New horrizons

Some perspective is important as is time for play

New projects force new learning

moving rocks is hard but still the simple stuff for me

Some school desks are right where they need to be

I pile sticks and prune trees and I watch and learn

What is Art?

the deer gate is sometimes left open

I put up signs and stack wood but where is the art?

There are little creatures guarding the gate but I do not see any art?

There are mushrooms growing on the Indian elephants rotting on a old boat but no art?

There are some interesting things going on here but I do not quite know what to say?

Rubber aliens guard a second gate

Flying things on the fence line

Funny to find this hear?

Perhaps a few places to sit but where is the view?

Silly things like this are hard to understand?

Somethings make me feel spooked but that is not art?

A close friend's soup company - Soup du Jar - is learning for me too

Where education stops and where it begins is not that well discussed in traditional forums. You start learning right away and you stop when your body is returned to the earth. I have learned an amazing amount about business from watching people learn to make their ideas work. Self learning is the cutting edge. It is not so much a challenge to traditional education as it is a challenge to all of us. Keep learning or open a museum. These are some soup business pictures I thought might add some nutrition or out the box thinking.

Taking pictures of food is something you should learn by doing

Eating soup is learning too

Self learning is hard work when you take it seriously

I tell lots of stories about my chickens

I have many stories about chickens. They follow me around and cause problems but they are also an interesting connection to the wild. One of mine or my cousins hens raised 13 chicks on the edge of the creek last year and now this flock lives in the cherry tree beside my chicken coop. The birds raised in the wild have some extra wisdom about the their own safety and I have a hard time penning them in. Instead I try to keep them out of places I need for my self. This is an ongoing struggle and I may have to take more control but it is interesting to see the balance of things. There is a also a time to eat the rosters. Although the one pictured below has earned my favor in the past and he knows it. He seems to follow me and try to show me his superior intelligence about the situation he is in.

Roster on the porch

Chickens raised on the land live in the cherry tree all year

The rosters and chickens have their own lives around here

In the winter the chickens appreciate a little shoveling but make their own roads

Chickens in the tree after a heavy snow fall

Nice to learn in a natural environment with animals also learning

My dog likes my rock stacking and she understands what it does
 to the change the lay of the land 

Learning is always better when you can share it

Sometimes it is fun to put up signs precisely because the are unnecessary

Things can be learned by taking time and walking with the animals

Rocks are something I believe you have to learn by doing

The entrance to my house continues to change

The stairs to the new (soon) garage are a little wild and may change

Dry stack rock work can look like it has been there for a long time in no time

You can keep adding and changing dry stack rock art

The free standing stone wall around my garden is my biggest and most exciting project in rock stacking to date

This is the crazy music that inspires me but my music is more improvisational spirit raising therapy; some call it porch music

Media Enhanced Education 2015 shared Bondi Hipsters's video.

Learning to let creativity flow in the old farm house

Sometimes it feels difficult to know what one should do. Sometimes one feels selfish for holding so much control. But there are moments in life when creativity takes over and you realize you are not alone. This world is meant to be shared and what I love the most I want others to appreciate also. I love making cool places for magic to happen. I hope that magic happens to you. Contact me about the weekly jam at the rock slide.

Sometimes the writers get a brake from bar tending

Sometimes the Rock Slide (our little bar) has a pool table

I built an igloo for our 2013 New Years Party

Sometimes somebody puts a sign on your door -- the sacred trickster is in all of us

The land has always been special to me. People talked to me about the land and the things that I could find there but also I explored, made forts and discovered things for myself. There is a Native Pit house in the forest behind my house and an eagle nest on the river. I have always felt connected and like a bit of a protector of the land but I had the opportunity to show a Native Elder around the land a couple of years ago, and it felt good to tell my story. He told me that I was a protector and that I should continue looking after the land. He told me that I belonged here and should continue listening to the land. OK, so I must admit that these were not his words -- he said much more but these are some of the things I felt from our conversations.

Nanook likes living on the river as much as I do and that is saying a lot

I came home one day to find that a local Native Elder had put this sign on my door 

The door to any house is special and this has been my door for more than half of my life

A video that always makes me happy and sad but mostly inspired -- read the comment to hear why.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKaWJ72x1rI&list=PLB99B47193040D197&index=22

Bear in a wild cherry tree in my yard

All of the animals learn to respect the wilderness and that sometimes means bears. The bears come for the cherries and they come for the apples. I love a world that has bears to keep us honest and connected to the wild.

Building my drive way uncovered a love of rocks

 I had to call in some help to build a new driveway. And what I got is amazing. And I love stacking rocks and I keep stacking rocks and now the rocks are starting to pile up. Another great example of learning by doing and following natural inspiration. But what does this have to do with my academic carrier?Stay tuned and we will discover.

My cousin Ian came by from next door (we subdivide family property) to see the new view.

A good rock is worth moving

At one point when you are stacking rocks as a life time project. You might realize that you should look at the big picture. Yes, think about defensive fortifications. Let loos the inner kid and build castles and magical places for faeries to live.

I build this wall for a friend

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The stream flows under this stone bridge

Stairs lead to more stairs

I think my dog understands I have a thing with rocks

Find related stories I like from around the web

Here is the link to a face book page I created to share news from around the net. These are examples of technology helping ecological and ethical learning.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Media-Enhanced-Education-2015/1419038668393671?fref=nf

House hold animals learn to earn their special place

 My dog Nanook leaned about pigs and chickens and trips up into the mountains. One this alpine traverse Nanook learned not to try to eat a porky pine. I pulled quills with my leather man for over an hour and then we spent the night in the rain. After walking all day, I put my exhausted dog in a boat and then a car and took her straight to an emergency animal clinic.

The next photo is her the next day, laying on a rock I am trying to raise from the yard. The neighbors dog and my cat both wanted to check on Nanook and hear her stories of journeying to the wild and coming back to tell the tail.

While some things have to be learned first hand, being prepared for that moment is something we do mentally when we hear other peoples stories. Lately I have been thinking about the power of a story and practicing telling stories about nature as part of my regular ecological identity work.