O.C.F. Caretaker's Journal O.C.F. Caretaker's JournalMonday 31 May Yesterday a lot got accomplished towards getting Main Camp ready, including bring down the stoves and reefer truck. Clif, Hilary, Byron, and I flew up to Portland in the evening for a Burning Man meeting. I got home after midnight and went to check my email and do my Journal---but the Communications Guys had been working on the phones so I couldn't connect. I took that as a sign to hit the sack. This morning Rainbow recruited me to tear down the bell tower on the water platform, something I have wanted to do for years, and to which I enthusiastically agreed. We both considered it extremely unsafe. It's outta there. Later on I met with the VegManEC coordinators about the issue in dahinda's Acres. We all agree on the need for documentation and to push for disciplinary action. We have created a webpage on the VegManEC website to express our extreme displeasure with this flagrant Guideline Violation. We also agree that it is high time that the process for dealing with such situations be spelled out more clearly. They say that evey dog has had its day, and that day has come. No dogs are allowed on site again until September 1st. Time should tell whether or not this applies to scurvy Navy dogs as well.
Saturday 29 May Construction weekend is upon us and I was not about to miss the fun, although admittedly on light duty. The entire fleet of nine identical Best Pot pumper trucks were out here on parade today, and it was hugely comical to see them all drive at once. Using mixers, they pumped years worth of sludge out of the 6-packs, leaving behind only cans, bottles, diapers, and other undescribable debris---which the Sanitation Crew is going to heroically dredge out with fishing nets. Lots of other action besides. The first order of business is always getting the Kitchen cleaned up and put back together. The Cadillac of all picnic tables is under construction. Booth demolition occurred at Sesame Street and one can finally start to see the Vision there. It is exciting to walk around the Fair and see new things that have suddenly appeared. People did notice my unusual gait and being people they were usually compelled to provide some sort of helpful suggestion or another. Do do this or don't do that. Sleep with magnets under the mattress. Suspend myself from the ceiling by my ankles. Pull all of the energy into the center of my body, then disconnect energy coming into the area of pain. And so on and so forth. Finally I began to tell people that I appreciated their concern but to skip the advise. Obviously I am feeling much better here. It was a completely gorgeous day to begin and I'll take that as a good omen. The horses are out of the gates.
Friday 28 May I have recovered a quite a bit from the back spasms that I was suffering yesterday and this morning---unable then to even get up to answer the phone or the door. Conde's Redwood made a delivery about one o'clock and that forced me outside to spot the load, and from there I took a walk through the Eight and that really seemed to help. Not to say that I am 100% or anything, but I am able now to do some light-duty chores like doing the dishes. Hopefully, I will be able to pitch in this weekend by driving a truck or something---but it is safe to say that I won't be moving stages around or anything like that. One has to be philosophical about such things as I generally am. Usually I relate very physically to the world and it is interesting how different reality becomes when you cannot affect it as easily. It is a window into my own mortality and a premonition of Old Age. Certainly I have a renewed appreciation for even the limited mobility that I am now enjoying. Finally it is a good wake up call to be more careful because even though I will hate not being able to be a force this weekend, it is a whole lot better now than when things get really crazy later.
Wednesday 26 May If anyone thought they saw Frankenstein lurching around the the Fair Site today, fear not, for it was only I under the influence of Ibuprofen. Normally I am such a purist that I won't touch drugs of any kind, but this stuff helped me through the day for sure. I was busy on all kinds of stuff, including finishing off the day for Dennis with the Northwest Youth Corps on the Far Side, and helping the Ferrell Gas guys get the tank in place for Main Camp. Several visitors on the site today, including a couple neighborhood boys floating the Long Tom on inner tubes, a sure sign of summer. This evening I went in to see Star Wars with a bunch of the Fair Family Folk. Personally I thought it was rip roaring great fun and a visual treat, and one I will have to see again on the big screen. The long lines are history now but it was still a pretty full house, which is not bad when you consider that it is apparently playing 33 times a day---which represents approximently 265 showings and a quarter million dollar plus take since last week in Eugene alone.
Tuesday 25 May Now for the umteenth time in a row, rain canceled my flight lesson, then the sun shone again. Instead I built a shelf in the Ware House and managed to tweak my back in the process. I am rapidly falling apart at the seams, it seems. My back problem is a occasionally recurring theme in my life and I have learned to deal with it, but it certainly puts a crimp in my style. I went to the Ballet tonight at the Hult Center with Hilary and her boss Pam, who had purchased the tickets, and we all had great seats. What we saw was the White Oak Dance Project, with the famous Russian dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov. It was so very avant garde and recherché, that some of us were probably left wondering what the hay it all meant. The unsophisticated might have been better off with something more traditional, which I might not have understood any better---but at least I could have read the Cliff Notes!
Monday 24 May Spent the day working with Craig Huber once again on the Giant Kalideoscope, managing to whack my thumb by being stupid with power equipment, Craig doing the same to his finger, but nothing serious. The project has become a major time consumer, but it is Art, and that after all is what brought me to the Fair. Craig related an interesting idea which I support wholeheatedly. In lieu of a booth fee, we allow one craftsperson per year to create a commisioned art piece for the community at large. This would both establish the Fair as a Patron of the Arts and present a wide variety of artists with exciting opportunities. There is a wealth of untapped creative potential.energy in the Fair Family that could be channeled into some incredible projects---if the proper vehicle were provided.
Sunday 23 May At the risk of sounding hyperpolysyllabicsequipedalianistic, I would have to pronounce today's weather pulchritudinous. Quite a lot of people around Site today. The VegManECs were working around the Sesame and we took the big stump that I pulled out of the river last Winter down to the the Old Stumps Of Mystery. The original stumps are in the final stages of decay and obviously ready for an upgrade. Most of the day I began to fall into the old routine of facilitating others on site, which I genuinely enjoy. Today this included such diverse tasks as sharping the mower blades for Randy, to talking with booth people about eco-friendly booth redesign. My good mood was totally harshed however, when it was brought to my attention by dahinda that a certain troglodytic misanthrope had taken a chainsaw to a multi-trunked still alive willow tree last week, as it had made the mistake of leaning into his campsite. I confronted Austalophithacus about his deed, which I can only describe here as utter butchery, stating that we have a Tree Crew for that sort of thing and to check in with Steve or I first. To which he only could reply with moronic logic that it was all for the best and knew better than I, et cetera. Steve arrived and continued the lecture but conceded that what was done was done. Personally I would have liked to have seen some action taken on what I feel is a fairly serious Guideline infraction. Go here for a computer generated rant. Keep pushing for more until you feel better.
Saturday 22 May The Far Side experimental forest treeplanting workparty today consisted of just Professor Todd, Bucket, and myself. I have not a single doubt that everyone else was happily festing away at the Willamette Valley Folk Festival. Dennis had rented a two man auger at my suggestion. Deeper holes will allow the roots to penetrate quickly and are much faster to dig as well. Bucket and I flogged on the misery whip for about six hours in the bright sunlight. Boring work obviously, but also strangely satisfying to look back over the moonscape we had created. It is nice too, to think that there will soon be a forest on that spot. Today was like a summer day, sans the mosquitoes, a nice breeze and not a cloud in the sky. The rising temperatures releasing many an intoxicating smell. An evening site walk revealed prodigious amounts of new green growth over the last couple days alone. The Bigleaf Maples in particular are filling out rapidly. The long full days of sun and soil full of moisture have combined to create virtual tropical growth conditions here. Bats are swooping through the tree tops and hummingbirds hover about the flower tops. Wildflowers are abloom at every turn. The spectacle of Spring is at its peak.
Friday 21 May Bucket and I worked together through the day, first down around Main Camp, then mowed and worked our way back towards the Ware House. After lunch we got up and finished the roof on the Vehicle Shed, which was about 99% done before the energy ran out. Now all that is left is a few knee braces. We were lamenting that this is the last weekend that the place will be relatively quiet, as next week starts Construction. After that it will be one big blur until the Fair is over. As Caretaker there is much to enjoy about this land the whole year long, but there is no denying the fact that my life now revolves around the Event. It will pass too quickly, as it always does. Here is a photo of Miss Piggy's in the calm before the storm.
Thursday 20 May I was working on security today in preparation for the this years festivities. I recomboed and changed all the Fair's locks, engraved new ones, and am putting together a new lock list. I chained up Auntie Em, Cabal, and John Wayne Bridges so that nobody can drive to the south side of Indian creek and get stuck or damage the lots with their vehicles. Nobody hates this inconvenience more than I do to be sure. I will have to dole out combinations to all the affected parties and rememorize the more often used ones yet again. But unfortunately locks are a necessary evil in today's world. As the saying goes, they help keep honest people honest.
Wednesday 19 May The word prequel comes from the Latin prefix pre which means before (as in prefix) and quel, which means absolutely nothing. The word sequel comes from the Latin verb sequi, to follow. To "follow before" logically makes about as much sense as an exploding spaceship making a big loud noise in outer space. This evening Leslie, Hilary, and I went to the Cinemark 17 to see A Midsummer's Night Dream. It was an okay movie but the real story seems to be about opening day of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace,which we could hear rumbling away in the theater next to ours. It is billed as the most anticipated event of the century and apparently that is true. We saw long lines waiting to get into the theaters for all showings---this after presumably waiting in line for several hours to get tickets or even camping out for them! This scene undoubtably mirrored across the country. Am I missing something here? It's not like the Beatles are getting together for a reunion tour or anything. The movie is showing in three theaters in here in Eugene, on multiple screens, all day long, everyday. Even if all the most diehard fans see it two or three times, the craze will settle down within a week. Yes, I plan on seeing it next week with some Country Fair folks, but it's only a movie after all. Read more about the all the hype at ihatestarwars.com.
Tuesday 18 May The word saint comes from the Latin word sanctus which translates roughly to "holy". Based on the course of their lives and the circumstances surrounding them, some saints have become patron saints of certain peoples, places, things, and occupations. Feast Days are recognized for each saint, often on the day of the year in which they died, especially if they gave up their lives for their faith. Pietro Angeleri di Morrone became Pope Celestine V and was eventually canonized as Saint Peter Celestine. He was born in 1215, the eleventh child of extremely poor but deeply religious peasants. Early on he showed a great love for his fellow beings. He joined the Benedictine Monks but quickly became dissatisfied with their order. He renounced the material world when he was only twenty years old, spending three harsh winters at the mercy of wild animals. In 1238 he went to Rome, and was made a priest by Pope Gregory IX with permission to continue his life as a hermit. Inside his cave he brought the ideal of penitence to its extreme, abstaining from meat and wine, spending his days in prayer, field work, and the copying of sacred text, while doing four penitence periods a year. Soon the presence of this holy hermit was attracting growing numbers of pilgrims and he established a new religious order, the Celistines, which eventually had over sixteen monasteries. When Pope Nicholas IV died, the twelve elector cardinals were divided and two years passed without being able to decide on a new Pope. Peter wrote a letter where he denounced the politics of the church. When it arrived it was read to the presence of all the cardinals, who were so deeply moved the he was proposed for the candidature and that same day Brother Peter, at the age of 79 years old, was elected Pope. An enormous crowd, historical sources say some two hundred thousand, saw the holy old hermit consecrated as Pope. Unfortunately he was not prepared to the political aspects of this role. He gave out charges and privileges freely, and let a group of three cardinals manage the things of the papacy, keeping himself in his cell to continue his penitential life. He abdicated his office after only four months, left the papal ornaments, put on his old tunic, and went back to his cave. Many questioned the validity of his successor Boniface VIII however, who fearing a schism ordered the king of Naples to send Celestine to back to Rome. He tried to escape by leaving Italy for the Balkans, but his ship was obliged by a strong wind to go back, where he was captured and kept prisoner for eleven months until his death on 19 May 1296. During his canonization in 1313, Pope Clement V called Celestine "a man of wonderful simplicity, but impractical of the management of the Church, because since his early childhood to old age his soul had been longing not for secular but for divine things". He is the patron saint of bookbinders.
Monday 17 May I've got those rainy day no flying lesson blues again. About three quarters of an inch in the rain gauge since yesterday. I went to Jerry's and picked up some supplies for the Giant Kalideoscope project, then met Craig at his friend's woodshop where we got down to the business of finally beginning to get it off the drawing board. This thing is not going to be so much built as engineered, with tolerances of a sixteenth of an inch---unheard of for any Country Fair project I've ever been on. When we were done for the day I hustled over to the special board meeting, already in progress. Looks like we'll be buying the Hubbard property if all goes well with the details. That is the 5.5 acre property on the right as you turn off Areo Road on to Chickadee. It is a decision that didn't come lightly, and will perhaps strap us slightly in the short term, but it is certainly the right thing to do for the future of the Fair.
Sunday 16 May Today the pace ratcheted up another notch. I was back over on the Far Side, running the tractor for the most part, but I could tell by the radio traffic that there was a lot going on. After we got things put away for the day Arrow took Steve, Mike, Bucket, and I out to dinner at Cecilia's Mexican Resturant in Veneta. Clif invited me on a checkout ride and I went for that. It was my first time in a Cessna 172 four-seater and my first time night flying. It was fun to sit in the backseat and just observe. He was demonstrating stalls among other things, which I will be practicing tomorrow although the rain is starting to fall heavily and yet another cancellation could be in the forecast.
Saturday 15 May Well, I was reaping a little death and destruction of my own today---on blackberries. The City of Veneta is going to plant a stand of Aspen on the Far Side for the purpose of waste water uptake of its sewer effluent.The trouble with this plan is that it will create a virtual biological desert. The Fair, led by Dennis Todd and funded by a grant, is countering by creating its own stand of a mixture of native trees to prove that this will work equally well for uptake and provide biological diversity as well. The area chosen for this experimental plot happens to be ground totally overgrown with blackberries, an exotic transplant from Asia. The Sheriff's work crews provided initial attack and created several huge piles of blackberry canes. I got to set these ablaze while other volunteers worked to plant some of the approximately three thousand saplings. Then all afternoon I drove a tractor with a brush hog attachment around through the rough. Arrow is celebrating his fortieth birthday with a big party tonight down in Traffic Camp. The fun has begun!
Friday 14 May During the Gulf War in 1991, Coalition Forces left more than three hundred tons of depleted uranium on the battlefields in Iraq, most of it in the form radioactive dust scattered overt thousands of square miles of desert. Uranium ore contains mainly isotope 238, with less than one percent of isotope 235, the material necessary in fission reactors. Processing this ore has created huge quantities of leftover isotope 238---so called depleted uranium. 1.7 times denser than lead, uranium is the densest naturally occurring substance on Earth. Uranium alloy tipped projectiles therefore have a very high penetrating power. A-10 Warthogs and M-1 Abrams tanks were equipped with uranium tipped armor piercing shells. Tomahawk Cruise missiles were similarly fitted to breach concrete obstructions. During penetration so much heat develops that the depleted uranium particles catch fire. Uranium oxide is formed in particulates of between 0.5 and 5 microns and can be borne by the wind. Inhaling just one of these tiny particles is enough to cause lung cancer. Something like a million of these projectiles were used during the Gulf War and as a result the incidence of leukemia, cancer, and birth defects in southern Iraq has risen dramatically.The half life of uranium is a hundred million years. This spent ordinance will continue to leach into the ground water and into the food chain for basically ever. The Pentagon view that the short term tactical benefits justified the long term effects is simple insanity. Nor has it ever admitted that the so called "Gulf War Syndrome" affecting about 100,000 veterans, is actually radiation poisoning. Now both Cruise missiles and the A-10 tank killing planes, armed with 30 millimeter cannons capable of delivering 4,200 rounds per minute, are being deployed in Yugoslavia, including Kosovo. Undoubtably many innocent people are going suffer similar illnesses as those connected with the Chernobyl and Mile Island disasters or even die from exposure to isotope 235 for many years to come. This is horrible crime being committed by NATO and the United States in the name of justice. Depleted uranium weapons, like the cluster bombs that killed over one hundred refugees today, must be banned by Geneva Convention. Please email U.S. Congress and express your horror and disgust with these weapons of mass destruction.
Thursday 13 May Let me get caught up here on the going ons around Site. Yesterday morning I helped the Best Pot guy move a port-a-pottie over to the Far Side in preparation for this weekend's tree planting extravaganza. Dennis was also out here and I helped him string a hose across the river so we can water them little treelets when the time comes. While we were doing that our new John Deere mower arrived. This is a machine to be reckoned with infinite speed hydrostatic drive and seventeen and a half horsepower. I'm talking about one mean, green, lawn mowin' machine here. Arh! Flight school canceled yet again due to a low ceiling. We're going to practice stall recovery next and naturally I am up for doing that from as high an altitude as possible---so no complaints here. I went into Eugene to get software for the site computer, which I initialized Wednesday night and then couldn't get to start up on the system I had. I checked out The Mummy while I was in town. Not every ones's cup of tea to be sure, but I liked it a lot for all the over the top Egyptian demonomancy. I managed to downgrade the computer properly this time and get it booted. By this morning I had it on the net! Steve is going to be happy when he gets back from his weekend, especially with the email program which took an approximant ten year leap in technology in a single day. I went over to Aurora Glass, run by St.Vincent's de Paul, with Anne Morris and Craig Huber. Research for the Giant Kaleidoscope and all. On my return yet another John Deere arrived, this time a tractor and brush hog combo, again for the wetlands uptake project on the Far Side. The Deeres are multiplying around here like, well, deer. You gotta love this stuff if you're a guy though. Marshall Landman and a few other people were out during the day. I kept on tweaking with the Mac Quadra until I started getting tweaked myself, then walked around the Site towards evening.
Wednesday 12 May It is no small coincidence that the word digit can mean a number from zero to nine, a finger, or a toe. Early mankind probably made the transition from counting on fingers to notches on bones or scratches on cave walls. Eventually it progressed to the use of symbols such as Roman Numerals to represent various multiples of ten. Once the concept of zero was finally understood, our current decimal system took hold. Had humans evolved with six fingers per hand rather than five, our current numbering system undoubtably would have used multiples of twelve rather than ten. Twelve is a far more practical number than ten because it can be divided evenly into halves, thirds, or quarters---as opposed to only halves for ten. The ancient Egyptians very sensibly settled on the concept of a twenty-four hour day. Although the shadows on sundial vary in length according to the season, the angles they cast remains the same. The daylight came to be divided into twelve sections on one half of the dial, which is why clock faces now represents half a day as twelve hours. Perhaps the fact that there are basically twelve lunar cycles in a year and twelve signs of the zodiac had a bearing on why this came to be as well. A quick look at a watch illustrates the versatility of twelve. Its face is evenly divided with six hours to the two sides and three hours to the four quadrants. Using our own five digits to subdivide the hours gave us sixty minutes and seconds. Had we had six digits per hand, it might have come to have given us seventy-two minutes---but of course this would still have been written as 60 in base twelve. Biblically there were twelve tribes of Israel descended from twelve sons of Jacob. There were twelve Apostles and of course the Twelve Days of Christmas. There are twelve notes in an octave. Alcoholics Anonymous has Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. Twelve people sit on a jury. There are twelve eggs to a dozen. A dozen and a gross (that is a dozen dozen), are alternative names for these special numbers. Even the words eleven and twelve have a certain significance, otherwise why didn't we just call them oneteen and twoteen? Twelve inches in a foot. An inch is in sixteenths of course--but it isn't in tenths for practical reasons. On the five fingered hand one can understand why the proponents of the Metric System want to put an end to all this fuss, but on the other six fingered one, perhaps it explains the United States' reluctance to adopt it.
Tuesday 11 May Today I began tossing floating doughnut-shaped briquets of mosquito larvicide into standing pools of water around the Fair Site. Baccillus thuringiensis(known as Bt) is a naturally occurring bacterium common in soils throughout the world. Bt was first discovered in 1901 in an infected Japanese silkworm and became a commercially available product in the Fifties. At present, it is the only "microbial insecticide" in widespread use, but only represents about one percent of the total agrochemical market across the world. In recent years, however, there has been renewed interest in Bt-based insecticides largely because of the safety associated with them.Commercial Bt products are powders containing a mixture of dried spores and toxin crystals. The crystal protein is highly insoluble under normal conditions, entirely safe to humans and wildlife. It can be solubilised only above 9.5 pH, the very condition commonly found in the mid-gut of certain insect larvae. Unlike most insecticides, Bt does not have a broad spectrum of activity and will not kill beneficial insects. This includes natural enemies, such as predators and parasites, as well as beneficial pollinators, such as honeybees.The Bt bacterium works by paralyzing the larvae's digestive system, after which the infected insect generally dies from starvation within several days. In years past, volunteers were assigned to apply the Bt throughout the underbrush at the Fair with backpack sprayers; a hard, hot, and basically ineffective method. Last year this new method was tried. It took me about an hour or so once a week, and although there were still mosquitoes, there were noticably fewer than previously.
Monday 10 May Spent the morning hours trying to downgrade the new site computer. Actually it is an old computer with an new operating system that it really can't handle. The short of it is that it would be a long story, and not a very interesting one at that. I walked about and checked out all the work that I didn't even get a chance to see yesterday. Thanks to all who came out to help. Steve, Betty the cat, and I went out for another site walk in the evening and talked about various projects as we passed. Both of us agree that this is the most beautiful time of year on the Site. We got over and dismantled the beaver dam, as it floods Trotter's Field---which we need to get dried out so we can park lots of cars there on it soon! We have a friendly little rivalry with ol' Mr. Beaver. He chops down our trees in the Winter and we knock down his dam in the Spring. He's out there rebuilding it right now though, and by my count he is definitely winning the battle.
Sunday 9 May Annual site purification rites were observed today. Large volumes of ancient and perfectly rotted dimensional lumber, plywood, and pallets were all ceremoniously sacrificed upon a feu de joie.Tongues from the pyre licked around the primordial debris while gleaming reflections flickered from the aborigines' eyeballs as they exultantly danced about it. As the flames receded the inhabitants went forth anew, hither and yon to farthest reaches of the Faire, collecting more offerings to the conflagration. Other bestowments were placed inside the Great Metal Altar, the contents of which will eventually distributed across the Land---as parts of dwellings in the form of chipboard. Yet other finer materials were given sacred status and shall be reincorporated into further grotesque and bizarre manifestations, thus preserving the continuity between the Past, Present, and Future. The Goddess smiled down upon the exertions of her denizens, parted the clouds and bathed them all in a clear white light.
Saturday 8 May When it was raining you could look to the West and see blue sky and when it was sunny you could see the next wave of the wet stuff approaching---all day long. Palmer and I helped Tommy stringing cable for the new phone lines. When that is done we will be able to get rid of the funky old communications trailer, a long time dream. Highway Cleanup took place this morning, with Randy filling in for Howard. Went into the WOW Hall early to meet Brian Dahl and work on the Hemp Tipi and we ended up doing more planning than actual work but we were productive in that sense. This evening was the Annual Spring Fling, which officially kicks off the Fair Season. So many beautiful faces that I haven't seen since last year, all obviously looking forward to coming together out here once again. And oh baby, that one year only Vanna was, well um, something else.
Friday 7 May A long day too say the least. In the morning I picked up the Highway Pickup equipment, a food donation from Ray's, did some banking, visited the hardware store and the post office. During the afternoon it alternated between warm sunshine and icy cold rain. Cleaned up and aired tires on some of the carts in preparation for Sunday's work party. Michael Bishop, Arrow, and Mike are here to start work on the new traffic booth. Steve and I started moving the first loads of stuff down to Main Camp---just some picnic tables and benches, a couple of port-a-potties, and some carts, but hey ya gotta start somewhere right? Then I was off for another seven or so hours of work for Charles in town and I just pulled in and got a shower and it's almost 2 am. Tomorrow looms . . . . see ya'll at the Spring Fling!
Thursday 6 May Not too much got accomplished by me today as I was working pretty hard yesterday and slept in this morning. Took a site walk and must report that the Buttercups out in the lots are outragous at the moment. Here is a photo I took recently of one of our native plants. I was intending to cut the grass in Chela Mela but it started raining for the rest of the day---so that was the perfect excuse not to. I did knock out a logo for the Jill Heiman Vision Fund on my computer for Arna, something I had been putting off. Later I went to see A Simple Planwith Hilary and norma. A thoughtful yet depressing movie, but still well worth the buck and a half it now costs at the new second run theater at Gateway Mall.
Wednesday 5 May During the French-Mexican War, badly supplied and outnumbered Mestizo and Zapotec Indians under General Ignacio Zaragoza defeated a French army attempting to capture Puebla de Los Angeles, a small town in east central Mexico. In 1861, Mexico was a country in financial ruin and was forced to default on debts to European governments. In response, France, Britain, and Spain sent naval forces to demand reimbursement. Britain and Spain negotiated with Mexico and withdrew, however France decided to use the opportunity to add to its empire. Some have argued that the real reason for the French occupation was in response to growing American power and to the Monroe Doctrine. In any event, a well-armed French force stormed Veracruz and drove the Mexican government into retreat. The French, certain that victory would come swiftly, sent six thousand men on a 225 mile march to attack Puebla de Los Angeles. A rag-tag force of two thousand loyal men fortified the town and prepared for the French assault. On the fifth of May 1862, supported by heavy artillery, the French attacked. The battle lasted from daybreak until evening and when the French finally retreated they had lost nearly five hundred soldiers to the less than a hundred Mexicans killed. Although not a major strategic victory, Zaragoza's stand at Puebla tightened Mexican resistance, and six years later France was forced to withdraw. The Mexican Imperial Monarchy that was imposed by Emperor Napoleon III (nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte),was overthrown in May 1867. Maximilian, along with his generals, were tried by court martial, then executed by firing squad on June 19. Puebla de Los Angeles was renamed Puebla de Zaragoza in honor of the general and the battlefield is now a park with a statue of General Zaragoza riding horseback. Today, the anniversary of this victory is a national holiday in Mexico. In the United States, the "Batalla de Puebla" came to be known simply as "Cinco de Mayo" and unfortunately, many people equate it with Mexican Independence, which actually was on September 16, 1810---nearly a fifty year difference. Over, the years Cinco de Mayo has become very commercialized and is celebrated on a much larger scale here in the United States; especially in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. People of Mexican descent celebrate this day by having parades, mariachi music, folklorico dancing and other types of festive activities.
Tuesday 4 May Bucket was out early and I got him started transferring an unburned burn pile onto the Site Truck. Loads of gravel arrived and I spread some down Moz Road with the tractor. I helped Bucket off-load the truck into the dimensional dumpster and we tossed in a bunch of pallets just to try to fill it up. Everyone should probably be warned that I am totally without mercy when it comes to pallets, so please don't abandon them on Site. Anyway, the Royal Refuse truck came and got the dumpster and dropped off another in front of Main Camp in preparation for the Annual Cleanup. Bucket and I raked and shoveled gravel and worked down some of the detris around the old dumpster site. Now that the Vehicle Shed is there, the dumpster will need to find a new place to live, otherwise it is too hard to park the trucks. This evening I was in town doing some sledge hammer remodeling with Charles, then went and picked up the Spirit Banners so I can lend them to Central Presbyterian Church. I've got an overall soreness from the work I did today that feels good and I am ready for some good hard work this Summer.
Monday 3 May Met with Steve and got my marching orders for the next couple weeks. Started on the list by replacing a leaky faucet in the pumphouse and doing some other hose type stuff. Got into tthe Warehouse and cleared away recent rubble. Then it was off to town with the Site Truck to pick up the rest of the hemp for the tipi at Sow Much Hemp, parts for the chain saw at Mr. Chain Saw, and the new coreplugger at Ramsey-Waite. The Executive Meeting was at five at the Site Office and the Board Meeting at seven at EWEB---mercifully over at ten. Highlights were discussions about the Hubbard property acquisition, appointment of Phillip Guyette to the Personnel Committee, the annoucement that there will be no Further Festival this year, and a five hundred dollar donation to the HIV Alliance.
Sunday 2 May The day was rainy, the snow level down to 3000 feet with winter storm warnings in the passes. We needed the half inch of rain we received last night to germinate and water the paths that we seeded last week. It was VegeManEC Sunday and they did their usual outstanding work and then used the Yurt for a meeting. Randy Wilmart and I used a canoe to plant about a hundred more Cottonwoods along the banks of the river. Path planning had a meeting at two o'clock. Main Camp opens in one month, Construction begins sooner than that. Although we are still in the early going, things are starting to happen now at an ever increasing pace.
Saturday 1 May May Day first evolved from a Roman festival called Floralia which was held to offer flowers to the Goddess Flora. Like Candlemas, Lammas and Halloween, it is one of the corner days which fall between the solar festivals of the year, named Beltane by the ancient Celts. Dancers wearing crowns of green leaves and flowers stomp the ground, blow horns and whistles, and ring bells to reawaken the Earth. The Maypole, usually made of birch, symbolizes a tree to which the celebration is directed in order to encourage a bountiful harvest. In Italy money and cheeses are dangled from the top. The men try to get these prizes by climbing the pole which is greased with lard. In England it is often decorated with a broom or bush and brought in from the woods with small girls riding astride it. The night before May Day the young people go forth to gather flowers and greens for the day's ceremonies. Upon their return the next morning everyone collects the May dew, thought to be lucky and good for your complexion. The Surveyor crowns the Queen of May to begin the festivities. Her duties are to announce the games and award the prizes. She wears all white with a gold crown that has a single gold leaf at the front. The Maypole dance has alternating male and female dancers, weaving in and out, plaiting ribbons as they go. An actor representing Jack in the Green wears a costume made of green leaves and leads his chimney sweeps in a play around the Maypole. Scholars have speculated that the exaggerated leaps of the Morris dancers showed the crops how high to grow and the clashing of their sticks represented a ritual battle between summer and winter. May Day became International Workers Day after 1886 when the American Federation of Labor adopted a resolution in Chicago which asserted that "eight hours shall constitute a legal day's labor". Read more here about that demonstration and subsequent trial that followed. I organized a little river cleanup for today and it was indeed little as only two other people turned up---Hilary and Howard. Earlier, Steve had helped me shuttle the Site Truck over to a trailer park near Zumwalt Park, which was the nearest takeout point we could ascertain. We proceeded down the Long Tom River in two canoes, to and across Biven's Arm in Fern Ridge Reservoir and back to the truck, a distance of about five miles. We picked up a lot of floatable trash along the way, especially at log jams, some which were particularly challenging to portage around or through. Sad to say, there was some dimensional lumber downstream that could be identified as originating at the Fair.