A Change of Focus

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."  -- Lao-Tzu

I'm a step (or two) into a new life journey.

There are really two aspects of this -- and both have involved a bit of a journey just to discover the direction I want the main journey to take.  The first is that I've finally (in my early forties) figured out what I'd like to do (for a career) "when I grow up."  Two decades ago my love of language led me to community theater, which led to other acting and some small voice-over/radio play gigs, and other connections led to narrating some children's books for some apps on iTunes.  Meanwhile, unknown to me, technology was changing.  Making a living as an actor in Southern Indiana is not really tenable (I know of a few who are doing it, but they are wearing multiple hats in theater companies, not just acting; some are teaching theater at university, and when they act it is elsewhere).  *However,* with the advancement of affordable home recording equipment, the internet, and a more global marketplace, many people are working from home as voice actors.  This isn't as easy as it sounds at first, and there is a *lot* more to it than "just talking into a microphone;" but I LOVE doing it, and with some more training and a whole lot of work I believe I can do this.   Parts of this journey are being chronicled on my other blog, http://angiehickmanvoiceactor.blogspot.com/ .

The other aspect is that I've discovered Permaculture.

Trying to pinpoint the beginnings of the journey that led to that discovery is difficult.  My grandma always had a garden, and when I was ten we moved out to the boonies and my family had an extensive organic garden, sometimes even taking things to market.  My mom and my aunt have (since about the time I started theater) been members of  Monroe County Master Gardeners Program.  I have long been drawn to the aesthetics of a more "wild" and "natural" garden design and have thought that lawns are a ridiculous waste of time and other resources.  I wanted my own yard to be more useful and have more edibles; I planted strawberries as groundcover under my roses, but wanted to do more.  I checked out some "edible landscaping" books from the library, but none of them really clicked.

Enter Gaia's Garden by Toby Hemenway.  This book came up during an Amazon.com search for books on edible landscaping.  Most of the reviews were really positive, but it was one of the one-star reviews that make me take notice as it mentioned that they didn't like "a windy-path chaotic mess of weeds."  A-ha!  This book might help me plan useful, edible gardens that look natural!  So I ordered it.  World changed.  -- like clouds parting and angels singing epiphany-type changed.  Fair warning, I've since learned that this has been a "gateway" book for many; if you read it, your perception of how land should be used and how gardens should function may change, too, and you may find yourself, as I did, hungering for more information on this concept of "permaculture" that Hemenway so very wonderfully introduces you to.

Ah, yes.  Wanting more information.  First, it was interesting to note that many of the items I had been pinning on Pinterest, prior to ever knowing the word, had a permaculture bent; so I felt I was on the right path for me.  Second, though, internet searches for more information were frustrating; information was out there, but most of it pertained to Australia (where the concept was first coined), and most everything applying it to temperate climates seemed to be happening in England.  I had no clue about anything, and felt I needed someone who was experimenting nearer here to hold my hand; for a long time I found very little.

So for a year and a half I collected bits and dabs, a video here, a website pinned there, learning just enough to feel dangerous, when I discovered that LOCAL TO ME a weekend Permaculture Design Course was being offered (usually PDCs are multi-week residential intensive courses, and there was no way I could fit that into my life).  [Our last weekend, Peter, Rhonda and Keith were penciling in dates for a weekend course next year; if you are in South-Central Indiana, check out their schedule at Sheltering Hills Design.]  After taking the PDC, I still feel I know only enough to be dangerous, but I now have a more cohesive framework in which to place all new knowledge as I acquire it.  One group in the course was even assigned my family's property as their final design project, and we've already implemented one of their ideas.

Anyway . . . this has been a long-winded way of saying that I plan to resurrect this blog and use it as a means of journaling my journey into transforming my family's small suburban yard into a permaculture-based, food forest oasis.  All of the best things take time, and chronicling it all will take even more time, but I hope I can save the next person to discover the design system/concept of Permaculture in this area from feeling so isolated and frustrated.