Year of the Meniscus

In mid-December I was in Faber, VA. I had taken an pre-meeting walk to get ready for the day, and found myself laying by a river watching the water pour down and over some rocks. Not that this was a particularly new sight, but I really noticed something... the way the water sticks together. It's surface tension holds itself together, creating a sense of cohesiveness, to spite it's liquid state that makes me think it shouldn't be able to do that. It should fall apart, separate, spill... it should be chaos.

What am I talking about? well, do ya'll remember being in science class (cira 3rd grade, maybe) and learning about the meniscus?

{thanks for the image, wikki}

It's the specific curve created when you over fill a glass of water, but it doesn't spill out. This act is a fine line, just a drop too much and--- chaos!! there is water dripping over the edge and you've gotten the counter all wet (the horror). So, now that we're on the same page of the science behind my statement (err, are we?)- I'll elaborate.

This year, was the year of the Meniscus.

This year, was more packed than I ever imagined it could be. My glass was filled- past the top. But just barely, because I'm pretty sure it didn't turn into chaos (at least not the bad kind). I'm also pretty sure, that if anything more happened in 2011, chaos would be had. Or, at least I would have spent (more) time huddled in the fetal position thinking there was NO WAY i'd be able to do this. Whatever 'this' is...

I did a lot of moving around...

• I lived in Rock Creek, WV (Jan-July), Machias, Maine (July-Sept), in a truck- midwest style-(Sept-Nov), and in central Ohio (Dec)!

that- is a lot of places to live, a lot of beds to sleep in, a lot of kitchens to feed people in, and a lot of places to consider home- some for the long haul, and some of them with the understanding that a sense of home is short lived there.

In that time, I've (under failry strict meaning of the word) considered myself to have 22 housemates. WAY more if you consider folks who often stayed in a house i lived in, tented in a yard i lived in, or spent more than a week living together (say Blair Mountain).

• Spent time in 19 US states (Ohio, Maine, WV, VA, New York, PA, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Minnesota, Washington DC, North Carolina, TN... at the least. I just can't fully recall...

• I went to Canada 3 times

Which, prior to 2011, I had been out of the country 0 times. I went once for an anti- fracking protest in New Brunswick, and crossed the border 2ce on fall tour.

I had the boarder patrol read my diary, and had the fear of god put into me (and probably for Nikki and Tyler, too) when a boarder patrol-er came from around the counter towards us, snapping on a rubber glove and asked 'which one of you had to go to the bathroom?'

Ah! none of us. not us, no sir, no way. I totally thought we were getting searched, like, really searched (we weren't)

I did a lot of work, or things I call work, or think of as work, most of the time, or at least some of the time...

• WV based work...
• programming co-coordinating for the March on Blair Mountain, with the amazing Becks, where we planned, scratched, replanned, canceled, planned again and mostly implemented the non-logistical schedule for the March on Blair Mountain (like evening speakers and musicians and the rally schedule and line up)
• I worked on the media team- mostly pre-march- and got practice in doing outreach in new and exciting ways, with a amazing and talented group of people (did you see the media that came outta the march!?! it was SO good!)
• I did door-to-door outreach in southern WV for the march. Both exciting and (at the time) scary.
• At CRMW I worked in small and large ways to revamp the Volunteer process- as the (what ended up being short term) volunteer coordinator
• I helped plan the programming for Mountain Justice Summer camp, and also did some work in with the group as a whole (like helping to facilitate)

• Beehive...
• Did over 60 beehive presentations- mostly the True Cost of Coal
• Work party- i helped host and run a month long marathon workparty for... so many people. i actually don't have a number, but not including the ball, i'd say over 100 came through for at least a while. a steady 60 people.
• facilitated the baking of hundreds of baked good for the bfb
• helped host, organize, and throw a 1000+ person dance party (blackfly ball)
• successful wrote and received my first grant- from NEST- for bringing a Klezmer band to the bfb
• Beehive Meetings- I did the most intensive, aggravating, and skill pushing agenda setting, planning, and facilitating thus far in my life during the january beehive meetings; played a similar (but more minor) role for our May meetings; and was in another intense (in a different way) set of 2 week meetings this Dec. We met a lot.
• i went on a mini research trip on fracking- in the Pittsburgh area. Where I learned a lot, and really began to question if i have the option of not living in ohio (i later decided, no. not really)

• other things...
• I was elected to the Ohio Alliance for People and the Environment (OAPE) board, and have begun doing work with them.
• sent 2 million and 3 emails (thats a joke. mostly)

I also had a personal life... (a what?) like things i don't consider 'work'...

• 2 new babies were born in my family! i'm the aunt of 5! holy shit!
• Started dating someone- who is really amazing.
• some ohio friends came ALL the way to maine to see me- holy smokes- that's so great!
• i got to dance over bad little falls and experience the magic of celebration (bfb)
• traded vehicles, and now have a car that- for now- runs smoothly.
• made new amazing friends from all over the county- and feel incredibly lucky and blessed to know so many folks who i love and care about.
• i screen printed something! me! i did that (and will continue to, i think)
• made a zine for my nephews- and shared it in a public way
• actually started to learn the banjo- then forgot and will re-learn in 2012
• i made 13 blog posts (many of which, have more details about the things listed on here...)
• my aunt and uncle moved to central ohio- win!
• my grandmother moved away from central ohio- not win.
• mama went to dc to stop the xl pipeline (ok, i didn't have anything to do with it, but it's just SO dang cool!)
• i read some great books:

The God of Small Things (Arundhati Roy), Bossypants (tina fey), Prodigal Summer (barbara Kingsolver), Girl with the dragon tattoo (0% recommended), The Dispossesed (ursula k le guin), Percepolis: the story of a childhood (again; marjane satrapi) Parable of the Sower (octavia butler), Flood! (Erik Drooker), sister outsider (audre lorde), Blankets (Craig Thompson), Kindred (Octavia Butler), Off the Map (crimethInc), The Red Tent (Anita Diamant), the Gnome Lexicon (illustrated by my friend, nate!), and read lots of zines.

• i finally filled the journal i've been writting in since early hs- the first date being '4/23/06 3:02 am' the last being '9/9/2011' Actually, there are about 20 blank pages, but I wanted to start a new one so i could bring a smaller book to journal in on tour-- which i did- and successfully made a entry EVERYDAY of tour. wham!

Looking back through my old journal, i found a page, where i am struggling with the 'why bother?'-ness of the world. I actually wrote, that i wanted 'a cause to believe in, a reason to be here...' (3/9/07) During that time in my life, I wouldn't say I was happy. These days, I continue to struggle, much of which is a similar internal debate about life and what I will do with it. But the tone is different, and at the beginning of this year, i made another entry (1/19/2011, NYC), where I spoke to the struggles in my life, but how i was happy. Actually happy.

Today, that remains true.

• I went to my first church serivce (that is not a UU- which, I enjoy and doesn't quiet seem to fit into the category of church, in some ways) It was the United Church of Christ in Machias... I went to hear my inspiring friend Cole speak at the service that day.
• I found out my mother is planning to sell the house I grew up in. Smart, and sad.
• I have lots of new music to enjoy and listen to. According to my Itunes, the most listened to music that I added in 2011 is: Thao and Mirah (self titled), Jessica Lea Mayfield (tell me); Big Tree (self titled). Itunes says I listened to 2,614 songs in 2011, and my most listened to song? Wild Young Hearts by the Noisettes. (Though, I'm pretty sure that is an inaccurate read of what I actually listen to...)
• 117 horizontal drilling permits granted in ohio (ok- that isn't really my list of things that i did... but... fuck.)

Looking back through my journal entries from the past year, and generally thinking about 2011, I think I learned one really important thing for myself. I have- on a fundamental level- accepted that my life is a choice. I am the only one who gets to choose what I do, how I do it, when I do it. (of course, there are exceptions to this, and in my opinion, saying there are not is a major act of privilege. for most things in my life, i have that privilege). While I have personally debated this for myself, for much of the year (and probably more), I really had it driven home by a conflict mediator who worked with us this Dec.

This is my life, and I get to choose what to do with it. Everyday, every moment.

It's like having access to a compass rose. I can see where I am, and see whats around me. I get to make the choice where I move, and accept the consequences of that choice, both the foreseen and the unforeseen.

As for what 2012 will bring, I just don't know, but I know I get to decide. I intend to be in Ohio- to live here. Work here, take care of myself and those i love here. At least 6 months. I am having a hard time making a plan for myself, but am picking up a habit i used to be in- creating a wish list for the winter. A list of things I would like to hold myself to, a way to commit to myself (and others) to being more interested, interesting, and having more fun. Here's what I've got- for Jan, Feb, and March.

- ohio rocks presentation

- one book a month

- martial arts once/week

- bread 2x a month (and give one loaf to someone else!)

- love letter to non-here friend 1x month

- stretch 5x a week

- go to one 'new' event a month

- screen print something!

- uphold my commitment made to myself in a PSU workshop

- don't accidentally watch tv

- research organizations in central ohio i can do support work with, that actively fight racism (directly or indirectly)

So, here goes!

Came and Went

August came...

and then it went.

And a whole lot happened in between. It was a month filled to the max with the whirlwind. Once landing in Machias- there wasn't much time before things got totally insane for the summer work party.

{swimming with tink at 6 mile lake}

{lending a hand at the electronic waste day-- it was an appalling amount of trashed computers etc. gross!}

The work party was super full on this year- with more happening, more people, more meals, more, more, more! than ever before. If you wanna see a more in depth break down of what the month of a 60+ person work party looks like in Machias, Maine- you can check out the blog Go Worker Bees. A couple of these photos are from my camera, but a bunch are also from the talented and lovely Nico.

But, here are just a few things from the month...

{I spent a lot of time in the beginning filling in whatever holes needed filled- which- often looked like teaching folks to make yogurt and granola}

{One thing that was new this year, was weekly full workparty meetings. We were aiming to provide a space for real time feedback about how it was going, and to give project groups a little more autonomy on how they went about their projects. It seems the first two weeks went really well, but at some point we crossed the threshold of manageable numbers, and some of our systems weren't quite equipped. We're since received a lot of feedback from people. Some of it positive, some of it critical--- all things to learn from}

{I lead a experimental mind-mapping workshop about the coal presentation for workparty-ers who are familiar with the poster. Each small group of people created their own mind map over the poster, using what they know about the poster and the lens that they bring. One group looked at the poster just through the story of water. It went pretty well, but could use some changing before I do it again...}

{A favorite beehive game quickly became a favorite workparty game. We spent many pre-sunday meetings, post-dinner-into-the-dark, and random killing time moments to play ninja. It's hella fun... i'll teach you sometime}

{One of the mega projects we took on- was rebuilding the deck that is over the waterfall. It used to be a hydrodam, and when it got turned into a deck--- but no one could use it. A person could easily slip through the railings, and the support beams were far and few between. SO! we ripped it up, and put it back together-- making sure it was done in time to be used as the main dance floor for the blackfly ball this year.}

{two car loads of folks took a little trip up north- to new brunswick canada- for an rally to ban fracking. To spite being late (eep! time change!? ah!!), we got there in time for the end of the rally and were able to exchange some stories from the coal fields of WV to the potential gas fields of Canada. It wasn't as much of a learning opportunity as I would have liked, but I heard some stories and met a lot of outraged folks- who were actively working to protect their drinking water. It mostly just made me want to run back to ohio... but... not yet. soon!}

{Some folks pulled together a little prisoner solidarity session to support climate activist Tim DeChristopher. He was recently sentenced to federal prison for 2 years- after disrupting an (arguably illegal) oil and gas lease auction. Since prisoners can't get sent a poster in the mail (or anything else to provide a little beauty), we sent the completed closed version of the True Cost of Coal to him, on the backs of post cards. A little puzzle to be put together on his wall}

{Food was a major challenge of the workparty- feeding 60 people for 3 meals a day... is kinda hard. I had very little to do with food this summer (which, is pretty heartbreaking for me), but it was amazing to watch all the food roll in. A whole lot of it we bought- but we also got all kinds of friend prices from farms, did lots of harvesting at friendly gardens near by, and other sorts of shoe-string budget gimmicks for cheaper food}

{On a saturday afternoon, some folks put together a library cuddlepuddle reading of the little prince. It's a magical little book, filled with all sorts of deep wisdom- with a childlike whimsical tone.
"Men have forgotten this truth," said the fox. "But you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed."

You should read it. It's best read with 10 other people, taking turns reading, while hanging out in a library. Or, so I learned this summer at any rate.}

{On rare occasions, we remembered we didn't have to eat outside, and we ate in the park across the street.}

{my mama sent me a package... mailed with lots of love and lots of cool looking stamps}

{of course, there was TONS of baking to do. This year, my workload meant that I didn't have time to bake- so i mostly just deligated it out... but did get to teach some basics before i did that}

{similar to last year, we had skill shares once a week where folks could share different skills with anyone who was interested in learning about them. I only made it to... two? or something the whole work party, but one of them was a reusable menstrual pad workshop. It was really great, and when our time ran out, we headed downstairs to listen in on the workshop about consent.}

{One thing that was really amazing that happened- was we had told the Down East Coastal Conservancy we'd paint a puppet theater for them to use during the blueberry festival. We gathered a team of folks to make it happen-- and this is what they made! Its the most beautiful puppet theater I've even seen-- seems likely it might be the most beautiful one to ever exist.}

{Sometimes, Erin tickles me. alot.}

{Another major project we started was created a wheel chair lift on the outside of the Grange- to make the upstairs accessible to more folks! It's not done yet, but it's well on the way. It is a pretty major undertaking to do- and included DAYS and DAYS of welding work by our lovely maintainANT matt- resulting in this wild rail-ish system being put up. The electric isn't on yet to make it fully go, but it's close! It's so exciting! In a county with an majorly aging population, this project means a whole lot.}

{one day, i was supposed to be rolling posters with some folks upstairs- when i learned *GASP* some of them had not ever seen a coal presentation. It seems unjust to ask people to roll posters when they didn't know what was happening on it- so we took a detour and spent most the afternoon work chunk talking about it instead. Cole captured a moment of me sharing the story. Which- happens to be why I joined up with the bees in the first place, and is my favorite thing to do...}

{another of my favorite things to do- is bake bread. it fills me in a way thats kinda hard to explain. but i really love it. A couple times during the workparty, I was able to get up extra early to help bake tons of amazing bread with good friends. So heartwarming}

{A major highlight was seeing my friend Bobb Hatt- who biked all the way here from Columbus! By himself! whattt!?! I didn't actually get to hang with him that much- but it felt really great to have someone who really knows me around. Plus, I got to do some painting with him. It was a pretty crazy painting project- the local healthfood store paid us to paint the side of their building- which mostly we used scaffolding for- but there was one section that we had to use a 3 story extension ladder to get to... it was really fun to be up on the very top, reaching as far as possible to get the tiles... but also totally insanely scary. eep! Do not fret, we tamed that dragon!}

{we also rolled a million and three posters-- we had large groups of people hunkering in the upstairs of the grange rolling away for days.}

The workparty ended up being more challenging for me than i had expected. Its made me think about a lot of things- but the top 3 themes that I keep finding myself chewing over are choice, expectations, and what it means to contribute.

***

I've come to understand the 1st two to be integrally connected (actually they are all pretty connected to each other). And... there's too much to say in a blog post. But, I've been thinking about it alot. One of the most challenging things for me (personally) this summer was understanding my role and how I was or was not contributing to a larger picture (and to myself?). A while back (in the midst of it all), i was encouraged to write about it (on my blog!). So... here goes.

What the heck does it mean to contribute anyway??

I think one of the things that I struggled with most this summer, was understanding my role and how I made meaning out of it. Unlike last summer, this years workparty was filled with lots of little pieces of work for me, none of it making a complete picture- work that I've come to call- the whirlwind. This often left me feeling like I wasn't really doing that much, like I was just doing things without much purpose or intention, or that what I was doing really wasn't very significant (this is mostly where it rams directly into choice and expectations).

While it often felt that way- I feel pretty confident it's not true and that the work I was doing was significant. And maybe the reason it felt like it wasn't was because the way i was seeing my contribution to the larger work. The whirlwind has a way of sucking up all your time and spitting you out- feeling a little lost and confused about what you just did (and in my case, strongly noting the things you didn't do). And doing the little pieces to a large puzzle often means that my work didn't have a finish line, a crossed off to-do list, or something I could look at and feel accomplished.

That is very challenging for me. However, a completed (color coded, prioritized) to-do list isn't the only was to contribute to something. When working with so many different people, things don't always clearly land on one persons plate or the other- but often fall into that gray area in between. Collaborating. Sometimes, contributing might just look like doing the background work- be that the dishes, the phone calls and emails, or just nonstop answering questions- it all makes the big machine go.

The whirlwind--- it doesn't feel that rewarding, sometimes- but like all other pieces to a puzzle- its an incredible valuable way to contribute.

(wait- did i answer the question about what it means to contribute? hmm...)

***

Of course, there is also what it all lead up to--- the BLACKFLY BALL!!! AHHH!!

some highlight photos, post ball madness, and more to come! (whats the goal? to get them up before i hit the road in less than a week- for an sure-to-be-epic 10 weeks traveling through out the midwest! think I can do it? we'll see...)

{erin- helping me change my bandages. i wrecked my bicycle and was left with some pretty tender road rash etc. But, i'm being well taken care of and a 3 days in- its healing really fast.}

in the belly of the beast

Appalachia Rising: March on Blair Mountain.

Woah.

So many things took place, so many extreme feelings. I've been having trouble figuring out how to tell people about it. What pieces do I tell, how do I put it into one narrative, that tells the full story, communicated the epic truth? I don't really have an answer. So, I'm taking a different route. Here are snippets of the week. Just small crumbs, little pieces. Maybe one day I'll understand how they all fit together. (maybe not?)

On Sunday night, after a full day of trainings, orientation, and full on information download, there was an emergency organizing meeting called. It was a trend that would continue throughout the week. Why did we have a meeting after having meetings and stuff all day? Because after lots of hard work- we found out that yet another camp site had pulled out. We had been working for months to secure camp sites. For the week or so leading up to the march, our sites kept falling out. We'd scramble and find new ones. Totally secure ones. We knocked on doors of folks with big yards, we found paid camp sites, we had verbal agreements with parks to let us stay there. We had camp sites. And sunday night, we found out- another one dropped. So, we had a choice to make. Keep pushing, make it work, try our hardest, or... not.

We decided, we can make a suggestion but really- its not up to us. It's up to the marchers. What do they want to do? What would feel good to them? So, at around 10:30 pm- we called everyone together. For a big ol' group moment. And a moment it was.

Sarah opened the space- letting folks know what was happening. That we lost our camp sites. We were still trying to find more. That this was happening- because of what we're doing. We're fighting the coal industry, where it is strongest, most deeply rooted, where it has formed a strangle hold on the entire area. Therefore the fairly simply task of sleeping out, is coated with hardship. This is part of the struggle, it's what we're up against.

{The march just outside of Marmet- walking with the coal trucks. Photo: Cheshire Tongkat}

Then, this amazing thing happened. The room erupted in cheers, and clapping... we were not anywhere close to quitting. When asked what we should do, some folks said 'lets march in rotating groups so we can march 24 hours a day, all through the night, and we can rotate who sleeps' (a suggestion much of the room loved, but all organizers winced at). Folks said lets do it. We're going to do it. Saro lead us into song- and we sang "ain't gonna let intimidation/big coal/NOBODY gonna turn us around." And Dustin Steele closed us out- reminding us-- that we are in the belly of the beast. We have to do this. We are challenging power, we are changing power, we are creating power.

{Dustin- giving one of many powerful speeches. Photo: Cheshire Tongkat}

The next morning, we had about 250 people marching together through the streets of Marmet, WV. Marching along the original march route those union fighting miners took 90 years ago. We marched, together. We looked almost as strong as we are.

{Heading out of town. Photo: Brian Farkas, AP article}

As the week moved on, so did the hardships. On monday, the police told us we had to leave our camp site. That the verbal commitment we had- didn't really matter and the powers at be were calling strongly for us to move (shockingly, this isn't the story of 'those bad police' but is much more complicated and they actually worked with us...). So, at about 10 pm- after having our tents set, our speakers and musicians wrapping up- and folks getting ready to hit the tent--- we called another group meeting. Time to pack up and leave. Time to figure out how to shuttle 250 people back to marmet for sleeping- and figure out what to do in the morning. Rough.
{camp site}

But, as we called folks together for yet another dreaded 'we can't believe we have to tell you this' moment... we began to see a trend. A trend of the marchers being vigilant. Not willing to let these powers turn us around. Not letting intimidation weaken our spirits. Not letting a lack of sleep, a large amount of unknowns, or any other hurdle that could come out way prevent us from marching to Blair Mountain.

By midweek, we had it in our schedule to shuttle folks back and forth each night, and each morning. We gave up on finding new campsites, and we accepted the harsh truth. We had an amazing team of shuttle drivers step up. Folks lent their cars and their time to moving 250 people each day. By the end, we were spending about 8 hours a day shuttling people. No joke.

{Included in our many many vehicle chain? Portapotties on trailers. Perhaps one of the smartest things we did. Photo: Mark Haller}

It's a little hard to say what exactly happened on the march. I had been given the task of March Marshall- and stayed several hundred feet in front of the march- trying to slow cars, trucks, motorcyles- down before they hit the long wave of marchers. But what I do know- is how much support there was.

{marshaling the long line of marchers. luckily, i was part of a really grand team of folks. photo: }

We drove by signs that said folks were with us. People came out to their porch to wave. Folks handed out cold bottles of water from coolers filled with ice, handed out ice cold sodas (sierra mist to be precise), a fella gave his hat to a marcher, people stopped their cars to give donations, wave of school children rushed over to the fence and waved and shouted, and high fives went out to all the marchers. It was amazing. It is amazing.

{High Fives in Madison. Photo: Wren}

One fella came out in his driveway on his four-wheeler. He was holding a small bouquet of flowers and a sign that read 'thank you.' A woman we passed hollered 'you have water? you can fill up here with my hose if you want!" Kyle and I said we had plenty, but thanks for the offer. She offered water to the entire line. 250 people.

{photo: Cheshire Tongkat}

That's not to say, there weren't folks who sped up when they drove by us, or who gave a little swerve in our direction. Its not that folks didn't hold signs and yell 'go home treehuggers,' 'coal keeps your lights on,' 'we love coal' or 'coal feeds my family.' They did. The closer we got to Blair, the more intense it got. It was an incredibly visible proof that towns, neighbors, families- are divided. Sometimes, every other home rotated between 'welcome and thank you' to 'go home and friends of coal.' It's for real.

{Family sitting in front of the school in Marmet. Photo: Cheshire Tongkat}

I stopped to speak to a woman and her husband who were standing by the side of the road- red bandannas worn proud- who said they'd join us tomorrow. I had the privilege of getting their phone number and calling them to let them know when and where to meet us. When they arrived, the woman told me 'i saw my niece drive by with her 'other family', yelling at us. I told her she can't talk to me like that.' It's between families. The tensions are strong, thick, and incredibly real.

Mid week, I was standing on the side of the road, waiting for a rest break to be over, and Larry said to me 'i've been waiting my whole life for this.' i smiled and said something to the effect of 'well, you did a lot of work to make it happen.' modestly he replied that he didn't really do much to make this happen, that others- like myself- were the ones doing the work. and in that moment, i had the privilege of acknowledging that hes been doing this work for a long time, and without his work, none of this would be possible. i was able to thank Larry Gibson.

{Larry- standing strong, as always. On the mornings we had to be up at 5:30 am- larry was always the first one up, waking the masses, asking how folks were doing. amazing. photo: Cheshire Tongkat}

after one of the many nights of little sleep, and lots of work, I found myself waiting for the second round of shuttles to leave from Marmet and take us to the spot we'd start marching from. Which meant I had at least an hour and a half. Naturally, I decided I'd rest my eyes for a moment. Before I knew it, Kyle was waking me up to say the last shuttle would be leaving soon, so I better get ready. As it turns out, I had slept under the registration table for at least a full hour- probably more- all while people were coming into the building and were being registered. Embarrassing and an accurate depiction of the week.

{another photo of me catching rest at any moment possible- this time during a lunch break. photo: Paul Corbit Brown}

After a relatively short rally, we got hundreds of folks to head up the mountain. Blair mountain. We took over the road, and along the way we placed historical markers. We marched up that mountain, holding the incredibly beautiful signs made by the art build team.

{marchers heading up Blair Mountain. photo: Mark Haller}

When we got to the top, about 150 folks broke off and climbed up the company road (illegally) and onto the battlefield where archeological work has been taking place. I wasn't with them, so it's hard to say what that experience was like. The rest of the marches, went up the a public access road just up the way- where we all gathered. We had made it to the top, some of us had marched over 50 miles to get there, some of us had traveled from across the globe, some of us from the holler over... but we were all there. together.

{Photo: Elias Schewel}

Instead of joining the rally cry at the top, I took a moment to chat. One thing about being a marshal all week was that I didn't have capacity to get to know anyone on the march (other than Kyle, my co-marshaller). So, I decided to chat up two elderly fellas sitting on a guard rail on the margins of the rally. They were both retired UMWA miners. One from Logan, one from ___. They talked my ear off, about the good ol' days. About how miners these days don't know what they are missing. How women deserve the right to make choices about their bodies, and nobody else should have a say. How these mountains are part of who they are, who their families have always been. How private company land is making it harder to carry on traditions, to care for themselves and their own. How one of them is now a bus driver, and he's proud to say they just unionized. How the women in their families know how to get by, how to get their families through- but it depends on the land. How they were proud to be here, with us, with all these people. It was amazing, they were so amazing. It was so humbling to just be able to listen.

The march ended over a week ago. Everyone went home, I went home (err... to a home. one of many). There's lots of work to be done, but the march its self- is over. It was hard. I was pushed further than I knew was possible. I cried, a lot. I saw others cry, alot. I saw and felt real and raw anger, sadness, disappointment, and hurt from people who were working towards a common goal. There are wounds still open. Mediation is being scheduled, for organizers, so we can learn from these hard lessons, so we can heal our relationships, so we can keep working together.

I did more than I knew was possible. I saw a group of committed people do more together than I knew was possible. I saw extreme strength and resistance within the movement. I felt solidarity. Real solidarity. I saw our movement grow- get bigger and stronger.

This story isn't over. There is healing to be done, there is a mountain yet to be saved, there is local connections to be followed up on... this narrative is in its infancy. The Battle of Blair Mountain continues.

I don't know how the story will end, what the next chapter will look like, or what flow the plot will take- but for now- I feel confident we won. I don't really know what that even means, but I think we won.

{Cohen Sigdon Shea- the newest addition to my family- another reason to fight... and win}

{want more photos of the march? Check out my wonderful photo sources! Cheshire, Wren, and Paul photos at March On Blair Mountain Flickr. Mark Haller Flickr. and Elias Schewel Flickr}

landing in nonworld

A new term has entered my life- Nonworld. It's sorta hard to explain out of context, but it's when things are so weirdo, so silly, so nonsensical- that it actually sorta makes sense and we know it couldn't be any other way- then you've entered nonworld.

I've officially landed in nonworld. I've yet to be able to escape. The questions is... is that a good thing or a horrible thing? Who knows. Either way, its a whole different planet than what most people live on and I'm excited to find the rocket that takes me back to planet earth. I assume it'll appear right after the March on Blair Mountain?

Anyway... the past month... in photos!

Mo and Ivan helping me learn the poster better by marking all the plants in the poster! So cool!

EKs folks came by for a weekend- and helped celebrate Nicks birthday. Yay parents!

Our doughnut man came to visit again. But the visit was short, and we were disgruntled. So, naturally we hid his suitcase in an attempt to prevent him from leaving. EK hid it outside on the back porch (it actually took the doughnut man a while to find it). Here- he spots the suitcase!

Attempting to get the suitcase- without getting locked out on the porch.

A failed attempt to block the door open...

In a last ditch effort he ran out the door grabbed the suitcase... and as you can see... had the door slammed in his face and locked. Did he end up being able to leave? Well--- yes. He climbed down the balcony and scurried to his car. Trickster.

Fern took Becks and I for a hike- and pointed out some wild edibles on the mountainside. Like... greenbrier shoots.

sassy pants.

During a Blair Crisis- we did the responsible thing and took the day off! We went to the New River Gorge for a hike, and tried to go to a coffee shop (tho- it was closed). On the way home, Katey and Rhodi snuggled in napland on the way home. Cutie Pies.

Fern took on an archnemesis. Why? I have no idea. But she likes it. One day, we woke up to this sign on our porch- "Dear Fern, Go Suck An Egg. Yr Wrst Enemy" Yup. its strange....

no words.

And then... I left my home on the mountainside to jet into columbus and do a beehive presentation at the Columbus Christian Academy HS, see my family, see some friends, see mattie... all of it was great, none of it was long enough. same old story. Then! I jumped into an airplane and headed to ME for a week and a half of meeting prep ad]nd Beehive meetings.

Arriving in Maine- it was still early spring there. Things were just thinking of turning green (vs WV which was so full of life it looked like mother earth was puking flowers everywhere). I had the great chance to have a bus ride from Portland, ME to Bangor with Agent M- then got to add Matt to the mix for the ride from Bangor to Machias. It was so nice to come back to one of my homes and see so many great people! Unfortunately, my head was left about a week behind and was still in WV doing work for the march- but I got to catch up with some folks a little bit.

Kyle put on his sassy apron and kept us well feed all week! It was so great, and so helpful!

One night at dinner, we did a show and tell about our springs. Lots of cool things and small stories were shared- giving some pretty lovely insight into highlights of our springs :)

Tyler brought us all little zapatista dolls home- a gift from the midwest- which now sit on our mantel. Sometimes, the irony of our mansion house is just... nonworld?

For 'reportbacks' we decided to get creative and practice our roles as story tellers- by doing sharebacks on our spring! Erin decided to do a skit--- including using masks of all the main characters from the Gulf Coast tour. If you know Erin, you know this was super hilarious! She played all of these people- plus herself- and narrated! Whhhaaatt??

Midwest team... took our 'no charts, graphs, or official-ness' norm and threw it in the trash. Charts you see here? A line graph about fun levels, a Pie chart on types of food eaten (i think burritos were the most common thing eaten), and a totally make believe chart of intoxication (oh tyler, so wasted all the time...). Also notice the confetti and cans of food representing oil rigs left over from Erins shareback.

Agent drew up a really amazing and shocking natural resource map of the west (her re-found homeplace). The struggles the west are currently in and the struggles to come... are... shocking. Heartbreaking. Coal, Uranium, Natural Gas, Oil, Water... you name it... they have it being privatized, extracted, and abused. Uh.

A mid meeting break- jumping on the trampoline! First step: sweep off the slugs. GROSS!

Erins Bus- all set up for making art work! Yeah yeah! Looking good. Plus, she made an etsy account with all sortsa cool handmade things- so check it!

Erin Loves Molly! Molly Loves Erin!

This wagon holds like 7 people! Including these funny two backwards seats.

During meetings, we decided to do some minitraveling and change up our meeting spaces. Matt took us to a beautiful house in the woods- about 20 min away from our home. He helped build the house and currently caretakes it when folks aren't renting it- it was SO beautiful! Here, Erin is being a weirdo (shocking?) and looking down the ladder that leads up to this little room at the tip top of the house. Super cool.

That little room leads out to a 360 degree balcony that looks over the very pretty, very evergreen forests and you can see the ocean, too! Dreamy.

Snacks. All the time!

Calendar time for the next 5 months... all the way up to Sept! Wait? May is over and June already happened? Or- something. NONWORLD!

Tyler explains the very complex machine he drew to help us learn how to make better financial choices. Lots of gears and turning and spitting out and going back in... ending with sound choices! We weren't up to decision making- but it was cool to hear about possibilities!

And we also went to another really amazing spot for meetings- at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts- located on Deer Isle. They were so lovely to have us, we got to sleep in their dorms, eat amazing food they made us in their kitchen, use their meeting space, and of course- enjoy the scenery!

Heading down the stairs- which leads not only to the dorms- but also to the ocean!

Our dorm room- Dorm B (Bee?)- which was overlooking the ocean and for the first time in my life (that i remember?) I fell asleep to the sound of the ocean waves crashing against the coast. So lovely!

Meeting in the dinning room...

Meeting in the dorm room...
And one of the reasons we were hosted at such a lovely spot, was because we were invited to participate in a community event- called Pecha Kucha- at the restored Opera House! Pecha Kucha is a fast paced presentation- where each presenter has 20 slides, with 20 seconds per slide.
Per usual, we stole the show- by taking up a large amount of space with all of our freshly printed posters! During the presentation- we had 10 of us bees all presenting the full story of who we are- in only 6 min! We each took 2 slides/20 seconds. It was amazing and totally fun!

Distrrrooo.

That night, we stayed at Haystack and in the morning- took some time for a foggy shoreline hike.

Heading up the stairs...

meetings in the meeting space...

Food overlooking- what else? the ocean, of course!
Brohive lives on! Travelin' safe.
On the way back from Maine, Tyler, Kyle and I stopped in Boston to do a workshop at a youth climate conference. It was super cool, and all the young folk at the workshop were incredibly smart! From there, we drove to a small town near Hershey, PA- where we stayed with Kyles totally hilarious and wonderful family... before driving into columbus. Whew! on the move.

Once in columbus, i rested my head for a brief moment, spent hours and hours on a computer, and then... hit the road again.

After spending my morning in a staples (in columbus), my day in a car, and my afternoon in front of a computer desperately catching up on work (or at least trying to)--- and then getting lost... I was feeling a little stressed (and a lotta tired). Then... as I found my way and drove up the mountain into Mountain Justice Summer camp in Letcher County, KY... I got to see this amazing sunset as the clouds settled into the valleys. Worth it.

Camp Schedule! Yup, I helped craft that megababy-- whew! It was a great year for camp!

I lead my first ever workshop on facilitation. I think it went pretty well, and I feel like I learned a lot by doing it. Win win win!

The movement will not be malnourished! Thanks Seeds of Peace and friends :)

Napping and giggling during a quick break during MJS.


I got a chance to briefly help out with the art build to make signs and puppets for the March and party to show oppositoion to the permits to blast Ison Rock Ridge- in Appalachia, VA.

We also took a little field trip to Jeff Chapmans studio- they are really amazing folks and it was so great to see their beautiful art!

Evening music--- with that beehive banner at work!

Camp photo!! yeeaah Mountain Justice!

Those signs we made at work...

Yeah, Yeah! Rockin MJ volunteers heading to WV with us to do some mega work and help do work in prep for Blair! Did you register for the march and get a phone call asking making sure you have all the info you need? You can thank these fine folks (and some more!).

catching some zzzz's in the backyard...

And here we are. Moved into the March on Blair Mountain Headquarters in marmet. Working all the time, like crazy people. Crazy people working really hard together and gearing up for something really amazing and huge! I feel incredibly excited for the march... and incredibly humbled by the amazing people I am working with to pull off this momentous event! It's amazing.

And yesterday, we reached 500 registrants. The numbers keep growing. Amazing.