Ian Vickstrom

food! I am not surprised when people don’t consider it a possibility go grow their own food. From the outside perspective, it can look like a laborious task, another chore on the list of things to do, and folks I’ve talked to all feel that gardening is out of reach. But what this class has taught me is that one tomato plant on someone's balcony won’t change the world in its life cycle. But it will slowly grow into the person caring for that plant, and that person will slowly seep their gardening activity into their personal lives, sowing possible change from within their small circle of friends and family. In my own life, the quality of the food I put into my body is equal to the quality of energy that I put out. I have noticed in times of stress I crave sugar, mainly processed sugars. . . which is equally interesting that when I am at my most at ease, is when I am eating natural sugars. I wonder if the chemical alteration of our crops somehow altered a small part of the chemical composition in our brains. Is the mechanization of our food a reflection of our own increasing mechanization? Or a product of it, a movement that continues the downward spiral of the earth. No matter the answer, folks at the field trips we went on all resonated with the same message: plant by plant, day by day, forward progression will happen. You’ve just got to stick around long enough to see it though.

For Community: I’ve met some neighbors, one named James. He’s right next door. Good guy. Single, with a dog named May. He had a stroke this past month, he said he was alright when I talked to him, a bit tired but poor guy was in rough shape from what I could tell. But he’s hangin on, and I said he looks fresh for being straight out of a stroke. He laughed, and I offered if he needed any help with the yard I’d be more than happy to give him a hand. He thanked me, and said he’s letting his front grass grow so he’ll have to walk a little more to mow it. And he did, it took him a few days but he mowed it. I caught him a few days after he was done, noted that grass was lookin good. After more banter, he brought up what I had mentioned earlier, and he said he’d like to take me up on it. He’s got a holly bush in his backyard that has now turned into a holly tree, and he said it's gotta go. Them hollies are tough to get solo, especially the one he has. So we spent Saturday filling up both our yard debris carts. He wanted to pay me, and I told him food was the only thing I’d take. He liked that answer. He fired up the grill, tossed me a beer, and we hung out for the rest of the evening.

challenge: bus more: I am now a commuter. But now I don't pay for gas, I just hold my phone up to a thing and beep! Now I can go almost anywhere I want in town for 2 and 1/2 hours. It's a chill ride, we get there when we get there. There is a nice sense of camaraderie in this little chamber we all ignore we're in. And we also try to ignore each other, but everyone feels that tension anyway. And that starts with ignoring that other people are in there too. And that's fun, because you can watch people while they don't watch you. If you sit in a place long enough they kind of just accept that you're there, and you accept that the confine is there, you start to become a bit of this little fish tank. I find myself perching on a pretty classic spot in the whip. That rear corner, right behind the tires. You're the eyes of the operation, silently Observing. It's a good spot. A lot of people are there a lot of the time, so I have the opportunity. I really do enjoy it. But it's fun watching people who pick that spot too, wonder why they picked it. For my reasons, or for entirely other worldly intents.