Early Glimpses of Magic

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to give you a sense of what I've been seeing and doing out here at Magic for the passed several days.

Unlike many other Sustainability Models we have visited, Magic is situated in the heart of a residential neighbourhood where property is laid out in a suburban style with predominantly single-family homes and the benefit of large front and back yards. Magic now owns three adjacent homes, and in the yard space, workshops, offices and additional sleeping quarters have been built.  Most of the buildings around the central home are connected by narrow winding paths bordered with citrus fruit trees.

One of the newly constructed sleeping quarters at the back of the property, built from salvaged redwood.  The walls are packed with a clay-straw slurry for insulation, and the floor is packed earth, geo-thermally heated, which is real cozy on the feet.  My friend Chris built this place and lives here.

Two more sleeping quarters.

Shacks and Citrus

Different angle of shack from previous picture and, of course, more citrus

Office and living space tucked-in together under the tree canopy 

This is one of the many storage areas for the bikes that play a central role in the lives of Magic residents.  That's Andrew camouflaged in the bikes.
 

With so much bike usage, in addition to the on-site construction projects, having tools and work space is handy and cuts down on costs.   Much of my time at Magic so far has been contributing to tuning up the Magic bike fleet.

It helps when things are well organized!

The revegetation of the nearby foothills is a project that Magic has been contracted to coordinate by one of the the big forces in town, Stanford University.

Member of Magic unloading suppled for revegetation project.

Volunteers and members of Magic make berms around the young oak trees.  These south-faced hills were once 50% canopy covered, and the north-faced hills were historically 100% canopy covered. 

One of the main sources for for the large stores of communal food available at Magic is the local stores and the farmers market, where food that would otherwise enter the waste-stream is saved and pick-up by Magic members using bike trailers.  In the case of the farmers market, 2/3 of the foods collected by Magic are donated to shelters and 1/3 remains at Magic.  People who stay at Magic can either pay rent, or work in exchange for room and board.   Currently there are around twenty people living at Magic with handfuls of others peripherally involved.

I'm interested to learn more about the structure and behind the scenes functioning of this intentional community,  and in the meantime will likely be tinkering away with the bikes to earn my stay here.  This is the longest I've been in one place for a while now, and the itch to start moving again is coming on already. We'll see how long I can stay put....

Also, belated Happy Birthday to Grampa O'Brien who on January 14th turned the healthy age of ninety!  Way to be and we love you lots.

Bed time for me. Take care,
Steve

Fast Tracks to Magic

Bonjour Tout Le Monde,

Thank you for keeping up on reading the blog updates and checking in with me over email.   The last week has consisted of long biking days inspired by a speedy bicycling duo, Renae and Jen, who I met after leaving Fort Bragg, and also, reaching a milestone destination - the intentional community called 'Magic' in Palo Alto, just south of San Francisco.

A rare photo of me on a bike snapped without me knowing while entering the artist town Mendocino just south of Fort Bragg.

Soon after the photo of me on the bike was snapped, I met the photographer Rick Hemmings, who was taking pictures of birds, like this Pelican.  

Mendocino, California, is situated in a beautiful spot on the coast, and it was in this town that I met Renae and Jen, who were biking from Crescent City in North California to San Diego at a swift pace.  Renae told me they covered around 75 miles in one day before our paths crossed.  I was excited to meet some other bicyclists, and inspired to push myself to bike more miles per day. So, we ended up biking a 65 mile day together and spent the evening in the Bodega Bay Dunes Park.  The next day, we hit the road early,  however, were inadvertently split up and haven't seen each other since, but emails have confirmed everyone's safety.  Biking together was great while it lasted.

While in Mendocino, I also met artists Janet Ashford and Jon Klein, who warmly invited me into their home. Check out these outstanding pictures Jon Klein kindly shared with me of a 72 foot Blue Whale that washed up on the shore near Mendocino.  It is suspected that the whale was fatally wounded by a boat propeller.  Jon Klein's photography website is jonkleinphoto.com.

Here's some of my own nature photography.....

Mule deer sharing the campsite with me

One of the many victims of car traffic we've witnessed while biking on the roads

Who am I?

Pelicans and Cormorants sunbathing by Tomales Bay, an oyster cornucopia 

And a few other glimpses of the recent journey:

Jolly folks I met in Elk who shared their food with me.  Malaysia, Brunei, USA, and Canada are all represented in this photo, kindly provided by YC, also from Brunei.

South San Francisco homes.  Welcome to the city!

Here are my rap dreams manifest - a video I made while camping near the Avenue of the Giants.  Credit to Lupe Fiasco, and the many other accomplished rappers, to whom I mean no disrespect in this novice venture into the rap genre.

That's all for now. I'm stationary at Magic for the time being, where I've reconnected with my friend Chris Tyler, who I met at the Bike Center in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, and am working everyday as part of the work-exchange arrangement for my room and board.

Best Wishes to You,

Steve

Hello Friends and Family,

I'm back on the coast and, uncharacteristically, the sun is shining.  The mornings are still just above freezing though.  Brrrrrrr.

Dan Glaser from Redway, and Steve from P.E.D.A.L.

Dan Glaser kindly hosted me for a few nights in Redway while I recouped.  He shared some great stories with me about growing up in Israel and moving to Los Angeles.  Now he is living a leisurely retirement, and is part of a group that has been holding a Peace Vigil every Friday for the last five years in response to the Iraq War.

Sunrise in Redway

South Fork of the Eel River

I winded my way up the South Fork of the Eel River,  which, right now, is gushing and beautiful.  However, in the Summer time it dries up.  Like many rivers, it has been the subject of water diversion schemes.  In this case, the land ridge that divided the watershed for the South Fork of the Eel from a neighboring watershed was torn apart to divert it's flow.  Dan Glaser describes the scheme as 'making a whole through a mountain.' The diversion has led to decrease in Coho Salmon runs, which, among the decrease of many other migratory fish species, seems to be a theme throughout the Coastal Redwood ecosystem. 

This disgruntled face is due to the overcast sky that greeted Steve in the morning and spoiled his bathing plans.  The South Fork of the Eel is in the background. 

Top of the first ridge biking over the Coastal Range of Hwy 1.  Notice my bike. 

Looking the other direction from the top of the ridge.  The downhill ride from here was definitely a highlight of the past few days.   Real fast.

Although the pictures above depict vast forests, from southern Oregon where the Coastal Redwood ecosystem begins, to where I am now, 200 miles north of San Francisco, California, we witnessed many patchy forest stands, and very few intact sections of mature Redwood trees.  From the feature article of the October 2009 National Geographic magazine titled 'Tallest Trees', I learned that of the original Redwood old growth, less than 5% remains.  A map from the article showing the entire Redwood ecosystem with the old growth stands highlighted is available online also, however the online map doesn't come across as well as the hard copy version.  Online article:ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/10/redwoods/bourne-text

In Canada, the western old growth coastal forests have also been depleted to the point where the Northern Spotted Owl, which depends on old growth habitat, is now listed as endangered. Last I read, only 8 breeding pairs remain in Canada.  In the US, the Spotted Owl is listed as threatened.

Jordan Bower is walking to Mexico. We met in Leggett, and again in the Coastal Range.  Safe trails Jordan!

Sweet stand of what I think is Red Alder

Not an unusual curve along Hwy. 1. Fun riding!

Back on the coast.

New sign from some side-of-the-road material

Lorraina in Fort Bragg, who hosted me and told me some wild travelling stories.  Thanks Dylan also for setting me up with a place to stay.

The sun is still shining,  I'm clean and dry,  and ready to get moving.   

Take care,

Steve