Wow!

What a whirlwind of wonder this last bit o’ wandering has been!

We hit the road from Berkeley after Karen Picket’s party up in the beautiful Canyon Redwoods nested in groves of Madrone. Up we ran like wildfire to Seattle (with an eve of rest and apple processing at the Ranch in Sutherlin) to teach folks at the Greenwood Senior Centre about Permaculture, Canning, Composting and the PermiBus.

Then we made an overnight trip up to Albert’s place up North of Seattle to enjoy some good company,, a generous donation of Montana Scratch Grass Bio-diesel and time to play on the heavy equipment. The following morning it was back down to Tacoma for a wicked few days starting at Kings Books (cool cats and an awesome Events Coordinator who gifted me a Tamora Pierce book, Sweetpea, if your reading this thank you again and many hugs, also, I loved you hair ;D).

Next came another Permaculture Day at the Centre for Spiritual Living where we met even more amazing folks from the church and ate some delicious food. The morning after was a trip to teach a local youth group which was smaller than expected but led to some really good connections and a plan to return on the 15th or 16th after the Oregon Country Fair. A local musician and Permaculturist, Tomm, and his friends scooped Lorca and I up to go to the Taste of Tacoma going on in the park. We took a long walk down the beach to the point where we climbed an amazing tree and talked awhile before returning to the main populace where we were awash in the sounds of a sweet Pink Floyd cover band by the name of Blind Floyd (I’m only pretty sure that’s the name :C). It was an enjoyable evening to be sure.

Now we are on the road again. We hit Portland yesterday afternoon for Orna’s grad-jew-ate-shun party and this morning loaded a herd of people up into the PermiBus for the long haul ride to the Earth First! RRR via the Ranch in Sutherlin to pick up Brie. The crew so far seems cool enough and we’ve got Logan from Maine on board with us. She brought her banjo along with her fabulousity so we really are making music with our friends, oh I’m so glad to be on the road again!

-Megan Coyote
Skills Tour
Outreach Coordinator
406.544.2767
skillsmc@gmail.com
www.permibus.org

Captain’s Blog,
June 27, 2009
Tacoma, WA.

I’ve just finished showing my three hens to a small group of neighborhood kids here in Tacoma, Washington. This is our second trip to Tacoma on the western circuit of our 2009 tour. Already a third trip has been planned. They are really excited about Permaculture and strong community development here and we are excited to be here. Tacoma has proven to be one of a series of dynamic communities we’ve discovered in our travels. It’s a real charge to be in a placed so jazzed about building a sustainable future.

One of the great things about being on the road and being involved with the dynamic folks who make up a growing permi community is how things come full circle. We come from Montana and just recently, we were given, by way of biofuels, a chance to revisit our home. The generous folks up at Earth Excavation just north of Seattle made their second donation of biodiesel to the tour. This time their source was Montana scratch grass. In Montana, scratch grass is an invasive weed. Using it for biofuel changes our relationship with yet another species humans call invasive, exotic, or a weed. All that means is that we either don’t know what to do with it, it stands in the way of our endeavors, or we caused the disturbance the species appearance is a response to. Using something like scratch grass is useful and far more sustainable use of the grass that the normal response of a string of failed attempts at eradication. Why attempting to eradicate such species is doomed to failure is the subject of another blog. In the end it just brings a smile to my face burning up Montana scratch grass on my way to talking with folks about the real nature of invasive species.

On another subject, I want to thank all the folks who have responded to our recent funding request. To be honest, things were looking bleak. The economy is depressed and we were feeling it. We were working hard, really spreading the word, but hanging by a thread. We were not sure we’d be able to continue on without taking an extended break to find jobs. Given the current unemployment rate, that did not bode well. We sent out a funding request to our supporters, y’all, and y’all are responding. “Ask and ye shall receive.” We asked. We are receiving and it does feel good. It can be easy on the road to get feeling isolated on the road. Your generous response lets me know that I am part of a loving community that has let us know, again and again, that y’all know how important our work is. Thank you for that.

To sum up, we appreciate the support and look forward to continuing on. The Harmony Festival was a great time and our trip into the northwest has proven to be a dynamic experience. Soon we will be heading east to make new friends and visit old ones out there. I, the bus, and the crew look forward to it.

Donate On-line:
Go to: www.permibus.org
Click on: Donate

Donate by Mail:
Make checks payable to:
Delyla Wilson.
Send to :
150 Daly Ave.
Hamilton, MT. 59840


Captain, but not Leader,
Stan Wilson
Infrastructure Coordinato
Skills Tour
permipreacher@gmail.com
www.permibus.org
“Small wheels turn by the
flywheel and rod, big wheel
turns by the grace of God(dess)…”

Hello Permibus Friends,

I just got back from a canoe ride on the plake (a body of water to grand for a pond but to small for a lake). Lorca and I have been staying in this wonderful Vanagon which we've draped ina myriad of beautiful cloths and illuminated with a black light so the moons and spirals and stars glow. On the farm here you can walk about 15 minutes over the fields to the plake where there are float-boards and a kayak and a big round of cool clear water. There is also an island and to the back of it in a narrow straight lie the mists.

It's like passing through to Avalon going through those mists. The water shifts direction, fire goes out, the world becomes muted and surreal. We spent the witching hour there tonight under a shadowed full moon. The mist was thick and the water black with only a few stars shining through the pall. We placed a storm candle upon our boat and took the dragon incense holder out for its first sacrament.

We then glided around the island to the gateway and sat right where our flame was extinguished. The night sounds disappeared to leave nothing but the water’s soprano hum and the breaths of my pup Sage, Lorca and I.
A truly magical experience. A visit between the worlds.

If this blog is not of the norm I appologise. I am still very much in the lost in the mood of the plake. I can feel more than think and so I am feeling with my words and that can get both lengthy and strange.

In the middle of the plake you could hear the fish splash from time to time and a strange marsh bird call to its fellows but when all else fell away you could hear the vibrant chirping of the crickets. They are all over, surrounding the water, echoing in their strange harmony.

In the daylight, the plake is bright and vibrant with a different energy. It is all growing things, greenery, and life. With its shifting waves of swamp skirt the edges and small waves blow across the center giving texture to cool beauty. The jagged tree line reflected in the water along with anything that passes over it. A place where you can boat and swim with leisure knowing that the worst that could happen would be getting wet and that’s just plain fun!

It was a place of relaxation, rejuvenation and hella good chill time fun.
Thank you plake! You are my healer!

Blessings healing of the plake to all!

-Megan Coyote
Outreach Coordinator
Skills Tour
406.544.2767
skillsmc@gmail.com,
www.permibus.org

Captain’s Blog
5/30/06
Sonoma County, CA.

The other day while riding into Sebastopol with one of our most recent kind host I got into a discussion about chickens. I often get into such discussions, probably because chickens are one thing I really like to talk about. Chickens and baseball are two of my favorite topics of discussion. Once we finished talking about our three hens, their individual and collective histories, and how they fare on the road, the talk turned to roosters. Roosters sometimes become a sore spot with me. So many people, even people who really love chickens, are anti-rooster. It is a real prejudice.

Folks always have the same complaints, roosters are aggressive and they crow. Both are true. Both are as ridiculous as they are true. Yes, roosters are aggressive, that’s how they defend their flock, which is part of their job. When folks tell me about how many hens they have lost I ask if they have a rooster. Of course they don’t. It’s kind of like having a house filled with all your belongings but not having a door because doors have to be opened and closed has made you anti door. When predators get into your flock it is the roosters job to go make what is often their supreme sacrifice. Without a rooster it’s your hens the predators get. Now, just because you have a rooster doesn’t mean you wont lose hens just like having a door doesn’t mean you wont sometimes lose your stuff. Without a rooster however you will always lose your hens.

Roosters do crow. They don’t just crow at sun up, they can crow at all times of day. Just like with other birds the rooster’s crow is a territorial response. They aren’t telling anybody what time of day it is, they are telling other critters where their territory is. Often time’s people who complain about rooster’s crowing live in cities. I’ve noticed in my life, and in my travels that cities are very noisy pretty much 24 hours a day. There are cars on the streets, cars on highways, trains, buses, heavy equipment, engines back firing, loud voices, sirens at all times and of all types, gun shots, and my favorite, early morning garbage trucks. If I could hear a rooster over that din, I’d prefer it. Cities are very noisy. I don’t see, or hear, why roosters are such a big deal.

Okay, so why should folks who have chickens want to have roosters. There are a variety of reasons. Roosters are essential to a smoothly functioning chicken social order. Roosters select the head hen and set the pecking order, which promotes good flock dynamics. Roosters settle disputes in the flock. Roosters are also essential if your hens are going to birth you your next generation of chicks. You don’t have to ever mail order chicks or buy them from a feed store more than once. One of the most wonderful things all of us can be exposed to is the beauty of a hen in the yard with her chicks. No rooster, no chicks, at least not the way nature intends. As permaculturalist we should all promote roosters because we should all promote natural systems. Remember, nature is our model. To not do so, especially because of consumerist contrived anti rooster bias is to be a faux permaculturalist at best.

Roosters fertilize eggs. Fertilized eggs are healthier. Fertilized eggs are especially healthier for older men. They help prevent prostrate cancer. Given the huge population demographic aging Baby Boomer men make in the US I’d think AARP would be promoting a repeal of anti rooster laws. All in all, for our health, the health of our flocks, and the health of future chicken flock generations we need to start changing how we look at roosters. All across the country absurd anti chicken laws are being repealed because citizens, in many cases permaculturalist, are demanding their repeal. We need to go one step further and demand our roosters as well as our hens.

There are problems with roosters just like there are problems with anything. They all have easy solutions. I’ll more about these problems and there solutions in another blog. For now I simply ask that you all look beyond prejudice and look instead to balance and harmony. Seek and promote diversity. It is not just hens in every back yard we should have but roosters as well.

Captain, but not leader,
Stan Wilson.
Infrastructure Coordinator, Permi
Preacher, Rooster Advocate.
Skills Tour.

To Donate go to www.permibus.org
To Donate online go to www.permibus.org,
click "donate now."

Captain’s Blog,
May 3, 2009
Wolf Creek, OR.

The Captain is resting now so I, the Permibus Two, decided to take up the blog and give you the low down from my perspective. The trip so far has been a lot of fun and a lot of work. My human companions pressed hard to get me transformed from a former Sheridan County, Wyoming school bus to and Permaculture Demonstration bus. I must say it was quite odd having all of my seats pulled out of me. As a used vehicle one always fears the scrap yard. For any vehicle that means death. These loving humans however intended to give me new life. And that they did. In a whirlwind six weeks they crawled over every inch of me until I was transformed. Well, nearly transformed.
The humans had a pressing deadline so we left Montana back at the end of February with me still painted yellow. I felt kind of weird. I looked like a school bus but I wasn’t transporting kids from place to place. As the weather here in the northwest has cooperated however the humans have done all they can to finish my transformation. As of today I am nearly all John Deer green. My roof is becoming white. I am beginning to really feel that I am a new vehicle.
I have a few needs. Most pressing is a break job. I understand that I am the home and project of a non-profit group now. That means that the funds so readily available as part of a school district are scarce now. I also understand that brake jobs are expensive. If some person or persons with the means could donate such services or the funding that would be great. I’d also love to have things like my turbo looked at to see if it is leaking. This would really improve my performance and lower my carbon footprint. Lastly, some artwork would be a real treat.
Well ,it’s been a real treat to have this opportunity to talk directly with you all. My human companions will be up soon and want their computer back. Look into your hearts and ask how you can help. It will be greatly appreciated.


Donate On-line:
Go to: www.permibus.org
Click on: Donate

Donate by Mail:
Make check payable to: A.C.T.
On the “For” line write: Skills Tour”
Send check to: Alliance of Community Trainers POB 160757Austin, TX 78716-0757

The Permibus Two,
With help from the Captain.
He’s got the thumbs.
“Small wheels turn by the
flywheel and rod, big wheel
turns by the grace of God(dess)…”

Captain’s Blog
Visit our website @ www.permibus.org
4/3/2009
Sutherlin, OR.

Brand New Chickens Need A Brand New Name.

As has been previously chronicled, the Permibus has taken on two new hens. As our journey has continued we’ve taken on two new hens. The first is a plucky, spry young Bard Rock who has enough attitude to move into a situation foreign to her but is gentle enough to take easily to all the handling and attention they constantly receive. The Bard has been with just a couple of weeks and she can already be called a part of the clutch. The young hen is obviously intelligent but doesn’t take herself too seriously.
We had initially landed on Buffy the Buff Orpington as Joan River’s replacement. With Buffy we would remain with a black, a white, and a light red hen. Farm born and bread however, it is clear that Buffy will never be happy in our life full of movement and stimuli. Our new Rhode Island Red will replace Buffy. The Bard is being traded for B-O-B who, while a great layer, is not really a great exhibition hen. An ability to be exhibited easily is a necessity with all of our hens. B-O-B does not have that desire. It should be much easier to train a young bird to the task. Rhode Island Red’s are one of our favourite breeds of chickens.
So now we have two young hens in need of names. Photos will follow shortly and Megan will be taking a poll. We will be naming both of the birds at Beltane.

Donate On-line:
Go to: www.permibus.org
Click on: Donate

Donate by Mail:
Make check payable to: A.C.T.
On the “For” line write: Skills Tour”
Send check to: Alliance of Community Trainers POB 160757Austin, TX 78716-0757

Captain, but not leader,
Stan Wilson,
Infrastructure Coordinator,
Skills Tour.

Captain's Blog
3/18/09
Ashland, OR.

Chicken changes continue on the Permibus! Ever so long ago we left California in our green school bus with three people, three dogs, three chickens, and a box of worms. While all of that information remains basically correct, the identity of the three chickens has changed. So has the bus but that has already been blogged.
We left California with Isis the Black Australorp, Joan Rivers the New Hampshire Red, and B-O-B the White Leghorn. The three hens became excellent road chickens that not only gave us fresh eggs but turned into a wonderful example of permaculture principals. They each developed their own distinct personalities: Joan Rivers was so named because she never stopped talking. She started first, ended last, and always proved the loudest. Isis was our goddess. She was the prettiest and learned the most chicken tricks. She has easily been Megan's favorite. B-O-B has always been my favorite. There was initially some controversy over her true gender. When she began to lay the tale-tell white eggs of her breed, the controversy ended. Small, scrawny, and somewhat anti-social, B-O-B was my favorite.
Unfortunately, events beyond our control has lead to a change in our chicken population. In Minneapolis when the police car jacked the Permibus our chickens were put under a stress they were not prepared for. We were allowed to take our animals and their feed off the bus but not the chicken pen. The hens found themselves in a yard without their pen. With the dogs and all the people camped in the yard, stress lead to a dog attack and Joan was killed. She made the supreme sacrifice. We cooked her with skill and enjoyed her.
Our first attempt to replace Joan was a young Bard Rock given to us in Maine. B-O-B proved a terrible bully to the new hen and that probably contributed to her death. She was afraid to be inside the chicken kennel with B-O-B and got left outside. The next morning I found her dead.
Now we have Buffy the Egg Laying Buff, a Buff Orpington our friend in Montana gave us. She has had the same problem with B-O-B but that problem has been solved. Here in Oregon our friend Adam traded us a Bard Rock for B-O-B. In many ways I am said to see B-O-B gone but all of our chickens must get along. So now we have a new clutch of hens; Isis, Buffy, and the as yet unnamed Bard.
Soon we will be back on the road with the new clutch teaching all about backyard chickens and watching kids of all ages flock to the new Permibus when they see those fanciful hens.

Donate On-line:
Go to: www.permibus.org
Click on: Donate

Donate by Mail:
Make check payable to: A.C.T.
On the “For” line write: Skills Tour”
Send check to: Alliance of Community Trainers POB 160757Austin, TX 78716-0757

Captain, but not leader,
Stan Wilson,
Infrastructure Coordinator,
Skills Tour.

Hello All,

Here we are now. We’re off on the West Coast starting the Skills Tour ’09 with a bang and a rush and bit of bumpiness. The bang was the cannonball exit from Montana. We needed another week to truly be ready to leave as far as the systems and final touches of the bus. Also, I know there were social obligations that would have been better met with an extra bit of time. Se la vi.

Then came the rush. We hit the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (PIELC), formerly known as ELAW, with our wheels spinning. Full days of tabling inside the Knight Law building as well as Permibus Tours and hosting a fabulous panel on Permaculture. Tons of the West Coast Earth First! crew always show up so it’s also a lot like a strange family reunion.

Now we’re on that bumpy road forward, fighting through a cranked neck (and the resulting muscle-relaxant-loopiness), numerous colds, flues and sinus infections. We are slowly but surely filling out the West Coast schedule as well as getting some other contacts along the way. It’s a lot easier now that we have our 2009 schedule and menu of offerings up on our new and improved website www.permibus.org thanks to our kind friend and website builder Baruch.

I hope to stay in the positive and then we’ll get busy teaching, fulfilling the mission, and that will be nice. Thankfully people who know how to out a smile on your face are hosting us. Example: the food! Oh yes the food! I’ll let someone else expound on that sentiment however.

Until we meet again,
-Megan Coyote
Outreach Coordinator
Skills Tour
406-544-2767
skillstour@gmail.com
www.permibus.org

Captain’s Blog,
March 4, 2009.
ELAW, Eugene, Or.

We are back on the road again. After what seemed an endless sedentary respite of work and more work I finally sat behind the wheel of the new Permibus to do more than drive from one place to another. The 2009 tour has begun.
We left Missoula under the threat of winter storm watches and warnings. Global can be whatever it is, this was typical Montana winter road conditions, bad. The bus performed well however and in just 14 hours we arrived at the University of Oregon in Eugene for ELAW, our first gig of the new tour.
ELAW has never had a permaculture panel before. The university has probably never had chickens on its lawn before. Both are desperately needed. Environmentalism needs to move beyond stopping things and instead start beginning things. The U of O lawn is a drab well maintain moncultural landscape. Both need new, organic fertilizer. It’s part of our role as the Skills Tour to provide the chickens for the lawn and fertilizer for environmentalism.
We’re not sure where we go next. That will come in time. For now it is just good to be behind the wheel of the Permibus and on the road.

Donate On-line:
Go to: www.permibus.org
Click on: Donate

Donate by Mail:
Make check payable to: A.C.T.
On the “For” line write: Skills Tour”
Send check to: Alliance of Community Trainers POB 160757Austin, TX 78716-0757


Captain but not leader,
Stan Wilson,
Infrastructure Coordinator,
Permi Preacher,
Skills Tour.

Coons, Colds, Cramps, Computers, Bikes, and Backs

When working hard on a project there is always that point when the deadline for completing the project closes in and I wonder how we are going to get it all done. In this case the PIELC Conference is in 8 days in Eugene, OR. We wanted to spend a least a week in Missoula doing computer stuff that desperately needs to be done. You know, the current announcement, a schedule, bookkeeping, trifolds, and fundraising to begin to cover the $5000 loan and launch the tour…. Yet as so often is in our life a few challenges apparently need to be tossed in our way to see if we are really serious. In this case it has been coons, colds, cramps, computers, bikes, and backs.

The first challenge along the way was the coon attack. It only cost us a few hours of work, what with the treating of the scratches and investigating rabies stuff. It left Megan a little sore and slow for a few days but no big deal. Then just when Stan and I finally got an opportunity to have that weekend alone, off of work, to enjoy each other’s company, loudly, before we hit the road a nasty winter cold came through. Ya’ll must understand that living in close quarters of the bus, staying at other folks houses, and being unable to afford motel rooms for a weekend, opportunities for real privacy are few and far between. But alas, instead of a romantic get-away before the final push we had a weekend filled with snot and fevers. And just because the two days we took off were over didn’t mean the cold was. Of course we all got sick a day apart, so now we all lost a couple of days beyond the weekend off and are still dragging as a result of the ever-lingering rhinovirus.

And Megan’s manner of luck continues. While it is true a raccoon scratched her when she peed on it, at least it didn’t bite her so she is not currently being treated for rabies. And on Saturday when she got hit by a car riding our only bike while legally in a cross walk, there was no serious injuries to either her or her dog, just bumps and bruises that left them both a bit sore. Of course the bike, which ended up under the car’s front tire doesn’t work so well anymore and the driver of the vehicle split before Megan could even get a license plate number. Afterall, her first concern was the well-being her and her dog. Ah well, I really didn’t have time or money to get that bike rack on….damn.

And if that isn’t enough to throw us behind schedule yesterday I threw out my back during a sneezing fit of all things. Now, I find this terribly frustrating because, with all my health problems, my back is not one of them. I hardly ever have back issues but I suspect with all the weird contortionist stuff one does while building a bus combined with weakening muscles due to a cold, a mighty sneeze managed to strain my lower back. Of course, there is no health care, alternative or otherwise in the budget, and truly I do not think it is that serious. It just needs the rest I do not have time to give it for a few more days. The colds put us behind enough that we still have to sort our stuff and pack the bus. You know, lots of lifting and bending.

And let us not forget those normal bothers us women face - menstrual cramps. Yeah in the midst of all this both Megan and I started bleeding, with cramps. Oh yeah, and when we finally get to that computer work the desperately needs to be done my computer still dies whenever its unplugged because I need a $125 battery. It also has a flashy screen due to a short that we can not afford to fix. Oh yeah, Megan’s computer is dead because its little plug-in connection has shorted out and we have yet to be able to find anyone to fix it. Apple will look at for $300-plus whatever repairs and we have yet to find anyone else who can do the repair so we are down to one computer, sort of.

Yet with all this we press on, doing the best we can with what we have. To me this is the true nature of sustainability. It is not about having what you want, or even what you perceive you need, but about making the best out of the situation you find yourself in. On a daily basis I assume that the spirits that be have provided me with everything I need to accomplish what I need to accomplish. I may wish for more and often tire of the struggle but in the end I truly believe that me and mine are being taken care of. I used to say that I knew I was being taken care of because I had never been homeless or hungry. That is not true anymore, yet I do still know that me and mine are being taken care of. Whether we are homeless, wandering California or broken down in a truck stop in Indiana or surviving coons, colds, cramps, computers, bikes, and backs in Montana I know that I am in the arms of the divine. As long as I can retain my ability to laugh, sing, and dance my life will continue to be blessed. Or maybe, I keep my ability to laugh, sing, and dance because my life is blessed. Either way, through life, death, and adversity the sense of being guided and cared for gets me out of bed and into my day for the next great adventure, even if adventures do suck sometimes.


Blessed Be, Delyla

Donate On-line:
Go to: www.permibus.org
Click on: Donate

Donate by Mail:
Make check payable to: A.C.T.
On the “For” line write: Skills Tour”
Send check to: Alliance of Community Trainers POB 160757 Austin, TX 78716-0757

Howdy All Yall Out There In Permibus Land:

Today was one of those rare, or maybe not so rare, days in Permibus Land when our real “country” comes out. We were merrily working on the bus down in Montana’s Bitterroot Valley when Megan pops into the bus and asks, “Can you get rabies from raccoon scratches?’ After explaining that it was very unlikely due to the fact that rabies is carried in the saliva I asked the natural question… why? Apparently she had stepped behind the barn to pee. She found a nice tall clump of grass to absorb the splash and went about her business. Unbeknownst to her a raccoon, probably living off of the pigeon eggs in the barn, had decided to nap buried in the same clump of grass. Upset by suddenly being peed on while sleeping the raccoon jumped up ad started clawing wildly with a look of mingled horror and disgust on its little bandit face. When Sage, Megan’s dog, came around the corner it scampered of into the field, probably to tell its raccoon friends about the awful thing that had happened to it. Meanwhile Megan pulled up her pants and came to find out if she should be worried about rabies.

After an examination of the 52+ individual scratches on her leg and way up on her inner thigh (a very sensitive place) she scrubbed it up with soap and water for 10 minutes, then put lavender oil on all the scratches (its antibacterial, can be used straight on the injury, and we couldn’t find the betadine). She also has begun taking Oregon Grape Root and Usnea as antibacterial, immune support to prevent infection, the biggest concern. In addition, she is putting boo-boo-goo (comfrey/calendula type salve) on the scratches every few hours while she is awake. After all we wouldn’t want to ruin such a funny happening with a nasty infection. However, now Megan has a new excuse every time she acts wiggy - after all she has the Mad Coon…

The moral for the day….Look Before You Pee.


Blessed Be, Delyla

Donate On-line:
Go to: www.permibus.org
Click on: Donate

Donate by Mail:
Make check payable to: A.C.T.
On the “For” line write: Skills Tour”
Send check to: Alliance of Community Trainers POB 160757Austin, TX 78716-0757

Howdy Ya’ll Out There in Permibus II
Today the last wall went in… Hip-hip-hurrah. OK so we still have the systems to put in including the solar installation, grey water, garden, and humanuer, half the kitchen - that’s waiting on finding a propane stove that does not require power to work -difficult even with a budget, finish the wood stove tiling and install stove, as well as any number of small tasks. In addition we are working on out reach material for the 2009 tour, a calendar, website, a new trifold, business cards, and grant writing… and somehow it still seems like I am missing something. However the end to our “vacation” off of the road is in sight. We are committed to the PIELC - a fabulous environmental law conference in Eugene February 26 to March 1 so every day is a workday of some sort. And here’s a reminder that donations will get that bus a rollin’ again.

Blessed Be, Delyla
Donate On-line:
Go to: www.earthactivisttraining.org/donate.html
Click on: Donate Now!
Under “Gift Information” write: Permibus
Under “Please send acknowledgment of this gift to” write: skillstour@gmail.com.

Donate by Mail:
Make check payable to: A.C.T.
On the “For” line write: Skills Tour”
Send check to: Alliance of Community Trainers POB 160757Austin, TX 78716-0757

Howdy All Yall Out There In Permibus II Land:

Today the beds went in. Yeah. In this new bus we have lost 40 square feet of living space. While the bus is much more maneuverable, and nicer, the loss of space has created design challenges. At first I was just going to take a bunch of room out of the sitting area but realized, after thoughtful and protracted observation, that as often as it was packed with folks in the past year we could not shrink that too much. I was already losing several feet out of my kitchent which left the bedroom area to shrink. After talking with the family about space issues we agreed that there wasn’t enough privacy in the other bus for sex anyway (the only night activity that we agree with the developed world that needs privacy) so why not stack the beds. So that’s what we did. The bedroom is 74”x 90” with Megan’s bed lofted over ours. Oddly, Megan loves her new space and the quarters aren’t as close is, say, an activist would find mid-winter at the Buffalo Field Campaign down in West Yellowstone…

Howdy All Yall Out There In Permibus II Land:

After a morning of running around trying to find flooring nails that would work in the bus, my sister Kelly and her partner Vince came down to help put in the bamboo floor. That’s right a sustainablly harvested, eco-groovey bamboo hardwood floor for the Permibus II. We only had about 80 square feet of flooring so we decided that we would put it in the isle of the main space, the best use for the least effor. It is so beautiful. It was donated to us for the first permibus (I am so glad it never went in) by a great green business in San Anselmo, CA called Green Fusion, ( http://www.greenfusiondesigncenter.com/ ). They are the also the ones that donated the paint too. Both the sitting area and the front room have been brightened up by a bit of paint. But it really is those bueatiful floors that bring it together. Thank you Vince and Kelly. It was a long day finally ending with a wonderful dinner, lasagna by Megan, around 10pm. But that floor is worth every moment.

Howdy All Yall Out There In Permibus II Land:

My New Year’s resolution is to be a better Skills Tour blogger. After much contemplation I decided my reluctance to blog is a combination of my inherit Cancer nature, previous bad experiences with e-mail communication, and my own personal struggles with writing. I am working to get beyond the idea of blogging as a writing process that requires an introduction, thesis statement, supporting paragraphs, and a conclusion. Instead, I am going to try and use the blog as a writing exercise, more stream-of-consciousness then organized form.

Doing a project like the Skills Tour is challenging to us in different ways. One of my challenges is becoming comfortable with new forms of communication, in this case blogging. I struggle with what to write about, who my audience is, and what I can say that is different from the what we are doing with the tour blogs written be Megan, the outreach coordinator. So I am going to start off by blogging about my internal process and challenges around the tour. I realized that if we want to make do a project that is replicable, which we do, then I need to share more about its every day struggles, like blogging, and how we overcome them. So a month after I resolved to blog here’s my first blog - wish me luck.

Wow!

So here we are blanketed under the big sky embarking on the rather intimidating project of rebuilding the Permibus and Skills Tour.

Ever since the breakdown in Indiana it has seemed to me that more and more work just piles up. This isn’t helped by the fact that the more work that piles up, the more overwhelmed I feel, the more I shirk on my responsibilities and thus the more work that piles up. It is a vicious cycle that I am trying to break out of. Beyond the rebuilding of the Permibus I am also trying to prepare for and take the GED, SAT and ACT as soon as possible.

Whew! Now that I am back in Montana I am excited to get to spend time with my friends in Missoula, hanging out, and LARPing and the like. This of course makes me less focused on my task list however which could end badly if I don’t get stuff done because then I will have no time to be up there at all. And that’s the big kicker that it all comes down to: Time. Our society is based heavily on the concept that time is precious and we don’t have enough of it. This is an attitude that has been holding me hostage for a while now. The more I feel there isn’t enough time to more I use it unproductively the more there are things that have to be done in less time and it all gets so stressful. Ya know what I mean?

I am sorry if this blog is less inspiring and motivated that my usual but I realize that I can’t always pretend everything is easy. When we face our struggles head on with the intent to reshape them into our strengths it is then that we are able to grow as human beings. Not that we will never face those struggles again for often we do, but we can know that it is in ourselves to become more than what we fear. Within the hardship is the knowledge that we are walking in the power to create and be the beautiful; to be the change we wish to see in the world and thus to inspire that change in others.

I don’t yet know if I will be able to get everything done without more consequences but I do know that if I don’t find it in myself to try then there will be a hallow ring to the life I believe in. So I will put myself into the struggle and by the power in which I walk I will reshape it and it will be my strength.

I hope you are all doing well and remember that you are walking in power.

-Megan Coyote Wilson
Outreach Coordinator
Skills for the New Millennium Tour


Keep that bus a rollin’…

Donate On-line:
Go to: www.earthactivisttraining.org/donate.html
Click on: Donate Now!
Under “Gift Information” write: Permibus
Under “Please send acknowledgment of this gift to” write: skillstour@gmail.com.

Donate by Mail:
Make check payable to: A.C.T.
On the “For” line write: Skills Tour”
Send check to: Alliance of Community Trainers POB 160757Austin, TX 78716-0757

Dear Blog Readers,

The cold winds cut through the bright Wyoming sunshine and beat break against my window as I watch the passing of time. The Permibus II is parked out back of my Grandmother’s house here in Riverton Wyoming where we await a break in he weather surrounding us so that we may drive to Montana. All of the seats are out of the bus and our stuff is packed. I am restless to find that Solstice is here and I am not in my home state. Fudge is cooling in the fridge and choke cherry syrup is canning on the stove so all is not lost. While I may not be in Montana Wyoming truly is ‘Like No Place On Earth’ and I am glad to be here with family, alive and well.

This blog will not be a long one as there is little to tell as far as adventure is concerned. I look forward to taking my family to the ‘Twilight’ matinee at the local theatre this afternoon and tonight shall be one of long enjoyment, warm drinks, and full hearts as we await the return of the sun. So sing, whisper or shout a blessing for all those things that are most important. The cold times are when one can count the blessings best, unclouded by the brightness of Spring, the business of Summer or the gathering of Fall. Winter is a time to look at your self in the ice and see the beauty inherent in life. So please, take a moment, treasure it.

I will post again when we arrive safely in out next harbour of Hamilton Montana. Until then, I extend my deepest gratitude towards all of you who have helped make our mission possible, be it by donating to us, setting up trainings or taking some time to see what we have to offer. I propose a toast to the new year, may we all find the light we need to see the brightness of the futures possible.

Happy Solstice Everybody!
I love you all!
-Megan Coyote
Outreach Coordinator
Skills for the New Millennium Tour



Keep that bus a rolling!
Donate On-line:
Go to: www.earthactivisttraining.org/donate.html
Click on: Donate Now!
Under “Gift Information” write: Permibus
Under “Please send acknowledgment of this gift to” write: skillstour@gmail.com

Howdy Ya'll Out There in Permibus Land,

As many of you know the Permibus cracked a piston just over two weeks ago in Indiana. We made it to a Flying J where we spent the next week investigating our options which were: 1) Abandon the project 2) Put an unknown used engine in the bus - Cost equaling $6,500 to $7,500 plus surprises 3) Strip the bus, buy a new one and build the Permibus II - this option meant a lot of extra labor for us but we found a bus for $3500 plus the cost of renting a U-haul, taking the stuff to Wyoming (family close to the new bus), getting the new bus, and retrofitting the old permibus interior to the new bus which would cost around $2500 for a total of around $6,000 and we would be 1600 miles closer to where we were headed next. After serious examination we picked option number 3.

We spent Wednesday and Thanksgiving, tearing apart what had been our beloved home and a fantastic educational tool for the past year and loading it into a 14' U-Haul. Fortunately, folks from the local community, once they were aware of our problems, were amazing. Folks brought us boxes, a local couple brought us all small gifts, gave us a $100 donation, and then had one of his employees to help us load for a few hours on Thanksgiving. A local minister bought us dinner at the Flying J then got us a hotel room so we had a bed to crawl into at midnight when we finally got the last of the bus packed into the U-Haul (It didn't really fit but we magicked it all in-even the chickens). Then we drove 1600 miles to my mom's house in Riverton Wyoming, being taken in by new friends, relatives, and old friends along the way. On the way home we even got some lovely canned peaches from a woman we taught to can over a campfire in an Illinois campground last summer.

We arrived late Monday night, unpacked all day Tuesday, had Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday, and on Thursday Stan went off to Bismarck, ND to pick up Permibus II while Megan and I got busy canning the 50lbs of elk my mom had for me. The bus arrived yesterday, Saturday, evening and today was spent finishing the elk and taking seats out of the bus. Wow its been a hell of a ride these last few weeks. Leaving Maine, a great three days of training at Earlham College, a week in a truck stop, packing our house and tearing apart the bus, traveling through six states, unpacking, holiday eating, canning, and getting a new bus to start rebuilding. It makes my head spin a bit and the stress of all the chaos has left the permi-family a bit worn and cranky but other than that as committed as ever to cultivating revolutionary ways of living by teaching steps toward sustainability. However the work of recreating the Permibus II remains quite daunting.

The recreation of the permibus is only possible due to the support of wonderful folks who gave us both large and small donations and, of course a $5000 loan. We are spending the next 5 weeks rebuilding the permibus and trying to raise the money to cover the $5,000 loan so that when the Permibus II hits the road in 2009 we do so debt free. This is important to us as we remain committed to offering our trainings based on donations. This policy has allowed us to support urban gardens, talk permaculture with inner city kids who had never even seen a live chicken before, attend new festivals with little budgets introducing thousands of folks to the ideas of permaculture and so much else. We understand that with the tumbling economy it will be more difficult than ever to raise the funding we need to continue, however, considering our impact the past year, we decided that the skills we teach are more important than ever. We hope that the folks that know the importance of the message of sustainability we carry, will give a little extra to ensure the project continues.

Also if anyone has a digital still and/or video camera to donate (maybe upgrading for the holidays) we would love to document the creation of the Permibus II so that others can duplicate our work. Either way, a chap book outlining the development and systems of the Permibus II will be available for sale for $10 each January 1, 2009 as a fundraiser for the creation of bus. You can follow the creation of the Permibus II on our blog at http://permibus.livejournal.com/ . We will try and post at least weekly.

Again, I would like to thank all ya'll for your support. The donations and other support offered by folks throughout the country has made it possible for us to commit to another Permibus and another year of the Skills for a New Millennium Tour.


Blessed Be, Delyla
http://permibus.livejournal.com
http://permibus.tripod.com

And-as always-to donate:

Donate On-line:
Go to: www.earthactivisttraining.org/donate.html
Click on: Donate Now!
Under “Gift Information” write: Permibus
Under “Please send acknowledgment of this gift to” write: skillstour@gmail.com.

Donate by Mail:
Make check payable to: A.C.T.
On the “For” line write: Skills Tour”
Send check to: Alliance of Community Trainers POB 160757Austin, TX 78716-0757

Captains Blog
11/25/08
Spiceland, IN.

Behind a sickening cloud of black smoke, the Permibus coasted to an ominous halt at the Flying J truck stop outside of Spiceland, Indiana. What had seemed a minor problem just days ago manifested its true face, a cracked piston. The Permibus was dead in a parking lot and our situation seemed dire at best. What to do? At first I had to think my way past that feeling of hopelessness that can only come when you sit behind the wheel of a 27,000 pound bus that you know is not moving another inch. I pulled on warm clothes and began to crawl under the bus. I walked to a nearby mechanic and sought their advice, I called my two diesel phone consultants, eventually I even limped the Permibus up to the local mechanics so they could take a look. Oil had begun to run from the exhaust manifold, down the exhaust pipe and onto the ground. A thick crust of wet oil coated the rear bumper and tail pipe. The three mechanics who looked the bus over reached the same conclusion. We had a cracked piston. I limped the bus back to the Flying J.
Our choices were to scrap the tour, figure we had done enough, sell the Permibus for salvage, and make our way back west. We could try to get another engine put in the Permibus, spend a couple of weeks in a nearby motel, and continue on from there. Lastly, we could make the choice to find another bus and go on in some version of the Permibus Two. An e-mail from a student at the University of Oregon who wanted to bring us to Eugene combined with a Permaculture phone conference made it obvious that the Skills Tour had to go on. It soon became apparent that getting a new engine would be too expensive. We started looking for another bus. Our search took us west. We rented a U-Haul and spent Thanksgiving well into the night loading the entire Permibus into a 14 foot moving van.

Some very good local folks helped out. Morris Cook who runs a plumbing business in New Castle, a small town just 3 miles away, not only donated a hundred dollars to us but he sent one of his workers, Toby, to help us load. Another family brought us boxes. Anton, a local youth minister, and his family bought us dinner on Thanksgiving night and got us a hotel room for the night. These folks will always be in our hearts and are another example of the goodness of the American people. I have discovered in our 10 month adventure that despite our differences, we really a good and decent people.

With a long ways to go and a short time to get there we headed back to Richmond to get our chickens. The Miller family had earlier driven out to the Flying J to get our 3 hens and take them to the Miller Farm at Earlham college where they lived for a week. We drove west all 3 humans and 3 dogs parked into the cab of the U-Haul. The chickens and worms rode in the back. We spent Friday night with a family we had befriended earlier in the year. We spent Saturday at relatives in Minnesota and Sunday at the home of long time friends in South Dakota.

Monday night we arrived in Wyoming at Megan’s grandmother’s house. We spent a long day not only unloading the rental but making arrangements for me to take a bus to Bismark, North Dakota to pick up the Permibus Two. We are safe and sound with much work still to do. The tour is still alive, we look forward to seeing old friends and making new ones as this vital work continues. We eagerly seek your continued support so just let me thank you for the abundance of your generosity in advance.

Captain but not leader,
Stan Wilson,
Permi Preacher and Infrastructure Cordinator.


Keep that bus a rolling!
Donate On-line:
Go to: www.earthactivisttraining.org/donate.html
Click on: Donate Now!
Under “Gift Information” write: Permibus
Under “Please send acknowledgment of this gift to” write: skillstour@gmail.com

Dear Friends,

Ten months of travel, more than fifty communities, thousands of people exposed to ideas of permaculture, self-reliance, nonviolence and positive action: the Permibus that Earth Activist Training launched last winter has been doing great work. It’s already survived some harrowing adventures—like getting illegally confiscated by the Minneapolis police during the Republican National Convention. Many of you helped us generously then, and now we need your help again.
Picture it: our Permibus family, Stan, Delyla and their daughter Megan, along with the three dogs, the three chickens, and the worm bin, stuck in a truck stop in Indiana with a cracked piston! At least the solar panels, the graywater system and the composting toilet are functioning, but to get the bus back on the road and back on tour will take a new engine, and that will take somewhere between $5000-$10,000.
We are looking for people who could possibly make a substantial donation, or even a loan to help us get the bus back on the road while we raise funds. Is that you? If so, please contact us at 406-721-8427, so we can plan the next step.
We also need lots of smaller donations. They add up! Anything you can spare will be a big help in getting the bus running again.
It’s a time of tremendous hope and change in this country. People are scared about the economy, and open as never before to new ideas about self reliance and localization. We need the bus up and running. Hey, we could use ten of them criss-crossing the country! Who else is going to give an impromptu tour in a Walmart parking lot, showing middle America how to compost? Or introduce an inner-city child to a chicken that’s not already Kentucky Fried? We really, really don’t want to abandon the tour. Won’t you help!

Thanks, Starhawk


Here’s how to donate:

Donate On-line:
Go to: www.earthactivisttraining.org/donate.html
Click on: Donate Now!
Under “Gift Information” write: Permibus
Under “Please send acknowledgment of this gift to” write: skillstour@gmail.com.

Donate by Mail:
Make check payable to: A.C.T.
On the “For” line write: Skills Tour”
Send check to: Alliance of Community Trainers POB 160757Austin, TX 78716-0757

Please email us about donations at skillstour@gmail.com so that we can thank you and develop a budget.

Below is Delyla’s report on their work. You can also see pictures and read stories their educational adventures at permibus.livejournal.com. (Including Megan’s unforgettable account of the Senior Prom!)


The time for Permaculture is now. As the Skills Tour has made its way across the country over the last ten months we have discovered that people of all walks of life are excited by the solutions we have brought to their communities. From schools, intentional communities, college campuses, inner city community gardens, church groups, and anarchist cooperative households our effect has truly been one of “cultivating revolutionary ways of living.” When we left on the Skills Tour in February we envisioned folks learning that they could take back control of their lives by planting gardens, raising chickens, canning food, building community, and learning to use rain water catchments and grey water as well as alternative power to reduce dependency on the corporations that control our most necessary resources. Then we could never have dreamed how close reality could come to our vision.

Yet this is what has happened. During the last ten months on our Permibus Tour, we’ve talked with over two thousand folks from all walks of life in over 50 communities about simple, permaculture ways of making changes at the margins. Over seven hundred people have attended a Skills Tour training and hundreds more have watched the Permi-puppet show, attended a short chicken informational, or sat in other Skills Tour presentations. As we show folks the simple ways they can begin to change their lives, and the world, people have embraced the knowledge we have shared.

Many people we have worked with have told us about the exciting steps they have made toward true sustainability. Folks in Washington DC started making their own yogurt and set up a small back yard chicken flock after an evening of Skills Tour skills shares. Youth shelter kids used the skills they learned during a Community Conflict Resolution training to resolve their own conflicts. Then there is the folks we met at a campground in Illinois where we held an impromptu canning workshop over the campfire who wrote us that they,“…left the park with five gallons of berries, which made for us 12 pints of jam. I have now canned 50 pints of tomatoes sauces, 15 pints of salsa, and 40 quarts of all the peaches off our tree! Thank you so much for the training and the encouragement!!” Then there was the family in Fairfield Iowa who bought an inverter right after a solar power workshop so they could begin taking control of their own power needs.

The list of the positive ways the tour has impacted folks lives goes on… all the inner city youth who saw chickens for the first time thanks to the Skills Tour, the teenagers in west Philly who climbed the bus to see solar panels, something they had never heard of before, the anarchist collective in Columbus who are now canning everything they can scavenge, the elderly woman on a fixed income in Grand Island, NY who copied our insulated curtains so she could better afford to heat her home this winter, the college kids in North Carolina who connected with the life cycle of their food choices, experiencing death for the first time during a butchering workshop, the students at Unity College who became inspired to revitalize the campus compost system, folks in Minneapolis, DC and Maine who started vermiculture composting with permibus worm donations, the truckers in truck stops who talk with us about alternative fuels….

The time for Permaculture is now. Folks know that change is imperative and that real change must happen at the grassroots. People want to feel empowered to enact the changes so desperately needed. Barack Obama won because he gave people hope. His message “Yes We Can” is the perfect Permaculture message. Yes, we can take back control of our food needs, our water needs, our health needs, and our energy needs. We can take back control of our local governments, of our communities, of our lives. People have the desire, the willingness, and the openness to learn and the Skills Tour brings to them the knowledge they require to take the many small steps needed to revolutionize the way they live. It is vital that we continue our work, remaining dedicated to offering our trainings on a donation basis. Because we will go anywhere and present before any group we bridge gaps between vastly different people who might otherwise never have an opportunity to learn about the importance of Permaculture. The Skills Tour must go on.

To Donate:
Donate On-line:
Go to: www.earthactivisttraining.org/donate.html
Click on: Donate Now!
Under “Gift Information” write: Permibus
Under “Please send acknowledgment of this gift to” write: skillstour@gmail.com.

Donate by Mail:
Make check payable to: A.C.T.
On the “For” line write: :Skills Tour”
Send check to: Alliance of Community Trainers POB 160757Austin, TX 78716-0757

Please email us about donations at skillstour@gmail.com so that we can thank you and develop a budget. Also if you are able to provide a sizable donation or loan please contact us by phone at 406-721-8427 as soon as possible. Thank you all again for your support.