Mr. Natural

This afternoon we drove out to B's parents place, where she has a little garden spot in the backyard. About six by six, 36 square feet. A few tomato plants, some strawberries, an eggplant, a cucumber. Pepper plants, too, but they didn't give much this year.

The tomatoes gave, though, and still are. We pruned them back, harvested about 4 big ones and a lot of little yellow cherry tomatoes, and planted four new strawberry plants. I picked up about 20 fat garden slugs and tossed them over the fence into the alley. They may crawl back, or they may get squished. I'll let the God of the Slugs decide these matters.

Afterwards, B's mom made grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for us and we watched slides of the family's vacation to Italy in 1967. I saw some of the places I knew, and was surprised at how much 43 years of change can affect a place, even Italy, which we mistakenly tend to think of as timeless.

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I've been following Lloyd Kahn's blog for a few years now, and have purchased three of his excellent books. Lloyd is the kind of guy I want to be if I ever grow up. 75 years old, lots of energy, rides a damned skateboard (!) and is sharp as a tack.

Below, a short film (actually shot on 16mm film!) some students did about Lloyd, and the ultra-cool house he built north of San Francisco. Lloyd really is one of my heroes, and I hope I get to meet him some day.

SHELTER from jason sussberg on Vimeo.