[OKC] Dancing in the Dirt

[Tom Temple]

Dear Folks:

I just returned from the week-long "Build Here Now" conference at the
Lama Foundation in northern New Mexico and thought I would sit down and
write a bit about what turned out to be a great week.

First, a bit of context:  The Lama Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit that
was formed in the early sixties "to be a sustainable spiritual community
and educational center dedicated to the awakening of consciousness,
spiritual practice with respect for all traditions, service and
stewardship of the land" (from their mission statement).  Without being
too hokey about it, they seem to be doing a pretty fine job of
respectfully blending a great variety of spiritual traditions without
watering any of them down.  It is the place where Ram Dass wrote "Be Here
Now" way back then.  It is a very affirming place, personally and
spiritually. They have been into sustainability for quite a while.  The
whole place is built with local materials, powered by pholtovoltaics with
solar hot water, composting toilets and greywater going to the gardens
and orchards. It is on the side of a mountain at 8500 ft, overlooking the
Rio Grande Gorge, and they are fortunate to have a spring-fed water
supply. 

In 1996 a fire went through and destroyed many of their buildings.  The
central buildings survived, but everything else was "scorched earth".
About 2000, I believe, someone came up with the idea of inviting lots of
folks to come for a week in the summer for a combination sustainable
building conference and rebuilding effort (you pay them to come and work
on their buildings), and they have made a lot of progress toward
rebuilding.

The material presented was a quantum leap in sustainability for an old
stick-builder like myself.  With an emphasis on using the materials at
hand (like dirt!), they had ongoing workshops on straw-bale, earth
plasters, cob, earth-bag, rainwater harvesting, permaculture, greywater
usage, composting, slow-food, and on and on and on.  Generally five
different sessions each morning and each afternoon.  More than I could
possibly take in, and I wound up trying to get an overview of a lot of
different areas.  I stacked a few bales, mixed some lime plaster, mixed
cob with my feet (dancing in the dirt!), troweled an adobe floor, watched
a lot of slide and power-point presentations, and had great discussions
with a lot of great folks.  All this with great food (vegetarian), Sikh
dancing, Friday night Shabat and prayer flags fluttering in the wind. 
Pretty outrageous!

The material presented (and many of the participants) was often a bit
"edgy" for me, and I can't say that I came back a "true believer", but I
have to say that it was quite a high to spend a week living and working
in such a sustainable and spiritual community.  The spirituality and the
building practices there are all of one cloth, with an intense respect
for the land, the planet, and the hearts of those getting their hands
dirty. 

I can't really say if I will be putting  much of this into practice in my
work here in Oklahoma City.  I learned just enough to be dangerous about
a lot of things, but it was a great introduction.  If you are interested
in learning more, check out http://lamafoundation.org/build_here_now.htm
They'll be doing it again next year. And if anybody wants to get together
and talk dirt, get in touch.

Tom Temple

P.S.  It might be nice if others would write about conferences they go
to. Sort of like "What I did on my summer vacation!"