spring...

fuzzy furry oaks

delton, mi
spring 2008

hibiscus ginger honey elixir

It has been over 5 months since I tasted my last batch of hibiscus ginger honey elixir brewed and consumed in Santa Ana de Yahuitlalpan, Puebla, México. Finally another batch is brewing in the cupboard under my kitchen counter. Además he escuchado noticia de la preparación de este mismo elixir en las cuatro esquinas del mundo: de Grinnel, Iowa hasta Kalamazoo, Michinga hasta San Critobal de las Casas, Chiapas, México

Viva la revolución de fermentación!

I welcome any success stories, tips, challenges, new ingredients, or alternate recipes! Please share.

Hydrogen

After our weekly folk music jam last Sunday my neighbor, this terrific fiddle playing, clogging 60-ish fella invited us out to see his "brown's gas" contraption. From what I understand he has basically hitched up a hydrogen cell to his regular gas guzzling RV an is expecting to get better gas mileage out of it. Monday was the test run, and I haven't yet heard the results.

raised bed gardens

Today I used a chainsaw for the first time and constructed, with help, these raised bed gardens. We still have quite a ways to go before the planting begins.

Polka Madre

I invite you to see/hear/experience a sweet mexican polka band called POLKA MADRE if they ever cross the lands where you a camped. I saw them in Ypsi on April 9th.

Polka Madre was phenomenal with a squatly little tour bus jam packed with musicians rehearsing, cursing, laughing and smirking. We exchanged memories of our 3:30 am morning search for tlalludas (oversized Oaxacan tostadas) and the scheming for swimming. I danced my feet off and saw lots of unexpected friends. All quite lovely.

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Teaching through music

Since May 10th of this year I have been teaching Spanish in a rural Michigan high school. The job is fascinating, enjoyable and extremely challenging. I teach one intermediate class and three beginner classes. My goal has been to utilize music as much as possible to enhance my lesson plans. So far the students love the idea and seem to be picking up on the new rhythms and lyrics. This focus on music was inspired by conversations with my Mexican friends who claim that the majority of the English the learned was from popular songs and movies. And it was further inspired by visiting a Waldorf school in Louisville, KY where the Spanish teacher conducted a third of the lesson in songs.

I would be happy to share my lessons and more than thrilled to see how others have used music in their language lessons. Thus far I have used songs by the Buena Vista Social Club, Julieta Venegas, and Maná. Plans in the making include Café Tacuba and Manu Chau.