene has been working on the electrical and plumbing. We were his apprentices and wired a few outlets. Next was insulating the roof with wool a more eco-friendly material than fiberglass. This task would have been easy if the strips of insulation were the same size as the roof slats. Unfortunately the wool sheets were 4 inches too short. The dilemma we encountered was how to cut the material. If only we had sheep shears!! We improvised and Roby cut it with a box cutter which was no easy task. His right forearm is now the size of Popeye's. Thankfully we only had 85 square feet. Probably the only time we are going to be grateful we are living in a "tiny house". The wool worked great. The loft sleeping area was much cooler and the road noise was completely muffled which is a feat in itself when you are up along the 101 Highway in California.

After two days of working, it was time for our days off. We do not work on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Unfortunately the weather was not cooperating and we were blessed with two straight days of rain. They call it "Mediterranean" style weather. I guess they think it makes them feel better if they believe they are in Italy. We decided not to venture to far from home. We did a bit of grocery shopping at the local all organic co-op. It is an amazing store and I could spend all day in there. We are trying not to eat too much meat and have found the soy products to be quite delicious. All organic vegetables, fruits, olive oil, beer, wine; you name it; they've got it and alot of it is local. The weekend arrived and we worked on Saturday and Sunday. Gene and Jill were leaving so we had a celebratory dinner with several bottles of wine from a local winery. At midnight several of them including Roby ventured up to the Ukiah Brewery which is the first all organic brewery and listened to some local music. He said the eclectic group of people in the bar resembled some sort of a time warp. One young couple with dreadlocks and tie-dies, an old bald guy with a mullet in a shirt and tie, a group of little people, and the SLI gang all dancing to raggea. The best way to describe Mendo is a culture stuck in the 60's but so much more progressive than the rest of the country. They have been living "green" for 30 years and don't understand why it has taken everyone else so long to catch on. Everyone has an organic "herb" garden, probably the largest percentage of people living off the grid, growing alot ot their own food, harvesting their own water, and living a happy life. It is a world unto itself. So far, we love it here!