Morgan again...I thought I would share some pressing good news and some bad news. No need to get too excited or worried, they are both relatively mild but effect our day to day lives and I thought sharing them would give an interesting and off beat view.

I always like to hear bad news first so here goes... we have a grasshopper plague, no but seriously we are thinking it is in biblical proportions! We frequently walk over to our neighbor Mary's house (of which I will explain more later on) and the walk consists of a driveway and then a path up to her house lined with garden beds and grass. The experience, however, is slowly walking and watching hundreds of grasshoppers scatter at every single footstep. The single footsteps then make a chain reaction within the few feet surrounding the area. So pretty much walking at a steady state creates an enormous wave of grasshoppers. Oh and the garden beds are completely wiped out, no tomatoes for us this season:( We have witnessed all types of grasshoppers as well, some very small and some that are enormous. The most notable is a friend we have made that hangs out by our outside compost pile, this one is gigantic...easily 3 inches long and one inch wide! He has a pretty good gig we figured out, he is missing a back hopper leg so he just hangs out and munches on kitchen scraps allowing himself to morph into this abnormally sized insect. 

We try to enjoy meals out on the patio when the heat and weather permits, so we have had an interesting view of a large bush right in front of our outdoor table. When we moved here the bush was about seven feet of lush green leaves and today as it stands I think the last leaf disappeared about four or five days ago. The only slight green tint that remains on the once thick and beautiful bush is from the colors on the grasshoppers back. Leon was fascinated by them at first but bored quickly when they would not constantly move around, the hopping still startles him and that never gets old for a laugh from Marc and I. The picture below was taken one evening on a post right next to our bush, r.i.p.

Okay on to good news...this is big...I took a hot shower for the first time in our house tonight!!! A big thank you is necessary for my number one, Marc. As some of you know we have been struggling with the hot water heater since we moved in, and let me tell you that it turned into a daily struggle for us. Let me give some background...the original heater was hooked (more like rigged) up to small gas tanks outside the house. After doing some research Marc figured out how to light the pilot and figure out the next hurdle. After a long struggle (about two weeks) working through this stage and some close calls with open flames we thought it had a common problem that was an easy fix. Turns out an "easy" fix for this delightful water heater turned into a bigger disaster. The parts were so old that replacing one piece quickly turned into just stripping it completely. Next steps in our wonderful neighbor/landlord/friend, Mary. We talked about a whole handful of options and decided on a 10 gallon electric water heater that could eventually be hooked up to solar energy sources. This sounded great and a good prospective project for Marc and I. Unfortunately we don't know the first thing about electric wires so Mary contacted her son and one of our other neighbors, the entertainer. Fiasco number two, for many reasons. The water heater got connected to the plumbing but had an obvious dripping leak and the electrical, well that never really happened. As it so happens, the breaker is maxed out and the water heater would be too much for it to handle. Strike three. Within one days time, after a month of chaos we picked up a four gallon electric water heater that plugs into an outlet. Marc connected all the plumbing last night and after searching out an extension cord today we were in business, minus the other house guests. So instead of walking through a sea of grasshoppers and the hot sun, I had a delightful shower in my own shower tonight, and for that I think I will have a fantastic night's sleep...goodnight!

Cultural Experiences!

Morgan here. I thought I would rewind and talk about some of the wonderful cultural experiences we have had in the last few weeks. The panhandle is certainly a different breed and I am proud to say that we are embracing every aspect of that. People move at different speeds and all on their own courses. One of the most rewarding (well not now but I am sure it will be in the future) things we are learning here is how to manage people. Regions have different people, even with in a few hours of our comfort zone, and this has been a giant step into that learning process for us. With that said, the characters we have met sure keep us entertained. 

Our first local outing in Amarillo consisted of a tour, dinner and a concert on the original Route 66. While driving up, the most notable stop was the Friday Night Only Wrestling, unfortunately we did not stop but it is on our "to do" list. The concert was pretty decent, the beer and food were cheap and delicious but the crowd was priceless. I wish I had the forethought or the guts to record our surroundings as we sat at the bar waiting for the band to start. The only thing we could relate it to was the atmosphere of a high school party but every one was well over the legal drinking age. Good entertainment all around. 

After we got our hands on the deliciously cheap Lone Star beer (only $1 at the GoldenLight bar) we were on a quest to stock up at the house. Little did we know there is an area in Amarillo that is dry and foolishly that was where our quest started. I forgot to mention, but will help with the mood of understanding our quest, that Marc and I are in practice mode while we are living in Amarillo to learn how to live frugally and make the most of every dollar...so naturally after being reminded of the little gem known as Lone Star Beer we knew it would fit perfectly in our lives here for the summer. Back to the quest...after being told a few times by a few grocery store and gas station managers that we were out of luck we went home that night very disappointed. Have no fear though, the next day we searched Lone Star Beer distributers in the area and put out a desperate call for help. After being given the name of only ONE liquor store that sold Lone Star we promptly headed there after work that day. To our severe dismay they had just sold out and probably were not getting another shipment for another year or so (told to us ever so casually and naturally by the manager). What?! A year? That is when we took a step back and realized, hey... no one is in a hurry in Amarillo, just sit back and enjoy the scenery. 

For our next big adventure we headed up to Durango, Colorado to visit some friends and family for a long weekend. As fate would have it we were in town on the same weekend as the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. Talk about the polar opposite crowd from our new found Amarillo friends. The picture below is a sea of dancers, these people were dancing like the would never be able to dance again.  

There is nothing like Durango in the summer time and the people that live there know it and their attitude is contagious. Even though it was a long drive for a short time we were able to carry on that energy and be revitalized to start a new week back in Amarillo after the trip. Interesting tid bit, Leon took this adventure with us and is now a well established road/mountain cat. 

To change course a little bit, but trying to stay in order of how our adventures have taken place we met an interesting couple through some volunteers at the Food Bank. After meeting them and sharing a meal we were invited to attend a show by the Kwahadi Dancers, who dance at the Kwahadi/Kiva Museum here in Amarillo. Having attended a few POW WOWs while I was at Fort Lewis, I jumped on the chance to show Marc some authentic Native Culture. Not really fully knowing what we were getting ourselves into we jumped on the chance, but were slightly disappointed. The group of dancers range in age from 14-21 and are involved in girl or boy scouts. The dancing was very authentic to Native American tribes, even highlighting some tribes from Mexico. The dancers were extremely talented and well regarded in the area but the MC was a little over the top, extending the show for at least an hour longer than planned. Not apologetic at all, but merely using the stage as his own personal soap box. It should be noted that most of the dancers have been adopted into Native tribes but have no heritage themselves, seeming quite ironic to Marc and I since we are in an area of a much higher true Native American population. Nevertheless the dancing was good and it was pure entertainment in one way or another. I would love to show pictures, but photography was prohibited:(

Most recently Marc and I drove down to Lubbock (weird to say since you always seem to be driving up to Lubbock) for a night to stay with our friends from Austin, Kyle and Kathleen. We had a great time with them and touring the lovely and bustling town but most notably we visited Prairie Dog Town. The four of us have decided to put a proposal together for the town of Lubbock to construct a Main street and a few essential buildings, including but not exclusive to a City Hall, a jail, a United grocery store, a Wells Fargo Bank and a Wallgreens. It will be amazing, Kathleen noted that the jail will have a concrete floor so no one can burrow out. 

As it turns out the there were not too excited when we got close to take their pictures (for the proposal slide show of course.) The closest one promptly sent out a warning yelp to the town and sure enough there was at least one for every hole popping out on guard. It was a pretty good show, and good practice for emergency situations, like a fire alarm for prairie dogs. 

I think you all are caught up, look out for more to come!

It has been three weeks since Morgan, our cat Leon, and myself have moved to the Texas Panhandle, and despite our new residence's sleepy demeanor, our time has been filled with an interesting group of characters and illuminating experiences. We have settled into 

a generously sized bunk house on the Frying Pan Ranch in Bushland, TX ten miles outside of Amarillo and a stones throw from the Americana landmark, Cadillac Ranch.  Our new home is hosted by Mary Emeny who owns and lives on the Frying Pan Ranch.  Mary also serves as a coordinator for the High Plains Institute for Applied Ecology, and its two primary projects the Mariposa Ecovillage and the High Plains Food Bank Community Garden, both of which Morgan and I are working on in our time here.  In addition to Mary,  the Frying Pan Ranch is also home to Arzella Kay and her husband Jamie, Shawn and his 15 year old daughter and 10 year old son, and Rick Todd.  Each of our neighbors have proven to be quite unique. Mary is a founding member of Habitat for Humanity and has a tenacious  drive for social and environmental issues, is addition to being extremely sharp and hilarious. Arzella and Jamie are both in their sixties and have given themselves the title of "aging hippies" and live up to it quite well.  Shawn works as an "entertainer," working with drama companies and education groups.  He is originally from the West coast but packed up his children and possessions into a trailer and traveled the country until several years ago he met Mary at a church service where she offered his family a place to stay for the night and he never left.  Rick is all parts a scientist, naturalist and poet.  He built his solar powered home from straw and mud on the ranch where he lives with his two dogs Josie and Nellie.  Everyone we are surrounded with here is fairly like minded. Each others company is considerably appreciated since there are not many others who are cut from our similar cloth living in Amarillo.

Since moving in all three of us have started to become comfortable in our temporary home, although it took some gradual adjusting.  Morgan has struggled with the persistent wind and endless arsenal of dust that more times than not will end up in her eyes.  My own struggle has been to keep from tracking that dust into our house with me, as well as wearing sunscreen during all hours of the day.  Additionally we have both struggled with the weather here.  

The wind is relentless, the sun is brutal and the thunderstorms are unlike any I have ever seen before.  Amarillo only gets 20 inches of rain all year and I think we have gotten it since we have arrived.  We had a few storms roll through the ranch since we have been here but, none  as severe as the one in the video above.  Wind speeds of 95 miles per hour were recorded  which were accompanied by several inches of rain and hail.  In my attempts to film the storm I found out that rain moving that fast feels more like bb's more than falling water.  Lesson learned.

The one thing we have had no trouble with is the sunsets.  I wish the photos served them proper justice but they have to be seen with eyes rather than a camera lens to get the full effect.  They have been a welcomed end to our long days.

With that being said we have been working hard to make our days long.  Both Morgan and I have been spending most of our days at the High Plains Food Bank where we our  building the area's first community garden.  As it stands now we are preparing the acres worth of land for the United Way's Day of Caring in mid-August where 300+ people will spend a day volunteering at the garden.  This task includes building garden beds, planting plants, growing plants from seed, installing irrigation, putting up a fence around the perimeter, and assembling a water catchment system.  In addition to our days in the field we are also coordinating community involvement and enlisting volunteers for the event.  It has proven itself to be a lot of work turning an open field into something that resembles a garden, but worthwhile and it shows signs of being very rewarding.  But most notably we have a project that we are excited about working on, and although we are putting in long hours, it rarely seems like work; we are very fortunate.

Our plan for the garden after the Day of Caring is to begin a high intensity program that should have plants producing year round that will feed the area's youth, as well as serving as an educational tool for local sustainability.

I hate to put words in Morgan's mouth but we both feel like this is worthwhile project that is a great opportunity in permaculture and community building, and we are very optimistic that it will a great success for HPI, the United Way, the High Plains Food Bank and Amarillo.

With all of this being said we hope to use this blog as a way to keep our friends and family up to date with our adventures in the Panhandle, and plan on sharing our photos on Flickr soon.  I hope all is well,

Marc, Morgan, and Leon