What Happens When You Jump

There is a tenderness growing in me towards the living world. Last time, I wrote about my initiation with the deathdance of a moth. Truly that experience softened me to the insect world for which I’ve had a certain resistance. At night, the world changes. The plants give us oxygen and the insects come out. [...]

I just moved and now I live in an inside-outside house. It is a step closer to how many Mexican villagers live, with their outdoor kitchens and open areas for gathering. I have doors that shut off rooms with mosquito netting on the windows, and I have a huge “outdoor” area that is open to [...]

Some days I can feel the energy is bouncing, chaotic, and that it is not a day where doing what I had planned is what’s on the Universe’s agenda for me.
Today was like that. My landlord’s son arrived with a huge machine operated by a man with ear phones around 9. He’s going to build [...]

I arrived at the home of Don José to learn the process of and help with the preparation of barbacoa in honor of his granddaughter’s quince años (I’ve had barbacoa de rez (cow meat) and de borrego (lamb). The meat is tender and delicious and I had been told it was cooked overnight in a [...]

I remember in Biology class in college learning about blue green algaes, that they were the first food on earth and that they contain the most energy directly from the sun. I remember learning about sun energy and how when we eat, we are really eating sun energy. The further away from the direct source, [...]

I was told that a common wild plant that grows here, called “Palo de Agua” can be used to whiten whites.
I conducted an experiment and besides being fun, it was effective!
Here is how I did it:
1. Put water and laundry soap in a bucket
2. Add white clothing/cloth (It really was more yellow than you can [...]

June 6, 2009
This morning, I was following Don Romulo who was searching for dandelion plants to show me, because I like them so, when we arrived at some banana trees. I glanced up, “Are we going to have any more bananas, Don Romulo?” We found a large green bunch and he said, “Look! Those are [...]

Last week my neighbor, Angela showed me a short cut to the main road. It wasn’t short, but it avoided the road, which during the dry season, is very dusty. For me the only reason to take this “short cut” is for variety. The short cut as taught to me be Angela, who was shown [...]

Today I have become a huntress of wood. Searching for and listening to the voices of what I find. Does it want to come with me? A firekeeper of the mundane. It’s good. Maybe better. In this, I am in a state of conscious connection which I always desire but primarily mustered for ceremonial fire [...]

Summer 2008
As the afternoon’s wonderous thunderstorm was conjuring herself, I went and picked a leaf from a tree behind my bungalow. The fruit on this tree looks like strange hands with bright yellow meandering fingers. The leaves smell like the very best of the lemon verbena smell in Froot Loops. I’m infusing some tea now. [...]