Life like weeds.

Without doubt, my favorite moment of today was after I'd been longingly staring at the nearby swingset for a while, thinking about the enormous pile of mulch slowly seeping away in front of me. With pitch-perfect timing, Beca said, "I'm going to take a swing break," and jumped off to do just that. It didn't take me long to join her ... and it made the rest of the afternoon just that much better. It's the little moments, isn't it?

We went to a middle school today where the children were so not into the programming that it was a bit disheartening. Thankfully, my second group went far better than the first - but even then, they weren't fully enthused. I mean ... it is middle school -- but still. It wasn't the most engaging school day.

Nonetheless, it's been a lovely afternoon (listening to one of my favorite albums during the drive back helped), and tomorrow is our last day in LA! Can you believe it? It's been over two weeks (orientation included) we've been on tour. Soon, we head to the bay, and then we only have a week left .... but more on that later.

For now, let's finish off the day's post with some - you guessed it - photos !

HAS IT REALLY BEEN ALMOST A WEEK SINCE I LAST WROTE?!

... YES IT HAS. THIS OBVIOUSLY WARRANTS CAPS LOCK. HOW COULD I BE SO NEGLECTFUL?!

You know what? Instead of telling you how, I'll illustrate it. With PHOTOGRAPHS! Oh, and I'll also stop typing in all capitals. Probably.






If there's one word that will forever remind me of this tour (other than the givens of, you know, "fruit" and "tree"), it's undoubtedly "mulch." I think I have moved more mulch in the past week and some change than I have in the rest of my life .... combined. Now, that's not to say that I'm not having a fantastic time -- or that there aren't plenty of other elements involved in this fabulous tour -- just that ... I've moved a lot of mulch. A LOT. And collectively, we are munching through mulch like it's our job. Which is great because, erm, I guess it sort of is.

Today provided me with some fantastic children and some phenomenal energy. Despite heavy traffic slowing us in the morning (and a fun little detour when we realized we had taken - whoops! - a wrong turn), we arrived at our destination on time and embarked upon the day with gusto. The school of choice was Will Rogers Elementary in Ventura (quite a drive from LA), and the children in question were incredibly engaged 2nd and 3rd graders. Some of my favorite moments from the day include a girl requesting that we name the tree we were caring for "Running Mustache" (we of course did), making a mulch train with my excited (choo-chooing) children, and teaching the young ones a favorite of mine - the timeless, ever-appropriate banana dance.

"Banana dance?" You say. Don't worry -- I'll teach you next time I see you. Promise.

We're pulling longer days than ever, but I'm enjoying them, and as a crewmember said to me recently, "when you're occupied, you don't have time to be preoccupied." So... there's that. My head is full of trees and compost, fish hydrolosate and mulchmulchmulch. By Saturday, we'll be in the bay, where our program is slightly different, and I'll be switching to performance mode - helping put together the show we'll be presenting to the schools there. The Bay area bit also includes sign making, which I love, so that promises to be a beautiful adventure all of its own.

In short? All is well, and we mulch... er, carry ... on.

'Til next time (it'll be less than a week, I swear!),
Nasiiiiii

Are those compost hands, or are you just happy to see me?

...Oh, I guess they're just compost hands.

We got to work with elementary schoolers today. Kindergarteners! Little ones! Yyyyussss!

A long day (MULCH. AND MORE MULCH. AND THEN -- surprise! -- EVEN MORE MULCH), but a very nice one. As it's just about bedtime and my head is full of song (a fellow tour member and I just spent quite a while singing "We are going to be friends" on our instruments), I think I shall simply insert a few photos. I hear they're worth far more words than I've got anyway. Ta-da! The day.





Tomorrow beckons!
Nasiiiii

First day working with the kiddos? Yes please!

(also this, wherein Mikey Many Blessings and I pose in front of perhaps my favorite mural o' the day - a hard choice when there were so many good ones to choose between!)

That photo was taken at Environmental Charter High School, where we spent the second half of the day mulching and talking tree care with kids. I tried to keep my head above wakeful waters, but I must admit that I was more than a bit drowsy post first school groups (and lunch). Still -- it was a super day.

What? Okay, I'm getting off track. Let's tackle this chronologically.

Our first destination was Environmental Charter Middle School - an awesome place to spend our first tree groups, as I got to see the trees I planted there last year, now much bigger and that much closer to fruiting! The lovely miss Beca Grimm and I paired off to teach two groups of seventh graders about mulching, compost, soil amendments, and pruning. It was nice to have a partner in such endeavors -- it can help to bounce words and energy off someone else, especially if your group isn't particular engaged. And, heh, well, it's middle school. Not being engaged is often par for the course.

Still -- our kids were great. They may have mumbled many of their answers to our questions ("What are reasons why we even WANT to be kind to the earth? What's the point?" "...to survive"), but at least they had answers, right? Right.

And here they are, in all their pre-teen glory:


Then, as I said, on to ECHS, where we embarked on - can you guess? Moooore amendment and mulching adventures! Yeeeeaaaahhh!

ECHS is kind of ... a dream school, at least to those of us environmentally-minded folk long out of the awkward teen years. There are fruiting trees and vegetable gardens all over the campus; there's a greenhouse, and a huge focus of curriculum is, as you could guess, on earth stewardship. The campus is lovely, and it's a small school, so the student-to-teacher ratio is on the lower end. Coming from my you're-just-another-bad-test-score public school experience, it's hard not to get starry eyed about a school such as ECHS - but it's also easy to forget that teenage is teenage no matter where you are. It may seem palatial to me - but it's still high school.

But... but.... good gravy, come on - they have things like this:

Is it just me, or is this kind of AMAZING?! Oh, and I totally had a fruit off of one of the trees, too. Delish.

We finished up the day and braved the not-quite-rush-hour LA traffic to get back to the Sugar Shack, where I'm writing this now. Dinner is soon to be served, and then perhaps libations, as we have a tour birthday today! How exciting!

Time to depart the computer-box for the evening. I leave you with some more photos - and with my excitement about going to some elementary schools in the upcoming days. I love working with children of all ages, but I get especially excited about the younger ones. Considering I'm pretty much a giant nine year old ... it makes sense.

'Til tomorra!

Nasiiiiii

Orientatin'

Lookie! Photos!










So, I swear I totally meant to write a post during orientation, but what with my computer refusing to accept the local internet connection and all-day-every-day scheduling ... it just wasn't in the cards. Instead, here I am, tikka-tikkaing from the couch post-orientation in (mostly) sunny, (totally) smoggy LA.

It was a welcome relief to make it down here, as the chosen spot (the MA center in Castro Valley) for orientatin' Common Visionaries is undeniably beautiful ... and cchiilllyyy. February or not, I enjoy my warmth, and though it's not exactly tropical in SoCal, it's certainly much warmer.

Orientation was, as I said, pretty jam-packed. The biggest new skill I'm learning this year is how to prune fruit trees, a task I find more than a little daunting. Not to say they're not teaching us quite well -- there's a whole host of knowledgeable people here willing to impart their wisdom on me -- I just am so afraid of messing the poor tree up.

And tomorrow's our first day of working with the young ones! The last two days, we've worked on tree care, but with no children. Tomorrow marks the real start of the tour, as it'll be many people's first ever tree group. Oh, I can't wait to be back out gettin' dirty with them kiddos again.

That being said ... it's time for bed. 10 PM is late on tour, and this little chickadee is ready for some golden slumbers.

Cheerio, friends! I'll think of your shining faces as I stir fishy-smelling compost extractions tomorrow (delicious AND nutritious).

Nasimeh

Orientation has begun!

Hallo, friends.

I want to write a longer post, but it is getting toward my bedtime - and I only have limited internet access (as my computer has decided that the wireless here is, apparently, not to its liking).

So, for the time being, I'll post a photo of the lovely crew:

Say hellooooo to Fruit Tree Tour 2012!

The past few days have included much learning (orientation, after all) - and lots of getting to know the folk shown above. Though I've been through orientation before, this is the first year learning about some aspects of tree care -- like pruning. I'm getting less nervous about lopping off tree branches with every sapling we snip on, but I must admit that I still have to take a deep breath before diving in. Surely by next week, when we're actually visiting schools (!), I'll have it all down to a fruity science. ...Right? Right!

Now, to go chat with some lovely females from tour, and huddle into my sleeping bag. It turns out that the rumors aren't totally true -- California gets cold. As in, uh, freezing. Synthetic down ... you are my new best friend.

Until next time! (Hopefully my computer will shape up soon)

Nasista

Bi-coastal Bi-pedal

Despite a hurried departure ("The plane is at 11 TWENTY? I thought it was 40! GO GO GO---"), as well as some pretty unpleasant seating arrangements (aisle seat is doable, but furthermost back row -- IE no reclining options -- on a five hour flight is, erm, not my favorite), I managed to make it to the Bay. Hellooooo Oakland!

Tuesday marks the beginning of tour - or the beginning of orientation, at least. Until then, I'm bopping around the East Bay, catching back up with my family out here and brainstorming the performance I'm set to help create for the last portion of tour.

Being back here is simultaneously amazing ... and a complete mindtrip. The last time I was in Oakland was only seven months ago, but it feels like a lifetime; that was before the Roadshow's fall tour (which is an entire book's worth of experiences in itself), before my time at home and with Occupy - and I was in such a different space then, mentally, physically, emotionally. Oh, and I had a lot more hair. And things. I guess I was pretty bogged down then - just feeling really heavy - and I feel so light right now. It's... more than a welcome change, and it makes being back here very poignant.

Anyway, I'm currently sitting in the barn of the PLACE, eating delicious bean soup that the amazing V. Ramirez made and attending to some final computer errands. This eve promises even more old faces to see and love, and then tomorrow -- perhaps in to San Fran? My ever-incredible friend Beca is currently staying there, as she gears up to embark on my (our) adventure with me. How amazingly exciting!

The fundraiser is coming along phenomenally - I'm continuously humbled and overwhelmingly grateful at all the generous, beautiful souls who have given me some funds to pursue this dream of mine. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Let's see how much further we can get before Tuesday!

With love - and until tomorra,
Nasista