Thursday, September 29, 2011
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
It's all about the food!
I recently saw a neat article in the Bangor Daily News. Unity College in Unity Maine, just completed TerraHaus, the first Passive House-certified student dormitory in the country! Awesome, good for them! That is a great step forward for Unity. Here is the URL for the article: http://bangordailynews.com/2011/08/26/news/midcoast/a-green-house-unity-college-builds-country’s-first-passive-house-residence-hall/
I attended Unity College in 2001 and 2007 and had a fun and fulfilling experience both times. The campus is in a beautiful spot with mountains, ocean and Amish nearby, and the students and faculty are engaging, eco-minded people, with plenty to teach each other about science and the natural world. Many of the locals are farmers, though I don't recall interacting with them much. The only thing not entirely positive I can say about Unity College is that the school cafeteria sometimes left much to be desired. I was reminded of this fact by the article on TerraHaus. A current Unity Student who recently moved into the new dorm (which includes a kitchen) said she is looking forward to living there "mostly to get off the school's food plan." Hmmm, interesting. After a month at Sterling College in Craftsbury Common VT, I can say with certainty that nothing could make me want to get off the Sterling food plan. Simply put, the Sterling food plan is fast becoming my own food plan, and I hope it continues to do so.
I attended Unity College in 2001 and 2007 and had a fun and fulfilling experience both times. The campus is in a beautiful spot with mountains, ocean and Amish nearby, and the students and faculty are engaging, eco-minded people, with plenty to teach each other about science and the natural world. Many of the locals are farmers, though I don't recall interacting with them much. The only thing not entirely positive I can say about Unity College is that the school cafeteria sometimes left much to be desired. I was reminded of this fact by the article on TerraHaus. A current Unity Student who recently moved into the new dorm (which includes a kitchen) said she is looking forward to living there "mostly to get off the school's food plan." Hmmm, interesting. After a month at Sterling College in Craftsbury Common VT, I can say with certainty that nothing could make me want to get off the Sterling food plan. Simply put, the Sterling food plan is fast becoming my own food plan, and I hope it continues to do so.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Pandion haliaetus
The Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) is a badass bird of prey. Here's a few pics of one I saw aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia today.
Also saw a nasty Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
Also saw a nasty Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Foragin for Froggies
I was watching Swamp People on the History channel today and realized those people have something right. They make the best use of the resources available to them. Whether it be fishing for gators, catching snakes, hunting frogs, or noodling catfish, them Cajuns get by on what the land provides. Well shit I thought, I can do that. Around 3am I took my dog and gun and headed down to the Charles river. It didn't take long to follow the sound of a frog and spot him with my flashlight. A single shot from my air rifle was all it took. I snatched up the catch and Indy and I happily trotted home to reap the bounty.
Here's Indy with our catch
Indy investigating the kill
Slice off the legs, snip the feet, and peel off his drawers
A little Shake 'n' Bake and Cajun seasoning couldn't hurt
Fry em up in some olive oil and you're good to go
Looks and tastes like chicken, Delicious!
And good to the last bite
Here's Indy with our catch
Indy investigating the kill
Slice off the legs, snip the feet, and peel off his drawers
A little Shake 'n' Bake and Cajun seasoning couldn't hurt
Fry em up in some olive oil and you're good to go
Looks and tastes like chicken, Delicious!
And good to the last bite
Farming in Massachusetts?
I was driving to Bubbling Brook today to get some ice cream. The building has been standing since the 1800's and has been a restaurant for almost as long. If you're ever in Westwood MA during the summer it's an excellent spot to get some fried calms and onion rings followed by a soft serve twist or a hard stacked waffle cone. On the way there I was delayed by a slow moving vehicle in the road. Normally I would have been pissed off, tailgating perhaps, beeping, cursing under my breath and shaking my fist. After a month in VT I kept my distance, drove slow, and marvelled at the fact that a piece of agricultural machinery was braving the road so close to Boston. Something tells me the other commuters did not share in my revelry. If only they knew just how depleted our foodshed really is.
Summer Session comes to an end
As I was preparing to leave Sterling I hesitated, aware that I would not be present for the summer season in Vermont for quite some time. I had a wonderful month but alas, all things must come to an end. I was one of the last students to leave, departing sometime around noon on Saturday, lingering for the last moments of who might appear and what might be. Touring the empty campus I realized something important. It is the people that make the place. Without them any place is as good as the next. What distinguishes Sterling is the caliber of self-reliant yet interdependent individuals who do not think twice to assert that all are welcome. Here are some pictures of my last few moments at Sterling. Even devoid of human activity, the evidence of creativity is not lost.
I love the Narwhals in the clouds
This quilt is from the year I first applied to this school
A good place to share a meal
As is this
And here
On the way out of town I stopped once more at the general store for some good honest conversation free from rushing and ignoring, no bluetooths, doors held and courtesies rendered, no pressing matters more important than connecting with your fellow man.
I love the Narwhals in the clouds
This quilt is from the year I first applied to this school
A good place to share a meal
As is this
And here
On the way out of town I stopped once more at the general store for some good honest conversation free from rushing and ignoring, no bluetooths, doors held and courtesies rendered, no pressing matters more important than connecting with your fellow man.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Day 32
Today we fashioned some rough pebbles into smooth, beautifully polished stones. The best stones to use are relatively low on the Mohs scale of hardness such as soapstone (2), and serpentine (2.5). If you can scratch the stone with a piece of steel it should be soft enough to work with. You do not want a stone that is too soft though such as talc (1 on the Mohs scale) because it may break apart.
To work with stone it will help to have a machine. We used the "Inland Swamp Top All-In-Wonder Lapidary Machine." It is a basic wet saw as would be used to cut tile but the top flips over and different attachments can be added for different purposes. From the middle ages up until the industrial revolution slabbing and polishing wheels were powered by water wheels in rivers. In Vermont, marble, slate, and granite are abundant and have been mined from the hills for hundreds of years. In fact, the first marble quarry in the United States was on Mount Aeolus overlooking East Dorset, Vt. Here is a description by Ronald Robinson of the marble quarries of Vermont in 1890:
"In the great pits, yawning wider and deeper every year, men and engines, in sunshine and in storm, delve all the seasons through. When the landscape is bright under the summer sun they may be seen, like ants toiling in their cells, hundreds of feet below the surface. Now and then an ant grows into a burly, grimy man, climbing the giddy stairs; or a small watercarrier, bearing, with careful steps, his heavy bucket to the thirsty workmen..."
The uses for polished stone are wide and varied. One could make soapstone chess pieces, obsidian arrow/spear/axe heads, obsidian scalpel edges such as the Incas used for surgery, inlays for belts/staffs/knife handles, mosaics, jewelry, paper weights, decorations, the list goes on. Today we just made some nice polished stones that can be altered further for various purposes. Here is how to do it.
After you select your stone, examine it to find what part of it you think will look best. You may want to check for cracks and faults as well to help determine which parts you would like to eliminate. The first step is to shape your stone using the diamond trim saw. Remove the top of the machine and set the blade in. Make sure to secure the arbor nut and note that like a table saw, it is tightened using a left hand thread. The trim saw will essentially achieve "slabbing" on a micro scale. Fill the water reservoir of the machine and connect the drain hose to a waste bucket. Set the drip valve to have 1 or 2 drops every second falling onto the blade. Turn the machine on, wet the stone, and slowly feed the stone into the blade. The blade should begin to cut through the stone and you should notice water and stone dust draining out the tube into the waste bucket. You can continue cutting through the stone at different angles until you achieve your desired slab trim. Depending on your stone, you may start to notice some nice colors and patterns in the interior of the stone. If the saw starts to struggle you may need to push less hard, turn the RPM's up or down, or apply more water to the stone and blade.
Next you will need to take off the top of the machine and remove the trim saw with an Allen key. Attach the edger/grinder/shaper tool. Use this tool to remove or add corners and further refine the shape of your stone. This tool uses the opposite side of the top facing up as a water reservoir and a guard.
Next remove the edger/grinder/shaper and attach the 6" "master lap" which is a white plastic disc. Set the lap horizontally and allow it to touch the plastic below it and then lift it up just a scoce and secure with the Allen key. This lap will give stability to your polishing laps. Begin with a 325 grit lap (coarse grain) and attach it to your master lap. Next setup your dop station. It is an electrical heating element that had a reservoir for wax and shlack. Melt some wax in the reservoir and heat your stone on the edge. Use a small dowel and dip it in the wax. Place the wax tip on a side of the stone that you are not going to polish and press the wax down with your fingers to secure the dowel to the stone. The dowel will be your handle to keep your hands safe while polishing. Hold the dowel, wet your stone and apply it to the spinning lap at different angles. Turn the stone around to grind away divots and other imperfections. Repeat this process using 600, 1200 and finally 14,000 grain lap. Note that the finer the grain the faster the RPM's should be. During the last lap which is the polishing phase, the stone should be dry. You will begin to see a nice sheen develop on the stone that can make it appear almost precious. If you want to polish the side that the dop is attached to, freeze the dop stone and wax and the wax should break off very easily. Apply the dop to the already polished side and finish the job. The result might just surprise you with its brilliance.
The dop station with wax and rocks heating
Dop applied to stone
Using the dop stick to polish a stone
Some finished stones shining with brilliance!
To work with stone it will help to have a machine. We used the "Inland Swamp Top All-In-Wonder Lapidary Machine." It is a basic wet saw as would be used to cut tile but the top flips over and different attachments can be added for different purposes. From the middle ages up until the industrial revolution slabbing and polishing wheels were powered by water wheels in rivers. In Vermont, marble, slate, and granite are abundant and have been mined from the hills for hundreds of years. In fact, the first marble quarry in the United States was on Mount Aeolus overlooking East Dorset, Vt. Here is a description by Ronald Robinson of the marble quarries of Vermont in 1890:
"In the great pits, yawning wider and deeper every year, men and engines, in sunshine and in storm, delve all the seasons through. When the landscape is bright under the summer sun they may be seen, like ants toiling in their cells, hundreds of feet below the surface. Now and then an ant grows into a burly, grimy man, climbing the giddy stairs; or a small watercarrier, bearing, with careful steps, his heavy bucket to the thirsty workmen..."
The uses for polished stone are wide and varied. One could make soapstone chess pieces, obsidian arrow/spear/axe heads, obsidian scalpel edges such as the Incas used for surgery, inlays for belts/staffs/knife handles, mosaics, jewelry, paper weights, decorations, the list goes on. Today we just made some nice polished stones that can be altered further for various purposes. Here is how to do it.
After you select your stone, examine it to find what part of it you think will look best. You may want to check for cracks and faults as well to help determine which parts you would like to eliminate. The first step is to shape your stone using the diamond trim saw. Remove the top of the machine and set the blade in. Make sure to secure the arbor nut and note that like a table saw, it is tightened using a left hand thread. The trim saw will essentially achieve "slabbing" on a micro scale. Fill the water reservoir of the machine and connect the drain hose to a waste bucket. Set the drip valve to have 1 or 2 drops every second falling onto the blade. Turn the machine on, wet the stone, and slowly feed the stone into the blade. The blade should begin to cut through the stone and you should notice water and stone dust draining out the tube into the waste bucket. You can continue cutting through the stone at different angles until you achieve your desired slab trim. Depending on your stone, you may start to notice some nice colors and patterns in the interior of the stone. If the saw starts to struggle you may need to push less hard, turn the RPM's up or down, or apply more water to the stone and blade.
Next you will need to take off the top of the machine and remove the trim saw with an Allen key. Attach the edger/grinder/shaper tool. Use this tool to remove or add corners and further refine the shape of your stone. This tool uses the opposite side of the top facing up as a water reservoir and a guard.
Next remove the edger/grinder/shaper and attach the 6" "master lap" which is a white plastic disc. Set the lap horizontally and allow it to touch the plastic below it and then lift it up just a scoce and secure with the Allen key. This lap will give stability to your polishing laps. Begin with a 325 grit lap (coarse grain) and attach it to your master lap. Next setup your dop station. It is an electrical heating element that had a reservoir for wax and shlack. Melt some wax in the reservoir and heat your stone on the edge. Use a small dowel and dip it in the wax. Place the wax tip on a side of the stone that you are not going to polish and press the wax down with your fingers to secure the dowel to the stone. The dowel will be your handle to keep your hands safe while polishing. Hold the dowel, wet your stone and apply it to the spinning lap at different angles. Turn the stone around to grind away divots and other imperfections. Repeat this process using 600, 1200 and finally 14,000 grain lap. Note that the finer the grain the faster the RPM's should be. During the last lap which is the polishing phase, the stone should be dry. You will begin to see a nice sheen develop on the stone that can make it appear almost precious. If you want to polish the side that the dop is attached to, freeze the dop stone and wax and the wax should break off very easily. Apply the dop to the already polished side and finish the job. The result might just surprise you with its brilliance.
The dop station with wax and rocks heating
Dop applied to stone
Using the dop stick to polish a stone
Some finished stones shining with brilliance!
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