Arrived in Gallatin, TN at the couch surfing host's house at 10pm. It's a huge farm house in the middle of no where. Marcus and Steven are sitting on the back porch drinking, talking and playing the banjo. They are in a folk band called Pineapple Explode and are basically living off the land so they can eventually have no bills and focus on their music. Kim (Marcus's girlfriend and housemate) shows up with pizza and salad...already so generous. Random conversations about Tennessee, music, and their way of living are taking place. Somewhere in the mix Steven talks about going to high school with Taylor Swift...random. I'm drinking a local pale ale called Yazoo. Steven introduces us to a song that has two local women talking about "washing their big ole pussies in the Mississippi River"...please you tube the video, it is quite amusing. We end up again with our own room with two twin beds, beautiful artwork and only has natural light. The house is huge and amazing; tall ceilings, spacious kitchen and the bathroom has an awesome shower.
Marcus talks about his seminar in New Mexico where he worked on these earthships and also got to travel to Guatemala to build one as well. Which I later found out only took two weeks to create. We head to bed pretty exhausted but so excited to see what the next days will bring.
Friday, 09.13.2013
Waking up and seeing everything in the daylight brings a whole new excitement. The farm is huge. Vegetables, plants, trees and open land everywhere. Along with all the vegetables is a full mushroom growing system. I wasn't aware at all of the process in which you grow mushrooms but was very interesting to see. The farm also has a huge barn with an upstairs that houses some of their art work and a full stage for their music. Amazing.
*part of the mushroom growing process
After eating some lunch we head to the earthship. It's located 1 mile down the road on Marcus's family's land. They have horses and so much land. The Earthship is so f'n awesome, I can't even describe how grateful I am to have been able to experience it. I've learn and taught about sustainable design and using our natural resources but never like this. Marcus learned about it from a guy named Michael Reynolds in New Mexico. There are many that are made around the world. The foundation is made from tires and dirt, the walls with cement, plaster and bottles, a grey water system, greenhouse...it is incredible. Chris and I help with the roof, attaching the metal reinforcements and plastering. People have been visiting all over to help and see this fantastic project.
We go back to shower and eat and head down to Nashville. We end up at Centennial Park which has the replica of the Parthenon and stumble upon a Shakespeare play. We can't find a spot to sit so we end up heading over to a dive bar that was recommended by one of the house mates. Spring Water is a bar located by the entrance of the park. I have a Yazoo and we hang for a bit.
We head downtown and finally find parking. Downtown Nashville has like a 4 block strip with all the tourist bars. We do a mini brawl crawl just to check out all the music. The bands were okay in the beginning but then became super mainstream. The bands playing on the streets for money were way more interesting than the ones in the bars. We leave the strip and find a basement bar. We are about to walk in and stumble upon Mike and his local friend Brian Hennessy. We end up going with them to Printer's Alley, a place we never would have seen if it weren't for them. We all check out a blues club, I'm enjoying myself but Chris and Mike (a guy visiting from Pittsburgh) want to go see the "show girls."
So we find ourselves in a strip club. Did not pay anything to get in and the guys we were with bought some beer and a bottle of Captain. I was content with the three beers I had before we got there and just slowly sipped on a fourth. Chris ends up wasted, guys get lap dances. I'm feeling terrible for the girls dancing because its a crappy club and no one is giving money. You could tell how worthless they felt getting off the stage...I guess that is what comes with working at a strip club in downtown Nashville. It's a bit depressing. We finally end up leaving. Get back to the farm and no one is around. Head to bed laughing about the random night in downtown.
09.14.2013
Woke up late. Headed to the earthship but it was already too hot and late in the afternoon to work. A guy from Kentucky named Ben is now staying at the farm so he is there helping Marcus. So we eat and head to East Nashville. Wow is it completely different; local shoppes, organic and artsy. I bought two rings that help local artists with their businesses. We stumble upon one local store and as we are walking in the owners are looking on airbnb.com to a place to stay for their upcoming vacation. I get to talking with them and tell them what were doing and couch surfing...they never heard of the website and were in much need of places to stay because they weren't finding anything. It was one of those in the right place at the right time moments and I love randomly helping people in any way especially with cheap/free experiences I've been accustomed to.
We grab pizza at 5 points pizza and oh my is it fucking delicious. I had a vodka sauce slice with basil, onions, mushrooms and prosciutto...mmm. I order an IPA from Birmingham, AL as a cheers to our upcoming destination. We meet a band called the Joiners which consist of a guy named Taylor and his wife Rachael. They are actually from Birmingham and connected us with an artist who hosts couch surfers. At that time we had no place to stay when we got to AL so this was perfect. We are only passing through to get to New Orleans and were unsure of where to stay, so it worked out. Like everything eventually does.
We go to check out Red Door Saloon. East Nashville is seriously amazing. Great people, music, food...you name it. We head to the 5 Spot where The Joiners were playing. They were so good. I recommend checking them out. There last song was partially in Spanish which was quite amazing. We decide to leave early so we can hopefully hang out with the housemates. We grab beer and Chris grabs a 40 of Budweiser...touché. We get back and they are sitting around, sharing stories and just hanging out. Justin a new face is there, a good friend of Steven. He's a pretty funny guy, super outgoing, a bit obnoxious...but it a good way. We drink and play some corn hole/bag-o. It ends up being a fantastic night. We are all talking inside before bed and all of a sudden Steven grabs his banjo and starts playing and singing. Holy F his voice is amazing. What an amazing person as well. We all fell silent and were just consume by it. A great way to end our last night.
Sunday, 09.15.2013
We wake up by 10am...hang out, eat a good breakfast and pack up. Head over to the earthship one last time before we are on our way to Asheville. Ben, Chris, and I are breaking up dirt with shovels and tools so that it can be spread evenly on the roof as Marcus dumps piles of clumpy dirt. Ben keeps saying how Epic this moment is...we came together to check out this earthship with these amazing people, helping in any way we can in Marcus's long process. It is pretty "epic" to be even somewhat apart of this. It's great to see that even in a world where we destroy our environment with unnecessary "needs" there are still people out there creating and inspiring the simple and sustainable approach to life. Chris has been talking about the whole concept that ignorance is bliss. People are ignorant to many aspects of life. His example is that many people are actually happy working 9-5 everyday and having a wife and kids and a house and bills and they are "happy" because they are ignorant to other unconventional simple ways of life. Not saying any particular way of life is the right way but it is one of the many interesting concepts I like to think about. -Marcus and his housemates are doing things that most people are completely unaware of in our country. It's amazing to meet like-minded people who have such a thirst for actually living.
Steven takes us back to the farm to shower and grab cold beer for the crew. Also to show us his "house" that I've been dying to check out. Speaking of amazing people, Steven is in the process of building his own tiny house. It is built on a trailer hitch and inspired by the Tumbleweed Houses. I could not stop thinking about Joe Gluba, my graduate professor who passed away in July. He would have loved to experience all of this. I also kept thinking that I can not wait to share my experiences with my next students...such a great feeling.
We head back to the earthship with cold beer. We end up hanging out for over an hour, sharing stories and not wanting to leave. Seriously such good people. We head out to Asheville...it's bittersweet.
So check out:
Pineapple Explode -band
The Joiners
Michael Reynolds and earthships
"Only within the unknown does the known become peaceful"
Monday 09.16.2013 3pm
Heading to the grocery store in Asheville to get food for an overnight hiking trip.
Sitting in the back of Ross's truck! Last night we were on the top of a mountain, drinking beers and sharing stories by a fire!
It's only been 9 days...crazy :) ❤
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