Text shown in Italics is included for the sake of continuity. It is a quote from either Notes from Windward or a previous post in that thread.

Sandy writes:

I'm a new member of Mensa and to your mailing list, and this was my first newsletter/update. I was reading your thoughtful web site interestedly, when I stumbled upon this:

"When it does, they have to be quick since it turns out that equipment in this size range is also prized by the micro-wineries so popular in this area. Since these "Califoreigners" have lots of money, it's easy for them to snap up this stuff when it comes on the market."

Must you denigrate others to validate your way of life? This type of statement indicates several personality traits: hostility to others based solely upon their geographic location (racism? no, regionalism,) resentment of others based on their level of affluence, a tendency to point fingers and call others "foreigners," and lack of confidence in yourself.

I'm NOT a Californian (a native Oregonian, if you must know), but I find statements like the above most tiresome. It was enough to persuade me to stop reading your newsletter/web site. You may not be aware of the effects that statements like these have on other people, and I thought you should know how one disinterested person felt after reading it.

This is the same feeling I got when, after attending church for the first time in 15 years, the handbill for that week's service displayed weekly meetings for "concerned" churchgoers who have friends or family members in the "wrong churches," and what they could do about "cults" like Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, or Heaven's Gate. Sigh. Everyone's so sure they're right, and they label others to "prove" it.

Walt replies:

"Must you denigrate others to validate your way of life? This type of statement indicates several personality traits: hostility to others based solely upon their geographic location (racism? no, regionalism,) resentment of others based on their level of affluence, a tendency to point fingers and call others "foreigners," and lack of confidence in yourself."

Well said. All those things are true, and are typical of the mindset of folks born and raised in the country who are having to deal with an irressitable flood of outsiders. Their communities and homes are being overwhelmed and their lives are changing forever.

One of the things we're trying to do in the Notes is to give folks a realistic idea of what they'd have to cope with if they were to head back into the hills. The resentments and conflicts involved have a profound impact on newcomers, and I don't believe we do them any service by portraying the move back to the country as an ideal situation, or by glossing over the problems they're going to have to cope with.

In actuality, the term that's used is "Californicators" but I figured that "Califoreignors" would get the point across without the vulgarity. My presumption is that you're not aware of how deeply hostile most deep-country folk are to outsiders. Oh, they may put on a good face, but some of them will rob you blind while you're off getting feed for your llama. There are good and bad people out here, just like everywhere else, and while we don't want to dwell on the downside, it's important to acknowledge that there is one.

To give you an idea of the impact that outside money has on locals, last night I met with the county tax adjusters. They want to raise the declared value of our land by 50% because folks from California paid $5,000 an acre for land across the county road from land we bought for $800 an acre. We're paying only $1,000 an acre for the additional 5 acres I mentioned in the update. To show you how crazy this is, the land we're buying has power and phone lines, while the $5K parcels don't!

What we know, and the Californians don't, is that this land doesn't have any water under it. If they'd have asked us, we'd have told them, but they didn't .

Folks from the rainy side come over here and see land available for prices they consider cheap. What they've bought is ground that has only six feet of soil before you hit solid basalt. Drill 500' feet at $25/foot and you may get water, and you may not. Sure, there are pretty trees on the land, but cut one down and you'll see that a tree 18" across on the stump is a hundred years old.

I could go on and talk about other ways that such newcomers disrupt life here in the "outback," but I'm sure you get the point. There are lots of good reasons to go back to the land, and there are caveats. I feel it's important that the Notes don't paint too rosy a picture.

"I'm NOT a Californian (a native Oregonian, if you must know), but I find statements like the above most tiresome. It was enough to persuade me to stop reading your newsletter/web site. You may not be aware of the effects that statements like these have on other people, and I thought you should know how one disinterested person felt after reading it."

I'm appreciative of your taking the time to share your reaction, and if you've no objection, I'd like to include your comments in a future update to see what others have to say on the subject.

Sandy replies:

Well, I'd like to point out that Californians are merely symptoms, not the cause, of the problem. The root of the problem lies, I believe, in overpopulation. California is merely the most populated state in the union, so most newcomers to Washington are naturally going to be Californians. One thing I've noticed is that once you've lived on the West Coast, you tend to stay there. I've met people (even East Coast natives!) who've moved from the West Coast to the East, but have had to move back again. Spoiled by the weather, I guess, < g >. Other states have influx from local overpopulated states, Washington is no different.

"I'm appreciative of your taking the time to share your reaction, and if you've no objection, I'd like to include your comments in a future update to see what others think on the subject. "

Surely, I don't mind. I thank you for your courteous response to my impertinent email. I told my husband I'd know what kind of person you were by the type of email you wrote back, < g >. I'm glad to know you're as thoughtful as your web site seems to indicate.

Geof writes:

"We're also using the extended fall season to do some upgrades. Bob installed a new motor on the sawmill, upgrading it from an 8hp standard engine to a 9hp overhead valve unit, so he's ready to crank out lumber and D-logs right through the winter. Cutting dry wood is tougher than cutting green ones, and frozen logs are tougher still,"

When I was told that splitting firewood was easier when it was green, I was quite surprised because that had never been true in my experience. I did an informal survey and half said green and half said dry. There were a couple who said it depends on the species and provided a possible explanation for how half the people could be so wrong : perhaps they had learned their rule on one species.

There was mention of splitting being easier when the wood is frozen which I haven't tried. All of this had to do with manual splitting and now you bring up powered sawing so perhaps I have to start again. A problem I have had with manual sawing of green wood is the blade sticking and the cut not getting cleared of the wet sawdust. I would have thought cutting dry would be easier. (Although you point out the strength of the finished board is less which is interesting.) If cutting dry is harder, why is cutting frozen harder still ?

It is amazing how much has to be known to do something well and says I don't know what that so many of us don't know the basics of fashioning wood. Although we all don't build our wooden houses there are certainly many splitting firewood. If this can't be mastered as a society what information can be correctly gathered and disseminated ? Perhaps the only common knowledge that is correct is genetically encoded.

Walt replies:

"When I was told that splitting firewood was easier when it was green, I was quite surprised because that had never been true in my experience. I did an informal survey and half said green and half said dry."

I'd say that the correct answer is that it's easier to use a hydraulic log splitter ;-)

Now that I've got the metal muncher up and running in the shop, I'm thinking of adding quick-disconnect hydraulic fittings so that it can run other attachments such as a splitter. I've never cared for the gasoline powered ones since the engines seem to have a very short life, but the metal muncher is beefy enough to do the job. Since it uses an electric motor, the operating costs aren't high. We're doing some winter planning on just how we're going to restructure the wood operation for next year.

Walt adds:

While splitting this morning's firewood, I was thinking about our conversation re splitting wood.

The frozen wood was splitting under the maul with great ease, and while that may make a good argument for the "frozen" side of the argument, the thought occured to me that something else might be playing a factor.

I split wood on the ground, and when the ground is frozen, the wood splits better. Perhaps it is the effect of the cold on the wood, but there's also a bit of "between a rock and a hard place." The frozen ground doesn't give as much as the ground usually does, which brings more of the force of the maul to bear on splitting the wood.

I could get the same resistance by splitting on a hard surface, but that would damage the leading edge of the maul. Since hiting frozen ground won't damage the maul, I'm more comfortable giving it a full powered swing.

So, for a variety of reasons, I'd say that at least the pine that I'm splitting does split easier when its frozen.

I'd also go on to add, that even if it was marginally harder, I expect that I'd still be doing it this way. In the heat of summer, the splitting wood will work up a sweat in a hurry, and use up energy that I need to expend in other ways. During the winter, much of my work is inside work, and then, fifteen minutes of exercise is invigorating.

The old saying that wood warms you more than once is quite true.

Geof replies:

I split wood on the ground, and when the ground is frozen, the wood splits better. Perhaps it is the effect of the cold on the wood, but there's also a bit of "between a rock and a hard place."

I hadn't thought about this being the advantage of the wood being frozen. Sorting out cause and effect is difficult and yet we are all sure we do it accurately every day. I read a theory once that we are wired with a preference to find positive correlations. The idea was that false positives are less detrimental to our continuance than missing true positives. There is a root that some in South America eat. Raw, it is toxic but, after many steps of grating, soaking, and straining it is a staple in the diet. I don't know how we have figured out some things. I think the figuring capability is being lost.

I was part of an interesting conversation recently. One person knows a great deal about how to make and put things together. The other was sure he wanted the first around after the apocalypse eliminates Eagle Hardware (A major chain of hardware stores that may not be in your area.).

Geof went on to say,

A person X may throw out a device that has a broken pulley, Y may go to Eagle and purchase a pulley, and Z may make his own pulley. Although Y knows how to put things together, he is more dependent on the supply chain than is Z.

What I was thinking about is how in many areas, from splitting firewood to manufacturing everyday devices there are increasingly fewer people who know the basic information. If all Eagle stores were eliminated, would we be able to build one again ? After an apocalypse, people, such as those at Windward, who know how to make their own living will be more valuable than the rest of us.

Walt replies:

Sounds a little like the Red Green line that goes, "Well, if the women don't find you handsome, at least they ought to find you handy."

The downside of being valuable is that sometimes your life isn't your own. In the Middle Ages, blacksmiths were not just important economically, they were key components of the local defense industry. In an age when people traveled on foot, it was common to break a blacksmith's left ankle so that he couldn't go far without transportation. In the slavery era, a good blacksmith was valued at about eight times the worth of a field hand.

My tendency to take a historical perspective makes me a little nervous with the concept of being more "valuable" than someone else.

John writes:

Thanks for the update, Walt. I wasn't real clear on what you were up to up there but your concept statement gave me some good hints. Despite your comment about endless visitors, I would like to stop in and see your setup if I am ever up that way. I know Washington, having grown up in Yakima, and occasionally get up that way.

I run a tiny county park in Redwood country...actually a small section of 390 acres. I live in a motorhome with my partner and a giant UN-economy size golden retriever. We have gensets and batteries and solar. No grid power or phone. We're both ham radio operators. It is a fine life filled with books and ideas and beautiful sunlit AND rainy days. We are 25 yards from the Van Duzen river. The nearest phone is a mile away. I've lived in the BIG city most of my life. Can't imagine ever going back.

Thanks for your note. All the best to your group and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Troy writes:

I bought a sewing machine at one the other day. I've been wanting one for a while. This is one of those with the nice wooden table that flips open and the machine flips up. My neighbors mother had bought it new several years back and never used it. It's in excellent condition. They found the manual for me and are looking for the attachments (like for sewing zippers, etc). I paid $35 and didn't dicker.

I've been doing mostly electrical work lately, but we've been doing a roof as weather permits as well. We lack a day or two there. Generally, I approve of do-it-yourselfers, but the guy where we're doing the roof did some real bone-headed things. We had to redeck one side, because a lot of the plywood was put on with the grain run wrong. We just went over the old decking with new waferboard. It was hard to tell, but I think the rafters were done very weird too. Also, what little flashing there was was wrong.

The only thing I can think is that they just didn't understand that water flows downhill, or didn't bother to think through the implications. Actually, this is pretty typical in my experience, I'd say that less than twenty percent of the roofs I look at (excluding ones I've done) are done correctly. The problem is that a bad roof and a good roof can look the same to the untrained eye. Also, it generally takes some time for the damage to become apparent.

Even scarier is that this is also about the ratio for bad screw-ups in the electrical systems I look at. Most common is overcurrent protection at higher amperage than the wire is rated to (30 amp breakers with 12 gauge wire for example). We got a master electrician who's in his seventies to permit the jobs we're doing and let me do the work. It also appears that I might be able to get my certification without a lengthy apprenticeship. I'm looking into it and studying the National electrical code.

Troy continues:

... but I should add that the quality of professionally done work is probably almost as bad. Just as one case among many, a couple of years ago I corrected a problem that I know for a fact was done by a master electrician who served on the elctrical board of one of the cities near here. He had wired a switch on the neutral instead of the hot. This is not an isolated case.

Roofing is really bad, basically because there aren't many professional roofers left. Cheap illegal labor from Mexico has put them out of business. Actually, I have nothing against them, the ones I've known have been mostly hard-working and well-meaning, it's just that the essential know-how got lost in the search for a quick buck. Even the instructions on the packages are not right anymore.

Carol writes:

I enjoyed reading your preparations for winter. It's a bit difficult coming in so late in the correspondence, but I'm catching on. It still seems strange to me to receive correspondence via E-mail rather than hard copy, but I'll adjust. It's a lot easier, and faster!

I'm particularly interested in Joyce's work at handspinning. I hope to raise sheep someday. I knit a lot. I've seen the book "Homespun and Handknit," and I like the patterns, because they represent a more relaxed method of knitting. Which to my mind is the whole point of knitting. Instead of obsessing about how much yarn, what thickness of needles for the brand of yarn, the directions are general for people who spin their own yarn.

But before I can get the sheep, I have to get a fence, and that will cause more difficulty mowing. So I'll need to "pull my own weight" with the mowing. A neighbor has sheep, and she told me about helping them give birth.

Another friend in the township, Janis, has goats. We visited them when they were less than a day old. Her three females produced seven babies! My friend milked the mothers, warmed the milk, and fed the babies with make-shift baby bottles. She said she's trying to break some cycle of disease in the milk.

Her 12-year-old son, Gideon, got a certain breed of pig from some promotion in a farming magazine. Part of the deal was that he'd show her at the Ohio State Fair. So he did, and then he had to breed her. If her litter has at least two females, he has return one to the place where he got the mother. This was new to me: When there's a litter with just one female, she turns out to not breed well (or maybe not at all) because there's too much testosterone in utero from her brothers. I wonder how many hundreds of years it took for Society to figure that out.

We are now painting the interior of the farm house, and we'll probably be moving in the next month. It won't be easy, with central Ohio winters being what they are. We don't get as much snow as Cleveland does, and the land is flat, but moving furniture will be risky. I don't know what the piano mover will do.

This is a major life style change for my husband and me, and our 14-year-old daughter. It's mostly inconvenient, with less storage space, and just one bathroom. But I'll adjust. In the long run, particularly in the warm weather, we will be much better off. We are just moving seven miles away, so our friends and shopping patterns and services (and my office job in Columbus) will not change.

I need to have an attitude adjustment about winter. I really hate to be cold, and I get cold at a higher temperature than other people do. But we have a wood stove, and a nice chair next to it.

But before I can get the sheep, I have to get a fence, and that will cause more difficulty mowing. So I'll need to "pull my own weight" with the mowing. A neighbor has sheep, and she told me about helping them give birth.

Our girls are good at what they do, and we don't have to spend much energy in helping them through the birthing process. Where we have had problem involves their mothering process. Since a lot of our flock is young, and since it takes a birth or two to get the instincts in gear and running, we've found that it's important to make sure that the lambs are given a little help.

We use a feeding tube to give them a full belly of colostrum, and further diminish the experience for them with shots of BoSe (a solution of selenium in vitamin E) and a Vitamin B complex. Having their tail docked just about rounds off a tough day, but life's pretty much clear sailing from there.

The only attention we need to pay to the ewe is to make sure that the wax plugs are out of her teats, and that both udder sections are lactating properly. Beyond that, the ewes know what to do, and are only too glad to do it.

Another friend in the township, Janis, has goats. We visited them when they were less than a day old. Her three females produced seven babies! My friend milked the mothers, warmed the milk, and fed the babies with make-shift baby bottles. She said she's trying to break some cycle of disease in the milk.

There's a virus called Caprine Arthritriic Encephalitus that can be passed from mother to daughter through the milk. Newborns are especially vulnerable during the first 24 hours after birth because there are special pores in the intestine which allow the passage of fairly large molecules into the blood stream. The first milk, called colostrum, contains a concentrated solution of the antibodies which the mother has developed during her life. This allows the newborn to benefit from the mother's immunity during the two month window between birth and when the new immune system will start functioning.

It's believed that pasteurization kills off the virus, and since it seems to be effective, most pedigreed goats are raised on pasturized milk.

Her 12-year-old son, Gideon, got a certain breed of pig from some promotion in a farming magazine. Part of the deal was that he'd show her at the Ohio State Fair. So he did, and then he had to breed her. If her litter has at least two females, he has return one to the place where he got the mother. This was new to me: When there's a litter with just one female, she turns out to not breed well (or maybe not at all) because there's too much testosterone in utero from her brothers. I wonder how many hundreds of years it took for Society to figure that out.

Actually the knowledge is quite old. The ancients were herdsmen and shepherds, and while they didn't know many things, they did know their animals.

In cattle, a heifer calf born as the fraternal twin to a bull calf is called a "free martin". It's my understanding that "free" is a corruption of the French "fere" meaning "brother." The English language is notorious for this sort of semantic shift. For example, in timber framing, the remaining wood left on a tendon beyond the pin hole is called "the relish", a corruption of the French "rolage" which means "the remainder."

So far, I haven't been able to find anyone with enough knowledge of archaic French to take a guess at what French word got corrupted into "Martin"

This is a major life style change for my husband and me, and our 14-year-old daughter. It's mostly inconvenient, with less storage space, and just one bathroom. But I'll adjust. In the long run, particularly in the warm weather, we will be much better off. We are just moving seven miles away, so our friends and shopping patterns and services (and my office job in Columbus) will not change.

Regarding storage space, you might want to think of investing in a shipping container. They provide lots of room, are vermin proof, don't require building permits or foundations, and can easily be resold when you're done with them.

Bonnie writes:

(Joyce:) My sister wrote this in response to my asking her to explain the differences between what I tell her about Windward and what's in the Notes.

The two impressions are not exclusive to the other. You always talk about the people, how things are going re ineraction with personnel if you will, While walt talks about the physical changes in the place. You always worry cause Walt is so very busy but no details as to what....an most a comment re the kitchen or something. The notes talk about the physical structures and how they fit your philosophy there. It may be a Mars/Venus thing. To you the people are the important part of windward( not that the physical structure is not very important to you) but you see the growth and culture while he sees the physical "benchmarks" to the groups growth. Do you see what I mean?

Also Walt and the Notes tell me more about what you are doing (with pictures of course which is nice <G>. Like he mentions Bob 1 and Danny are coming to live there (?) or at least that is how I read it. You say Fern is returning.....He mentions the plans the guys have when they arrive....you mention the reasons for Fern to return....You said Jerry had been a tremendous help to Walt re the kitchen. He goes into detail re how the kitchen is coming along structurally and the pilings for the new trailer. Do you see the trend of my thoughts here? If this is clear as mud let me know and I will try again. basically Venus is personnel interaction shows growth Mars physical benchmarks show growth.???

Am glad Fern is returning....will make one more female and we "girls" tend to work by committee and she may help stabalize any interactions that may come up??? Just suposition. You almost never mention the goats in our private correspondence (except as how they affect the interaction between the people there or new kids of course) you do mention the sheep (your interest) by name etc. The notes mention the sheep only in relation to you and the goats are more prominent. Or so it seems. Enough already I am beginning to babble 8^))).

John writes:

Greetings from Needham, Massachusetts.

I am a new member to Mensa and I recently came across the web page for Windward. Even after reading several of the links, however, I'm still a little puzzled as to the exact nature of Windward. It seems to be some sort of "experimental community," although I might be mistaken. Could you provide some basic information on what it's like?

Walt replies:

Sometimes, being confused just shows that you're paying attention ;-)

Windward is different things to different people. For some, it embodies our hopes and dreams for a more meaningful life, for a counterbalance to the consumer-driven, superficial modern world.

Windward is one of the few places where gifted folk can live without being perpetual outsiders. Where the social conventions are relevant to our needs, rather than the needs of society at large. I'm told that there's a bar in Chicago called "Midget's" While average sized people are welcome to patronize the bar, everything in it, from the bar to the chairs at the tables, is designed and built to fit midgets. Windward is like that; it's designed and built to fit us.

For others, Windward is a safety net which allows them to try daring things, secure in the knowledge that there's a place where they can return if things don't work out, or they find that the path they're traveling isn't taking them where they want to go. Many of us are orphans of one sort or another, and Windward is the only home we have.

For others, Windward is a place of refuge and recovery where they can find the shelter and time needed to take stock of their lives, and restage themselves for the next part of their life-journey.

Still others enjoy coming to Windward for a month to learn some of the things we've learned, and to participate in the fun of realizing a vision of a better way of life.

And then there are those who enjoy participating in our weekend events where we celebrate and teach traditional skills, walking through the woods and hanging out with the goats.

Others just enjoy following along with our adventures through our newsletter.

That's pretty much the range of ways that people participate. I think of it as an on-going, overgrown potluck dinner. There's a solid core, but there's also lots of people coming and going.

To be more specific, I'd need to know which dimension of Windward interests you.

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