10/21/22 (Friday)

Can't believe we only have one more week left! This morning, we had a Q&A session with Mike, followed by a layout lab with Casey. Mike has so many experiences and stories to share, and he does so with humor and humility. I really enjoy hearing him speak not only about Earthships, but about his life philosophy, as well. He shared some good lines today, which I jotted down in my notebook so I wouldn't forget. Perhaps one of the most notable was in reference to the principles of an Earthship and how they enable people to live via the natural phenomena of the Earth: "We don't harvest anything. We encounter these things." We also had a special guest in class today--Charlie the dog!

We did the layout lab right in front of our simple survival Earthships. Casey guided us along as we measured, laid string, and pounded rebar into the dirt. It was neat to map out and see the footprint of a simple survival right in front of an actual simple survival building!

On the job-site this afternoon, we got to work with all of the reclaimed wood we had prepped yesterday. While one of my classmates foraged through the pile and cut the pieces down to size, I was up on the roof, laying out the pattern, pre-drilling, and nailing the pieces in place. This part of the ceiling is just for aesthetics and doesn't really serve any practical purpose, as the top will be covered with layers of felt paper, poly-iso insulation, and metal roofing. That said, it looks really cool from below, and has inspired me to do some experimenting with re-claimed wood when I get back home! We also had a super cute visitor to the job site this afternoon (Boon, I think)!