This guy was ambling across the bricks yesterday. It turns into a very plain moth, with subtle colors. None of this pizzazz in the flying version.

Here’s an example of why I’d recommend following the Tiny House Blog if you’re interested in the subject, posted today. Note: this is on a very small lot.

“Going up for sale in August 2012: Tiny Cabin on a River, one hour West of Portland, Oregon.

It’s on a coastal river in Oregon that has a Salmon Run!

It’s located smack in the coastal range, in a landscape dominated by wildness.

There is a forest maintained hiking trail within walking distance.

There is a wild river located a few miles away (river with no road along it -very rare in the US).

There is a mountain lake located a few miles away with a healthy fish population.

Read More …

We had a real hot day (for us) a few days ago and I took a long bike ride to a pond deep in the hills. To get in the water I had to make a tunnel through the cattails. The technique is to wade forward and lie down on the cattails and they will accomodatingly bend over, and then when you can’t wade, you swim forward and push them down and pretty soon voila!, you’ve entered the pond through a cattail tunnel. Smooth pond surface.

   Being back in jock mode now that I’m home, intending to build back strength lost in recent months (years), I started out with my triathalon style crawl, smooth and steady. Jeez, it felt good, but after a while I decided to float for a while, and as soon as I did, 3 iridescent red dragonflies buzzed out from the shore like combat helicopters, skimming the surface and angling around my head. They’d go back to shore and buzz out again, I guess cruising for insects. Sparkling. Pretty cool. I decided to float longer. A little bird—dark on top, white on bottom, species I’d never seen—hopped down on a cattail 10′ from me. Didn’t register to him this was a humanoid.

  Then there was movement on the hill and a magnificent buck deer walked serenely across the hillside, oblivious of me. The full monte. Now I’m truly home.

   This morning on the highway, there were 3 crows sitting on the line, looking kind of hunched up, not normal. There was a dead crow on the road — never seen one that I can think of, and these family members were doing I don’t know what. But crows are powerfully intelligent creatures (see the book Bird Brains: The Intelligence of Crows, Ravens, Magpies, and Jays by Candace Savage) and this was a strong scene.

   On the way back from yoga, the Beach Boys doing “Good Vibrations” on radio. Jeez, this is a masterpiece. Back in the day I never took them seriously. The only one who was real surfer was Dennis. They just seemed lightweight in my quest to be ever hip. I overlooked the soaring harmonies and intricate instrumentals. This is on the Mozart level.

Only 4 of my Tuesday night running friends showed up in the heavy downpour last night. They took off up the valley, and I dressed in head-to-toe rain gear, with Muck Boots, and headed for the beach. Wow! Wind felt like 40-50mph, driving rain in from the ocean. You know how raindrops might be as big in circumference as say a pea, well, these were the size of cherries. I couldn’t look directly at the churning ocean, I needed swimming goggles. I was in the eye of the storm. Foam from waves was skidding along on the sand. The creek (of the estero) was pounding, sluicing out to the ocean. Good to be alive.

   I was struck by the power of the natural world. Maybe the earth IS a living entity, and these worldwide catastrophes are the planet reacting to shoddy treatment by humanoids. Whatever…

   The rain is better late than never. The soil in the woods and on the hills is moist and fragrant. Gonna be a lush Spring…

   I’m in North Beach in San Francisco right now. BB King was playing Stormy Monday as I drove in along the coast in the pre-dawn darkness.

  I’m excited to be doing a Tiny Homes slide show tonight at City Lights, a still vital and relevant independent bookstore.