Pamela Sprecher

Day 26/ Post 16/ 3-11-2022

This will be my last post as my time here at Wheaton Labs is coming to a close.  I had only planned to stay a month… and here we are 1 month later.  I had an amazing experience and will always cherish the time I spent here.  Early on, I did fantasize about possibly staying a little longer, maybe through summer.  A few factors have contributed to me sticking to the original plan of 1 month.  First, my dog Toby.  I feel I must make his needs a priority.  This has just not proven to be the right environment for him.  Long hours for me meant lots of alone time for him and very limited outdoor time.  He became stressed out.  I hate seeing him like that.  I decided to be a sepper my last week to spend more time with him which is why I haven’t been posting to the boot camp blog.  

Another pressing issue for me is…. I have a dream!  A big one!  And it is calling me.  I have avoided it, I have distracted myself from it, I have let others lead me astray from it.  I can no longer ignore the calling as it screams louder in my ear every day.  

If you do not have a plan, you will become part of someone else’s plan.  This is definitely not a bad place to end up if you do not have a plan, or if this fits your life plan.   However, if you have a different dream you will never feel fulfilled until you go for it.    

A shout out to the amazing characters I’ve encountered here…..

Dez-  One of the most welcoming and peaceful souls I have ever met. He leads by example and provides gentle guidance rather than preaching.  He truly cares about this place and it shows! Your dedication is very much appreciated even if you cannot always see it or feel it.  

Grey-  Such a hard worker who devotes more than his fair share of time to make this place great.  Very helpful and patient, it was always a pleasure working with him. Happy Birthday Buddy, sorry I'll miss it!

Jeff- I think he is the smartest person I’ve ever met.  There is literally not one thing that he did not know how to do.  Extremely gentle giant with a Zenlike demeanor.  I’m sure I’ll be reaching out to you for your expertise some day (hopefully soon)!

Caleb-  I had very little chance to get to know this guy as he’s been sequestered to the lab for an experiment so we had very little interaction with him… but even so you can tell he’s a stand up dude.

Magdalene- She gives no fucks, a trait I always admire in people.  She was the only female before I came and will again be the only one when I leave.  She is one tough chica with an awesome cat named Juniper.  I hope your 10 day silent retreat brought you clarity and peace.  Sorry I didn't get to say goodbye.  

Meghan- She was only here 2 weeks and became the star of my blog because we were a solid team.  She was the ‘Meh’ in our ‘Meyham’ (not a typo…a play on our names).  I look forward to visiting her amazing homestead someday soon.  You can see all the amazing stuff she is doing on Instagram- @RiverRamHomestead

Last but not least… Paul- Thank you very much for this opportunity.  Glad I could be a source of wholesome nostalgia by reminding you of your cousin Kelly. I look forward to seeing where all these experiments go.  It’s inspiring to see someone following their dream and persevering past other’s perceptions of you.

Thank you thank you thank you for this awesome opportunity!  Thank you for your time, your patience and your knowledge.  I will miss everyone here and hopefully I’ll be back for an event in the near future.  

Day 20/ Post 15/ 3-5-2022

Fixing the fence

Day 19/ Post 14/ 3-4-2022

Forest Thinning

Forget Wheaties… this is how fast you move when you only eat organic food!

Day 18/ Post 13/ 3-3-2022

Yesterday was Half-Assed Holiday # 3 since I arrived.  Holiday- Organize the free shelf and eat sushi.  
The free shelf is a huge shelf that consists mostly of donated stuff and things folks left behind to be repurposed by anyone who needs them.  Most interesting find was a couple of thongs- the underwear kind.  No thank you.  
As for sushi…yes please!  Not only did we get to make and eat sushi…I got to spearhead the cooking!  I have been making sushi for over 10 years thanks to my college sweetheart who happened to be Japanese and taught me how to make all kinds of Japanese food.  Although, in Japan, they don’t really eat sushi rolls in the way we have Americanized them.  
I also got a pair of rain boots from the free shelf which was awesome and sorely needed with all this rain and mud!  My feet are so happy today!  

This is how we roll........

Mark Brunnr wrote:Hmm, a bottle wall could be an option for my wofati on the lab as the bathroom will be in the southeast corner and I was thinking glass blocks. If there's a bunch of bottles there in recycling maybe I can put them to use?

Mark you may have to duke it out with Grey... He's been saving them up for a bottle project as well....  We could just start saving all the glass till you arrive and then maybe you can both see what your needs are when you get here?

Tessa Dawn Nunlist wrote:I love reading about your experience Pam.

What do you all do there with glass ? I know there is a lot, but is there anything in particular you have learned?

Hey Tessa-  so cool to have 'met' you through Trina!  Thanks for reading about my experience!  Most of what I learned about using glass in building I learned at the Earthship academy.  They mostly use them for colorfully designed  bottle walls in the home but they can also can be used for privacy walls to surround your home.  My favorite wall was in the bathroom of the Phoenix in Taos.  Typically they take 2 bottles cut them in half tape them together to make a 'bottle brick' and then use concrete or cob as mortar.  In this bathroom wall they left a few of the bottles open so you could put soap, sponges or little decorations in the opening of the bottle.  If you don't want to do an entire wall you can just add a few to the top of the wall to let light in.  Your idea of making a bottle bar sounds really cool too!  I hope I can come visit while your earthship is in progress!  

Day 17/ Post 12/ 3-2-2022

Its not all sunshine and rainbows.  How could it be?  Without the bleak and the dreary how would we be able to appreciate the sunshine and rainbows?  We have barely seen the sun in the past few days.  We’ve been trudging around in rain and mud.  It’s a very damp cold here.  We’ve been organizing garbage (well recycling) for days.  It’s hard to keep morale up in these conditions.  How do we get through these times in life when it feels like conditions are working against us?  Nothing lasts forever.  Don’t like the weather?  Seasons change, it will warm up, it will dry up and before we know it, it will be blazing hot and we might be pining for winter days again.   Find the peace with whatever life brings and try not to label it ‘good’ or ‘bad’.  It just is.  Everything is temporary.  And remember you must have rain in order to have a rainbow!  I actually saw 2 ...yes TWO rainbows yesterday.  Things can’t possibly be that bad when you see 2 rainbows in 1 day.

Day 16/ Post 11/ 3-1-2022

We've been organizing the recycling area.  We started with the cardboard.  Meghan and I have been working together as a team for over a week now and we get shit done!  We decided to give ourselves a team name….Team MEYHAM cause we’re killin it.

Day 15/ Post 10/ 2-28-2022

Dude, everyone here is so badass!  I know nothing last forever so just trying to stay present and enjoy every moment.  I’m so grateful to be here now.   We had a great day cutting down trees in the rain.

Day 14/ Post 9/ 2-27-2022

On Sundays the boots do nest labor.  We take care of the nest.  For 1 hour we blitz clean the house.  Wipe down all surfaces, put dishes away, sweep, mop, vacuum, wash windows, clean bathroom and take care of laundry and trash.  It all gets done in 1 hour with 4 people.  Then for 2 hours we work on other nest maintenance or needs.  This could be grocery shopping, creating necessary documents, chopping firewood for the house or replacing rotting baseboards.  Me and the newest boot- Meghan- were tasked with the baseboard project.  At first, I was going to make it as simple as possible just plain boards with no bevel cuts and no routing.  But…that wouldn’t really be learning something new.  So we decided to use the router and make 45 degree edges with the chop saw.    The quick and unexciting video shows the board going through the router.  Our choice of router bit was the 5/16ths Roman Ogee (cause we are original ganstas).  We sealed the boards with linseed oil just in time for lunch.  I made Pad Thai and finally had the foresight to make extra so I have left overs for the next few days!  Yum!