Mycology and Human Networking

While we're hip-deep in projects in Montana, I thought I'd share this essay that I started in late winter.  (What a gift this year's birthday inspiration has been!) 

Where we are weak or broken, 

there is our best chance to connect with a greater whole

I'm writing this post in March, but scheduling it for May. I hope you are smelling those intoxicating healthy-dirt smells as you work in your garden, hugel-kultur, or start hiking the back woods.

Paul Stamets has a lot to say about mycelial networks (the hidden webs and channels that support fungi and soil health, transporting nutrients long distances to feed mushrooms, trees, plants, and healthy soils).  See Mycelium Running if you want a truly geek-out version of that story.

Image credit: Wikipedia

The image from those lessons that's resonating for me this week is the weird, observable fact that individual mycelial cells, in those networks, are busted open.

Most plant cells, animal cells, and single-celled organisms are little sealed bags of carefully-portioned living matter, guarding their "guts" and nutrients from a presumably-hostile outside world.




A diatom, amoeba, bacterium... in fact most living cells ... have a carefully-guarded perimeter.  Symmetrical shells, cell walls (sometimes multiple layers and armor, in the case of woody plants and diatoms), and/or additional defences like chemical-detecting cilia or toxic slime coatings.  Yet the amoeba can just about give us dysentery, and requires pretty cushy watery conditions for active survival.

Our own cells - muscle cells, blood cells, nerve cells - maintain a pretty good perimeter despite all the specialized ports and exchanges they make for vital nutrients and waste.  It's not a bad recipe for staying alive.  Much of life on earth goes with it.

But what about alternatives?

Mycelial cells have wide-open gaps at both ends, and their nuclei and organelles may flow back and forth along with nutrients and fluids.  One mycelial cell alone would be a blue-plate special, spilling its guts into the cannibalistic micro-ecological void.

But a mycelial cell is almost never alone.  The mycelial networks of underground fungi can support whole forests, overcoming mineral and water shortages that would kill a crop-farmer attempting to raise the same biomass on chemically-sterilized soils.  Some species can convert "dark, dank, and stinky" toxic petro-chemical dead zones into food for bugs, birds, and new life.  Other specialists can turn the most rot-resistant trees into long-lasting nurse logs for huckleberries, mushroom soup, and wild honey.

Mycelial Network, Electron Micrograph
Image Credit:
Fungi Perfecti blog, fungi.com

What you can do with a network of "broken" individual cells is pretty darn amazing.  The more selfless each cell, the more the whole network can speed the flow of goodness.  A mycelial network (or similar self-organizing networks like the Internet) is a pretty great way to combine limited organisms into a meta-structure.
We animals require specialized channels (veins and arteries) to carry blood and nutrients to individual cell areas, and when our oxygen and waste removal can't keep u with our activity we definitely feel the burn.  Worse, we are highly susceptible to arterial bleed-out or heart attacks when one area gets damaged or blocked.  With vast webs of cooperating cells, mycelial networks can bypass unproductive channels and grow new 'main routes'. 

It sounds like a pretty effective way to handle "drinking from the fire hose" rates of transfer - both of vital fluids, and of vital information.  The Internet functions in a similar way, with many self-developing channels of information instead of a single, centralized broadcast system.


I'm using the power of mycelial networks as a metaphor for dealing with my own weak points.  Where I have a weak point, like procrastinating my bookkeeping, or letting bedtime routines slide to finish "one more thing," it's not healthy to sit alone with it.

I've been more or less trying to hide those weak spots, or use "willpower" to overcome them.  Press that weak spot up against a wall, beat myself up about it, worry that all my business "guts" might spill out and show that I'm not perfect.

Instead, lately I'm learning to show my weak points to trusted friends.  To watch others' strengths and weaknesses, and to ask people for help in areas where they really shine.  Or even just to ask.

Barbara Greene recommended an excellent local accountant from Brewster, WA (a few hours south of us in the same county).  Skirko Business Services helped me learn the WA state sales tax system for destination-based sales.

Mariah recommended a helpful young lady as a potential virtual assistant.

Our new neighbor gave our Facebook page a makeover, with some edited graphics so you can see our whole logo:
https://www.facebook.com/ErnieAndErica/

During my February sleepless-euphoria experience, I even broke down on the "grownups go to sleep on their own" myth, and asked my sisters, mom, and favorite aunties to take turns calling me at 9pm and "put me to bed."
(See earlier posts from February 2017, such as "Erica Turns 40 and Levels Up.")

My wonderful sister Teresa reported feeling a series of emotional reactions when she saw that email:
"What?  You can't do that... grown-ups can do that?
"How come she gets to do that?
"Why can't I do that?"

Such personal coddling is NOT a long-term substitute for basic adulting.
After about 8 days of much-needed sisterly support and advice, I'm now back to a self-managed sleep cycle that is better than my old 'normal'.  Because when I need to, I'm using all my sisters' tricks: everything from mindfulness, physical activity, serotonin-boosters like Vitamin D3 and melotonin, and just plain regularizing my schedule with 9-6 office hours and a 10pm bedtime.

I notice that I didn't get here by toughing it out, or by making it Ernie's job to cover for me.  For a health or mental crisis, it's a pretty good practice to let trusted friends know what's going on.  It's part of the adult, responsibile communication skills package, you might say it's "reaching out instead of burning out."

And I think this sort of reaching out could be good for everyday business, too.  I'm watching for ways to build a team, where each person has good lines of communication, connection, and support at their weak points.

So is your main ambition in life to be an "I got mine" giardia cyst, or are you ready to open up and become part of something larger?
... one link in acres of mycelial soil networks..
... a sensitive eye with a whole glowing jellyfish to call upon for response
... a connected link in a larger community of co-creative intelligent life?

I should be clear that I'm using "you" very loosely there. 
Because this is probably not news to YOU, personally.

This feels like an insight that I'm finally articulating after experiencing it most of my life.  I have the good fortunate to have a LOT of inspiring collaborators - family, friends, and on-the-same-wavelength "strangers".

We have always been part of this larger collaboration. 
We just forget sometimes.

Hope your week brings you plenty of wonderful reminders!

Yours,
Erica

DIY Cancer Care (short version: not fun)

Breaking radio silence, I wanted to let some concerned friends and family know that we are OK.
We have had a series of disappointing medical appointments for Ernie, resulting in a lot of not much happening, and we are coming out of an extended paperwork-and-logistics crunch on long-term care for Ernie's mom.

Ernie's mom has late-stage cancer, and is medically considered beyond treatment (which she resisted for years anyway).

In the unfortunate event that you are going through something similar, here are some resources we've found useful:

- If you are doing OK, medically and financially, but starting to slow down a bit,  Meals on Wheels has been surprisingly helpful in helping elders stay independent in their own homes.  Not just food, but a daily visit from a friendly face, and in my grandma's case they were also able to call a designated number if she didn't answer the door.  (Which means family could visit when convenient, but didn't need to hover.)

- Long Term Care:
Illness is expensive, and so is long-term care. 
One website showing places to apply for food and medical help:
http://www.in.gov/fssa/dfr/2691.htm
A lot of communities have other resources, such as private organizations or funds. A good local social worker should know a lot of them.

Medicaid can help with long-term care, based on financial and functional eligibility, they may offer anything from a few hours a week of light household help, to 24-hour care in a nursing home.

- Power of Attorney:
If a person becomes incapacitated, or just starts having trouble doing paperwork in a timely way, they may need to designate a trusted person to have access to their affairs.  (This is kind of like adding someone to your joint bank account - an untrustworthy person can really mess up your life.)
  There are lots of generic POA forms online.  You can X out sections that don't apply.  Consult a lawyer if needed.  A power of attorney is not the same as a will, and may not allow access to affairs or resources after a person dies.

Hospice: comfort care, including in-home or residential nursing:
http://www.hospicedirectory.org/ 
 http://www.nhpco.org/find-hospice
(Ask your doctor what hospice programs they work with/recommend.  Generally, your doctor must confirm your eligibility (within about 6 months of end of life), but there are no limits to how long you can receive care.  The hospice coordinators or social workers can help you find out what's covered by your insurance.  They are incredibly helpful, compassionate, and well-informed. Even if you don't sign up now, they may be able to walk you through your best options and local resources.)

- American Cancer Society:
A good summary of end-of-life processes and symptoms:
http://www.cancer.org/treatment/nearingtheendoflife/nearingtheendoflife/nearing-the-end-of-life-death

What Happens When Someone Dies?
If you are young and lucky, you may never have been present at another person's death.   What do you do?
If the dead person was on Hospice, you call the Hospice main number, and generally a nurse will come out to handle things.
If not on Hospice, the death must be reported to the county Medical Examiner, usually by calling the sherriff's office at 911. Don't move the body until the medical examiner releases it. (Sometimes they just ask a few questions over the phone, depending who's there, but usually a medical person has to verify the death in person.)
  It's a good idea to make arrangements ahead of time (funeral home, body donation, or whatever), because there are limits to how long you can discuss these things, or second-guess the person's wishes, after death.  Funeral homes will provide a price list on request; both basics and extras can be expensive.  Although it can be depressing to contemplate, making decisions ahead of time is a huge weight off friends and family afterwards.

- Informal Social Support and Reciprocity:
  We owe a big debt of gratitude to the church family, friends, and neighbors, all of whom have been providing a lot of day-to-day help for Ernie's mom.  Most of them say that she has done the same for them, or for other friends and families they know.
  Most of the above programs, and many others, accept donations or volunteers. My gran'ma and I enjoyed donating boxes of fresh fruit from her backyard trees to Meals on Wheels; another friend enjoyed delivering meals by bicycle.

We all make our own beds, and lie in them.  There are worse things than toughing out a deadly illness in your own home, on your own terms, with daily visits from friends and family.
...
Not useful, in our opinion:
- sales websites promising to cure your cancer in a few easy steps (and turning the blame back on you if you don't follow their impossible steps exactly, or if following their steps caused other and possibly worse health problems)
- faith healers who tell a person casually over the phone that they are healed, regardless of medical circumstances, or any discernible divine intervention
- people who snoop or gossip about someone's situation without actually helping.

We occasionally have the benign problem of 'too many cooks,' where well-meaning people see a need, and try to do something about it (like "re-organize" or shuffle important papers).  But if it is not a task they can complete (often because it's not really their job), messing with it can make things worse.

One of the most difficult things as a care giver is to recognize when to leave well enough alone.
Being present, and listening, are often more important than bustling or effort.  Between Ernie's medical appointments and our physical distance, we're not able to be present as much as his mom might prefer.  So a lot of what we can do is by phone, fax, email, and second-hand.

I often wonder whether I'm doing enough, whether I'm doing too much.  I am in this as Ernie's proxy; I often talk to his mother more than he does.  And I may be stepping on toes.

There are a lot of emotionally difficult, physically uncomfortable things that happen when a person needs care. Everyone has their own opinions about how things ought to be done. I want us to hear about it if care isn't adequate - and I also want Ernie's mom to be allowed to make her own decisions as long as she is able.  Friendly nagging or insisting can quickly become harassment - or just add to the indignity and confusion of an older adult having to ask for help.

Between consenting adults, "No" means No.  Either the care giver, or the person receiving care, can decline if they are uncomfortable. (Physical, emotional, or time limits; inappropriate medical training or skill; or a private reason or personal preference are all adequate grounds for declining.)

There are specific legal and medical situations where a person's right to self-determination may be over-ruled.  But unless and until you are appointed to make decisions on someone else's behalf, that is not your job. 

I keep reminding myself that we are all doing the best we can - and not even the most perfect care can make a loved one immortal. 
Hold onto the love, compassion, and gratitude that brought you together in the first place.

Woodshed DIY Resources

August DIY Update: 

Woodsheds Again

In the Western states, our summer dry season is approaching its end. (Sometimes in a fiery burst of heat. Our sympathy to the folks currently threatened by active wild fires; we're feeling very lucky NOT to be fighting big wildfires yet in the Okanogan County this year, for once.)

Our wood shed - already stocked
with about 1 winter's supply
for our rocket mass heater

If you need a woodshed, or a bigger or better woodshed, to hold all that lovely wood you've harvested and split this spring, it would be a REALLY good end-of-August project for this week.

Properly dried and stored fire wood can provide more than double the same heating energy as damp or green wood. (Soaking-wet wood can act as a fire extinguisher, meaning dry wood is infinitely more effective as a heating fuel.)

A good woodshed is not just storage out of the rain – it's a clever wood-drying machine. The shape and structure promote great ventilation, often using slatted sides or racks, and sometimes featuring dividers so you can run two years' supply side-by-side with ventilation between each row. Good wood sheds keep not just rain but groundwater and evaporating moisture from remaining anywhere near your precious fuel stores. 

A good wood shed should be so well-ventilated it's almost windy inside. If your climate is very humid and foggy, you might need to consider a design with some heating function to dry the air - perhaps an enclosed shed whose metal or clear plastic roof helps it functions like a solar dehydrator, or a storage attached to your heated space such as a mud-room, lean-to, or the back corner of a shop or barn. 

(In most climates, these heated spaces are not necessary to achieve dry wood, and the risk of bringing wood-eating bugs into a large wooden building may outweigh the convenience and drying speed associated with heated spaces.) 

Common structures that can double as wood-drying storage include a well-ventilated greenhouse, barn, daylight basement, or a temporary fabric structure such as a canopy tent or suspended rain-fly tarp. 

Bad ideas for wood sheds include almost all tarped-over woodpiles on the ground.  Unfortunately, these often act more as moisture-trapping mushroom farms than as dry storage. Basements are another location that may be useable for storing already-dried wood, but may be too damp or lack the necessary ventilation for a reasonably fast initial drying and curing process.

If you would not leave books or linens in your wood storage, for fear of damp and mold, consider improving it.

Assembling a 24-foot-wide bow shed carport
(yes, it's taller than our 24x36 cabin)

We are also in the middle of building an extra-big carport, using the largest approved size of “bow-truss” from some university extension service barn plans we found online. 

The main motive for this project is actually ice-free access to our vehicles while Ernie recovers from an elective surgery this fall.  But I'm definitely looking forward to stacking a little bit of extra firewood in here for convenient access this winter.  (and possibly to creating an entryway/greenhouse....)

Here are some great resources for building an inexpensive, spacious woodshed:

Simple shed roof with tilt-up walls:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/how-to-plans/how-to/g103/how-to-build-a-firewood-shed/

A bow-shed greenhouse much like ours (this company does sell plans and accessories, but similar plans are also available elsewhere for free).

http://www.by-the-sea.com/stimsonmarine/bowroof.html

Barn construction details for those with loftier ambitions - MANY designs and details free to download from North Dakota extension service, well-adapted for snow and wind loads:

https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/extension-aben/buildingplans/construction

Many barn and shed (and other ag building) plans from Tennesee extension service– try #6100 for a nice simple shed, or #6298 for a gothic-arch bow-shed, greenhouse, or carport:

http://bioengr.ag.utk.edu/extension/extpubs/planlist97.htm

If you already have a woodshed you love, please send a picture, or share pictures or links in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!

Yours,

Erica and Ernie

Final 24 hours on Kickstarter.

All the Goodies!

It is hard to keep straight all these Kickstarter reward packages.
What is everyone else doing?

The most popular reward level is $35.  At that level, you get:

"The Book"

+ the "Fire Starter Rewards"

In other words, you get:

• - The Rocket Mass Heater Builder's Guide, paperback first edition
• - The Art of Fire ebook
• - Fire Science DVD, streaming version
• - Care and Feeding of Rocket Mass Heaters micro-doc
• - Builder's Guide to Mud ebook
• - 3 mini-stoves under $3 ebook
• - 3 mini-stoves under $10 ebook
• - Simple Shelter ebook
• - Teeny Tiny Mass Heater Plans
• - A new DIY project each month for 2016 (8 projects from May to December)
• - Recipes for Ernie's fabulous chocolate truffles

More than double the value of the book.

A lot of folks are upgrading to the $50+ levels, to get the stretch goal bonus items for serious builders (Bitter Lessons eBook and Innovators' Cookbook).  Or maybe they are just stretching toward Shrimp, Fish, a Fat Rabbit, Mysterious Manifolds, Rocket Wood Cook Stoves, and

Rocket Wood Cook Stoves and Heaters: The Cleanest, Greenest, Most Elegant Wood Burning Stoves in the World

Delivering all these new goodies is going to keep us busy from now til Christmas.

Don't wait.
 Click here for the Kickstarter: http://kck.st/229WnXq

You should read Update #12.

Modular (!) Rocket Mass Heater
by Abrahamsson

Thanks for reading,
Erica W


P.S: If you know the owners or builder of this beautiful rocket kitchen island, please help us find them.  Rumor says it's in Brazil.

Approval for heaters in USA, Europe and Canada

We had a lovely, brief email exchange this past winter with Pat Amos, who was gearing up for his W.E.T.T. inspection in BC, Canada.
He passed!

Owner-built masonry stove in Canada

His home-built heater is based on a Vortex stove.  Not a rocket as such, but a DIY-friendly, smaller masonry heater design, set into a non-combustible brick enclosure (from a previous fireplace or stove, I believe) and finished with a lovely earthen plaster.
The original design was discussed here:
http://donkey32.proboards.com/thread/703/vortex-stove?page=1&scrollTo=6299 
and Pat's variant here:
http://donkey32.proboards.com/thread/1563/vortex-stove-variant

The Batch-Box and Sidewinder rocket designers are turning out some interesting bells, benches, and cooktop masonry cubes, as I showed toward the end of the October 2015 post, "Pyronauts in Montana."

We know of a handful of classic rocket mass heaters (J-style firebox, barrel and all) passing inspection, and plenty of other DIY masonry heaters as well - reports filtering in from Oregon, Georgia, New York, Michigan, BC, Ontario, Vermont... the precedent is mounting.



For the present, however, the vast majority of DIY builders are choosing the path of least resistance, and not asking permission.  That's a risky path for people who have a mortgage, and may be obliged to maintain home insurance.  Some will build in an outbuilding or greenhouse instead of the main house, losing much of the people-warming efficiency that we're after.

Let's encourage each other with success stories.
If your DIY masonry heater was approved, please tell! 
If you've had a productive conversation with local officials, that stopped short of official approval, or led to a different design choice, we'd like to hear about that too.
(We've had at least 4 after-the-fact inspectors give an unofficial response of, "Cool.  I have no problem with this," and no further action taken, even if they weren't quite clear on the legal process for official approval.)

Let's address any obstacles together, above and beyond the clearance and code info that's already in our Builder's Guide.

Builder's Guide Update (order your copy now!):

April Fools!  The North American first edition of our new book is going to print this weekend, the first of April, a full week before the Kickstarter actually closes.  Please pre-order your copy on Kickstarter ASAP!  (Click here.)

We would love to sell 1000 copies by April 1, and get our per-book costs way down for this first edition printing.

We are looking forward to signing and hand-delivering these first-edition books to our backers in the Pacific Northwest, and around the world.

If you're interested in helping us, please spread the word.  Consider signing up as a booster to receive a referral bonus with every pledge you send our way.  We did the math; the per-book cost makes a bigger difference to our budget than the referral incentive - so please sell books and claim the bounty!

Calling EU, Commonwealth, and International Builders

Adiel Shnior came from Israel to study with us,
then took the skills back to his local team,
with great results.

We have an opportunity to write an EU appendix for our book - but it needs to be turned around FAST!

Physics works the same across most of the world, but building materials and local regulations can be very different.

If you are a builder or future builder from the UK, Europe, Australia, or New Zealand (or anywhere outside North America),

please take a moment this week to tell us about your experiences.

Portrait of a heater completed using Bonny 8" plans

If you purchased our plans and previous books, have they been easy to use? 

What else should we know about? 

Any obstacles to overcome?

Moroccan project
with improvised perlite-adobe bricks
(local low- fired brick
proved unsuitable for the hot, clean firebox conditions.)

Thanks again for everyone's support for our Kickstarter for the new book.
Please keep sharing it with your friends - we appreciate every new pledge, in any amount.

Permanent Press says we may have preliminary cost data for distribution in the UK, EU, Australia, and New Zealand, by the end of this week.

Yours,
Erica and Ernie Wisner


More brainstorming questions below.

Welcome

Welcome.  We are Ernie and Erica Wisner (mostly Erica, writing this).  We like a lot of different things.  We have a website at www.ErnieAndErica.info, which introduces us and our work.

If you like what you see here, please sign up for updates on this blog (right sidebar), or sign up for our general newsletter.
Or just leave a nice comment (we love that!) and come back when you feel like it.

You may know us from our work on rocket mass heaters and related earth-and-fire technology.  If you want to catch new developments in this field, only, you could sign up for our RMH Builder e-mail list. 

Ernie also has a long-standing commitment to Pacific fisheries conservation and maritime heritage, including boat-building, ocean ecology, and taking care of our beloved coastal communities. The long-term goal is to build a sailing catamaran as a live-aboard platform for education, research, and coastal disaster relief. We have a dedicated mailing list for that, "The Passages Project."

We are currently based on a snowy, semi-arid mountain in the Okanogan Highlands, about as non-maritime a climate as you care to find.  We are part of a local permaculture study group, and sometimes help out our neighbors with their farms, herds, and fire protection.

We also regularly participate on the forums at www.permies.com.

... The Adventure Continues ...

New blog, but this feels like the middle of the story.

There was birth, and formative years, and careers.

There was the year when both of us turned our lives upside-down, coincidentally - mine dutifully recorded in the travel journal 'Ecca', Ernie's a retreat to an utterly off-the-record life outside Coquille.

There was when we met, at VBC 2006, and ended up courting in the orthopedic trauma ward. Friends of Ernie Wisner

There was the wedding.

And in conventional formulae, that marks the dramatic conclusion.
Girl gets proposal. Boy gets girl. Happily ever after.

So perhaps this is, in a sense, The Future.

Welcome to the metaphysical time that continues after The End, after the crisis, after the honeymoon.

Welcome to real life with Ernie and Erica.