Halperin & Christ

we accidently came across ecovillage in berrea, kentucky while surfing for sips panels sources. it turned out that we were less than an hour away so we made an appointment with richard olsen, the director of the sustainability and environmental studies program at berea college.  he was quite gracious and spent quite a bit of time showing us around the village.(see link) ecovillage is an ecologically and socially sustainable residential and learning complex designed to meet the housing needs of students. there is a child care facility, an experimental residence for testing green living practices and an ecological machine which transforms sewage into swimmable quality water. the ecological machine is housed in a greenhouse building and is designed to handle 10,000 gallons of sewage.  by anaerobic and aerobic means it is transformed back into swimming pool quality water.  there is a student house made of sips, straw bale and post and beam that houses one composting toilet, a solar hot water heater and a gray water system that irrigates an attached greenhouse.

in spite of the downpour that hit us as we arrived we were quite inspired by the effort being made. the buildings were designed by sim van de ryn a noted “green” bay area architect and former professor at berkeley. berea is a college dedicated to educating low income students. kids whose parents can afford to pay tuition are not admitted. all students must work 10-15 hours a week as a contribution towards their education.

quite a place!

this morning we once again admired lexington’s fine older houses and photographed a few more.

on the way back to bloomington we lunched at frannie’s diner and were greeted by the aforementioned frannie, who, cigarette dangling from her mouth, asked us if we wanted to be seated in the smoking or non smoking section of a 20 foot wide open room………reminiscent of the 1970’s smoking and non-smoking rows of an airplane……nuff said.

after lunch we made our way to west baden (immediately adjacent to french lick) to behold the restored eighth wonder of the world.

constructed in 1902, the west baden springs hotel sat empty for 70 years until it’s recent restoration. tens of millions of dollars later it may not be the eighth wonder of the world but it is certainly a spectacular site to behold. before the houston astrodome was built it was the largest dome in the world. the floors are elaborate mosaic designs, there are intricate details everywhere and the grounds are quite extensive. it would be a great place to be able to step back in time.

today, an art and architecture day, started by watching joel pett create his usa today cartoon. he actually created 4 rough drafts, sent them to the editor who chose one. joel¬†then¬† developed the one¬†concept for publication. you can pick it up in tomorrow’s usa today but in case you don’t care to buy the paper, here it is:

after a wonderful brunch (thank you ms. lucy for taking such good care of us!) we bundled up the canines  (annie blends right into a local coffeehouse wall)

and went for a long walk through the neighborhood and downtown lexington. fabulous old brick houses with limestone detailing, intricate windows and ornate trim, balconies and porches.

many of these old residences have been fixed up and their lovely detailing has been well preserved.

we also had the opportunity to tour artek, a new housing development. (see link) it is quite innovative not only in it’s design and use of materials but in the layout of the whole¬†project and the overall design program.¬† the residential units vary in size from about 700 square feet to about 1300 square feet. some of the designs are 2 story and some are single story. most of the exterior spaces are shared and some of the shotgun lofts had roll up glass garage doors opening right on to the public promenade. apparently 5 of the units are already sold and the project is still a way from being complete. very exciting to see!¬†the project definitely promotes a sense of community that you would not typically get in a condominium or townhouse development.

we ended our cultural tour at a kentucky arts council show of several local and regional artists. there we met john haywood (see link) and couldn’t resist purchasing one of his pieces, an elaborately painted bowling pin entitled “cousin earl was a real bowler”. john couldn’t have been more delightful. he is also a banjo player in a band. he is from appalachia and seems pretty darn happy to be making a living as an artist. we hadn’t really planned on any art purchases but when you see this bowling pin you will see why we couldn’t resist.¬†here is john haywood with his wife and child and here is the bowling pin:

so far the count is 4 to 1 that friends do not let friends visit the creation museum…………maybe if we could get in for free?

we’ve been informed that friends don’t let friends visit the “creation museum” which is only a short distance out of our way on the drive to Bloomington.¬† Instead we will be going to the “eco-village” in Berrea KY.¬† Making it necessary for all of you who want a “creationist” tee shirt to order them directly.¬† Sorry about that.

Bad day, Kentucky lost in quadruple overtime against the Vols of Tennessee, 23rd year in a row, longest current streak in college football.  Lots of weeping and wailing in town tonight.

hey y’all…how r¬† u’ns adoin? we¬†r gittin¬†r tar fixed to the background sound of dixie on someone’s cell phone. ah the south….just took a tour through the foothills of the smokey mountains, in happy valley. there’s a lot of folks with confederate flags hanging from their homes in happy valley. it actually doesn’t look so happy.

the smoky mountains are beautiful though, it’s the last of the fall color but the reds and oranges are still vibrant.

had a wonderful few days with our friends marc and ann in maryville, tennessee……eric’s mom joined us for a sumptious thanksgiving feast.

golf was played,

food was made

and we relaxed on the back porch in 74 degree shade…..

.

interesting sites on the way back to kentucky……the world’s largest adult emporium sits within a hundred yards of a 40 or 50 foot high white cross. (the cross came after)

had a lovely dinner this evening in lexington with joel and lucy and a retired judge. one of his claims to fame is overturning an anti-sodomy statute in kentucky in 1987! interesting guy….great stories…..

earlier today we exchanged emails with some friends in china…..we decided that we are in as foreign a country as they are……it ain’t kansas and it certainly ain’t california!!!!!!!

here for a few days, then back to bloomington, we may try to catch the brand new 20 million dollar creationist museum in northern kentucky. got to be worth the price of admission…in for a penny, in for a pound. anybody want a t-shirt???????? we are taking orders.

happy black friday get out there and spend. prove that you are a patriot.

lucy and scoutjoel and annie

going to¬†the dach’s…… south of the mason dachshund line…..

hanging with our friends joel and lucy and the girls and of course shadow who doesn’t like to be photographed….check joel out on the kentucky website,(see link)¬†click on joel pett and watch his mini video commentaries…..they are pretty fabulous…..

drove through some beautiful horse country complete with miles of dry stacked stone walls, massive horse barns and beautiful animals to get to lexington, kentucky

but first we must tell you about the funeral.

let’s just say that for fran it was a unique and cultural experience….not only were the pallbearers dressed in camoflage, the deceased was laid out in his new camoflage hunting gear, all the flowers had hunting memorabilia attached, we all wore camoflage ribbons (see above) and there was the aforementioned goose call performed by¬†father and son¬†3 time grand national champions……all this, a 21 gun salute, a midwestern feast after and a eulogy by a preacher that made je-sus-a¬†¬†a 3 syllable word. in spite of all the theatre it was a somber event and the assembled crowd, quite large (as terry took care of everybody), could not have been more friendly and welcoming……

we left bloomington today with an extra accessory¬†thanks to nelda…..the console makers should add an extra hole for bloom vases like in the vw bugs!

we’re here in marion, to attend the funeral of eric’s cousin terry who died yesterday.¬† although it’s a sad occasion we’re taking the opportunity to catch up with family members we haven’t seen for ages. terry had been among other things a coal miner, vietnam vet, bass boat builder and avid hunter. apparently there will be a goose call song performed at the end of the ceremony tomorrow as well as 14 pallbearers wearing camoflage. those hunters just won’t leave us alone.

before we left for illinois we had the opportunity to visit a straw bale addition under construction. eric applied a small patch of earthen plaster to the straw walls. these walls were constructed of 2 string bales laid on their sides which provided a 16″ thick wall which made for a good scale for a small addition. the bales were held together with vertical strips of bamboo. the construction was basic post and beam with infill of straw bale. the contractor, joe davis, has been doing sustainable construction for several years. he’s a wonderful guy who has done work for habitat, housing in mexico and several jobs in the area. he is also interested in organic gardening.

wednesday we visited the stone age institute thanks to our friends in marin. (see link)what a fabulous experience that was! the stone age institute is a research organization run by kathy schick and nicolas toth, dedicated to exploring the use, innovation and development of stone age tools as well as the study of stone age man (and woman). they have an incredible building filled with an equally incredible number of artifacts and books. we had an in depth tour and were even invited to join the staff at coffee break. one of the fellows showed us a casting of an upper jaw bone that was over 4 million years old. it was the most complete jaw of any humanoid from that age that has ever been found.  the folks at the institute are incredible friendly, gracious, and unreservedly enthusiastic about their chosen endeavor.  they donate the use of their beautiful facility to various groups and are full of fascinating stories and information. the SAI is truly a gem sitting out in the middle of indiana farmland.

¬†in between our cultural field trips eric has been building a new roof over his mom’s arbor. we are happy to report that it was completed this afternoon, much to her satisfaction.

 

hank is getting restless and needs a bath.

pretending to be a student in the student union, a big paneled lounge with 18′ high ceilings, tall windows (with fake grids can you believe it?) and old worn out sofas and chairs….ah the days of university life….

yes we are still in bloomington, week three……enjoying every minute of it. by now we have been to the opera again (saw la boheme which was absolutely incredible, amazing state of the art sets) had a student presentation from the new performing arts theatre program, had a big barn sale, went to two movies, visited with several of eric’s mom’s friends, had two brunches and………..enjoyed the beautiful fall weather! hank went to the mechanic, his lifters were broken (whatever that is) and now he’s back and ready to go.¬† we still have a few things we must do in bloomington and then we are off to lexington.

the university is in full swing, there are students crawling all over the place. the energy of the town is vibrant. on any given night there is a vast array of¬† activities to choose from: opera, music, theatre, art, literary readings, sports, etc…..it is really a fabulous town! on the other hand this is really the midwest, life outside the university moves slower, barn sales are more about visiting and chatting than about grabbing any great bargains, the weather is a major topic of conversation as well as canning, hunting, and church activities. the wildlife abounds right outside the city edges, we have seen deer, ground hogs, foxes and rabbits.¬† apparently there is a refuge for big cats near here that we are going to try to check out. straw bale house tomorrow, stone age institute wednesday……more to come.

we are still in b’ton, and have just said goodbye to Ida, who visited for a week.¬† Yes, we have been in the company of both moms for the last week.¬† It was a week full¬†of the sort of¬†cultural activities not easily found outside of a college town.¬† We went to the opera, the theater, classical music, heard the Dalai Lama speak, took an architectural tour, and went to the I.M. Pei art museum.¬† All this in front of a backdrop of the most beautiful fall colors.¬† Hank has been given a well deserved rest, and will get a tune up next week which should set him up for the next big leg of our journey.¬† Said goodbye to our friend Joel Pett who was here for a week as a “non-resident professional”, giving lectures in the Journalism Dept.¬†¬† It is slightly odd to be at rest for such an extended time after being on the go for the last 6 weeks.¬† Rolling stones and all that…¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†

Best wishes to Ruben who biffed off his bike and bonked his noggin.¬† One good reason to wear a helmet, and an advantage of a hard head.¬†¬†We’re sooo glad he’s ok.