It is so bizarre to sit in my room alone, around 6 o'clock, doing my homework, with heat pumping in from the vent and my lamp lighting up my books on my desk... It gets dark and I feel tired, but I know I have work to do and expectations to meet within the system of my life, the way we all do. I just wish there were different demands.

I hate to belabor this...

The latest suggestion from my mentor is to narrow my product rubric to include simply the paper, so I can put all the effort and time I need to to make that a distinguished piece of work.

THEN, once that's finished, I will have the freedom to make a creation to complement that for the purposes of my presentation.

"From structure comes creativity," says Mr. Schade.

All the pictures I have included in this blog symbolize community... (Except for the first one, which is an AMAZING phenomenon I discovered with Hannah (shown holding a cabbage) earlier this week... That is the goat pen, untouched since august... and the shoots in there are NORMAL GRASS, not more than 2 or 3 inches high in any of the surround grass, or anywhere in the field. The grass we found in the pen (shown) is about 2 1/2 ft high. I am planning to use these (at the least) to accompany my paper in the opening.

(the last photo was taken in Santa Fe-- my whole family took on the task od moving about 800 stones for my cousin's wedding on a valley up in the New Mexican mountains.

TO DO:

1. part one of contract: due november 30 (finish readings + outline)

2. make another to do list

model-paper-pictures

I have decided, though my rubric still needs tweaking, to still write a paper, but to give it context with a rolling slide show of photographs and a scale model of the area to present at the opening. Every person I have proposed this idea to has said they think it would greatly enhance their understanding of the project, especially if they had never gotten the chance to visit.

The model I will make won't be literally a miniature--I mean it won't be a simple scale model--I am planning to make it interesting with little blurbs and figures and maybe even collage to give it a stimulating appearance. It would be great if I could figure out a way to incorporate the things we learned throughout the process INTO the model (e.g., we should have planted more watermelon, or we should plant an herb spiral, or this is where we'd put a composting toilet). I could include where we would put an enclosure for the goats next time around, factoring in the natural flora, etc. I think the more location-specific and detailed it is, the more comprehensive the viewer's understanding will be.

PRODUCT RUBRIC OUTCOMES (preliminary since domain change--to discuss with Mr. Schade)

40% English: Paper

40% Visual Art: Creative Component (lower percentage?)

20% Science: Planning and Natural Capital details? (higher percentage?)

TO DO:

1. Finalize rubric!!

2. FINISH READING

3. Watch Biosphere II film

4. Begin location research and model planning (next week)

Ah! So much inner conflict... Do I make an actual/ideal scale model of my farm and present it in the gallery space? With pictures? With a rolling video?

This sounds, easily, the most exciting and ambitious. BUT, as I keep finding when I begin to articulate the intricacies and minute details of what spurred me into doing this project in the first place, I find that I am almost not as clear as I'd like to be.

Of course, the moment I think of something ideal, it becomes the only option in my mind that could possibly be a true success. A paper is fine, but a model...how dynamic!! People will really remember that!! I can keep it around the school for years to come!

But I also need to consider the reality... can I really create something I will be truly proud of if I start it this late in the game? With so much else on my plate?

I think I need to tone it down a notch... and also know that in writing a paper on my experience that I have already had (which, in addition will not eclipse all my work in August, and rather illuminate it) will provide me with a deeper, stronger foundation and understanding of the work I have done--of the things I have learned. If I am to build an ideal sustainable system on the land we worked this summer, that is something I will absolutely need, and I definitely cannot neglect.

TO DO NOW:

1. finish rubric for paper

2. contact Bennett Konesni

3. get in touch with blogger permaculturist!

4. decide on most effective layout for paper?