Arrived in Eugene

I got to Eugene three nights ago, saw my sister's family, and am now settled into Darmalaya, the retreat center where the Urban Permaculture course is being held. The course is put on by Common Circle, and covers everything from straw bale housing to organic farming, solar installations, greywater use, and so on. THe first two days have been devoted to what they're calling Social Permaculture, i.e. the ability to affect desirable change in people and communities. I'm very excited for the hands-on work to begin later this week.

The retreat center has a greywater system installs, which drains to a small pond along with rainwater. It has composting toilets of four varieties: the $1200 kind with nice seats and heaters to dry up and accelerate the composting process of human waste. Then there's the rustic outhouse that lets nature do the same thing. There's a straw bale structure that houses two 50-gallon drums with toilet seats perched on top of them and a hell of a backdraft. And then there's the berm. For men, it's a pile or leaves. For women's it's a block behind the outhouse. This is for #1 only.

When one of the women arrived here, she asked to use the bathroom. The organizer asked her what she needed to do, exactly. She was then directed to the proper toilet.

So far, Social Permaculture seems to studied by engaging in lot of togetherness exercises. I haven't held hands so much since kindergarten. It's nice, in a way. It's also a step or two closer to woo-woo land than I'm comfortable with. What's that saying? Do one thing every day that scares you. Maybe next time a cuddle circle comes around, I'll dive in. More likely though, I'll save my hands-on experiences for piling up straw bales or pulling weeds...

This afternoon -- SWALES! Small ditches that allow you to retain water in a landscape.