France

The life-ways of the French wash over us and day by day we move closer to an understanding about our lives in France. We live in Carhaix, a small community in Brittany. We are less than forty miles away from the sea in most directions and yet I feel very much closer to the land than the sea. This feeling of being tied to the earth probably comes from our landlocked upbringing and the fact that we do not have a car in France. Not having a car in Brittany does not totally disable your ability to get around, but it takes more time and more planning to do so. Currently, I have enjoyed our hour walk every time we feel the need for groceries. Although, the convenience of easily buying provisions is a luxury that I currently am yearning for. These last months have been extremely interesting and extremely trying. I have had to adjust to my new job and that is always difficult even if it is enjoyable. We have enjoyed the amount of free time that my post affords me and we have also enjoyed getting to know the other two language assistants that have positions at the school. We survived without internet for a over a month and are now well versed in the ins and outs of getting an internet account. It took us four or fives visits to the Orange store before we straighten every detail out. We have visited many cities in Brittany and we have taken many photographs. Our travels took us to Quimper, Vannes, Huelgoat, Morlaix and Carnac. We will be visiting Brest this weekend and will soon visit Rennes to take care of official business.

The Water Recedes

Let there be land! And there was land and it was good. Unfortunately we did not plant apple trees.

Iowa Garden Washed Out

I have taunted the gods and they have responded in kind by flooding our garden plot and destroying the veggie dreams of many other plotters. I am humbled by the raw power of water and I hope to appease the gods in the coming days with many goodwill offerings and chants to the heavens. For now we will wait for the water to recede and reveal the real damage done to our plot. We are forever at the mercy of the rain, sun and wind. You can follow our progress with this garden at www.iowastategarden.blogspot.com If you want to view more washed out photos please click HERE

France Update

I am excited to report we will be moving to the Brittany region of France in September. My teaching position will begin in early October. I am extremely excited to learn more details about my appointment, but I have not yet been given the name of the academy in which I will work. I am hoping for an academy in Rennes or along the coast. We would love to entertain many guests when we live in France, so book your tickets now. Do not worry about the Euro when you book your ticket because when you arrive in France, Barack Obama should be President and he will help the United States restore a relatively strong dollar and he will lead America out our current malaise. The only thing I regret about moving to France is not be able to celebrate an Obama victory in the States. We will be dancing in the streets in France when Obama wins.

Somerset Corner Secured. YESSSSSSS

My conversation with Tom Durkin today secured the use of Somerset Corner. We will be able to plant a garden on the corner of Stange Rd. and Northridge Parkway. I am extremely excited to begin the process of planting a massive community plot that will help feed the community and bring beauty to the neighborhood. We will meet tomorrow at 11am to sign paperwork defining some legalities. I am extremely excited to begin work on the corner and I must also express my gratitude to Tom Durkin and the Ames Racquet and Fitness Center for their generosity and support for our garden. Please follow the process at www.somersetcorner.blogspot.com
Click here to view the first photos of somerset corner.

1st major spill

Mere hours after my proclamation to the world that I would be primarily using my bicycle for transport, I encountered my first major spill since being hit by a car on my bicycle on Halloween day 1994. My accident was not ghoulish, but I did catapult over the handle bars and the accident frightened me severely. Luckily my momentum and direction at the time of launch caused me to clatter into a patch of overly manicured grass. I truly hope that I am spared from the nasty chemicals that must have treated that uniformly green patch of parking strip. I was extremely lucky that I did not meet the pavement. PS: I saved the raspberries that were in Kandi's urban hauler backpack! No person will question my devotion to produce.

Café Installs Earth Boxes

The Café installed earth boxes on it's roof!!!! My employer has decided to plant 10 earth boxes and place them on the roof of the Café. I believe that this signals that the revolution of community and local planting is taking root. Roof space across every city in the world could be used to produce food. Green roof technology coupled with a revolution of community gardening could greatly benefit the environment because of reduced heating and cooling cost and food production being closer to food consumption. Hopefully the earth boxes at the Café will be the beginning of many other restaurants and homes planting gardens in and around Ames, IA.

Bike All The Time

I am forgoing the use of the car, except in rare occasions. Therefore, my trusty Bianchi has become my first car. My checking account and the Earth have already phoned and expressed their extreme enthusiasm. Please leave me a wide birth on the roads, I'd love your car to not have to feel the wrath of a run-in with my Bianchi. PS: everyone needs a helmet and lights on their beautiful wheeled wonders!!!! That goes for the motorized variety of bikes as well. Your head is a precious commodity, so keep it safe and off the road.

Tornado strikes close to home

The recent spat of tornados struck Kandi's home town. A reported EF5 tornado struck just outside of New Hartford. The winds of the tornado reached 205 MPH and wrecked havoc for 46 miles. This tornado also destroyed a large swath of Parkersburg and tragically there was some loss of life in New Hartford and Parkersburg. We are extremely thankful that Kandi's family was not injured in the storm. After living in Ohio, I now realize how well Iowa uses its warning systems to alert people to severe storms. This EF5 could have killed many more if Iowa's storm alert system had not been in place or if the population ignored the alarms. I hope this tragic circumstance will help to further advance our understanding of violent storms and how to alert the population as fast as possible to the coming danger.

Mac Mad

My name is Kyle Poorman and I am an ifolk. Please join me in reciting our creed: What Would Steve Jobs Do! I am apple mad and I cannot wait for June 10th @ 10am PST. Do you know what happens then? The Great Oz bestows us with better gadgets and stops the rumors for one day. The Great Steve will hopefully dazzle so my istock rockets into the stratosphere. I am praying to Steve for an extra special day so my stock will reach 300 by December. I have started an apple crazed blog. http://iowaapple.blogspot.com/

Garden

Kandi and I have begun to garden!!!! Would you like to join us and garden as well. We would love to share photos, advice and stories. If you are currently residing in Ames, we would love to have other folks garden with us. We were unable to truly garden in Ohio, but we are now ready to take a huge step and begin our very first independent garden. Our plot is situated to the South of University Village. Peter Mauro, one of my coworkers, was able to help us secure a plot. Our plot shares a fence with Peter's plot and I am hoping that we are still friends after my giant amish pie squash outweighs his giant pumpkin. Although, I am guessing that we will both harvest a bounty of wonderful organic food in the fall. I am also hoping to secure the use of a lot near our apartment for a further gardening project. We are planning to grow a wide-variety of food producing plants. I am so excited about our new project that I have started another blog to chronicle our experience. Please check out our garden blog, http://iowastategarden.blogspot.com/