Renya On the Road

10/29/12 - The foundation of my journey centers around prayer and openness to resonant connection. When someone tells me about someone they know or somewhere they've been and the information rings resonant with me, I reach out to explore that direction and then doors of invitation open before me. Such was the case when I was visiting dear friends Belle and Bob in Charlottesville, Virginia this past September. When I shared with them my primary driving route and my desire to WWOOF along the way, (Willing Workers on On Organic Farms), the next thing I know Belle an Bob are on the phone calling their long time friend Betty in Oklahoma who sometimes offers WWOOFING opportunities. Betty was home to receive the call and I was able to introduce myself that evening. Thank you AGAIN Belle & Bob!!!

WWOOF is a world wide network of organizations linking volunteers with organic farmers and help people share more sustainable ways of living. WWOOF is an exchange - in return for volunteer help, WWOOF hosts offer food, accommodation and opportunities to learn about organic lifestyle. WWOOFING can be experienced from over 30 countries from Canada to Kenya and from India to Iceland.

Betty has also told me about another organization called Attra.org (Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas) offering sustainable internship opportunities. I'm going to check out that site too.

Betty's home is located in Norman, Oklahoma, about thirty minutes from Oklahoma City. She lives in a solar berm home.
(Berm stands for Business Environmental Risk Management Home). Berm homes are the most energy efficient home you can build. Berm home are a lot like their above-ground relatives, but with numerous additional bonuses that come with such close contact to the Earth. Instead of the builder placing the home under the ground, he or she brings the earth up, so to speak, to cover the outside walls of the dwelling. In some cases, the roof has a layer of soil on top of it, too, which turns the earth berm home into an earth sheltered home. In all cases, the earth is tightly packed and sloped so there is little risk of erosion and drainage is not compromised. Earth berm homes (earth sheltered homes) have many benefits to both the homeowner and the planet.

Check out Betty's Berm home

Beautiful succulent plants planted on the roof.

Imagine how they will spread over time and how beautiful they will be!

Up on the rooftop!

Betty is full of life and wonderful stories. Having traveled a great deal, she is yet another steppingstone along my journey sharing travel insights and inspirational stories of her life journeys. Betty worked on reservations teaching reading to Navaho children for four years in the mid 90's and Pueblo children from 2000-2010. She also owned and operated a restaurant named Consetta's in Jemez Springs, New Mexico from 2000-2008. However did she teach full-time and run a restaurant? Yikes!

Betty has two wwoofers who have been here since August Nate & Chelsea, who are studying for their master degrees at Oklahoma University. I discovered that they met in the 4th grade and were recently married. Nate & Chelsea, like so many of us, have dreams that overflow. Life is so full of ventures and choices. After completing school, one of their dreams is to grow a sustainable community with friends. being around their world traveled vibrant energy is most definitely energizing me! Thanks you two! And thanks for the wonderful down the road potential contacts too!

The Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm inside of me loves animals and misses my dear friends Sancho (donkey) and Maya (black lab) in Connecticut, and so it pleases me greatly to be among animals again. Below are some photos of the tribe:

Duke the watchdog, other dogs: Kudo, Mojava, and Wiser, Daisy Mae the goat (three other goats not pictured below presently at the breeder are Tricia, Nancy and Annabelle), roosters, hens and ducks. Two of the ducks have names thus far (Moe and Nibbles), Angora bunny Jasper...