Also in the works are three events that Nourish(meant) will be hosting in the coming month with three different Charlottesville communities.  These food-meal-community-bus events will be documented, and with any luck I’ll make some prints that will go into some handmade frames on the wall.

Lauren and Mia, the two other women showing their work with me, and I are also collaborating on a Nest:  a reading corner, a shared space, among other things.

But first, getting the bus out of the snow.

Check the responses out on the Question page under the Project page of our website.

Leave comments and send us feedback as to what you think!

After large amounts of gasket maker, several rolls of electrical tape, and an extra 100 mile driving adventure that took us to Detroit, we aquired a new fuel line, which we estimate to be one of three to exist in America (the bus is an International.  Only one of 5 International parts dealers in Detroit, MI had this part).

We arrived in Grand Rapids around 8:30 pm.  Emily greeted us, cooking up some amazing fried green tomatoes given to us by our host and venue at Artprize: the Newberry Place Co-housing Community.  At Newberry Place, 60 people live in 20 units on 1 acre.  Everyone owns their own house and has privacy, while the land and common house are shared.  Cars are parked to the perimimeter, while people spend time in the center, between the houses.  Kids play together, neighbors share meals, and everyone seems to be very happy with the whole affair.  We are too, as we have been treated with the utmost hospitality, and find this community a blessing and nourishing at the same time.  Its a model for living in community designed in Denmark, one which has proved successful for over 20 years.  Check out more information about cohousing here!

Last night and today we drove downtown to show the bus at a more central location for Artprize.  Artprize is intense!  There are SO many people, so many cameras, and an incredible level of competition.  We should have expected this though, given that a $500,000 in prize money is to be given to artists.  The sights are amazing though, and we have met some truly wonderful people, including the Beerhorst family and the Wonderwagon.  We look forward to what the rest of the week brings.

Nourish(meant) has met wonderful reception, overall.  Response varies from interest to amazement, from liking to absolutely loving what we do.  We have enjoyed a number of fabulous conversations, met genuine people and recorded numerous responses to the central question of our project: “what does nourishment mean to you?”  We look forward to posting these responses on our website in the coming weeks.

Another update will come soon.  Thank you to everyone for their support!

Several plants came out of the bus to join us on the ground.  We then set up a table, the stove, and pulled out some freshly fermented rice flour sourdough, yoghurt, butter and honey.  I set to work frying up dollar sized cakes for folks as emily went to work painting a sign for us that explained the food was free.  Soon, a couple of young girls arrived and emily set on the bus with purple paint.

We received the gambit of reactions to our food.  Some people walked past sporting highly skeptical brows; others though were pleasantly intrigued.  Still others were highly enthusiastic.  In general, people enjoyed the cakes.  They especially loved the homemade yoghurt .

A few particularly memorable interactions from the market:

We offered a woman in a wheelchair our cakes, but she refused because she was diabetic.  I then explained that sourdough does a good job of converting much of starch in flour to protein (in the form of microorganisms).  I let her know that this recipe included a bit of molasses, but was mostly devoid of sugar – sugar being totally unnecessary if eaten with butter or yoghurt alone.  She then decided to try the cakes, and was impressed.  We offered her some sourdough, which she accepted, and have since been in contact with her about how to keep it alive and strong so she can make as many cakes as she likes.

While emily was painting on the bus, a woman approached me and asked about the project.  I explained what we were doing.  She smiled, and then asked me if Emily was my wife or my daughter… I laughed, then explained that she was my girlfriend.

Then, we met Maria.  Maria owns the Arcadia grill, a well known restaurant in downtown Canton.  She approached the bus and we told her what we were up to, at which point she informed us that she donated her oil to a man who used it for WVO, same as us.  Emily asked her if she had any extra oil that we could take with us, and she kindly offered to take emily to look at her barrels.

I continued to hand out our sourdough cakes and explain the project to people with Derek’s help.  Ten minutes later, emily returned in a very excited state.  She said that Maria had no oil, but that she had given emily the phone number of the the man who she donated the oil to.  That man said he was interested in the project and had 50 gallons of prefilterd oil he would donate to us!  Em said we needed to pack the bus up immediately, as the man was going on a bike ride soon.

Somewhat to the dismay of Kelly, we packed the bus up, leaving the table, the stove, food and plants there, and with the help of the police men once more, drove away from the Farmer’s Market.  We decided that I would go and meet our generous benefactor so that emily could stay and cook for a while and meet people at the market.

Derek came with me, as he knew the directions.  We quickly drove across town.  As we drove, we marveled at the serendipity in being connected to someone who would donate pre-filtered oil to the project after spending days looking for oil.  I realized that it was the answer to the prayers I had offered up when I asked for oil in Canton.  I realized that my prayers had been answered in a more magical and beautiful way than I could have imagined.  I didn’t know the half of it yet.

We drove to a  pleasant Canton neighborhood, right to the base of a uphill driveway.  At the top stood a young, fit, smiling man waving us to drive up to meet him.  We did so, parking the bus on level ground, then jumped out.  I introduced myself to Dustin.  He greeted me with a smile and a firm, confident handshake.  He asked me about the project, so I told him what Nourish(meant) was all about, while we toured the inside and rooftop garden.  By this point, his family had joined us – his parents, his wife Erin, and their two daughters Sierra and Morgan.  Erin and the girls climbed up on the roof with us to explore our plants.  Everyone was pleased.

I told Dustin about the central question of our journey: what does nourishment mean to you?  He asked me what answers we had encountered on our journey, and this is what I told him:

Several trends have made themselves clear in the answers we have received.  When people talk about nourishment and what nourishes them, this is what we hear:

Spirit – People are nourished by their spiritual connection to the world around them and to God – whatever God they know and related to.  People are nourished by something larger than themselves.

Community -  People find nourishment in friends, in family, if their community.  They are nourished by sharing things, by connecting with people, by being a part of something.

Food - When people talk about nourishment, they talk about food.  But nourishment means more than just calories and substance to people; nourishment means care.  Nourishment means the careful preparation of food and the sharing of food in community.  People tell us that food brings them closer with the people around them.  They tell us that food allows them to care for others in their lives.  People also talk about food and nourishment in the growing of food.  One memorable answer we received was: “nourishment is being in the dirt,”

Dustin and I connected.  I told him the story of praying for oil, and then finding him.  He knew exactly what I was talking about, and together we recognized the beauty and wonder of the world we live in.  It was clear he was a man of deep faith – I noted it in the way he talked and in the way he carried himself.

Erin, too, moved with an ease and grace and suggested a very strong sense of purpose, as well as a strong sense of herself.  Both she and Dustin seemed vibrant with energy.  I have thought about them often since we left Canton.  They held an air of contentment and deep energy.  As far as I can tell, these had roots in 1) their faith and the way that keeps them connected to the spirit and the world; 2) their strong sense of purpose in life; 3) their commitment to living in community (they both spoke to me about the communities, locally, and globally, that they feel strongly connected to); and 4) their active, healthy lifestyle.  The Schnabels had a beautiful garden, which they ate from.  They exercised frequently.  They got out to explore and see the world.  All this meant something.

The Schnabels also had a vehicle that ran on veggie oil, a VW Jetta.  Dustin told me that a few years ago, he experienced a “crystallization of conscience.”  He realized just how much suffering the world is directly or indirectly connected to the oil industry.  He realized that by disconnecting from that system, one can engage in alternatives that, relatively, cause little harm in their promulgation.  Veggie oil was the alternative they selected.

Dustin had over 200 gallons of pre-settled or settling oil at his house.  Two 55 gallon drums of ready-to-use oil were at the edge of his driveway.  He offered to fill us up, and not just the tank, but our oil barrels as well.

At this point, they invited Derek and i inside to see a their beautiful home.  While they ate breakfast, Erin began to tell us about Elliot Coleman’s work on cold-frames and four-season farming.  This practice inspired them; they planned to install a cold-frame greenhouse behind their current home and grow vegetables year round there.  Dustin continued that all of this was leading toward their future goal of starting and living on a farm – one that he hoped could feed 30 + families in the area.  It was an amazing vision to hear about.

Amidst talk of this particular vision, Dustin spoke of a spiritual community he connected with and worked with in the area.  He said that this community served as a stabilizing rock in their lives, and that everyone helped keep everyone else centered and on the straight path.  Again and again, this sentiment arose for people with whom we spoke who lived with a strong community in their lives; I was grateful to find yet again, new friends and companions who confirmed the positive power of community.

Erin then took Derek and I to see her garden, with Sierra and Morgan leading the way.   Tomatoes, peppers, greens and more burst into life through the reddish soil.  She immediately started picking, offering food for me to take back to Emily and our journey.  Earlier, in reference to their garden, Dustin had asked me: “what is the #1 irrigated crop in the United States.”  I offered corn, thinking of conventional crops, but received the correct answer of grass, instead.  It is true that we irrigate more grass than anything else in this country.  Many food crops receive no irrigation at all, in fact.

After viewing the garden, we returned to the driveway to pump the oil.  Dustin used a electric transfer pump that ran on a 12-volt battery to transfer the oil.  I was thoroughly impressed with the ease of this method, especially since if you drew the power to run the pump from the veggie oil vehicle, the pump would not increase your net-energy draw.   In fact, it increased the productivity of the oil, although it did allow the operator more distance from their fuel.

The oil that flowed was a nearly golden, only a little darker than fresh oil.  Dustin pointed out that it went through no other filtration process than settling.  Settling is definitely the simplest, and ideal way to filter oil.

Pumping oil took a short while and then the time to go had arrived.  Emily had been calling and there were people at the farmer’s market who wanted to see the bus.

Before Derek and I departed, Dustin and Erin bought Nourish(meant) t-shirts.  I traded a few more to Sierra for some awesome bead key-chains she made, one of which now hangs in the bus.  Erin then brought me a bunch of seeds and sprouting trays.  She told me how with certain seeds you can sprout then, cover them with a bit of soil, and then, as the sprouts grow, you continually clip them with scissors to eat – a mini garden of micro-greens available anytime! (A friend has told me that the trick to really making them work is to sift fresh compost over the greens every other day or so.)  One last thing before departure, Dustin asked to film a video of the story of our meeting.  He posted that video as a comment to the first part of this blog, but here is the link again.

As Derek and I drove away with Sidney’s tank more full than it had ever been, we marveled.  What a magical meeting.  What beautiful, generous people.  How exhausted we were.  He told me that his whole summer had been like that – full of synchronistic connections and adventures.  He attributed it to a good, ever-optimistic attitude and his community.  I understood what he referred to, having experienced it before myself.  With the right people in the right state of mind, the world seems to move in a different way, and incredible things start to happen.  Some people call it “being in the flow.” Many people find it when traveling.  Many people find it through prayer and/or meditation.  I think it has a more to do with a change of perspective than any clear shift in the world around us.  I think that this kind of magic, the beyond-coincidental connections is ever-present and just waiting for us to see it or seek it or both.  Spending time with right people, harboring the right attitude, the adventure of traveling, prayer and meditation all seem to do a good job of helping us open to this essential aspect of the world around and in us.

We arrived at the farmers market to a small welcome party of Canton-house friends.  The rest of the market cleared out a while before, it turned out.  Emily was disappointed that the oil adventure took so long, as she had met amazing farmer friends with great interest in the bus.  They had welcomed us to visit them the next time we passed through town.  Still more generous, friendly, people in Canton!

As the other’s departed, Derek, Emily and I headed over to the Arcadia grill to take Maria up on an offer for lunch.  We were in that sleep deprived state of mild numbness by this point, and hot food sounded wonderful.  Maria welcomed us tremendously, proving overwhelmingly generous herself.  She told us plans she had to travel Europe by train in the near future and asked us to keep in touch.

After lunch, we drifted back to the bus, drove Derek home, collected a few last items, and with hugs and goodbyes, returned to the road.  We left Canton in a state we experienced often in our journey – deeply grateful and awed by the kindness of people, absolutely exhausted, humbled, and with some new valuable experience or knowledge to share as we continued on our way.

The last leg of the trip was quite intense- we drove straight from Southern Indiana to Charlottesville, barrelling over the mountains at about 4am amidst an epic thunderstorm.

Soon, though, we’ll be on the road again for a quick jaunt to Grand Rapids, Michigan to take the bus to the ArtPrize competition.  If you’re in the area, please come have a bite to eat with us!