Procession of the Species

The 19th Annual Procession of the Species Celebration was on Saturday.

It's a weekend of events honoring Earth Day and partnered with the Olympia Arts Walk in which businesses sponsor the display of artists' works. This year there were 128 businesses participating and hundreds of artists. Friday night kicks off the celebration with music performances all over the city then at 9:30pm is the Element of Spirit Luminary Procession which celebrates the element of Spirit with a parade of lights. I've never been to this procession. Next year.

This year I finally made it to the Procession of the Species which takes place at 4:30pm on Saturday afternoon.

It's a real "grassroots" parade where anyone can join, make their own costume and participate. Lots of various groups organized by families, schools, and clubs. Some groups are specifically organized for the procession. It's very community-oriented.

They meet for months prior to the day planning, designing, decorating, and practicing their routines. There are costume workshops and dance classes all over town leading up to the day.

I arrived early on Saturday and walked the procession route looking at art and watching people. I headed to the start of the procession to see what was happening. The energy was high. Everyone was laughing and smiling. Each group had their own music, mostly African drums which was really cool. Everyone dancing to choreographed steps. It was amazing to see all the bugs dancing together over there, the jelly fish swaying to my right, and the wolves howling beyond.

Organizing the chaos must be a miracle, but everyone seemed to know exactly where to go and what to do as they self-placed themselves within one of the four elements of the universe: Earth, Air, Water and Fire as designated by the signs.

For instance, if you are a dragonfly or a bumble bee, you would be grouped in the flying insects within the element of "Air".

Flowers and animals are groups under "Earth".



Sunshine under "Fire".

Sealife under water.



There were lots of jelly fish with costumes made with umbrellas or plastic bags. This little girl had a great technique. She would walk high on her toes, then would bend her knee and step down so her plastic jelly fish head would puff looking like a real jelly fish.

This is SambaOlyWa, a samba group. Every year they select a new theme. This year they were grey wolves so everyone dressed in grays and blacks, some had animal prints on their shirts, others wore little wolf ears or tails. There were at least 100 members including the drummers all dancing together. I'm not sure of the significance of the long white skirted women at the front of the group. Founders?

 



In compliance with the Earth Day theme, there is a strong emphasis on recycling so lots of recycled products are used for costumes and accessories. Lots of papier mache and cardboard.

This whale sculpture was really cool.

As it got closer and everyone was oooh-ing and aaah-ing, someone exclaimed, "Oh my god, it's made from plastic grocery bags!" The fin was made from old styrofoam. The handlers were rolling it down the street on grocery carts. Brilliant.

Then on the flip side, as they turned it, it was more recycled materials as a skeleton. Brilliant message.

The kids were adorable.

These little frogs were energetically hopping down the street. I was near the beginning. I wondered how long before they would exhaust themselves.

These are the viruses. HA! I didn't get a photo of the group in front who had another virus sculpture and were dressed in their bathrobes.

My favorite, the dandelions.

Their headdresses were really incredible and I wonder where they got their matching green outfits.

Love this family of hedgehogs. HAHAHAHA

Those are clothespins on their backs. HAHAHAHA

This was really cool and kinetic, although difficult to capture in a photo since everything was moving so fast. These are dolphins and the blue the water. The people are dressed in blue running up and down the "rapids" holding dolphin wind kites so the dolphins looked like they were jumping through the waves.

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the giant slug, but it left a trail of yellow and red paint as slime. You can see it on the street in the photo below. I'm still pondering how they did that. You can also see the chalk all over the street.

Prior to the procession, kids were decorating the pavement with chalk which was provided and sold by an organization. Fun.

What a wonderful celebration of happy people honoring the earth. So fun.

Multi-Purpose Furniture for a Tiny House

Since I can't find a rental, I'm seriously considering jumping right into the tiny house idea and planning how I can possibly fit into a small space and still live comfortably. Where will I put my five shelves of books? What about my desk, which is nearly 10 x 10 all by itself? I could fit my whole office into a larger, tiny house, but then where would I put my bed?

 

I was recently sent a link to a design company with furniture that served two purposes. It would look like a desk with computers or books on it, pull it down and there's your bed. The amazing part was the desk would still be intact with the computer and books on top of it only now stored under the bed. The technology is amazing. Things pulling down or folding up serving two purposes in one small space. The link I was sent is no longer working, but I'll keep searching. Here's a similar idea with a wall bed from OrgHome:

 

http://www.orghome.com/org/photo-gallery/org-wall-bed/ 

 

 

 

 

 

Grant it, this particular model wouldn't fit in my tiny house, but you get the idea.

 

 

Here's another idea from Ghoofie:

 

 





 

Fun stuff! Designs are embracing the tiny house idea with multi-purpose tables, couches, chairs, kitchen sinks serving as bathtubs (eeewww...).

 

Love it.

Who's Thinking About You?

My new favorite Jason Mraz song. He's so sexy...

 

 

 

 

 

I finally bought his new CD...a year late. I love it. I have been putting this song on repeat and listening to it over and over. It's so relaxing. 

 

Real link in case it's needed:

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuWfyh4sctY

My Real Dream Houses, Part Five: Tiny Rolling House

 

For people who really love to cycle, but can't figure out how to store a bicycle in their tiny house....!

 

 



A Celebration of Appreciation and Gratitude

I have a new appreciation for my old house, also occasionally known as The Rat-Infested, Opossum-Harboring Hotel. For all its faults, it's safe and home. (As long as keep fighting to keep the critters out!)

 

The garden is growing and beautiful. I've worked on this garden for eight years and it finally feels right. Flowers blooming. Birds singing. Wind whispering.

 

 

 

 

Sun shining. Neighbors mowing. Trees blossoming.

 



 

No mold anywhere, no insect infestation, and it's all mine. I don't answer to anyone demanding rent and telling me what I can and can't do.

I'm still free! Hooray!

Peter is happy he's not jailed in a small cage sitting in a strange place. Life is good. I spent some time outside appreciating my safe haven and every now and then kissed its walls and smiled. Nothing like a really bad experience to make you appreciate what you have.

To celebrate, I built an ugly gate.

 

My other gate rotted so I threw it away and I've been using chicken wire which is unsightly. Not that this isn't unsightly, but it has a sort of eclectic charm that makes me smile. In an issue of Martha Stewart Living I saw pictures of a garden gate someone made with used, ugly wood. They hooked it to the fence post with twine and had to lift it to open and shut. Something looking like a pig pen enclosure. A nice, traditional farm gate.

 

Mine isn't that rustic as I have used old hinges and a latch recycled from the last gate, but it's still pretty ugly. If you look really closely, you can see the dirt on the wood pieces. I found some of these pieces in the garden as I was using them as stakes. HAHAHAHA I am the recycling queen!

 

Peter won't care. It'll do its job to keep him out of the front gardens. At least he can see it, unlike the chicken wire which he ran right into.

My lungs are finally back to normal today. I am so grateful.

Dodging Bullets

I deleted my last post called, "The Commitment". For those of you who read it, you are aware I inspected the rental cottage and satisfied it was clean and safe, signed the one-year lease. I was so thrilled and excited to move into my new place and finally be a resident of a wonderful community. The memory now horrifies me.

So clean. So deceiving.

 

I spent five hours cleaning, scrubbing and sterilizing every surface. As in past moves, this affords me the confidence to know everything is clean and safe. Unfortunately, I kept finding very odd signs of problems. Most I didn't understand, but I kept right on cleaning excited to finally find a home after many months of searching. Nothing a little cleaning won't take care of, right?

My first discovering was the cleaning people who were hired a month before didn't do a very good job. They missed the blinds totally and the filth matched the rug the landlady tried to give me. Really disgusting. But dirt doesn't necessarily mean danger so I kept working.

The next discovery was a little problematic. Under the kitchen counter there was a rubber-coated metal garbage receptacle attachment. It was dirty, caked with food, peeling and rusted. There were bits of old, dried food behind it. (I think the money the landlady paid the cleaners was truly a waste.) The rust was a little odd, but at the time I wondered if spilled liquid left and not cleaned was to blame.

Then as I wiped down the new shelving paper on the bottom surface under the sink, I felt a bump. I peeled it up and underneath found a pile of yellow dust. Hmmm....Did someone repair? Drill? Saw? And leave saw dust? Maybe there was a moisture problem and it was fixed? That would explain the rust. Why did the cleaners cover it with the shelf paper? I removed the shelving paper and cleaned it up looking for evidence of repairs. Couldn't see anything. For a half of a second I considered bugs. Naw! The landlord wouldn't rent a space with an insect infestation.

As I cleaned the floor I kept seeing tiny specks of black dots. Dirt the cleaners missed? Fly poop? (Eeewww.) I knew this space had been used for storage for the last two years so flies would be normal and I knew the cleaners were bad. I kept cleaning.

My lungs were hurting and my sinuses burning so I opted not to stay in the house overnight. It just felt wrong like it needed to be cleaned again. 

This is where I'm embarrassed. Did someone shanghai my instincts? Why am I being so incredibly blind and optimistic?

My lungs, sinuses and head were hurting all night and the next day. The evidence was gnawing at me all day as I packed up more belongs to take to the rental. Finally I got online to search for clues.

"particle board yellow piles of dust"  This is evidence of wood-boring bugs, either carpenter ants, termites or wood-boring beetles and therefore, evidence of water saturation.

"tiny black dots linoleum"  MOLD. FUCKING MOLD. How did I miss evidence of mold before I signed the lease?  It seems these little black dots are the mold growing underneath the tiles and seeping through the porous surface. The mold will also push up the tiles. While cleaning I did come across one tile that was loose and made a note to glue it back down. Another indication of mold is black around the edges of the tiles. I saw this near the front door. It didn't wash away so it seemed hard. I assumed it was remnants of black adhesive, maybe repairs.  I have never seen mold before and only know how to prevent it.

Sunday night I was in a panic. Oh my god! I left my cleaning supplies, some dishes and a MATTRESS in the rental. I envisioned the little mold spores infecting everything. But I didn't know for sure. It was all I could do to sleep and wait for morning.

At five in the morning I drove to my new digs to confirm the signs of mold to prepare to get the hell out regardless of the cost due to the lease agreement. Sure enough, I pulled up the one loose tile and there is dark black mold growing underneath.

Mold growing under tile.

The tiny dots of black on top of the linoleum are not as obvious as the dots underneath. They were much smaller, almost microscopic. I could see them while cleaning because I was on my knees and close to them. Walking around looking at surfaces before I signed the lease, I expected mold to be very visible. There wasn't any on walls or in the corners where I expected it to be.

 

 

Mold seeping out from tile edges.

 

Looking under the kitchen sink, the bugs are back at work and there is new little mound of yellow dust started.

Infestation dust

Before leaving I took photos. I read you should put a dated newspaper in the photo, but I think you are supposed to do that when you move out. I figured it couldn't hurt.

Overflowing water next to foundation outside kitchen.

 

I also took a photo of the overflowing rain barrel outside the house near the kitchen area. Then I packed up all my supplies and my mattress and shivered the feeling of YUCK off me.

I knocked on the door of the landlady at 8:30 a.m. She was still in her nightie. She was surprised to see me and I apologized for getting her out of bed, but it couldn't wait. I told her I couldn't move in to the cottage as the space is contaminated with mold growing under the linoleum. I showed her the piece of tile with mold shadows on the under surface. She didn't look surprised, but she feigned ignorance whining, "I don't know why no one told me." Really? It didn't matter to me whether or not she knew. I continued to inform her about the bug infestation and showed her the shelving paper with dust.

Wood-boring bug dust on underside of shelving paper.

Although her chosen words indicated she was apologetic, her demeanor was not. I think she knew about the mold. How could she not? I repeated I couldn't believe the cleaners didn't tell her as it would have been very apparent to them. She looked uncomfortable. We also discussed the possible problems of the house, the fact it was closed up and used as storage with no heat, the crawlspace height, and the water barrels. She admitted to being the one who installed the linoleum. I told her even if she got an exterminator in the building to get rid of the bugs, I can't be in the same space with those chemicals. And according to online information, she was going to need to rip out all the linoleum and maybe remove the wood floors underneath to make it livable.

She told me she had just deposited my checks so it would be a few days before she could give me a refund. This sounded hopeful. She's not going to hold me to the lease? We'll see. I told her I would really appreciate it.

Then she slipped and said, "I wish I hadn't deleted all those other responses to my ad because now I will have to re-post it and go through the process again of finding another renter."

I just stared at her. "Are you sure you want to rent it out without fixing the problems first? That mold can cause real health damage." She stared at me. I don't think she has any intention of fixing the problems and is hoping to get a tenant to take responsibility for them. I'm torn. If she finds another renter, I'm not liable for the lease and future monthly rent payments, but how do I live with myself for allowing another renter in there? If she doesn't or can't find another renter because she has to fix the problems, I might be liable for twelve months of rent. That's a whole lot of money.

I kindly told her I was really disappointed as I was looking forward to living next to her. She said she was also looking forward to being neighbors and showing me around town. I asked if I could come by to visit if I find another place and she said yes. We said our good-byes and I got the hell out of there.

At home I sterilized everything with hot, soapy water and bleach. The mattress I left out in the sun to heat up. Light kills mold. Not much else I could do with a mattress.

I just dodged a bullet. A deadly bullet. Suppose I had moved out of my house and put everything in this rental? What would I have done if I didn't have my safe haven waiting for me to return? Supposed I had stayed the night? Or continued to ignore the warnings and never did that online research?

This has been a huge learning experience! First, I'm an idiot. Second, I can desperately rationalize anything in hopes of a good outcome. Third, my optimism is bad for my health.

The whole experience is frightening. I'm hoping I don't put myself in the line of fire again. I'm a bit gun shy right now. My house is looking really lovely these days. At least it's not going to kill me.