BIPOC Self-Employed Activist, Pansexual, Empty-nester and pooch looking for permie intentional farm to park a tiny home.
Brandon Charles wrote:I realize this may seem ridiculous to a lot of folks out there, but I've basically been forced to keep trying to avoid covid and was wondering if there are any Cascadia Permies in a similar situation? Basically I got hit really hard by a horrible Covid infection right at the beginning of the pandemic, developed Long Covid as a result, and have been fighting to keep my head above water ever since. Every time I start to get marginally better, I get infected again and the whole process starts over. As a result I've had maybe 2 months in any given year since 2020 where I feel somewhat decent. The rest of the time I'm in purgatory, and frankly I'm sick of the suffering. The situation just isn't tenable any longer. Basically, this has driven me to the conclusion that I need to avoid the gosh darned virus for a while and see if I can figure out why my body has such a hard time dealing with it (and see if I can manage to have a year where I don't feel like death warmed over). Trust me this is not a conclusion I have come to lightly, and had to touch the red hot stove several times before the reality of the situation became apparent.
That said, I have come to a point where I need to start cultivating friendships with folks who are also doing what they can to avoid Covid (and thus minimize infection risk). Whether because they have suffered in a similar way with Covid-related health issues, or because they realize that Covid has the potential to strike anyone at anytime and they want to practice forward-thinking risk mitigation. I'd love to hear from you either way! Not sure really what I'm hoping for, ultimately. I do live on a beautiful 5 acres (in the Cascade foothills of Thurston County) backing up to miles of timberland, and I would eventually like to have people join me out here in a kind of intentional community format. At the same time, I've also considered relocating to another more established community as an alternative. Both options are open (eventual) possibilities. In the meantime, I'd just like to make friends and see where it goes. Maybe work on some collaborative projects together? I'm down for anything really. I go at a slow pace these days due to the long covid issue, but I still chug along and get things done. I have a host of natural building projects that I have in the pipeline, habitat restoration stuff to get to, food forest establishment, a pond to dig etc. I'm also doing all kinds of off-grid food projects, and have a ton of primitive skills goals that I want to pick up practicing again (the pandemic really slowed me down in that realm). Down the road, I would like to actually get into some kind of permaculture business collaboration, as my current employment situation puts me at more Covid risk than I want to keep entertaining. Plus I've never really liked my career anyway. It's of the soul-sucking variety. Ultimately I have aspirations for some kind of cooperative business situation, but have not settled on any particular direction yet. Maybe something oriented around natural building, habitat restoration (my background in construction lends itself to either), farming, or some combination thereof. Those are all a ways out though. First I just want to make some connections, and achieve some infrastructure goals on the property.
I'm not really great on self-descriptions, but for what it's worth I'm a 39 year old guy, former outdoor enthusiast (mountain/rock climbing, fly fishing, hunting, primitive skills etc.), now entering a much more mellow, reflective phase of life. Part of this is due to aforementioned health circumstances, but I was definitely on a ecological/spiritual bent well before Covid struck so much of my present inertia is wholly organic. I've gotten pretty deep into Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism and other Eastern practices in recent years, and I've also gotten huge into botany and restoration ecology. In my younger days I was an anthropology nerd, and studied just about everything there is to learn about ancient cultures and primitive lifeways. A lot of that still resonates, but has definitely been tempered somewhat as I've aged and delved into other philosophical systems. Eastern religion in particular has radically altered my way of perceiving/relating to a great many things, although I can say definitively that every stage of life has produced valuable lessons that I carry with me to this day. I'm kind of an amalgam in that way. One day I'm planning big restoration projects, the next drinking tea and meditating, the next exploring the wild hinterlands, the next foraging and doing food preservation projects, and the next deliberating amongst a thousand different natural building ideas that I have floating around in my mind. Then sometimes I want to put it all on hold for a while and go on a multi-month van-life adventure. If I'm anything, I'm a person of many interests.
As far as permaculture goes, I must say I'm actually a fairly reluctant farmer. I truly feel I'm more of a nomad at heart, but I recognize the necessity in it for basically every reason conceivable in the modern era (ethical, ecological, subsistence, security etc.), so I definitely have plans in the farming realm. A lot of those plans I hope to implement when there's more possibility for collaboration as I don't have the inclination to have it consume my life by doing it all solo. For now I plant perennials aimed at an eventual food forest and will do a quick and dirty version of land-race annuals this year, but that's about it. I definitely want animals eventually, but need some partners in crime for that component. Most often, my impulses for habitat restoration manifest at odds with whatever farming impulses I might have. Even my most "Permie" visions can seem overly impactful on the sensitive ecology of the land I live on. One is forced to make concessions, of course, but I do so at a slow pace, generally after years of observation so that I can make the best possible choices.
Anyway, that's me in a nutshell. I know it's a long shot with the weird Covid situation I'm faced with, but thought I'd take a shot in the dark anyway. If you're in a similar boat and/or anything I've written here resonates, feel free to drop me a line.
