Day 6, 7 & 8: Whatever!, My First Finnish Sauna & Operation:Become Ambidextrous

Day 6: Whatever!

I worked late last night, so I got permission from the boss lady to “sleep in”. Well when you tell Radical Reina she can sleep in, guess what she does!  She sleeps in.  I guess 10:30 a.m. was waaayyy too late, because the boss lady came a knockin, so I could help out in the garden at 10:30 a.m., so much for that Whatever! clock on the wall.  

Day 7: My First Finnish Sauna

After a long day at the gardens and cooking for my co-workers, we were delighted to receive permission to fire up the sauna.

Oooooh  Aaaahhhhh!  I had my first Finnish sauna today and it was amazing. There is no running water in this establishment, so there is a convenient drain located in the sauna, so you can pour pots full of sauna heated water over yourself for a unique and refreshing bathing experience.  It is quite empowering to know we pumped the water, carried the water, gathered the wood, and started the fire in the wood stove for our Finish sauna.  Oooohhh  Aaaahhhh!

Quote of the Day:

[Myself, Kathleen and Alicia were standing in the sauna window.]

Radical Reina: Is that a fawn or a doe laying out there on the ground?

Kathleen: Oh Yeah. Wow! She is laying down. I am sure she is going to have a baby.

RR: Yeah she must sense the feminine energy of the women’s retreat.

Kathleen: I don’t know, but I bet if we stand here and watch we will see a baby come out of her butt reeeallllll soon.

Day 8: Operation: Become Ambidextrous

Has anyone ever looked at your dominant arm and wondered if you could get your less dominant arm to be as skilled and strong as the other? Well I wonder this often. I also wonder if I could train myself to become ambidextrous. I mean with all these saws and heavy machinery that we have been using, it would be nice to have a second dominant arm to fall back on. Also, the right side of my neck and my right arm have become increasingly sore, blistered and unbelievably strong, so I decided to take this opportunity to spend the day trying to use my left hand for all my tasks, particularly the ones I normally use my right arm for. I mean why not? If I mess up or go a little slower, what are they going to do? Maybe fire the girl working for free. Ha, ha ha! 

Task One: Did up roots using the big shovel and then shake out the weeds. Well I did it, but I went a lot slower, so task one status:FAILED

Task Two: Fill a bucket of water and bring it over to the greenhouse and water with it. I did it and I did it well. I would say task two status: SUCCESS. 

Task Three: Cook dinner. Ha! the chopping was slow and dangerous, the stirring and sauteing was uncoordinated and humorous. Task three status: FAILED WITH GRACE.

Task Four: Brushing the pretty shaggy dogs. I did it. I did it well. I did it fast and they loved it. Task four status: SUCCESS.

Task Five: Washing dishes. This task was....never mind. I am not going to get into it. Status: FAILED

Overall Analysis and Status: It was weird during each task I would start out doing really well and using my left hand/arm and then I would somehow get really absorbed in my work and I unconsciously switched to my right hand in almost every task. I would say all in all mission status: FAILED. I will become ambidextrous, I will.

May you all have laughter in your lives and love in your hearts!

Longingly Yours,

Radical Reina

Day Five: Philosophy of War

Today I was prepared. Today I was prepared for the mosquitoes, the black flies, the ticks, the sun, and the rage against the green house and weeds. I just have one question. If you have declared war on the blood sucking insects, like mosquitoes and black flies and you hit yourself about ten times in an attempt to cause harm to one mosquito and you do eventually hit that mosquito one time, which results in its death, who has won the war?

Securely Yours,

Radical Reina

Days Three and Four: Bed Side Manner and Attack of the Black Flies!

Today's entry is dedicated to my support system.

Getting ready to be strapped to the kite fliers.

Day Three was pretty productive. I woke up bright and early to be strapped to, what I thought was, the sled dog champion of 2013. I did not run him, he ran me, up and down our street, a full mile. Earlier on in the week, I was told you cannot say no to the dogs. We can only tell the dogs what they can do. Ha ha ha! Well this dog can fly me up and down the driveway like a kite.  I told Kathleen that I did not want to “walk” anymore dog sled champions. She assured me the dog I had was one of the milder dogs and that he was also ten years old and retired.

The better part of days three and four were dedicated to perfecting our “bed side manner”. We shoveled some beds, weeded some beds, put some seedlings to bed, and watered some beds. We put together another green house, which is not an easy task, especially with short people.

Alicia and I met the chickens. Well I put the chickens in the coop while Alicia tended to the chicken statue that she had mistaken for a real chicken.

I was worried that my off the grid location, would prevent me from communicating with my students throughout Latin America. Well I was wrong. I was pleased to find out that the internet is functioning properly so I can maintain my online teaching job while I am residing at this rustic ecolodge. I LOVE MY JOB!

Throughout the entire day on day four we were continually attacked by these things that I was told were nats aka black flies. Man! We have nats where I come from, but not ones that draw blood. Do not be alarmed! I was reassured that these blood sucking insects are not known to carry any diseases like ticks, fleas and spiders do. These little guys just use their razor sharp teeth to slice and dice your skin then they suck your blood. No big deal (see pictures below for details on the “not so big a deal”).

Despite the black flies dive bombing my trachea, the last couple of days have been wonderful. I would like to take a time out to let you know that I really appreciate the support I have received from my friends and family. I have received many messages of encouragement via text, email and voice mail  The encouragement helps. I am also super grateful for all the new friends I am making here. Alicia is particularly supportive and we enjoy commiserating and stretching together every evening. There is a pure feeling of solidarity when you go through really tough times with another human being. When you go through something super tough together, you really see what they are made of. You really see what lies at their core and you learn a lot about their moral codes and you learn it quickly. Alicia is made of kindness, a good sense of humor (similar to mine), and enough tough stuff to get these, seemingly impossible, tasks done!

Voicemails & Texts of the Week:

Friend One: This is fun talking to your answering machine instead of you. This is great. I am walking down the street right now. It is raining. It is freezing and I have flip flops on. Uhhh??? What else? I hope the dog sledding and all that is going good. I don’t know how you are feeling, but I feel really proud of you, because you are mad sick and you are doing more motivational things than most American healthy people do, so that’s great. That’s fabulous!

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Friend Two (laughing): Daaannieeellleee!!! What’s up my dorkster! You are up in the middle of nowhere…an ecolodge or something like that. Only you would call 5 seconds before leaving for a summer at an ecolodge to say, “Well I just wanted to say goodbye. I hope you are doing well!” Soo anyway, I’ll talk to you later (end message with zerbert noise).

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Friend Three: I had a dream about you last night. I went out to your retreat, was hugging you and telling you that you’re brave.

RR: I love you and your dream made my day.

Friend Three: I love you too. I’m glad you’re my friend.

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Friend Four: Do you think all that physical exertion is good for you?

RR: No, but neither is being sick in a house by myself all day, so I am going to give it a shot and see what I can do to contribute…if anything. I guess if I can’t contribute much, I still have my wits and my good looks…most of the time.

Friend Four: LOL

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Friend Five: Miss you.

RR: Really?

Friend Five: Is that so hard to believe? How is it there?

RR: It is beautiful, very difficult, and inspiring. I look like I have chicken pox with all the black fly bites I got today.

Friend Five: How are you holding up?

RR: Sore, tired, but inspired. I feel like for the first time in a long time I am doing something to save the planet and learning a great deal more about sustainability. It feels good to be somewhere outside where I have something to offer.

Friend Five: That’s wonderful. Is it cold there?

RR: No. It was, but not currently.

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Co-worker One: How are you?

RR: I am wonderful.

Co-worker One: No one is around. How are you really? Sorry to keep asking you. I just know people who have had Lyme before. It must be like doing all this hard work, but with a 75 lb weight strapped to your back.

RR: Thank you for saying that. It makes me feel super strong.

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RR: I love you. I keep thinking what a great time you would have here. I am so glad I chose you to be my Mom.

Family One: I am so glad you chose me too and I love you too.

RR: It is nice. Today was my first full day. I am really trying hard to contribute and I feel bad taking breaks when everyone else is working, but I am trying not to overdo it.

Family One: At least you keep trying.

RR: Thank you for saying that. It means a lot to me, especially coming from you. I may not show it all the time, but your opinion means the world to me.

Family One: I know honey and you mean the world to me.

Thank you for the support everyone!

Gratefully Yours,

Radical Reina

Alicia thought it would be a great idea to pick up some white pants at the thrift store for her new job. I totally agree. What do you think?

Day Two: First Full Day of Work

How did I sleep? Well I am glad you asked. I discovered an inalienable truth. Feetie pajamas are not a good idea when it is freezing outside and outside is where you need to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. I thought they would be warmer, because they are all one and you have all the body heat being insulated inside, but it is quite the contrary. You have to unzip the whole thing to go to the bathroom, so you let all that heat ou….well you get the idea. I repeat, FEETIE PAJAMAS ARE NOT A GOOD IDEA WHEN YOU ARE TRYING TO STAY WARM. Other than that I slept fairly well for being in a new, cold place.

We started the day off at 6:30am. I geared up for my day of hard work, dogs, plants, and blood sucking insects (see outfit below for prevention details). My first job of the day was to strap a harness around my waste and take sled dogs for a walk. Ha! Sled dogs! Does this woman know how much I weigh? Alright well, I am in it to win it and I will try almost anything once.  All I can say is that it is a good thing I snuck a snack and some vitamins when I woke up this morning, despite Kathleen reassuring us we would get breakfast after we were done with the dogs. Radical Reina does not take any chances when it comes to food.

The second job of the day was cleaning out the 30 dog houses and refurnishing them with some hay beds. After this rewarding task, Dave came over to help us do demolition on one green house and reconstruct another. We then ate lunch and went back to our demolition site to plant some tomatoes and peppers.

All in all, it was a good day. I am sore, but I helped and I am learning new things every second.

Quotes of the Day:

Alicia[as some things fell down the back of my shirt]: “Woops sorry Radical Reina!”

Radical Reina: “Oh wow! Did you just spill chicken manure down my shirt?”

Alicia: “Uh! Yes I think so.”

Radical Reina: “Minnesota Nice!”

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RR: “So where did you meet Kathleen?”

Dave: “I put out an ad in the paper saying that I had a hot tub and wanted a lady to share it with. “

RR: “Oh nice!”

Dave: “Oh don’t worry you will be coming over too. I will have you guys all over for a dip.”

RR [thinks to herself]: “ Yeahhh riiiight!”

Exhaustedly Yours,

Radical Reina

P.S. NO FEETIE PJS TONIGHT!!!

Disclaimer: This Blogging Radical Refuge is unedited and somewhat unprofessional. Read at your own risk and enjoy!

Disclaimer: This Blogging Radical Refuge is unedited and somewhat unprofessional. Read at your own risk and enjoy!

Ecolodge: Day One

Alicia arrived at 12:30p. at Matthew's house to retrieve her homeless co-volunteer. After speaking on the phone and chatting during the 4 hour drive to the ecolodge, I realized that Alicia and I have a fair bit in common. We are both the same age, we both love nature and we both love doing all that we can to avoid having a mundane and fruitless existence on this planet. We also both met Kathleen, the owner and founder of Wintermoon Summersun at the MN Goes Green event in St. Paul. It turns out we met her in the same hour and we both met her by coincidence. Like myself, Alicia had awoke the morning of the "Green Festival" and decided at the very last minute to go, and that is where we saw Kathleen's booth and sign wanting an awesome woman to help her for the summer. Well so far it would appear that Kathleen has two awesome women. It seems to me that the more I go with the flow and just do what feels right in the moment, the more amazing "coincidences" like this happen. 

As soon as Alicia and I arrived, Kathleen put us right to work socializing, walking and watering the dogs. I thought my sneaking off to go scope out the gardens had gone unnoticed until dinner time when Kathleen asked me what I thought of them. The gardens and greenhouses are wonderful and the puppies are adorable.  I found out over dinner conversation that the puppies were an accident. A male and a female sled dog were chained a little too close to each other. Oooppps!

My cabin is freezing, but beautiful. It is more than I ever expected out here roughing it. There is no running water, the bathroom is an outhouse, and it is very cold at night, however, I am hopeful. I have not even been here 24 hours yet and I have already learned so much. I have realized how much I already know, as well. I was worried, due to my current health status, that I would not be able to contribute to this radical refuge's cause. After realizing that Kathleen also has Lyme and has been doing this for the better part of 40 years, I now know that I can not only contribute to the cause, but I have Kathleen, a 63 year old woman, as a role model and inspiration. Cheers to all the 
Radical Reinas out there!

Frigidly Yours,
Radical Reina