A sad yet grateful conclusion to this project

I, to an extent, am not shocked by the outcome of this project. Typically, the goal is to find whither or not your hypothesis has been supported or rejected based on the data that you collect. As my data turned out to be three seeds germinated, one in the urban summer squash row and then two in the indigenous summer squash row. Each of them got about and inch or two tall, and then promptly died. Seeing as the data that I was to collect and then judge the accuracy of my hypothesis was dependent on the growth with at least a few specimens from each row, I must come to the conclusion that my hypothesis was rendered inconclusive due to the non-growth of enough plants to complete the experimental methods of testing and research.

As I suggest to my students, no research project to whatever extent is a failed experiment, for there is always something we can learn and walk away with for future application. In this instance, where I was hoping to test more conventional urban farming methods against that of indigenous methods, even before I raced just to get the seeds into soil before the Phoenix heat became too extreme, I had an incredibly difficult time with trying to locate strong or even consistent information regarding the farming practices of the Hohokam tribe of central Arizona's Sonoran desert. One afternoon I found myself digging through the Arizona archives room at the Phoenix public library, looking up excavation recordings and interactions with more recent tribes, as it is known that the Hohokam vanished before European settlers came to the valley of the sun. So, as opposed to  being able to put indigenous farming methods into practice, I spent the little time that I had for the project just trying to find them, but ultimately came up unsuccessful.

Modern urban farming, on the other hand, is alive and well in Phoenix. There are an abundance of resources such as urbanfarm.org  and phoenixpermaculture.org, and the information, workshops and community leaders that they provide access to is nearly overwhelming, and for someone like me who is still very "green" (as in being a rookie) to the whole gardening thing, it is comforting knowing that those resources are there. I ran into a bit of a hesitation though as even though those resources were there a plenty, I didn't want to pursue them until I had some indigenous farming practices in which to balance and move forward with equal application to both experimental groups. Truth be told I went ahead with a little of the urban knowledge that I had quickly learned just to get some of the seeds up and running, but if I were to continue any further as such, I felt, I would be ruining the validity of the experiment. Subsequently, the plants mostly never germinated, and to the three that did, died quickly.

In regards to the research style chosen, I went with an experimental method for the testing, but was introduced to the idea of the auto-ethnography, where I document the research in a narrative format to be an accompanying format to the research. This blog served as that medium, though with dwindling frequency of blogging, the effectiveness of the auto-ethnography waned. Still though, I am quite happy that I was able to learn of and put into practice this type of research as if fits more of my narrative style and hope that I am able to incorporate it into my eventual practicum and and dissertation. I find it to be a very authentic and genuine means of collecting data, one that engages both the researcher and the reader, pending that the research itself doesn't die out on me.

In grand conclusion, even though this particular project did not pan out as I would have hoped, I am not discouraged from what my original intent was; which was to get me in the garden and start trying my hand at becoming a "prosumer," or one who produces and consumes it. I still intend and wish to produce at least a fraction of my own produce, but still see myself tied heavily to the grocery store. That, and trying to take on a rather sizable lifestyle and habit change in the midst of full time teaching and full time grad school proved to be rather difficult, especially with the sensitivity of plant life in the desert.  If I had more time to understand some of the basics and couple that with what the urban farming resources could provide, then maybe I could look into some indigenous methods to see how I can hybridize the two in hopes of creating an effective, modernized version of what indigenous people did centuries ago to sustainably cultivate the desert land. For the time and effort I was able to give to this project, I will say that I enjoyed it, even though it grew frustrating  to not see it pan out the way I had envisioned. Still though, the resources, skills and ability to initially experiment will prove helpful as I attempt this again in the fall. Even though I won't be dependent on the cultivation of abundant crops like the Hohokam, I can still try my hand at growing my own food, which I think is something that all people, no matter where they live, should be able to do. That skill can be essential to developing a sustainable food system and bring the experience of working and living with the land back home.

Public Enemy #1...and a bunch others

There are these things that fly around my backyard, a.k.a birds, a.k.a. uncontrolled variables. And they are starting mo make this gardening process a real hassle. What I am starting to find is that these buggers are digging at what I have planted, I am assuming in attempt to find and eat the seeds. Since I laid out the seeds I come home to find several of the pots knocked over with the soil pecked about; not what I would call the most encouraging sign for hope of growth.

I have bird feeder in my backyard, and have filled it many times before starting this project, so I assume that from this establishment I have already instigated this process by training the birds that "oh! there is food in seed form here for the taking. Enjoy!" I did this because 1. I like birds and 2. I am a closet ornithologist wanna be, so I like to identify birds. For central Phoenix, there hasn't really been any special sightings, but here is what I have identified so far:

• House Sparrow
• House Finch
• Thrasher
• Mockingbird
• Rufous Hummingbird
• Mourning Dove 

The Thrasher and Mockingbird  are my prime suspects though, as I've seen them dig their longer beaks into the soil in the pots and around them as well. I am not around to block these birds all day, and I don't have something to protect the seedlings from them. Also, what I find interesting is that most of these birds were introduced and thrive in urban areas, so I can't help but think that these were not a problem for the Hohokam tribe that lived here. In fact, the only pest that I could find noted that affected tribes of the southwest was the root cutworm that attacked the corn (Fisher, 2004). Even still, they had figured a way to move their crops to elevations that allowed frost to kill the worm, but as we don't have that luxury of moving (or cutworms, or even the corn for that matter), I see this more as a Indigenous issue as opposed to one that would face an urban farmer. In the mean time, I am still not sure what to do about these birds, and have a hurt hope that anything will grow.

Fisher, Richard D. Paquime: The Anasazi Rosetta Stone: The Unifying Theory of Seven Elemental Hypothesis for Archaological Interpretations of Oasis America (2004). http://www.canyonsworldwide.org/fisher/site.htm

The line up...for now at least.

Click the image to enlarge.

This is the tentative placement for the plants. As stated all of the seeds are in the pots and I'm awaiting germination, but this could change the more I read up. As of now though, this is where these guys are going. Notice how I have each row labeled either Hohokam or Urban. The top half of each vegetable row will be receiving the identified Urban farming method and the bottom half will get the Hohokam methods. I thought about separating them further, but with the respective vegetables right next to one another, they will receive the same amount of sunlight exposure, so I thought it best to have the vegetables in side by side rows so that the sunlight control is kept as constant as possible. Water might get a little tricky, but can be better managed with how the individual vegetable rows are separated.

Not quite in the ground...

It was a lot of cottage cheese and yogurt.

Alrighty, well I am about 2 weeks behind the planting schedule but so is about everything else in my life at the moment, so I think we're doing okay for consistency. Over the past week, I have collected all of the pots that I could from home and the neglected ones on my bottom shelf back in my classroom. When I realized I was going to be woefully short of my projected 64 plants, I found one of my "reduce, reuse, recycle" items. I have been amassing yogurt, cottage cheese and humus containers for almost two years now, thinking "you don't know when you are going to need a good container!" Evidence in photography.

Prematurely devouring the last of the yogurt in the fridge to acquire the last needed container, I got to my goal of 64. 64 was chosen because it was the number that came out to allow enough spacing between plants along the rows while still allowing for enough test subjects to produce reliable results ( I have at least 12 plants of each type planted in the pots). I placed them where I envisioned them going when formally planted. Once the spacing was done, I placed a bit of the compost in the bottom of each planter from my compost bins. I realized maybe the Hohokam didn't have compost, so I went inside to scope it out. What I found was...nothing. I found a bunch on modern services with the word "Hohokam" in it, but nothing to do with any composting methods. The urban farming sites were all gung-ho about it, and I already knew that, hence the compost bins, but as I was standing in front of these bins with bugs flying about, I thought that it is likely that the tribe had recycled older plant material and pieces of the squash, beans, corn, tobacco and cotton plants that they did not use. Even though my compost is made of a lot more than that (even with my roommates used coffee grounds) it has turned into some nutrient rich compost. I decided to apply the compost to all pots because the idea of composting didn't start with urban farming; it has been around as long as farming itself, and I want these plants to live and produce much longer than what the semester calls for.

Some conventional and non conventional planters

Compost in, soil in, some water in... and now some seeds in. As I referred to in the upper paragraph, the Hohokam focused on squash, cotton, corn, tobacco and beans (Sharp, 2012). In the April Edition of Phoenix Home and Garden, they suggested that for this planting time in the low desert you plant beans, cantaloupe, corn, cucumbers, green onions, okra, peanuts, pumpkin and summer squash (Cromell 2012.) As I noticed beans, squash and corn overlapping, I decided to go with those as my two overlaps of urban and Hohokam vegetables of choice. I would have loved to gotten the other plants mentioned in the magazine, but figured I would focus on consistency for research sake. Though I did buy some pumpkin seeds for fun, but don't know where yet to plant them.

Cromell, Cathy. April Checklist: For the Low Desert (2012) Phoenix Home and Garden. Scottsdale, AZ.

Sharp, Jay W. The Hohokam: Farmers of the Desert (2012) DesertUSA.com. San Deigo, CA. http://www.desertusa.com/ind1/ind_new/ind8.html

My Hypothesis...

When I was turning up the soil the other day with the mighty pick-ax, I found a couple pieces of glass, discarded trip irrigation tubes, some screws and nails along with some pieces of asphalt shingling. I thought to myself "I bet the Hohokam didn't accidentally dig up pieces of asphalt shingling." I also then thought to myself "I bet the Hohokam didn't have full time jobs and were full time students while they were farming too." Well, I shouldn't say that they didn't have anything else to do besides farm, I am sure the tribes people carried multiple roles, such as farmers, teachers, defenders, parents and all the vital roles that can be found in any society over time. But I can't help but think that they were able to a lot more time and focus to cultivating the land, whereas most people now roll up to the grocery store, plunk down some cash for groceries for the week (be it themselves and/or their families), and stick it in the fridge when they get home....I bet the Hohokam didn't have a fridge when they got home.

 I went to the Phoenix public library to check up on some Hohokam history.They had a special room called "The Arizona Room" which housed a treasure trove of original AZ artifacts. There were a few restrictions though. I was condensed to about 45 minutes worth of research (by my own schedule) and I was not allowed to take anything out nor write anything down (all AZ archives had to stay in that room and no pens were allowed...I didn't have a pencil). I pulled a few pieces off the shelves and kept getting more and more information about the canal system that was unearthed around Sky Harbor International Airport, which is all of a 8 minute drive from my house. What I wanted to find was specific plants and planting methods that the tribe used for the spring, which is when I intend to plant. I didn't find anything. I left the library a little dejected, thinking what the heck did they do, and when the heck am I going to be able to get back to the library to research this stuff with still not having found the time to plant.

 So for my hypothesis. Thinking about those asphalt pieces I am thinking that the urban planting methods will be better. I've come to this immediate expectation because this soil has been subject to well over a century of urban development, has had a variety of things done to it, and is going to be affected by the inability of a busy dude to tend to the plants every need at any given day...I've got four wedding weekends coming up out of town, which is when I get to actually play in the garden. I've got the plant species picked out (corn, summer squash, garden beans and Tepary Beans) which were mentioned on a variety of websites and the PHX garden magazine for both native and modern planting. I believe that trying to incorporate more native methods (if I ever find them) of how to plant won't do well in modern urban farming. The surrounding vegetation is different, the soil is different, the inputs will inevitable be different. And to remind the reader, the purpose isn't to recreate the environment of the Hohokam tribe at the time, it is just to see if there methods would work in an urban setting with an urban farmer with an urban lifestyle. With the very wide, wide, wide range of variables and ill-kept controls... I simply don't see how traditional ecological knowledge will prevail here in comparison to urban methods. I am not discounting that the crops won't grow at all, but I think that the land has been changed so much and my deficiencies as a farmer won't be able to support what successful TEK implementation demands.

Getting going and seeing the light.

I just submitted this project as a talk for the Ignite Phoenix event on May 4th. It is kind of like a more structured TED talk for the community. I gave one of these before for my sustainability education job, which you can see here. It was sweet, but man did it take a bunch of prep work.

I think that this project is very interesting, but if it is actually going to work, then I need to start documenting shorter and more frequent posts, and try to avoid these essay like bonanzas, seeing as I already have a few other essays that I need to address for other courses. So enough about blog posts strategy, lets move on with some dirt.

So, I've started to hunt down the literature that I am going to need for this. A lot of it is conveniently located at the Phoenix public library, so that is a win, but most of those titles I can't take out of the library, so my plan of referencing a lot of that work while in the yard isn't going to happen, unless I can get real friendly with the library...in a strictly academic sense of course. But I can't really move forward with this project until I get the sources to reference from. It is going to take some time to lock down these sources, and the planting season has arrived too. So I have some sources identified at the library and the impulse buy the other day of the latest Phoenix Home & Garden Magazine edition: The Garden Issue. I flipped though it and they have some solid tips about what/how to plant, and also some really fancy pictures of high end fancy gardens over in Scottsdale. Maybe one day I'll get to that point.

But one thing I want to look at is something I can't prevent, but also really like. I have a big tree in my yard, and I recently learned from my landlord that it is a Evergreen Elm. Now, the name is a bit misleading as this tree did just shed all of its leaves this past December/January. But here it is in March and all the leaves are back in full strength. It is a beautiful tree with willow-like weeping branches that are also high enough to walk under. It is thee trademark to my yard, and it happens to blanket my garden in spotted shade.

I am not sure yet if this is going to be a benefit or a liability with the plants as the garden rows are directly beneath the tree, but if I were to hypothesize: I would think that the plants would do better with the shade as the spring/summer heat increases, giving some opportunity for sunlight to hit (to allow photosynthesis to happen) while providing consistent breaks from the hot sun. It isn't really rocket science (plants needing light and all), but the right species for the light allocation that I have is a bit of science. Speaking of which, if you are on facebook and enjoy science, you should probably like this.

The last note I want to make is the neighbors choice of an awning. Being that I live right in the middle of an urban neighborhood, my west wall is my neighbors east wall, so we are very close. Besides all the random noises of animals I hear over there (man and geese..I think?), whatever they decide to put up on their property is something I have to live with, and so is the case with anyone who would want to start gardening in a dense neighborhood. Anyway, if you see in the picture,

it marks a very early onslaught of solid shade onto the garden in the afternoon. I am not for sure in this, but I have a suspicion that it is the reason why nothing grew on my two west rows the initial time I tried to plant. It is a control that will play a big part in how this all goes, but maybe my choice of plants for those rows before (green peppers, zucchini, tomato) just wasn't the right choice anyway.

Access Granted! Now what?

Alright! We have been officially given the thumbs up for this project. With some gracious poking and prodding for me to actually have a clear focus complements of my professor Denise Mitten, Ph.D, there is now solid direction to this project. In borrowing a couple of concepts from another course I am taking, Sustainability Theory and Practice in Education, the idea of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) came into light during one of the papers. TEK is the knowledge often used by indigenous peoples to pay attention to the land to best work with it. This could be understanding seasonal changes to water flows to best maximize crop yield or hunting game. I started thinking about how the Hohokam tribe used TEK to survive for a millennium in the valley of the sun, as place that I initially thought humans should not exist. Turns out they did fine for a thousand years before abruptly disappearing.

Seeing as I have already written the formal research proposal, I'll spare you and myself from another paraphrasing, so here is the link to it that can be found on my school site.

Now that I have the go ahead...what the heck do I do? Before I just started digging up dirt and bought the cheapest seeds at the local hardware store, but now there is a point to all this. This makes me wonder about how most lay persons start when they want to start a garden, which is one of the big reasons why I proposed this project. My being from the East Coast in a water rich environment, those underlying ideas of how to garden there are still the foundation of how I first think to garden here in the desert, a completely different and arid environment. I can't help but imagine that is how many of the gardens in the desert start, and either become very resource intensive processes or the garden keepers just give up because their prior garden knowledge isn't able to sustain a garden in the desert.

You know, sometimes I forget that I teach research methods to high schoolers, and that the very next step is one I assess regularly. I should probably follow that lead. Sounds like a up coming post to me.

Urban Desert Farming: A semester research project

What is prompting this new blog/old blog revival is the suggestions that I have received from fellow PhD cohort 7 members about my wanting to try urban desert farming. Some may say it is just gardening in a backyard in the desert, and to an extent they are right. But, as I have been talking to cohort members and reading more about our complete disassociation of what we consume and where it comes from, then looking at my $100 grocery bill, I thought to myself that I have never really eaten anything that I have grown. As in 100% of all the food that I have consumed in my life came from somewhere else.

For our research methods course, we are tasked to design some sort of research project to span the semester. AS I have no interest in being in front of a laptop longer than I have to be, I wanted to get sweaty, dirty and have a physical product to show for my work, and not just more of the same academic work. I usually work in my backyard when it is light out, so as I was staring at my failed attempt of a garden (pictured above) that served as a distraction to my work last semester, what if I do some research and application of how to sustainably urban farm in the desert, all in the comfort of my own home? Sweet, right? Here is a quick list of some of what I want to explore for this project:

1. Best vegetable species for desert climate
2. Water distribution techniques
3. Compost quality testing (Current compost situation pictured)
4. Compost distribution techniques
5. Rain water harvesting
6. Independent water allocation (not just me standing with a hose)
7. Sunlight exposure
8. Temperature reaction (it is going to start to get hot!)
9. Weed infiltration & species identification
10. Integrated pest management
11. Local compost co-ops/collectives
12. Local urban farming initiatives
13. Maximizing food yield
14. AZ Local Farmers Techniques
15. Healthy habits to maintaining all of this

So here is the start of this blog per suggestion of my classmates, documenting the struggles and successes of learning and applying urban farming techniques. Besides learning some research methods and how to farm, my main goal with this is to have fun, which I feel can be all to absent from the first year of doctoral work. I hope to also intersperse other posts not about the research project itself, but about the experience of learning, teaching and applying sustainability principles, which has yet to be boring.

Relaunch...

Good Afternoon,

This blog died two years ago. I quit my last job of teaching out of severe frustration, took solace out of living out of my car, was offered a job as a sustainability instructor back in Phoenix, someone told me what I was doing was dissertation worthy, applied to Prescott College's Sustainability Education program, got in, have been hacking away at that this year and a whole bunch else that I am not going to really go into, besides the following:

My job: www.crestsustainability.net

My new passion: www.abchphoto.com

But, the time has come to "reimagine" (one of my new favorite terms) this blog, as it will no longer be about the random musings about my life, but now the focused experience of a fellow learning and teaching this whole sustainability thing in what was called "The Most Unsustainable City" by author Andrew Ross in his book "Bird on Fire," Phoenix, Arizona.

Besides the absurdity of living in the desert at times as well as learning and teaching a subject still in its infancy, with little common denominators and self-appointed intellectual muses leading the charge in their own respective fields, this blog is aimed at capturing the work and effort of not only learning sustainability, applying sustainability and teaching sustainability, but really giving this all encompassing field of study some sort of relevance for all, and further relevance for myself in continuing with it. Let us hope it doesn't reach a re-demise as the prior self once did.

Note: I am writing this while laying on my patch of grass in my back yard in the desert, a completely non-native and resource intensive plant to keep alive in a climate that receives about 10 inches of rain a year.

Holidays

I believe that this is my second post composed on a plane. POSTS ON A PLANE!!! It really is one of the few genuine moments in which I have complete solitude to just think and write… about nothing in particular. But at least this time there is no farty guy to accompany me in this flight.
When I land in Chicago (from Phoenix), I will have to stay put for two days, and not be able to leave until Monday morning (it is currently Saturday evening). I am thinking about contacting Uber, or Chris Enany, one of my long lost conservative friends from Ithaca, all…two of them. I know that he busted out there to try out his comedy after being a banker in North Carolina; one of those jobs that help you realize that boring jobs, no matter how lucrative, turn out to suck.
Today kicked off winter break, two weeks of pure glory, pure running around visiting random people and sitting in my basement room and rediscovering how limited Simsbury is glory. At some point I really need to sign up for some off the wall volunteer holiday project in some abandoned land, like western Arkansas, whatever the hell might actually be out there. But, in reflection to the wandering trip this past summer that I more or less gave up going into grand detail about in prior posts (teaching will make you give up on many things, such as fun…and personal life), I am excited to kick it in Chicago for whatever reason. A hotel room and hanging around the airport waiting for a standby flight could be fun, but I think just getting lost and possibly hunting down an old friend to possibly sleep on a couch is much, much more appealing.
In regards to teaching, I have reached my 75% mastery point, with only one semester left of my teaching commitment. I must say that as the teaching skills have actual proved themselves to be not too shabby, it is rather clear that my interest in teaching is quite shabby. I am in the process of applying to doctoral programs, so far at ASU and … University of Alaska Fairbanks. I could go to Alaska for 4 to 5 years. I would be there til I’m 30 and would have fought 3 bears, in addition to earning a Ph.D. Minor detail. Though, with my stellar performance on the GRE (HORGODDAMNRIFFIC), I think I better start to consider a Ph.D. in deep frying frozen cod pieces. Or fries, or even slices of pizza if the Arizona State Fair would have anything to do with it.
Well, the battery symbol on my laptop is saying that it doesn’t want to be my teammate in this endeavor anymore. Quick notes though, being a hockey goalie is going well, currently 2-1 on the season and in second place with a GAA of over 0.8. Had my first shift for Radio Phoenix which could have been much rougher, and I accidentally killed Quentin, my beta fish, by forgetting him outside and he froze to death as I drank to delight. Mike (my roommate) and I then buried him in one of plants on the patio. He will live on through the plant that is now aptly named Quentin. See you in CT, which is currently being barraged with snow. Glorious.

Details

Wow, it has been two months since I posted last. I hope that gives you an indication of what the teaching world has been like so far. Yet, here on the quintessential lazy Sunday, I feel the nerve to do not much of anything, and be guilty for it too.

I left you with a summarizing of my trip over the summer. Now, as epic as that trip was, it was captured in many photos, maybe not reducing the need to relive it though words, but for time constraints and the mere elapse of time, many an event has taken place since August 15th.

The trip, to circumnavigate detail, was awesome. I saw a lot of this country and the areas that it is trying to preserve, that being much of the west and the country's national parks. Hoping along though central New York, around (and into) the Great Lakes then making a quick stop in good ole' Green Bay. From there, busting through Wisconsin, making an epic stop in Minneapolis for one night only, and then crashing into the Bad Lands of South Dakota at twilight was unforgettable, not to mention the lightning storm I was caught in camping out in the open prairie. I awoke in a dazed fury, hit in the face by rain and threw the tent in the front of my car, and before the wind blew me over, I crawled into the back seat and slept...uncomfortably.

From there, it was a national park parade. Badlands to the Crazy Horse monument, which was actually crazy...no really, look it up. Then onto the town of Deadwood, S.D. where I met some very lovely and accommodating ladies (I'll leave your thoughts to your thoughts, though all was kosher, I promise). After paying my respects to Wild Bill and Calamity Jane, though I stayed in there preferred hotel room (Where they got on their....business time) that evening, I moved onto Mt. Rushmore...wahoo.. and then over to wind cave national park, which is 150 or so miles of underground tunnel wahoo!! for reals.

After emerging from the cold caverns of the Earth, and then should have been gorged by a Buffalo, I cruised through southeastern Wyoming (where I saw a sign for a town with a population of...1), to then rolling into Rocky Mountain National Park where the Alpine Tundra be, with some sweet elk. Then onto Colorado National Monument, which was a smaller, more beautiful Grand Canyon-esque. Black Canyon of the Gunnison, which is just a sheer gash into the Earth of sheer glory. Stayed there for the evening, cruised on over to 4 corners, which is a plaque in the ground, and then through Payson and into my humble abode in Phoenix.

There is a certain element to pushing things off, in that sometimes, not all the time, they lose their inherent quality, much like the journey I took. But, it is also hard to clearly encapsulate an extensive experience as a whole...it must be broken down into it's individual parts and explored in detail.

At this point, I'm going to try and choose one thing, and go into the grandest of detail of it, regardless of all that takes place in life. I notice that I try to get it all, which severely depletes the value of what I'm talking about, which is basically the reason why I started doing this thing. And I guess that is something that can be said for life as well; try not to do it all at once. Do what you can when you can, but if you try and take it all on at once, it gets overwhelming, dilutes in value, and nothing is truly taken away from it. Besides, as I have taught my students, being vague and too general sucks. Details, details details.


Oh yeah, and watch out for this guy!

I have unsheathed my teaching sword and I declare a joust! to the grimly beast that shall be titled middle school. I vow to slay thee to experience what unholy pains may come from one who can sew together the torn innards of this vast lands achievement gap! I have come for thee fair maiden of 80%, nay, 100% mastery!, and not even the state superintendent Lord Horne may deter my crusade. I may travel from afar, but my gallant fellow swordsmen are the best of the land and I say to thee I shall lay you down to rest, and I promise you this, there will be no child left behind.

I wanted to see if I could translate the start of the second year of Teach For America into Medevil terms. Not too bad I think.

It has been a long time since I have last posted, and to that person who probably accidentally stumbled upon this blog while looking for the Andrew Bernier who is a fantastic artist based in Milwaukee, qualifying him as the only other person to have probably looked at this, I apologize for the delay in writing.

I've been in Phoenix for four weeks now, and the start of the year has been nuts, but tenfold better than last year. Though, I would like to give a righteous middle finger salute to all those who told me I needed to get a new finger print card, when in fact I didn't. I would like my $72 dollars back. Does putting a money sign and writing out dollars qualify as redundant?


But before this teaching jazz (which I'm sure will become the bane of my existence for all upcoming posts), was one of the highlights of my life; my road trip. My last post reflected the beginnings of the trip, but the meats and many potatoes were not covered. I will write about it, and/or you could look at one of the 1,500+ pictures I took (I think that is why I held out on getting a camera for so long, knowing that I am a picture taking whore...word choice?).

I departed that couch in Ithaca and ventured west to Watkins Glen and visited the actual Glen. The walk was a visual delight and it was the absolute antithesis of Phoenix. Green, water, lush; pure glory. It was a healthy trek through a fantastic gorge, one that I have to agree with on most; it is better than what Ithaca offers, but the city still blows Watkins Glen out of the water...except for the Roosterfish Brewery. Damn that nut brown is a delight. I met up with my friend Paige and her all very welcoming family and stayed in their camper for the evening. For a conversation that was comprised of some college kids and some middle agers, I was pleasantly surprised by how comfortingly dirty it was...and I think Paige's mom was trying to get me a little drunk. A wonderful woman indeed.

After breakfast the next morning, I embarked to....that's the thing. After Watkins Glen, there was no plan. I just started kinda heading west, well, northwest really. There was a bustling metropolis with high economic potential by the name of Buffalo that I decided to go through and enter the vast wilderness of Southern Ontario. I thought, well, I have 10 days or so to do whatever the hell I want, soooooooo lets go up to Canada and venture round the great lakes. The drive took me past Toronto (took that photo while driving, dangerous as all hell, but pretty impressive none the less) and decided to camp out on the Georgian Bay, the other big part of Lake Huron. As I rolled into a provincial park near the settlement of Killarney, I realized that I really didn't have any of my camping equipment ready to go. It took me over an hour to get the back of my car together and my backpack ready to go to venture into the Canadian woods. It was already very dark, but by gosh, I was going into the thicket. I hiked to the point where I really couldn't see that far in front of me anymore, but luckily found a large, thick patch of moss on an embedded boulder. The mosquitoes were horrific, and I attacked them with reckless abandon inside my little tent confines.

I finally got to sleep, but had opted not to apply the tent fly. But of course there was a faint rail falling a few hours into the night. I zipped out and frantically searched for my fly (that is the tent covering, not the metal strip in front of my crotch) while swatting away thirsty mosquitoes, all while in a deadening sleep daze. This late night frantic was stopped suddenly when I realized I was in the middle of the woods in Canada, a country that opted not to kill off all its wolves and bears over the past two centuries. From that, I just got myself and my fly together as calm as I could, endured some mosquito love, and went back to bed. Granted the sleep wasn't the greatest (though it shouldn't be while camping) the morning was one of great reward and renewal, as it was my first night waking up in a place that I never heard of nor thought I would ever be.

I realize that an 11 day trip would be hard to summarize in a single blog post, so I suppose I'll do this thang a few more times, than start up the bane of my existence posts regarding teaching. Hmm, the sun isn't scorching the outside anymore today. Bike ride?...I think so.

Road

I don't quite know what is going to happen next.

Well, I'm going to get food, I know that.

But then after that, I don't know what is going to happen next.

I am about to leave Ithaca, and the changes are happening to this city. They put in an Urban Outfitters?! Squeeze me? Pardon? Really? Wowza. Not to mention the new buildings on the the Ithaca campus. I really enjoy the absolute mish-mash of buildings they have there; some concrete, some brick, some glass, some trailer, and now two spaceships. Pretty L.E.E.D. certified spaceships.

Even though this blog thing never really has taken off, and I'm not sure where it is going, I'm glad that you have decided to stumble upon this and keep up to this point.

My birthday was a few days ago, and all turning 24 means is that you are certifiably in your mid twenties. 23 had some gray area to it, but 24 is not a joker. Oh hell no. I wonder how confused I will be when I turn 27.

I was really hoping to not have to summarize a summer in a couple of sentences, but I think I will blip things now so that I may elaborate later, which I'm sure won't even happen. This summer has been full of travel and happen-stance. Grandfather passing away, my car passing away, trips to D.C., Colorado, Iowa, the straight, 23 hour drive back home from Iowa, Acadia national park in Maine and Lake Winnepasauke in N.H. with my girlfriend/partner in crime Tacey. The purchasing of my new wheels, Leon, who is a geezer. Hanging with all of my Simsbury cohorts, which is always a fantastic pleasure, or even fantastically pleasuring. Tacey coming to Simsbury. Travels to Rhode Island for my wife Laurel and then to Quincy (Boston) for my BFF Bobbielee.

In these travels though, all being rich in local and shared experience, I do burn the fossil fuels to see those of whom I care deeply. The people very much shape the expereince, I am glad that I was able to see many. There are some of who I was not able to see this break, much like my friend Leslie, whom I have not seen or heard from in over 9 years. Amazing the power of that other online demon facebook. I did happen to see a lot of people on this trip, and some of which I really didn't expect to see.

But now I am goign to embark on a 8 day journey of I don't know and with no one in sight, though there will be many in mind. Having that time to one self to just go and get lost is damn near necessary, especially when it comes to preserving the relationships that we have. It allows us to better acquaint us with ourselves, which can then further develop how we interact with others. I hope that you do give time to be by yourself, since all others can benefit with you knowing exactly who you are.

Did that sound like something hallmark would write? I hope not. Screw hallmark.

I like roulette, but only when Mark Hejduk is by my side. Red, even, black, etc. Though I still think that Foxwoods casino is still a terrible place (where I started my birthday). It was really sad to see severely obese people sitting at a slot machine at 1:45 a.m. just pumping money into it. How do we as humans get to a point like that, not to mention allow something like that to happen? Free will can be a bitch sometimes.

Aight, this has been nonsensical, much like this summer. The will to survive by consuming food is starting to take precedence over writing, so until where ever the hell I end up, just hope ole' Leon can make it through.

Oh yeah, and watch out for this guy!!

Eulogy

It has been a whirlwind since I got home. I did happen to see my grandfather two days before his death. It was a good tiem seeing him, as he was still in his wily high spirts. I was asked to speak at the funeral, so I thought I would share those words, reflecting my experience with grandpa, my last grandparent.


8th grade. With my elbows on the desk, I brought my head down and pressed my forehead into my palms. I’m starring at the just returned test in front of me, with a big, glaring F on it. I looked around the room to find that other students were bragging to each other about their grades; I continued to silently sulk over this catastrophe of academic showmanship. I thought to myself, “How am I failing this miserably at French? I think it might be generous to assume that maybe one other person in this classroom has any family member whose native language is French, yet I have a grandfather who’s first language is French and the only phrase that I can say confidently is je ne sais pas, translation: I don’t know.” Throw in a last name like Bernie’, I stared back down at my F and pondered the irony of the situation.
Traveling to grandpas, I recall getting excited to try and communicate the little bit of French that I had picked up from class. My father, siblings and I would pull into the driveway, get out of the car, collect our blankets and pillows and bombard our way through the door. Grandpa would always greet me with a firm handshake. As I would get older the firmness of my grip would improve, and then after a few classes in French in my back pocket, I would add a “Bonjour Grandpere” to that handshake. I didn’t realize that would release a torrent of French from his mouth. As he would wrap up his statement that I’m sure was covered in the 3rd class of the year, my eyes would widen, and jaw would drop as I would search my infant French vocabulary for a response. “Uhhh….je ne sais pas.” He would let out a laugh and let me in. I think that the only thing I found more confusing than when grandpa tried to teach me a little bit of French was the first time he tried to teach me how to play cribbage.
Walking into grandpa’s house always seemed “just right,” and by that I mean there was always an extravagant amount of golf knick-knacks scattered through the house, candlepin bowling was on the television (I still can’t believe that sport is televised), a cribbage board ready to go, and the refrigerator was always stocked with Moxie soda. For those of you who have not had the distinct pleasure of enjoying a cold can of moxie, imagine cough syrup and licorice together and then carbonated. I remember drinking a full glass of Moxie without wincing and thinking that it was some coming of age. Grandpa’s house was certainly not tailored to the entertainment of three young kids, but it was something special to be in his environment for a while and enjoy those things that I couldn’t find anywhere else.
But besides gramp’s house and absolutely huge yard (where my siblings and I would tee-off and drive golf balls as far as we could), it was always about being with grandpa. The conversations we had were about anything and everything, but usually ranging from who my sister was dating at the time to who grandpa had a date with that night. I was always impressed with how much his phone rang. But if there was something that will always stick with me about grandpa, it would have to be his ability to keep cranking out jokes. He was continuously keeping me chuckling with some off the cuff remark and sometimes repeated one-liner. Even up to the very end of his life while he stayed in bed, we were moving the sheets to make him more comfortable and somebody mentioned “hang in there grandpa,” and of course grandpa snuck in there “why can’t we just hang out?” I let out a boisterous laugh which grandpa responded, “well, Andrew is here.”
With mentioning grandpa’s state towards the end of his tremendous life, I do want to give thanks and a deep appreciation to Aunt Elise and Uncle Bill, who have made countless sacrifices to ensure that the end of grandpa’s long journey was as comfortable and caring as possible. I know that it meant the world to grandpa to be around family and to be cared for by the ones who love him. I cannot possibly conceive grandpa to have received the care, attention and nurturing that Aunt Elise and Uncle Bill provided him anywhere else, and to that we all thank you so much.
Not many people can say that they have been able to live such an extensive and active life as grandpa, being an icon in a community that he watched first-hand grow into what it is today. He showed characteristics that I continuously try to emulate and carried out a genetic longevity that I’m sure many of us hope to have inherited; a longevity which gave grandpa the chance to see four generations of his making, an extremely rare opportunity which I’m sure was a perfect capstone to a long and rich life. So grandpa, I love you so much and thank you for being the influence you were on all of our lives. I hope now that you are in a place where the cribbage board is always on the table and the moxie is always cold.

Grandpa

So, I am about to embark on a mad dash across the country from Denver to good ole' Simsbury. Some 2,000 miles. Reason being is that my grandfather is dying up in Northern New Hampshire. He is 97, to say the least has had a long life. I tried to talk to him the other day, but it was difficult. He was just saying that he was confused about what was going on and that he didn't remember things to the questions that I was asking him. Eventually he said that it was best if he went. Not much I can say to that really. I was very much at a loss for words. My Aunt is throwing him a party and is expecting the whole family (he is at the top of 4 living, maybe 5, generations) to come to her house where he is staying. It is at noon on Saturday. It will be early morning Thursday when I leave Colorado. He asked me to come see him. I'm going to do my damn best. Hold in there Grandpa.

I am though leaving a grand week in Colorado, full of Uncle Todd, bikerides, suds, conversation and the glorious Rockey Mountains. I'll get to that soon, though if I am going to make a productive drive tomorrow, I am going to need some sleep.

Andrew

D.C.'d!

Noted: Washington D.C. never fails to impress. Never. Ever.

On a very whimsical 400+ dollar purchase, I decided to take the absolute first 5 days of my summer vacation / TFA time-out and spend it in the other city that I had placed as my top choice, along with Phoenix. It so happened to be that one of my very good friends, former roommate and longtime fellow pillager of livers Alex Moore was holding himself a going away party as he was graduating the likes of Georgetown U.

To start, I almost missed the flight and finally crashed the gate of my flight about 9 minutes before taking off. Literally squeezing onto it, I trekked the country airborne and made it to the final destination. It was nice seeing the capitol flying in. The most immediate act was to secure food, which eventually came in the form of a cheese steak from an Asian restaurant near the metro stop.

A welcoming crew was sent to retrieve me composed of some of my favorite I.C.er's Abie, Bevin, Jack, Ally and the ever gracious DTM. The party proved to be as disastrous as advertized with and eventual tackle - takedown from Alex, who I'm sure could only make me out by my blond hair and perpetual flannel (I seriously doubt his ability to identify fine details at this point). Regardless, I caught the shindig at the tail end and didn't get too involved in the imbibing, thought the cheesesteak and catching up with several other I.C.er's such as Big Chris, Amanda, Anna, Ram, Winski, Casey Brown and others was joyous. And watching Alex actually die after trying to tackle me again but only slamming his genitals into a railing also proved to be plenty worth the plane ticket.

The rest of the trip also proved to be solid, with all of Saturday being dedicated to Mimosas and running amock in Adam's Morgan with many of the above names. Sunday was a sad one to start, as I saw off many of the guys and was then left on my own with a backpack and suitcase in the middle of D.C. It was a cool feeling. I got ahold of my friend Bri who lives in the area and we made it over to the International Spy museam which was mega sweet. It was almost like being in the temple from "Legends of the Hidden Temple" as the first part of the place was pretty much a puzzle for every room, though our group didn’t do so well, and I'm pretty sure that our guide was very hung-over, not unlike myself (DOUBLE NEGATIVE KIDS!!!), that one is for my students, who always use them, and hope never, ever read this.

Monday was Abie day, and an Abie day is always going to be one of the most glorious days that ever be. That was the real touristy day, where we checked out the inside of the capitol, saw the national archives (the constitution up-close is a rather commanding parchment), checked out the statue garden on the mall and got ourselves some chow in Foggy bottom (tehe). *Note: As I compose this on the plane, someone is unleashing a fury of flatulence, and I sit next to the window trapped, sickened and impressed.*

Which brings us to today. Besides my consistent late starts to the day (I think I am still catching up on sleep), I was able to scramble over to the newly renovated Smithsonian for American history. It was sweet, though I was only able to view about half of it. Then, metro-ing over to VA for my last goodbye of the trip over lunch with my friend Bri, and then off to the airport, to sit near the farty guy.

Thanks to all those who were apart of the trip. It was soo needed to get some IC blood around me and I will always be grateful for those friends and the fact that I've been nonexistent in the desert for a year now, and I can still come back and rock it with some of the finest people that I have ever met, and damn proud to call my friends.

In closing, major props to two of my best friends; Amanda Butts and the Washington Metro system. Amanda was a very fine host and answered the question of "where am I sleeping" which is one that should generally be answered before embarking on a trip like this, and if the metro system were a woman, I would take it on a very nice steak dinner....I love you.

Aight homies, I have no idea what lies beyond for the summer time. With only a very few amount of obligations, the plan is to get lost park by park across this country. Pictures depend on if I get a camera and messages depend on if I get a car charger, because I am going get as far away from Phoenix as I can. Til' next time, I'll be kickin' it with the farty guy.

Andrew

Memorial Day

Fancy how this day was established to those who gave their lives for this here country. Yet I have decided to spend it by cleaning the scum that was forming under the rim of my toilet and that awkward space around the fake platinum faucet of my bathroom sink.

Think of all the bacteria that gave their lives today in my bathroom for that there...bacterial colony?

Regardless, today is the final installment of the three day weekend. In not to long I am to shuffle off to a BarbBQ / housewarming party, and tomorrow will be the first installment of the final three days of my first year of teaching. Yet, all I can think about right now is the massive collection of dust that hangs atop the blades of my bedroom ceiling fan. Maybe part of the colony lives there. I'll give them a Memorial day to remember.

I do beg your pardon (to the .73 people who might actually read this) about the delay in writing about nothing in particular, but maybe it does give an indication about the teacher side of the end of the school year. WAY MORE CRAZY THAN THE STUDENT SIDE. It is pretty hilarious though how this past Thursday I had my students go all out for their science fair project, seeing them stress out, write the longest reports (well, any actual document) of their entire lives, create these elaborate powerPoints, poster boards, projects and even videos, and I just sat there and mused over some ASU work and other things to catch up on. Well, at least when I was a student it wasn't all too bad, I just like to make sure that my students are going to catch a break come the end of the year. Builds character for a 7th grader, or something like that.

My bird feeder is doing FANTASTIC, though there is now little white spots all over my patio.

As of now it looks like I will be shifting from 7th grade science and language arts to 7th and 8th grade science, as I will be the science teacher at my school next year. To complement, I am hoping on an ASU fellowship this year that will allow me to focus on creating curriculum for sustainable systems, which would be sawheet, though this is so far PLAN D for the summer as of yet, and don't rest all my hopes on getting it. I did splurge some $400 on camping gear to go back backing in parks across the country, which was actually plan C. Any thoughts for a plan E? Let's just make one up for Z while we're at it. I do ultimatly want to go to Antartica.

Well, I think I am going to go develop an underwater camera now. I took some pictars at Discovery Cove in Orlando a little less than a month ago, where I SWAM WITH DOLPHINS. Touristy to the max, but I had to spend my tax rebate check somehow.

Your Impact

This is one of my best efforts, and it was done as a volunteer hobby when I was working three jobs and running an improv troupe. It was good.

http://www.ithaca.edu/icview/3895/

And here is the shows site: www.myspace.com/yourimpactshow

Maybe I'll post the audio files at somepoint.

SOFTBALL!!! I WANT TO PLAY SOFTBALL!!!

David Prunty is a man who knows what he likes. And this man likes his softball. I attribute any and all credit to him when I get excited to play softball, which is somewhat, though, this is most possibly his pure existence as to work at Ithaca College in the summer time.

How did David Prunty make it into my second post on this thing?

Anyway, I was in a softball tournament today with my school (Sine Elementary) team. Misfits. Bad news bears. The Pittsburgh Pirates; teams or collections of peoples that are generally doomed for failure in baseball/softball athletic competition. Though, we banded together and had ourselves a day in the most intensity slow pitch softball can muster.

It was played in a tournament style, and out of 16 teams, we lost in the final four and walked away with a co-third place trophy? Co-third place? Here, have half of a bronze. But not to whine (I just think the concept of co-third is amusing), it was a lot of fun, and I hit a couple of homeruns and had a butt-ton (button?) of RBIs. And my defensive capabilities are spectacular, even though the glove that I have had since 6th grade is tearing in half. And my batting glove tore and my finger pokes through the tip now.

But, what is alarming is how this was apart of a wellenss fair for the whole Gelndale Elementary School District, and since I walked a bunch and wore a pedometer in a prior district challenge, they gave me a $25.00 camelback thing. And there were hundreds of these things, and water bottles and yoga mats and wiis and ipod nanos and something else that was shinny.

Though the district is cutting the budget, not buying textbooks and cutting our salaries.

But four dips are getting wiis?

If for whatever reason you start reading this and I don't know you, or you don't know me, I'll introduce myself in the next post.

I need to go grade forever now.

Probably should be working on ASU work right now.

The title is pretty self explanatory. Though I will be shuffling off to the Four Peaks Brewery in just a hot moment. I wonder if I will actually keep up with this thing? ASU work = that famous action or motion that results in some from one time wrestler slamming his arms, outstretched and crossed to form an "x", with the bottom open portion (his hands) on both sides of his genitalia area, with the high-volume decree of "suck it!" emitted while performing said motion.