Everybody, do the banana.

Random thought on the way home. Its 11am on Monday. I'm returning from the corner kwik-stop with a single banana, the last resident of the natural world in this corner-mart. Amongst its counterpart brake fluid, assorted themed nuts, candy and gum isle, paper plates corner, and chotchky impulse-buy counter, the banana was my only focus.

As I cross the street with my new friend, I think:


Walking next to street traffic cannot be good for the heath of the human body. Inhalants and particulate matter of rubbish, rubber, asphalt, and asphyxiating chemicals–just to name a few!– soaking our skins in sickness and sin. No wonder cancer exists.


I want a family, but not here. Large cities are stifling and focused on the pursuit of largeness. Large buildings, large bank accounts, large egos. A cycle of large consumption. How about just what's necessary? Back to the land. Back to mother earth! We are sorry mother Earth!!! I am sorry Mother Earth.

If we all put our collective minds together like cells in a body, perhaps we can cleanse and be not a cancer to the earth, but an antioxidant.

With that in mind, I smash you banana! Smoothie time.

The Sustainable Vagabond Tales: Application for Life Skills

I'm Adam, 27, locavore, seeking skills to grow my own sustainability. I have a BA in graphic design, and utilize it to weave creative solutions for non-profit and small business (branding, logos, websites, etc.) I'm quick and reliable, strong, Love bicycles and life. I excel in most things I do, and give 115% knowing that I'm working towards my end goal. I'm familiar with many aspects of farm work, interested in learning more, and love alternative building and energy. Looking to learn fishing, woodwork,  *Letter of Recommendation upon request*

There is one character remaining, the blinking cursor patiently waits. My bio on WWOOF: New Zealand. 529 alphanumerics will be enough, and I semi-complain that it's hard to condense my motivations into so few words. I should really practice being more succinct anyway - much has happened since last time, and here I am now. Here you are now :) Thanks for tuning in again, I've been sadly inconsistent.

Julie and Marisol came to Maui! How excellent it was to see good friends and feel the comfort of familiarity. Julie's friend Boonie grew up on the island and was pivotal in good times. She and her boyfriend, Andy, were amazing hosts. Their kids will be adorable - look at em! Andy and I rapped on sustainability ideas and new world farms. He works on a farm up the way from the Greenleaf's. On a crisp Saturday at 430am, they drove us around the island stopping at spots for waterfall pictures and death defying aerial assaults. We saw sunrise, moonrise, and sunset all from the bed of a '97 Ranger that hugged the cliffs of the island. I cut open some rambutans, we tripped on the beach, and ate some Chilean Rice, which we later learned was not Chilean at all, but delicious and hilarious nonetheless. An Eco Zipline Tour, a bum's etching on a 40oz Mickey's, Yurts, hugs, great conversations, laughter, and an adult beverage or two filled the weekend.

The outdoor kitchen at O'O Farms

 

Back at the farm, a new resident has come onto the property - not a WWOOFer, she's renting a cottage room. Dianne is quite a unique and outspoken character. She's from Canada, training for a world paddling competition (staring at my sandals? That's a paddlin'. Paddlin' the school canoe? Oh, you better believe that's a paddlin'), rearranged the common room into proper feng shui, has a thing for Junior Mints, and says things like, "old people don't know how to have fun."  She's 61.  With such an adventurous spirit, and timing, plus a car, ahem... we've all gotten on quite well. These are firsts for all of us; Maui, unknown destinations, adventure, each other. The dopamine overfloweth of my cup, and Maui timing gifted us to the location of an abandoned pineapple field. So we harvested, and I subsequently sold $40 worth of 'napples at the farmers market. We treated ourselves to Flatbread, a pizza place in Paia that uses a primitive wood fired oven with ingredients from local farms. Really good vibe.

Four transient farm hands, our time as a group was coming to a close, the social dynamic would soon be shifting. Weeks earlier on a Maui crater's edge, seven people and, arguably, hundreds of pounds of pineapple bounded and bottomed-out across a golden spiky horizon. I threw caution to the wind each time, and we all laughed and gelled like clowns every time. Since then, Kendra has gone home to Berkeley and the Canadians jumped islands for Fiji, New Zealand and a camper.

  

One of the last weekends they were all here, we drove the Kula route around the southern end of the crater. At Laulima, another WWOOFing farm that has a roadside stand, we stopped for snacks. Bicycle powered smoothie blender and banana leaf plates accompanied the most delicious home made chocolate chip brownie. After a home grown-and-roasted cup of coffee, we moseyed on to our destination, Venus Pool. Maui timing met us some locals who pointed out cow pats and a secret beach, and kicked me down a nug and some hash. I had to take a picture of the rugged curving road heading towards the sunset on our way home.

Chance for dance is limited here, but every now and again Maui timing unfolds wonderful opportunity. We'd been planning on going to a dance party at Moana Cafe in Paia for a few days, seeing the flyers around town, and we were excited. I guess I read the date wrong, and we missed it entirely. The party was on a Friday... so Saturday night, with unused anticipatory energy, we were milling about in Paia, looking for something, being goofy. Innocent sidewalk fun. Then, "hey, you guys wanna party?" Uhm, yes. YES! We rolled up Kula to the house party and pulled into a full parking lot, music thumping, lights gleaming, people in sexy costume, full moon coincidentally. After a shabby parking job, the "security" informed us that without a name, we weren't welcome. Dejected, we started driving away. Fuck that - we're gunna crash this party! The plan was haphazard to say the least, which involved a fair amount of sneaking and most likely sharp, pokey plants in a gulch behind the house. As we giggled over the foolproof plan, a car approached, and inquired "is Rachel's party still going on?" Bewm, done. We waltzed through the front doors, brandishing our new found namesake ticket. BEST HOUSE PARTY EVAR. It was a gender bender, people in drag, sexy skin everywhere, a blacklight danceroom, numerous DJ sets, kegs, fire dancing with bonfires, a makeup station, and the night went on. Right time, right place, fully and completely. Maui time.

So the social dynamic has shifted. In this chapter, one character remains. How poetic, I casually muse. Nearly 5 months have passed (the blog has collected digital spiderwebs) since I began this Maui journey, and I've met some very interesting characters. ** author's note: this blog post was started 2 months ago, and i'll update a new post with current events within the next week** Three different groups of WWOOFers have come through the Greenleaf farm, and it looks like three more will be rolling through by the time I leave, somewhere around the end of January. In the interim, it was a godsend to have some personal time without anyone around. A break between intern groups. In the midst of all this coming and going, I look within and find my true self. The roots of foundation.

The new guy arrived last week. Craig is 22. Coming to Maui was the first time he'd been on an airplane. My initial impression of him was sheltered, awkward, and slow on the farm. Judgments are rarely accurate, though he's certainly a quirky individual, and he's getting more self reliant and accustomed to the flow of the land. He eventually warmed up, I opened up to him, and here we are in another social flow. We had quite a jam session with a single ukulele the other night. While waiting for Hot Tub Time Machine to stream online, circumstances came to put the strum of a ukulele in my hand and the fretboard in his. Tempo, beat, rhythm, and percussion were magically delicious, and I realized quirky nuances are what make people interesting. Another character in the Maui chapter.

I've looked back at pictures, blogs, and descriptions of my time here and it seems that I've been painting a rather glossy and romantic picture of farm life. Rainbows in the shower, secret waterfalls, Love, yoga... awesome shit. Let me clear things up. It's not always pretty or enjoyable. I work hard, get dirty and sweaty, resulting in nap time. And I only work four hours a day. When I'm ready to commit to my own land (currently searching and REsearching), it will be a perpetual to-do list, repairs to be made, infrastructure to setup, weeds to be pulled, shit to be shoveled, compost to sift, inclement weather to contend with... more than a full time job. But it will be worth it. I've come to appreciate and respect chores. Chores, yes. I hated chores as a youth. HATED. Hell hath no fury like my scorn for chores. They seemed so meaningless, so unnecessary, and dare I say it, dumb. It got in the way of playtime. But I realize chores are a necessary component of life in general, and more importantly, the routine of life on a farm to keep things operational, smooth, and practiced. Rather than separate it as an intrinsically "bad" thing, I've filed it under the "just life" tab. I like to make games out of it, perhaps a little toke to ease the mind.

Christmas was excellent on the farm with the Greenleafs. An amazing home cooked breakfast and dinner, heart conversations, and good people. I also learned how to juggle and am harnessing this new skill as another one of the assets in my carnival repertoire. 

The next jump is imminent. What will I do after Maui? And then after that? And after that? At some point, some place, I realize, roots will take hold. I don't aspire to be a burned-out, extra crispy beach bum, a lifestyle I'm almost positive my parents are worried about me fulfilling. Perhaps they see my wandering vagabond pursuits as contrary to a successful and healthy future. All standards are irrelevant and antiquated in this generation. NO GODS NO MASTERS. WE MAKE OUR FUTURE. I'm gathering the skills necessary to facilitate sustainability and a homestead. And I really look forward to it. As it stands now, I've branched from a safe and knowable future to the possibilities of the unknown. No career, home, or certain future. My life is being written as I write this. The options are limitless, and it's definitely more work to research each step, but in the end I believe my decisions will carry me further than any standard career choice served cold. I feel like the decisions I've made so far have led me to this point. A place in which I feel truly connected to the larger picture. If I continue to make decisions of a similar caliber, based in Love and sustainability, then I will ultimately be building into a solid and verdant future far from the lowest common denominating standard.

However, occasionally, doubt rises. This is the easy way out. FEAR NOT. The fear that rises from uncertainty is seeded from the conditioned desire to follow the system's standard i.e. job, condo, car payment, utilities, color TV, sports bars, microwaves, and a timeshare on Ventnor Ave... Living in what seems like uncertainty can be unnerving for some. Un-certainty, though? Seems like the economy is uncertain. The standard is uncertain, and splitting at the seams - seems like the options presented are certainly dicey, limited, and resolved to a bare minimum of satisfactory return.

Get out of the city. Know your garden. Learn skills. Be good to each other. This is the next phase. We are in the genesis of a social and cosmic catharsis.

WE ARE THE ONES WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR.

Up next, My final Maui Chapter.

Today

Today, I am
In charge of three interns.
Made a trellis
for raspberries,
Wielded a machete
and played
in compost.

The weather is sublime. Mini toke in the pocket, drawing from time to time.

Understanding the necessities of operational sustainability.

Today, I stand in Love and compost.

The Sustainable Vagabond Tales. Chapter 2: Immersed

Aloha! The journey continues into the eighth week of my Maui experience. Initial excitement of the unknown sets the backdrop to the now focused pursuit of why I'm here; to learn about sustainability, becoming acquainted with the earth and how to tend it, manage land, propagate crops, and get deeper in understanding. I'm paying attention to more than what's in front of me while practicing unknowing in the sense of openness to new ideas. However, not ignoring what we've come to know as Maui Time and the perfect alignment of desirable opportunity. Over a month on the island, and it begins to dawn on me that I'm here for more than vacation, yet not quite permanent. I'm ephemeral, and in the untethered ether, I can hear myself think. The rapid boil adventure has calmed to a nice simmer of consciousness.

Transience is blissful.

For instance, I was at a beach park in Lahaina, just enjoying the breeze with a bowl and some pages of Ishmael, when a rather shabby looking individual laying on a blanket shouted a query about my hair. So we bantered momentarily. Quite frankly, I was trying to ignore him. He mentioned something about jewelry, and I inquired to what end. It's funny how we make snap judgments based on our own desires - I just wanted to read in the park, and this hobo wants to talk to me. But I decided to indulge and moved in for a closer look. For the next few hours he would reveal to me a series of very tall tales through which I was fully captivated as to whether or not he was a bum. $30k worth of raw black coral glimmered at me from the plaid blanket. A Learjet he said, "my friend's actually," was waiting for him at the airport. Sure buddy, and I'm Henry the VIII... Then he started talking about Black Ops missions, detailing eyewitness reports of explicitly underhanded government dealings, including some things I've heard before. He was succinct, intelligent, and fascinating. I handed him the j I'd just rolled, slack-jaw baffled by this anomaly. As he was laying all of this on me, some paramedics walking near, perhaps on a break, inquired with the comfort of friends, "Hey Philip, how's the ocean today?" My hobo friend and Chris the paramedic embraced, going into how rare it is to extract black coral (only 200 people in the world have this permit), the depths at which it can be obtained (250 feet), and the amount of pressure and type of equipment used for SCUBA and what his boat was capable of. Spread on the blanket were hundred year old antiques, wooden marbles, and a pirate's booty worth of black coral. He handed me two bits advising I not get it appraised. A UCLA cum laude graduate and government weapon, he simply said, "The system is fucked, I got out," then with a puff, "I wanted to be homeless, so I'm gunna sell the house my brother bought me. I have 15 acres of property up in Kula." Jeez guy, let me be the caretaker. I hope I see Philip again. No email or phone was exchanged (as I'm sure he wants it), and he mentioned something about going to Kuala Lampur to search for a missing friend. Who knows. I want some commissioned black coral plugs.

Those seemingly random occurrences propel me, and once again, reaffirm that things happen for a reason. My mind is tuning to certain frequencies, and I'm becoming aware of the shift. Who is this I that is becoming aware, anyway? Astrologically, I'm headed into the Saturn rising of my life. A period of harvest, transit and travels. For me, it's no more than curious interest, but it seems to have relevance. Aside from a crystal ball, I feel connected to a realization of my dharma, like I'm magnetized to experiences of soulful richness. You couldn't buy this. I can feel the dirt road of Love between my toes. The full, wet soil massages my feet as I journey, perhaps stopping to smell flowers or remark at the sunset... It's difficult to see the horizon due to the sheer solar magnitude, but I know its out there and I'm pretty sure I won't fall off the edge.

So I keep walking the path to sustainability, and sometimes I have company. The dream we shared is an ecstatic memory on an island. It was organic, to say the least, as paths of life weave individually, occasionally sharing the same thread of time and space. Short as it may have been, I felt fully connected to the moment. Now, each of our paths on the country road venture in their own directions, experiential participants in the transient island life of the untethered ether.




Perhaps the timing was perfect, as I'm further directed into focus and timing. I gotta do what I gotta do, focus Atom. In the last four weeks both Katies (the last set of interns on the farm) have continued on their respective paths, making me the senior-most wwoofer, subject to more responsibility and also privilege. Whether in a cubical or on a farm, I climb ladders. On Wednesdays, I take produce to the farmers market in Makawao. I have a space for folding tables, an umbrella, and the cornucopia of all the deliciousness we grow on the farm including squash, white sapote, limes, yacon, papaya, mustard greens, and home made raw dessert treats. I'm re-membering the dream. Getting involved and making myself known is exciting. My resume is shaping - not necessarily shifting, just growing.

As my character is growing on the farm. The last seven weeks I was sleeping in a tent under a tree, and while this was literally a perfect start to my from the ground up approach, the novelty of tented residence on wooden slats wore thin. So when the opportunity rose to sleep in a bed, I jumped in it. Now I sleep in a bed under the stairs, and I think I'll be staying here for the remainder of my time on Maui. Perhaps five months isn't enough, but that is another blog entry in itself.

We now have three new apprentices on the farm. Kendra, the granola girl from Berkeley, owns a gardening business, lives in someone's backyard, and is a resource in herself, enlightening me to bed setups and water management. She will certainly be a valued asset once I'm ready to setup AF. Jason and Shannon are a vegan Canadian couple and have cast off the shackles of conformity to travel the world for a year. After a week or so of getting-to-know-you, the four of us interact incredibly well. Especially with food. A well oiled machine would have a hard time keeping up. Each of us knows there is a job to be done whether prepping, gathering items in the garden, cleanup along the way, table settings, or cooking. We are like minded in communal energy given/taken, and just as easily, one of us could've been the asshole. Maybe I'm the asshole.

Twere a volcano weekend. As a new troupe of social chums, the four of us rented a Gran Marquis this weekend and drove up to the top of Haleakala. It was a boat. The kind my grandparents drive... and it was awesome. The wheeled ship was fitting. I at the helm, energized from delicious Kona coffee, navigating up waves and belled curves sailing around the volcano's base. The mist turned into rain and a moment later, we peaked above that cloud into clear watered twilight skies. Reggae music in lieu of the mariner's song set the soundtrack. It was numbingly cold, but incredibly magical. Waking up at 3am with the anticipation of watching sunrise from an island volcano felt like waiting for Christmas as a young child. The gift was the experience. Sadly, my battery died halfway through the timelapse. Lesson #1 in digital cameras: make sure the battery is charged. On the way down, we pinched some persimmons that were dangling dangerously close to the street, so we helped out the owners and trimmed their trees.

Nap time came and went and I decided to venture to roller derby with Bill and Marta. I like spending time with them; hearing Bill's off the wall life lessons that are so perfect, and making deliveries with Marta to restaurants and market. I feel blessed to have found such an excellent opportunity. I've also been keeping up with design, just finishing a logo for the Greenleafs.




I've begun to see life itself through edible and utilitarian glasses. What resources do I have to make this work? Problem solving with limited options will come in handy when the shitteth hitteth yonder fan. My knowledge of edible flora grows, but I feel like there is SO much more to know. Accepting gradual progress is something I've been working on appreciating. It rained in Paia for Halloween, which was an interesting element to the evening. Kinda added a pleasurable ambiance of spookiness - though I wasn't as pleased when I realized my shoes were caked inside and out with sand and mud and my $4 tights had run. oh beans...



My good friends Julie and Marisol are coming into Maui for a week! I'm really excited to hang out with them, go camping, imbibe some fungi no doubt, and party. It will be great to share the company of long time friends.

As Thanksgiving approaches I can't help but give thanks to life itself, but more on that to come...

Mahalo