Take off!

After getting a break and a day of relaxation I was up and ready to go again. Tuesday was exactly what we needed for all our hard work so far and the difficulties I have encountered. For the past couple of weeks everything has revolved around my senior project and I hadn’t had any time to myself. Recharging was very important.

Wednesday, yesterday, I was back on the ball. I packed all morning for the final big move and cleaned my entire room looking for things that might come in handy. I came across an old mirror, a lot of incense, and I never realized how many crafts I have to keep me entertained. I also took a long and relaxing bath for the last time before the adventure. Around 3pm I was off to my new home. When I got there, Sylvia and I dragged two queen sized mattresses, some linens, an old bbq for when it rains, and other useful furniture. Mr. Schade, my mentor, came by at 5pm to see how my progress is going and what I need to work on before jumping into this. I called him the day of the successful failure because after that attempt I did not want to go through that again. He really enlightened me and calmed me down. His presence and reassurance really motivated me to not give up even in the most difficult times. Once he left I kept housekeeping until the sun went down. LIGHT! We need light! I don’t know how we forgot that nighttime exists, but we were left in complete darkness with no way of continuing. We called it a day. This was my first night sleeping in the tent, my home, that I helped build.

Thursday, today, I woke up to a very pleasant satisfaction of knowing that sleeping in my new home was perfect. It never got too cold or too hot. The tent is very well ventilated and the airflow really keeps it at a cool, yet warm, atmosphere. When Patricia arrived with beach sand we were able to finish making our refrigeration system. Material: two terracotta pots, a damp towel, a lot of sand, and a lot of water. First, you put the smaller pot within the bigger one. Next, you fill the space between the two pots with sand and dampen the sand with water. Once we got that going the three of us really sat down and thought about all the things we would need to get and do. We went over jarring food, cooking in the rain, storing wood, chopping wood, gathering crops, bartering and volunteering, biking, fishing, etc. We tried to cover every detail about this project. Finally, we concluded that we would need to go to the Green Thumb to get some local provisions for the first couple of days until we really got the hang of cooking and eating. We also went over to Mecox Bay Dairy to collect some milk until the goats got here. GOATS ARE COMING MONDAY! After serious discussion and brainstorming, I decided that going to Rome, NY would be my best bet with getting milking goats. Orlando and I will be making the long trip on Monday at 5 am to hopefully be back by 6 pm with TWO OR THREE GOATS. Depends on how they fit in the car. The chickens and now goats will complete my project.

What had looked like rain earlier turned into a light drizzle, but with this drizzle we realized that A LOT of water could be collected in a very short period of time. This would be very useful for cleaning, washing, and cooking. We still needed a couple of other furnishing for our home. Molly told us to go check in their Pod storage. We ended up finding some nice stools, a drum, and other comfy things to have on deck. After yesterday nights full and beautiful moon, which literally light up the entire night, I knew stargazing in the field would be phenomenal. Tom read my mind. He brought over a telescope he got me for my birthday! I was so excited to see that we would be able to really stargazing, especially with the Mars event coming up at the end of August. Once nightfall came again it was automatically lights out and to bed I went in the lovely tent.