Our ‘New’ Recycled Shelter in a Shed- Anything is possible

Dear Friends,

Over the past 3 months I have been busy creating a new shelter for
Pacha, Yani and I in the forests of Woombah. It has been full of adventures, challenges, insights and lessons.

The large ‘Shed’ came with the land my friend and I recently
purchased in northern NSW. It was open on three walls when we first ‘moved in’. When it rained (and it rained most of the time), the moist cloudy air came in and made everything damp. We lived in a tent under the shed and cooked with a small gas ring on a simple table.

My Father, Karsten, saw the potential in the shed and came up almost immediately with an idea to turn one third of it (6 mt by 8 mt) into an enclosed space with a mezzanine floor. I couldn’t resist a new building project, the practical hands on challenge seemed to be exactly what I needed after the exhausting election campaign. We went ahead and drew up some plans for pre- fabricated frames and found a company who could make them.

■Challenge brings growth

Now, ‘normal’ people would probably find a place to rent while paying someone else to build them their place to live, certainly not in a shed. I wanted to be involved and learn and do, I wanted to use the resources on hand (the shed was already here when we bought the place) I wanted to save money (that means less debt and more freedom). I wanted my children to experience what it is like to live simply while something is being built. I want them to know they can do this one day if they like…anything is possible. So, we over the past months we found ourselves moving around the shed as we manouvered the frames and other materials we needed to use around us.

This is a *SLOHAS (Slow Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability)
construction. So, it needed to be low cost (recycled materials where possible and free labour – me and my Father!), sustainable (we used either recycled materials and plantation timber for the framework) and healthy (getting very fit doing the construction work and the wonderful sense of satisfaction in building by ourselves). We did it at our own pace. I nurtured and expanded my relationships with my family and neighbours as they helped or watched this latest project grow.

In the early stage of the project I decided to search for recycled
sliding windows and other house fittings. I was even able to find a complete kitchen bench with sink etc that had been recently torn out of a building.It feels so good to be using materials that would otherwise have been thrown away. I found the cheapest place for
recycled materials was on the Gold Coast (3.5 hours away) so I
arranged to rent a large (3 tonne) truck to drive all the materials over. This went very well ( I like driving trucks) until we arrived at the land where it had been raining for the past week.
We got bogged.

First our next door neighbour tried to help us out using steel cables attached to trees. We went down deeper…I tried to keep breathing and not panic – but I was wondering how expensive it would be to rent a crane to get the truck out of there. Next, the neighbour two doors down came with his small suzuki 4 wheel drive and said he would try.

I just kept digging out the mud (which by this time was up to the
axles) to try to make things easier. I was pretty sure his tiny car would not be able to pull out this big truck. We hooked it up,
revved and hooray – the truck was on the road again.

Community Resilience, helping each other, sharing with each other.
Afterwards we sat with our nighbours over a slow home brewed beer (my nerves were a little stretched!) and talked about Woombah,
constructions and neighbours. I felt in debt of gratitude but their attitude was that some day they would need my help and that this is what makes our neighbourhood/community strong. They are so right.
Knowing my neighbours well and sharing what I can with them creates a strong web of support no matter what lies ahead. Since this
experience we have had at least two other bogged cars.

My neighbours have also ‘saved’ us when my own old van broke down at our favourite beach (Shark Bay). We were stuck at night with no
mobile phone range on a lonely road. Pacha and Yani and I had to wave down a car to take us to town so we could make a call to be rescued!
(Interesting reflection for me was realisingbefore children I was not nearly as ‘fearful’ in these situations – somehow things would be ok – the difference was feeling responsible for two other defensless human beings, my children, in these interesting situations we would find ourselves in. Hopefully they will learn that there is never any need to panic and that somehow we can survive anything).

The next step in construction was erecting the frames. They were
already put together – but were heavy to move around and lift. We
used out imaginations as well as strength and borrowed Pacha’s
skateboard and a small hand trolley to move them into place.

We had ordered plantation pine flooring for the mezzanine, but it
arrived in the rain and seeing it was particle board (not very
resilient) made me search for another option. I called the secondhand shop and found they had some used marine plywood (from concrete formwork) and quickly arranged to pick this up instead.

This meant borrowing the neighbour’s trailer and connecting it onto my old van and driving back to the Gold Coast again. Everything went pretty well except on the way home the mud guard came off the trailer and sheared into the tyre on the super highway…very stressful…I calmly stopped the van and looked around me. We were in the middle of sugar cane fields – but I could see a house abour 800 metres away up a hill. The mobile phone had no credit and no range in that area and I tried to stop someone (passing by at 110 kms per hour) …noone stopped. So off Pacha and Yani and I went, trekking through the bush and muddy ditches. The kids seemed to enjoy the adventure. When I stood in a deep muddy puddle up to my knees, Pacha said: “It could be worse Mummy, the mud could be up to your neck.” I smiled and thought that Pacha and Yani would be fine in returning to Ecuador!

We found a friendly man called Robert in the house at the top of the hill – and although I just asked if I could use his telephone, he slowly said – ‘so what seems to be the problem’ - and soon started gathering materials to help remove and replace the tyre, driving us back down to get us back on the road. What a great person with a wonderful attitude. After talking about the state of the world he said: The problem is people are not really ALIVE anymore’. And I thought – Yes – he knows.

■Reflections on DNA

Now the recycled marine plywood is on the ceiling and I can look up and think about the campaigns we had in Japan to try to stop using
tropical timber for concrete formwork…I love that we were able to use a stronger and more ethical material…But before the floor could be put down we had to put the 9 mt beams into place. My Father was
impressed by my hammering style and talked about his own grandfather who was a blacksmith. He was convinced my talent in hammering nails had been passed through my DNA.

I love my Father mostly because I choose to love him. He is one of
the most difficult people to be with that I know. Much of our
childhood had an underlying climate of fear because of the demons he was wrestling with in himself (and still wrestles with).

Controlling, opinionated, larger than life, intense – but when I look at him I see myself and I know that if I cut my connection to him, I disconnect some part of myself and my children (and their children to come). Of course he taught all of his children to love and respect nature above all – and this was one of the few things that he and our mother were in absolute agreement about. He loves to be useful, he loves challenge and loves to share his knowledge and skills. He felt a strong sense of commitment in helping me create a good shelter to live in.

He is, like many of my family members, both critical and proud of my actions. One of his recent comments was: “Anja, you look your
age” (which was not meant to be a compliment – but just honest I
guess). I thought about this for a while (and the added stress that perhaps he did not realise that he contributed, the weight of my
responsibilities, the physical hardship in how we were living etc,
etc) and came to the conclusion that: Yes, I may look like I am 40
years old, but I should look this old with the many experiences I
have had in my life. My age is how I feel and how I think, not that surface of skin that the modern world is so obsessed by. Sure, I
could live a less stimulated life and put some kind of crème on my
skin if I wanted to or smile and frown and be less ‘alive’ – but my appearance is not so important to me (especially in the shed where we have no mirrors!).

My Father and I had big ups and downs in the stress of this building project and one rainy morning (after a disturbed sleep), I reacted when he teased my son (the 50th time!) . I told him to go away if he was not able to contribute in a positive way to my children…so he went away…Soon after I rang to make sure he got home ok (2 hours away) – and wrote a letter explaining what I thought of the incident and welcomed him back at anytime. Our connection is still open.

In some way this is the same reason I will continue to keep a contact with Pacha and Yani’s Father. Marcelo. It is not easy, it is complicated and brings up many difficult emotions, but it is a story I started and is now written into the DNA of our children. And it is not only Marcelo the children deserve to know, but his own large and colourful family, the 300 men, women and children in and around Bahia de Caraquez in Ecuador.

I guess it is part of the process of learning to cope with this rich tapestry of life. How can we ever find Peace in the world if we don’t find a way to keep our connections open with our own family members?

So, now Pacha, Yani and I live in a partly built house, with lots of space and freedom. We still use buckets for toilets (and feed our wastes to our quickly growing fruit tree orchard) and there is no plumbing or electrics installed yet. But we are very comfortable and feel safe and supported here. It is a paradise of wild nature with the security of community and services. And we are very excited about returning to Japan and Ecuador next month!

*SLOHAS – A new term to describe a healthy and sustainable lifestyle without needing to spend a lot of money.

3/5和訳：アンニャ・ライト“SLOHAS“ツアー

日本の春はもうすぐそこ。春は、新しい目覚め、新しい成長、変化の時です。これから始まる新しい年を目の前に、皆さん、ワクワクされていることでしょう。

今まさに私たちは、地球の歴史上かつてなかった激動の時代のただ中にいます。太古から続く生態系の崩壊、森林破壊と気候変動、支配的な経済システムの破たん、金持ちの国と貧乏な国との間の溝の深まり。こうした深刻な問題をもたらす経済システムに、私たちは否応なく組み込まれているのですが、その一方で、そこに自ら進んで参加してしまっていることも否定できません。しかし、私たちがすでにひとつの転換点に差しかかっていることもまた、日々明らかになっています。ここで立ち止まり、ひと呼吸おいて、これまでとはちがった道を選ぶ絶好の時期を、私たちは迎えているのではないでしょうか。

では、私たちにできることは何でしょう？　しっかりと厳しい状況から目をそむけることなく、希望の火をともし続ける勇気と強さを、どこに見出せばいいのでしょう？　どうすれば私たちは生き延びることことができるでしょう？　そもそも私たちは本当に生き延びる気があるのでしょうか？「生きる」とはどういうことなのでしょうか？　私たちの子どもたちは、消費の熱病に冒されることなく、この社会で生きていくことができるのでしょうか？　率直に、正直に、生き続けるにはどうしたらいいのでしょう？　地球上のすべてのいのちを支えてあまりある豊かなエネルギーの恩恵に、どうすればまた浴することができるのでしょう？　ちょうど樹々が空に向かってまっすぐ伸びながら、吹く風に柔らかくそよぐように。

私は今、森でのスローな暮らしの中で、日々、こんなふうに問いかけています。そして、もうすぐやって来る日本でのツアーで、これらの問いについてみなさんと話し合えるのを楽しみにしています。

私と子どもたち、パチャとヤニとは、間もなくオーストラリアを後にして、数年ぶりにエクアドル、エル・ミラグロの我が家に戻りますが、その途中、もうひとつの我が家である日本に、4月17日から6月7日まで滞在します。日本にいる間、トークライブを行い、みなさんと再会することを楽しみにしています。このツアーの合言葉として、私は“SLOHAS”——ロハスにスローのSをつけて、「健康で持続可能なスローなライフスタイル」——を掲げて、スローライフを実現するための具体的な提案をしたいと思っています。また、ナマケモノ倶楽部が展開しているプロジェクトにも参加しながら、今後のエクアドルでのボランティア活動のあり方についても、皆さんと話し合いたいと思います。

そこで、ぜひ皆さんにコンサートやトークイベントなどの場を企画したり、主催してくださるようお願いしたいのです。また、そういうことに興味がありそうな方や団体、場所などをご存知の方はぜひ教えてください。心当たりの方は、ナマケモノ倶楽部事務局の馬場直子さんまでご連絡ください。このツアーであげられた収益はすべて、エル･ミラグロでの活動や、私たちのエクアドルへの渡航費として使わせていただくことになります。

私たち自身のために、そしてこの尊い地球のために、希望をもち続けることを選びましょう。そして、行くべき道を見つけようではありませんか。お互いがもっている力や、新しい発想や、笑いや、歌を、皆さんと分かち合えるのを楽しみにしています。

いのちのために、
アンニャ・ライト

Anja’s SLOHAS Tour 2008

Dear Friends,
Soon it will be Spring in Japan, a time for a new awakening - new
growth - transformation. I hope it finds you well and feeling
positive about the challenges and opportunities for the year ahead.

We are witnessing an incredible time in the Earth history - the
breakdown of the world’s ancient ecological systems, the destruction of forests and the changing climate, the melting down of major economic systems, the increasing chasm between rich and poor in both money rich and money poor countries. We are partly trapped and partly willing participants in this economic system that causes so much destruction and suffering - but as it becomes more obvious we have reached a turning point we may have best opportunity to pause, breathe and choose a different path.

But what should we do? Where do we find the courage and strength to keep our eyes open and our hope alive? How can we survive? Do we
really want to survive? What does it mean to be 'Alive'? Can our
children grow up in mainstream society and not be caught by the
‘consumer fever’. What is the best way forward with clarity and
honesty? How can we tap into the abundant energy that sustains life on this beautiful planet – being like a tree that reaches straight to the sky but moves with the wind?

These are some of the questions I ask myself in this slow forest life and I would love to share this discussion with you.

I am planning to visit Japan from 17 April until the 7th of June
before returning to El Milagro in Ecuador with Pacha and Yani. I
would love to speak and/or perform while in Japan and it would be
great to meet you again. Depending on your interests, I would be
happy to talk about practical themes on living a Slow Lifestyle of
Health and Sustainability (SLOHAS) as well as about the Sloth Club’s project work and volunteering in Ecuador. Could you organise a
concert or talk? Would you know of any other person, group or venue that may be interested in holding an event? Please let Naoko Baba
know at the Sloth Club know if you can help in any way. All funds
raised will support the El Milagro project and our travel costs in
returning to Ecuador.

Let’s choose to have hope and see a positive way forward, in our own lives and for our precious planet. I look forward to sharing energy, new ideas, laughter and song with you soon.

For Life,
Anja Light

2/21翻訳

最近、ナマケモノ（Sloth）流LOHASというアイデアについてみんなに書きたいと思っていました。

とにかく、まだこのアイディアは温め始めたばっかりで、これで完成なのかもしれないけど、もっと発展させていくか、ブログで楽しんで終わりにするか、考えてみてください。

＝＝＝＝＝（スローマザーブログ）＝＝＝＝

オーストラリア、ウーンバ（エアーから引っ越しました！）で忙しく創作活動をしているうちに、新しいアイディアについて書こうと思い立ちました。

それは、ロハスにかわる「SLOHAS」。
Slow Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability。
地球に負荷をかけることなく環境にやさしく生きるライフスタイルです。

高い水準の保育や教育、有機野菜やエコ・マークのついたあれこれのために、ストレスと労力のかかる仕事が必要だなんて。もっとシンプルに生きることで、子どもと時間を過ごし、自分たちで有機野菜を育て、身の回りの必要な「モノ」は自分たちで組み立てたり作ったり、拾ってきたりしてみましょう。

時にはストレスを楽しんでみたり、わたしたちの生を意味づけるものに進んでチャレンジしてみたりすることはいいことです。ですが、望まない仕事や生活に、わたしたちを奴隷のように押し込めるあり方に従っていては、わたしたちは幸せにならないし、地球だって健康になりません。

では、SLOHASとは？
それは健康的で、倫理的で、持続可能なライフスタイルを高い収入なしに作り上げることです。シフトダウンや草の根民主主義、自発的簡素化につながるライフスタイルのひとつです。

これは、地球の泣き声や世界的な非対称（自分の子どもに安全で健康で幸せな将来を送ってほしいという強力な本能によって生まれてしまったものです）に直面して生まれる、実践レベルでの当たり前の反応だと思います。

これは逃げではありません。積極的に関わっていくことです。恥ずかしいことではなく、ほとんどの人が捨ててしまうもので、生活を充実させられることを誇ることなのです。貧困の「束縛」のイメージを受け入れてしまうのではなく、シンプルさを解き放ち祝福するのです。

というわけで、わたしはSLOHASな生活を試行錯誤している最中です。できるだけ
ゆっくり学んでいます。わたしたちの収入はとても低いけれど、充分なだけあります。

子どもたちには食べ物も服もあるし、健康だし屋根もあります。わたしたちの服や家具、自転車などは全部中古品。少しずつ庭に果物の樹や野菜を植えて、将来はオーガニック・フードが手に入るはず（ちなみに海草やmulch、自生している植物を採ることも考えています）。

車は家に置いておいて、出かけるときは自転車かバス。新しく家を建てるときは、
リサイクルされた材料や手元にあるものを使っています。家族、友人、地域の人びとやウーファーが手伝いにきてくれて、足元と遠隔地の両方にコミュニティができ、強く成長しています。
（翻訳：小田義起）

SLOHAS - Slow Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability

I've been wanting to write about this for a while - what do you think of this concept? Maybe it should be Sloth Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability?

Anyway - this is a start of developing it as an idea - maybe it has already be done - let me know if I should keep developing it - or
just have fun with it as a blog.
Love, or Life, anja

■Slow Mother Blog

In all the busy creating of the past month here in Woombah - I have been inspired to write about a new concept:

SLOHAS - Slow Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability
- because it shouldn’t cost the Earth to live Green.

We shouldn’t need to work in a stressful, high powered job to be able to afford to pay for high quality childcare/education, organic vegetables and the latest eco-labels. By living more simply we can
make the time to be with our children, grow our own organic vegetables and use our own initiative to build, create or scavange
the ‘things’ we need around us. It is fine to enjoy some stress from time to time and to set ourselves challenges in the things that provide meaning in our life if we choose it. But to be obedient to trends that further entrench us into a slave-like existence in jobs and lives that we don’t like will not make us happier or the Earth healthier.

What does SLOHAS mean? It is creating a healthy, ethical and
sustainable lifestyle without needing a high income. It is a
lifestyle choice that incorporates downshifting, grassroots democracy and voluntary simplicity. It is, to me, a commonsense practical response to the sound of the Earth crying, global inequality balanced with our strong instinct to provide a safe, healthy and happy future for our children. It is not withdrawing, but engaging - being proud rather than embarrassed that you can enjoy life with things that most people would throw away. It is not accepting the definition of the ‘yoke’ of poverty but instead celebrating the liberation of simplicity.

So, I think I am creating a SLOHAS life, learning slowly as I go.
Our income is very low but we have enough. The children are fed and clothed, healthy and we have a roof over our heads.

All our clothes, furniture, bicycles, etc are second hand. We are
slowly planting a garden of fruit trees and vegetables that will
provide our organic food for the future (scavenging thinks like
seaweed and mulch and volunteer plants). We leave the car at home
and ride our bikes and buses to get around. I am building using
recycled materials and using the resources I have on hand to create our new living space. The help from my family, friends, neighbours
and woofers builds and strengthens communities – both locally and
from afar.

7/26和訳

最近の写真を送ります。ちょうど１週間前、ここゴールドコースとでグリーンズ（緑の党）の旗をつくっているときのショットです。私の母が90枚もの旗をつくってくれ、私たちでその旗にプリントをしているところ。今年のいつになるかわからない選挙のための準備です。

オカネをかけＺＯＯＮＹ、選挙活動をする様子をナマケモノ倶楽部の仲間たちが興味をもってくれたらうれしいのだけど。

私が最近、女性の集まりの会議でスピーチした原稿を、オーストラリアのブログにアップしました。
www.anjalight.com
講演のタイトルは、「母親と運動を両立する」です。関心がありそうな方がいたら、どんどんリンクを貼ったり、訳してください。

handmade Green Flag !

I'm sending a nice photo of our making the Greens flags a couple of weeks ago on the Gold Coast. My mother sewed 90 flags and together we screenprinted them in preparation for the election camapign (not yet known when it will be - this year for sure). Also, in case you or other Sloth friends are interested - I have put a recent speech to the feminist conference on my web page: www.anjalight.com called:
'integrating motherhood and activism' - you are very welcome to send
this around if you think it would be interesting for people.

5/13

Today I looked out my window and saw that the mango tree has flowers.
This should be good news (yum! mangoes!), but it is actually frightening – they are flowering 5 months too early…Our natural systems are out of balance…We now have such overwhelming scientific evidence proving climate change yet witnessing the reality of the incredible changes taking place in our lifetime is still a deep shock.

And everything else seems to go on like it always has – governments and people seem so slow to change. In this sad country Australia we still spend billions of dollars on weapons and almost nothing on renewable energy. Recently there has been a lot of media here about ‘clean coal’ technology – new science that has not yet been proven but is a desperate attempt to justify the big profit fossil fuel coal industry. The government plan to encourage nuclear reactors is also building and we now will begin to open up new uranium mines.

I have been selected as the number 2 senate candidate for the Queensland Greens in the upcoming federal election. This means a great opportunity to raise awareness and encourage people to take action.

Last weekend Pacha, Yani and I stayed at Palm Island. It was like returning to Ecuador; a tropical paradise troubled with poverty, but brimming with potential. The Australian government spends millions of dollars each year on welfare payments and ‘projects’ for Palm Island but things don’t seem to improve. The population of 3000 people still share only 320 houses, most people live on a diet of fish and chips and coca-cola, there is a shocking alcohol and drug problem and children are often neglected.

I saw an article in a newspaper saying that a new house would cost $400 000 to build on Palm Island. I can’t understand why this can be so expensive. Why can’t volunteers be allowed to help construct lower cost ecological houses using some materials that could even be found on the island (eg. there are plantations of pine ready to harvest).

Like Ecuador many of these projects are ‘imposed’ by well-paid consultants from the outside, are very expensive, have little or no follow up and are almost doomed to failure. A simple, small, slow approach may be much more successful.

One of the ideas of the local council and other community representatives is the potential for income (and jobs) on Palm Island from tourism. This reminded me of Yakushima where our Sloth Club member, Tessei Shiba, has such a profound insight to a new type of tourism that is truly ‘engaged’, sustainable and honours the indigenous reverence and knowledge of the land and it’s spirits. Can Palm Island, in the beautiful Great Barrier Reef, bypass the mistakes of ‘tourism as usual’?
All I could do this time was bring some non-hybrid seeds from Seedsavers and share stories, songs and ideas with our hosts Robert and Svea Pitman. Next time maybe I can bring a group of ‘Slow’ friends from Japan, or a volunteer to set up permaculture gardens or build a straw bale house.

Pacha, Yani and I are very excited about my mother coming to visit soon. I am borrowing a sewing machine so we can get started on making hundreds of ‘Be the Change’ flags for bicycles and big Greens flags for election day. It always feels good to be doing something practical and ‘hands-on’to get a positive message out there!

Remember, you are welcome to come and help us here in Australia anytime. The garden here and at the school needs a lot of help – and there will be many exciting and inspiring campaigns ahead (like the Peace Convergence in June).

Love to all, For Life, anja,pacha and yani

5/9

Dear Friends,

This truly is a Slow Mother diary! so very slow. I am sure it happens to you too, so much happens that there seems to be no time to share the stories as they speed by! I know that many people who read this blog have had the chance recently to hear the inspiration and knowledge of that great teacher in action, Satish Kumar. By a lovely coincidence, my friend Sally McKinnon from the Ethos Foundation is organising his tour in May for Australia.

So here (finally!) are some news updates.
I was not selected as the lead Green senate candidate for my state, but I will probably be the 2nd or 3rd candidate on the team and was selected to be on the campaign planning team for the upcoming national election (sometime between August and January 2008). So my life is still very busy on political issues (if you are interested in reading more check: www.anjalight.com). I would very much appreciate any help for this campaign and would like to put out the call again for volunteers to come and help us (more information below)!

In quiet Ayr the weather is cooling down and it is time to plant vegetables again, here in my garden and at the school too. Over the past few weeks I have been spending more and more time on the computer, writing media releases and responding to local issues, brainstorming campaign ideas and expanding local networks. It is hard to see results in this kind of campaigning. It's always much easier to see change when you do things in your own life growing vegetables, riding around on your bicycle or watching your electricity bill go down as you use less energy. One deals with many more words and one deals with actions!

Pacha, Yani and I are all very well, healthy and active. Pacha has just learnt how to ride her bicycle without training wheels and we now all ride to school. Yani is doing beautiful art work and always impresses me with his attention to detail (he loves colour matching his clothes). We have also recently returned from a visit to my family on the Gold Coast - enjoying quality family time and playing in the ocean.

Our next travel plans are to Palm Island (next week) - only 2 hours by boat from nearby Townsville. This is an island that was used as a dumping ground for Queensland's indigenous peoples. Families from many different tribes were forcibly moved to the island mostly so that their lands could be taken by white settlers similar to the strategies used in Hokkaido. It was also used like a penal colony aboriginal 'trouble maker'were sent here throughout the 1900s. It is 素amousas one of the most violent places outside a war zone (according to the Guinness book of records), and also a place where Aboriginal people are struggling for their rights.

In 2004, an Aboriginal man was killed by police and there has been a growing movement calling for justice on this issue. Around 3000 people live on Palm Island, but there are only 320 houses. Services like education and health are controlled by the state government and so do not reflect the real needs and wishes of the people. Palm Island is a lush, tropical island, but almost all the food needed here is brought in from outside.

Pacha, Yani and I going to visit the island to connect with people and celebrate the beauty of the place (in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef). I will bring my guitar and a big package of seeds from Seedsavers. We will meet with local people involved in some projects or local initiatives and see if there is any way we can help. Perhaps sharing the story of Slow tourism that empowers the community to create their own vision of a sustainable and hopeful future will be useful. I will let you know how our visit goes.

In June, we will travel to another beautiful place, Shoalwater Bay, near Rockhampton, to protest a massive military exercise. For two weeks beginning 19th June, nearly 14, 000 US military personnel along with 12,400 Australian troops will take part in live aerial, ship to shore and land based artillery bombardments in the Shoalwater Bay Training Area which is partly within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and is habitat to many endangered species including the endangered dugong and green turtle. The Peace Convergence will be a peaceful gathering in the Shoalwater region on 18th 24 June 2007. You are invited to join us and hundreds of people from around Australia for peaceful protests against these war games. Please contact me if you are interested.

The countdown is coming for our return to Ecuador - still planned for early 2008. Before we go we must let go of everything we have collected to make our some in Australia and to find a good family to look after our house and garden. Harder than anything else is getting go of my family for however long we will be away. My Mother is now in her mid seventies and it is a hard thought to be so far away from her. Of course, we also have family in Ecuador and all of the 銑uque痴ide are very excited to see Pacha and Yani again.

I also want to make sure that I am prepared to be useful in Ecuador by doing things like re-activating the volunteers program, organising the next the alternative expo, developing alternative education options, helping organise more Slow tours and providing a safe, stable and stimulating base for Pacha and Yani at El Milagro.

So, the life of a Slow Mother and her family goes on!

Love to you all,
For Life, anja

2/11和訳

二ヶ月間のGNHキャンペーン日本縦断を終えて、今エールでのスローライフに戻ってきました。
（詳しくはSlowing down Japanのレポートをご覧ください。）日本では、たくさんの新たな地球大好きと言う人たちに出会え、また昔の友人に再会出来てとてもよかったです。

また、古くてもすてきな我が家とうちの庭に戻ってきてほっとしています。
ずっと雨が降っていたようで（まだ降っているのですが）緑が覆い茂っています。
鶏たちが、うれしそうに葉っぱをつついているのもすてきです。
今は一年でも暑い方の時期なので、給湯器を止めることにしました。
（給湯器は家庭で使われるエネルギーの30％も占めているのです。）
子供のお風呂用にお湯をポットで二回程度沸かすので十分ですし
冷たいシャワーもなかなか新鮮でちっとも大変なことではないのです。
その上生活をもっと軽くすることへの小さな一歩にもなります。

パチャの学校の一学期も始まり、ヤニも同じ学校の中にある幼稚園に行き始めました。
ヤニは自分のいつもの場所に戻ってきてうれしそうです。
いつもの毎日、大好きなおもちゃや鶏が駆け回る大きなお庭、そういったものが大好きなのです。
パチャもお友達に久し振りに会えてとてもうれしいのですが、「ふつうの生活」にもうすでにちょっと退屈しているようです。

オーストラリアに戻ってからまずゴールドコーストに住んでいる家族に会いに行きました。
誰もが巨大淡水化プラントの反対運動に関わっていました。
その淡水化プラントと言うのは、環境影響評価についての地域の協議会をほとんど通さずに開始されたものです。
行政によると、水不足の危機であり多少の懸念があったとしても建設を推し進める必要があるとのことです。

多くの人がこの淡水プラント（海の水を淡水に変える）という政策に乗り気ですが、その行程には多大なエネルギーを必要とし、莫大な予算がかかるのです。
私の妹のインゲはその抗議行動の先頭に立ち、もっと違った方法、例えば暴風雨水を取り入れる、雨水タンクを設置する、あるいは節水をするなどを推進しています。

私は巨大フランス系企業のVeoliaと世界の水の供給源を支配しようとする試みとの関連があるのでは？と思います。まるで第二のオイルラッシュのようです。そしてついには、国民が贅沢なお水のために多大なお金を払うことになるのではと懸念しています。

エアーに戻ってからは、緑の党選出議員として立候補する働きかけをし、また温暖化防止キャンペーンに関わる行動を開始しました。（更新したweb log www.annjalight.com をご覧ください。）
地元の二団体が、すでに来月にも大きな会議を開く計画を練っています。

私もこの地域の市長に会って、市民が温暖化の問題に対応していくようどのように仕向けるか、様々なアイデアについて話し合いました。

議会としても、気候変動危機に対して市民が前向きに対応するよう働きかけることに重点をおいている提案をする準備を計画しているようです。

熱帯林情報センターのジョンシードとルースローゼンヘックは、オーストラリア各地で“気候変動、”と言う映画を上映し、その映画は熱烈に受け入れられてきました。

多くの温暖化に取り組んでいる団対が、状況が変わるよう個人レベルでそして政治的レベルで行動をとってきました。日本でも今回のアル・ゴアの映画「不都合な真実」に対してどんな反応が起こっているのか気になるところです。

【翻訳：中島由美子】

2/11

We have now returned to our ‘Slow Life’ in Ayr after spending 2 months travelling through Japan with the GNH tour (please see report ‘Slowing Down Japan’ for more details. It was wonderful to meet many new ‘Earth Lovers’ and reconnect with many old friends in Japan.
And it was also good to come to our garden and lovely old home. It had been raining (and was still raining) so everything was green and lush – nice for the chickens who pick happily away at the greenery. It is the hottest part of the year so I have decided not to turn on the hot water system (this uses about 30% of a household’s energy needs) – just boiling a couple of pots of water for the children’s bath. It is refreshing and not difficult at all to have cool showers - and a small step to living more lightly.
Pacha has started her first year of school and Yani has started kindergarten at the same school. He is very happy to be in his own space again, loves the routine of predictable days and his favourite toys, the big backyard with our chickens running around. Pacha loves seeing her friends again – but I think she is already a little bored with a ‘normal’ life!
When we returned to Australia we first visited my family on the Gold Coast. Everyone is involved in the campaign to stop a massive de-salination plant that was started with almost no community consultation of environmental impact assessment. The government says that because there is a ‘water crisis’ they just have to go ahead and build, despite many concerns. Many people love the idea of de-salination - turning sea-water into pure water – but the process uses a huge amount of energy and is extremely expensive. My sister, Inge, is leading the protest and promoting better alternatives like harvesting stormwater, rain water tanks and wasting less water. I see the connection between the massive French based corporation, Veolia, and the control of global water resources – its like a new oil rush – and can only lead to everyday people ending up paying enormous amounts for the luxury of clean water.
Back in Ayr I have started getting more involved in the climate change campaign along with working on my nomination as a senate candidate for the Greens (check out a new web log: www.anjalight.com). Two local groups have already started to plan a large meeting on climate change next month. I met with the local Mayor here to talk about ideas to engage everyday people in responding to climate change. It looks like the council will support a plan to prepare a presentation proposal focussing on empowering people to respond creatively to the climate crisis. John Seed and Ruth Rosenheck from the Rainforest Information Centre have been doing a ‘Climate Change – Despair and Empowerment’ Roadshow in other parts of Australia that has been received very enthusiastically. Many Climate Action Groups have been formed to continue active personal and political actions to make a change. I wonder what the response in Japan has been to the new movie by Al Gore – An Inconvenient Truth?
The most inspiring words I have read recently comes from Joanna Macy – I have to include it here and hope that it gives you the same sense of empowerment to continue as it has for me.

In INQUIRING MIND

Submitted June 27, 2005


THE END OF OIL, CLIMATE CHANGE, AND THE GREAT TURNING

Joanna Macy

In Buddhism, there are two mudras, or hand gestures, that I cherish. Statues and paintings of Buddhas and bodhisattvas often show them. One is the Fear Not or abhaya mudra--right hand raised at chest level, palm outward. It says, "I will not be afraid of the fear. I will not close down, I stay fully present." It's strikingly similar to the gesture of greeting associated with American Indians. "How!" they said, as I saw in the movies, and later I learned the meaning of that raised empty hand: "See, I carry no weapon, don't be afraid."

The second hand gesture I give you tonight is the Earth-touching one, the bhumisparsa mudra. Its other name is Calling the Earth to Witness, and it connects with the story of when Gautama, soon to become the Buddha, sat down under the bodhi tree. I picture him saying, in effect, "I am not going to get up until I have broken through to the secret of the suffering we cause ourselves and others. Until I wake up to that, I am not going to move." Well, this infuriated Mara, the embodiment of sin and death. Mara sent demons to frighten Gautama and dancing girls to distract him; but the Buddha-to-be didn't waver. Finally, Mara challenged him outright. "By what right and authority do you think you can solve the mystery of suffering? Just who do you think you are?"

And Gautama offered no personal credentials. No curriculum vitae. He didn't say, "I'm the son of a king. I graduated summa cum laude from the Yoga Institute or went to Harvard Business School." He said nothing at all about himself. He just touched the Earth. It was by the authority of Earth that he sought liberation from suffering.

So we can make that gesture too. We can touch the Earth. That act, even if only mental, reminds us of who we are and what we are about, as we confront the collapse of our oil-based economy and our oil-damaged climate. We are here for the sake of life. By the authority of our belonging to Earth from the beginning of space and time, we are here.


These Buddhist mudras are mirrored in the protocol which the Haudenosaunee or Iroquois Six Nations Confederacy used when opening their treaty meetings. You can make the following gestures mentally or physically.

We offer salutations and respect to all present at this meeting and to all who will be affected by it.

We brush off the chairs on which we sit--

to make a clear space for a meeting of minds.

We brush off from our clothing any debris picked up on the way--

to clear our minds of extraneous matters.

We wipe the blood from our hands--

to acknowledge and apologize for any hurt we have inflicted.

We wipe the tears from our eyes--

to acknowledge and forgive any hurt we have received.

We take the lump out of our throats--

to let go of any sadness or disappointment.

We take the tightness out of our chests--

to let go of any fear or resentment.

We acknowledge and pray for guidance

to the Great Creator Spirit of All Life.

Ho. So be it.

The Six Nations Confederacy, we are told, weighed every decision by its effects on the seventh generation. To adopt such a practice ourselves, we would need to let the future ones figure in our minds. To help me do that, I've been trying to imagine what storytellers of the seventh generation may recount about us. Maybe they'll say something like this:

"Once there was a mighty people. They possessed the greatest concentration of economic and military power the world had ever seen. And that vast power of theirs derived from ancient sunlight stored deep in the body of the living Earth. They felt entitled to that black gold--entitled to use it all, leaving none for us who came after. They felt entitled to it even when it lay under other peoples' lands. They felt it was theirs, because they had come to depend upon it in every aspect of their lives-- in food, clothing, shelter, in travel and transportation and communicating with each other. They had lost the ability to imagine any other way of life.

"A few voices warned that the black gold would run out and that its end was soon approaching. But those voices were hard to hear. More warnings came: that the burning of the black gold was disrupting the seasons and weather patterns, bringing vast climatic changes in the very metabolism of Earth. But that seemed too huge and too remote to take seriously, until...

"Until, faster than anyone had foreseen, it all began to happen. The black gold grew harder to find, costlier to pump. They called that point, when the decline began, Peak Oil. And at the same time, it was plain to see how melting arctic ice was altering the ocean currents which had steadied the climate for thousands of years. Droughts and flooding increased, giving a hint of the suffering in store from hunger and rioting and mass migrations."

This much, we know, the future storytellers can say. What will they go on to recount? What ensuing drama will they recall?

That is partly up to us, of course, because we are living it. We cannot make the realities of end of oil and climate change go away, but we can choose how we're going to respond.

It seems to me that there are two kinds of response to massive collective trauma. One is to contract--to close down in denial and fear, to tighten the heart and the fist. The other is to open up--open eyes, heart, hands, freeing the capacity to adapt and create. We know we're capable of that, because it is happening now all around our world.

A revolution is underway. You may not see it, if you don't know where to look, for in the words of Gil Scott Heron, "this revolution will not be televised." But once we become aware of this tidal change, the end of oil appears not as some hopeless, ghastly fate, but as an adventure requiring all our wisdom and passion for life.

This adventure is what many of us call the "Great Turning." It is the epochal shift from the industrial growth society to a life-sustaining society. This is the context in which to view the end of oil and climate change. Those two major disrupters of normalcy weave through all our other environmental battles, and they are at play, as well, in our militarism and social inequality and abuses of political power. More clearly than other crises and calamities, they sound the death knell of our industrial growth society.

So those future storytellers, looking back at our time, may go on to speak of the Great Turning. I can imagine them saying, "Our ancestors back then, bless them, they had no way of knowing if the Great Turning could succeed. No way of telling if a life-sustaining culture could emerge from the death throes of the industrial growth society. It probably looked hopeless at times. Their efforts must have often seemed isolated, paltry, and darkened by confusion. Yet they went ahead, they kept on doing what they could--and, because they persisted, the Great Turning happened."


For us alive today in the midst of it all, we can learn to see the Great Turning by bringing into focus its three dimensions. They co-arise and reinforce each other. The first dimension is holding actions in defense of life; they function to slow down the destruction caused by the industrial growth society, and buy time for more fundamental changes. The second includes all the life-affirming structures emerging now, fresh social and economic experiments ranging from land trusts, ecovillages, and local currencies to alternative forms of education and healing, many of them inspired by old, indigenous ways. And the third dimension consists of a profound shift in our perception of reality. As the ecological and systems worldview takes hold, our planet appears to us, not as supply house and sewer, but as a living web of relationships. And as ancient spiritual teachings resurface, we awaken to our essential identity with this web of life and accept our sacred responsibility to honor and serve it.

This multidimensional revolution holds such promise that I can't help thinking of it as comparable to the First Turning of the Wheel, when the Buddha Dharma broke forth upon the world. Once again the reality of our radical interconnectedness with each other, and all beings through space and time, becomes clear. And now our very survival depends on our waking up to that reality.

This Great Turning alters none of the facts about end of oil and climate change. It cannot save us from the immense and painful challenges they bring upon us; but it does enable us to engage them wholeheartedly, with wisdom and courage. For, like those two mudras--Fear Not and Touch the Earth--it grounds us in our mutual belonging.

In that mutual belonging is our solidarity--with past and future generations, and with each other. There is no end to that resource. It will never run out.

Slowind Down Japan

Slowing Down Japan

From the Tokyo Jungle to tiny villages tucked away in the mountains, something is stirring in Japan. This summer 7 million people joined in the ‘Candlenight’ campaign to turn off their electricity for 2 hours – a campaign that began only 3 years ago. Spontaneous groups are starting up all over the country inspired by a Quichua folk tale about a hummingbird trying to put out a forest fire with single drops of water. The Hachidori Book, by Keibo Oiwa, which includes the personal actions of many Japanese and international activists, is a best seller. Slow Life and ‘LOHAS’ (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) concepts have become the current market trends.

These ideas and campaigns were all introduced or promoted in Japan by Keibo Oiwa, best selling author and co-founder of the Sloth Club. They may help answer the need to find a place between denial and despair when facing the ecological catastrophe we have created.

The Sloth Club began as a simple emotive response to the plight of a rainforest species (albeit a warm and fuzzy creature) and has evolved into a broad-based, integrated movement that links the themes of peace, environment, health and lifestyle. The main mission of this group is to encourage people to be ‘Sloth’ - to slow down, live simply and enjoy life without destroying the planet – to change our culture. It promotes and markets fair trade, organic products to raise funds for the protection of Sloth habitat and support for local communities helping to protect the forest. It has supported a wide range of initiatives from LETS trading systems, bioregionalism, permaculture and seedsavers networks, new ecological companies, local communities, Slow tourism, the Slow Business School and Company and Café Slow – a nerve centre in Tokyo for this fresh and positive movement.

I have been coming to Japan once or twice a year for the past 18 years. In 1999 I co-founded the Sloth Club with Keibo Oiwa and Ryuchi Nakamura. As an activist I have travelled the length and breadth of this country, campaigning on forest, indigenous peoples and nuclear issues. It has been immensely fulfilling to witness the growth of the Sloth Club and the Slow movement in Japan – despite the scale of the challenge ahead.

In November, The Sloth Club, with support from the Japan Foundation, invited me to Japan again to join the GNH (Gross National Happiness) tour joining representatives from Bhutan and Canada. GNH was first promoted by the King of Bhutan to challenge the idea of measuring a countries wealth purely by its economic output – or GNP (Gross National Product). It may be that Japan (and the world) is ready to understand and support the idea of GNH as a response to the ecological catastrophe we have created through our relentless pursuit of GNP.

For the past 2 months I have been lecturing, performing and networking throughout Japan in a wide range of venues on the theme of GNH and positive action. My two young children, Pacha and Yani, have travelled with me, sharing the stage from time to time, helping carry baggage, charming and shocking local hosts – and constantly reminding us of the future generations that we must take action on behalf of.

For the past week, over New Year, we have been able to slow down ourselves, sharing the home of Yumiko Otani and her family in the snow-laden mountains of Yamagata. Yumiko has led the campaign to reintroduce traditional grains to Japan, the ‘tsubu tsubu’ millet movement. Eating these grains is not only extremely healthy, but promotes a more gentle lifestyle for the Earth. Yumiko has developed recipes (available in the 20 books she has produced to date) that completely replace the need for any animal products in the diet and supports many environmental campaigns – especially those focussed on protecting seed diversity. Twenty eight people shared her house over New Year, crowding into the kitchen to help create incredible vegan feasts. Her husband, Kazuo, guides the group in the eco-design of the house (the warmest house I have been since coming to Japan), complete with biogas digester to produce gas for cooking from our own biological wastes.

The past week has been a sharp contrast to the sometimes hectic schedule in the Tokyo and Yokohama area as well as the west and south of Japan.

Our first events in early November were in Yokohama and Tokyo at Meiji University and the Lifestyle forum in Shinjuku with Jigme and Pema from Burma and Michael Nicoll of the Haida nation. Burma represents a last, fragile vestige of a simple, sustainable lifestyle, balanced with a light-hearted, fun-loving yet humble approach to life. It seems a lifetime away from the over-stressed, exhausted people I squeeze in with on the Tokyo trains…

Highlights of the tour include reconnecting with people and places I hadn’t met for many years before, like Fukunaga-san in Nagano, whose sons were teenagers when we first met in 1990 when they were campaigning to save the rainforests of Costa Rica. Now Echiro and Jiro are edging 30 and have started the only company in Japan that produces snowboards from domestic timber. Their attitude to life is free and fun-loving, yet responsible in acknowledging their human impact and doing what they can to respond.

In Nagoya, the local Hummingbird group networked with at least 10 other groups to organise an event with the Nagoya expo choir. We sang the newly released song about the Hummingbird story ‘Kurikindi’ that I wrote last year. It seems to be the theme song of the Hummingbird movement in Japan.

Returning to Tokyo, I was invited to perform and speak at the Greens Party Symposium, joining the rising Japanese Green political stars with the mammoth task ahead to raise a groundswell to win seats in the upcoming local and federal elections. Their main interest was in helping motivate people to run as Green candidates and to inspire members with success stories from Australia. In Japan not many people know of my Green political action and are surprised to hear that I have run for the Greens 5 times so far and intend to keep running whenever the opportunity arises. They were very interested in my motivation for running not with an expectation of necessarily winning the seat but to provide a choice and campaign on issues that other politicians may not otherwise address. At the symposium I met Ryuhei Kawada, a haemophiliac suffering from AIDs due to a botched blood transfusion (for which he has received little or no compensation), who will be the lead Green senate candidate for the federal election. His nomination is being supported by my friends Keibo Oiwa and Jun Hoshikawa (head of Greenpeace Japan) along with other key Japanese campaigners.

In Uozu, Oguni and Aso mountain our events were deep within the local community, with children and grandparents joining the audience. In Kanazawa a funky, hippy, culture edge concert in a trailer community called “Nature-lab”. In Kumamoto talks with the environment network and the fair trade movement, celebrating the first anniversary of the Hachidori (Hummingbird) Cafe attended by the Mayor. In Fukuoka I joined an event marking the anniversaries of the Minamata and Chernobyl disasters. In Aka-mura I travelled and stayed with members of the ‘Slow Business School’, started by Ryuchi Nakamura, who are trying to revive the local community by finding niche products and markets with the ethics of fair trade, organic, local, sustainable and with a spirit of voluntary simplicity.

In Yakushima, a world heritage island in the south of Japan that is home to the world’s oldest cedar trees, I facilitated a deep ecology workshop with Tamio Nakano and Lima Kimura. We came to the end of the two-day workshop committed not only to reduce, reuse, recycle, but to reconnect, remember and rejoice our capacity and potential to respond to the ecological crisis. Tessei Shiba, a local councillor, Sloth Club member and leader of the successful campaign to protect these ancient forests from logging, shared his story and vision for the future of Yakushima to encourage local ‘control’ of the tourism industry that now threatens the ancient forests and to promote a resurgence of the ‘jomon’ (ancient) culture that held these forests in such deep reverence.

Back in Tokyo, thanks to our ‘world expo’ connections (I was one of 3 Australian ‘Earth Lovers’ invited to perform at the world expo in Nagoya in 2005) we were able to make an appearance at the huge ‘eco-products’ exhibition in the massive Tokyo Exhibition centre. What a strange feeling – standing in this huge, incredibly noisy and bustling building, opposite the Toyota stall singing and talking about feeling connected with the Earth…I mean, even Coca-Cola had a stall there (with calico bags being given away) – which means we must really have hit the main stream –and a major gasoline seller in Japan… oh so confusing! The NGO section was typically small but very heartening, with universities and high schools tacking up their low-tech posters on the walls of the cubicles beside groups like Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace. The Sloth Club also had a stall. Interestingly some people came to the next event in the centre of Tokyo after the speil we had there. Some people are looking for something more real than Corporate Greenwash…

It was a completely opposite atmosphere at the Slow Mother Gathering in Fujno the following weekend. This was two days of music, workshops and a wide range of natural parenting/eco products themed to support an emergence of natural, ecological parenting and childbirth options as well as environmental action. The audience was filled with children of all ages, men and women bedecked with slings full of babies. It was the first time I could relax completely as Pacha and Yani (and the many other children there) were taken care of by the collective good-heartedness of the 300 or so participants. We will continue to explore the Slow Mother theme and hopefully have more events like this in the future in Japan.

It is ironic that the Japanese government is worrying so much about the low birth rate – when there seems to be no effort in creating a child friendly country. It is hard to find a decent park for children anywhere in Tokyo and travelling by train with kids is a nightmare. So much money was and is still spent on un-needed construction works throughout the country, yet almost nothing has been spent on creating a quality of life for future generations.

In Tokyo I also met my old friend and now Director of Greenpeace Japan, Jun Hoshikawa, at the Greenpeace office in Shinjuku to talk mostly about Climate Change campaign, Green politics and the whaling issue. He has a huge challenge ahead to re-frame the Greenpeace position on whaling, moving it away from an issue of stubborn nationalistic pride, while maintaining the strong anti-whaling position of Greenpeace. He also has to explain to the rest of the world the more complex picture of the history of Japanese industrial whaling (originally promoted by the US after the WWII) and to help create a more effective and sophisticated approach than just Japan bashing. In talking in depth with many Japanese people over this issue over many years, I believe that the majority of people, especially young people, have no real attachment or interest in whaling or eating whale meat - actually most young Japanese people love whales and dolphins. But nobody likes being told what to do or what they can’t do. For the Australian government to make such a ‘show’ of their opposition to whaling (which is a very easy position to take with no Australian economic interest in whaling) – while having an arguably criminally negligent position on global warming (Australian Greenhouse emissions are the highest per capita in the world) is extremely cynical to me.

On solstice I joined the other founders of the Sloth Club, Keibo Oiwa and Ryuichi Nakamura, for the final event at the now famous Café Slow. Over 100 people squeezed into the place for a candlenight event incorporating theatre, music, talk and star gazing. Telescopes were set up outside to try to see the milkyway beyond the haze of Tokyo (bit of a challenge…).

As an organization the Sloth Club is now moving to a new stage. With close to a thousand members and a number of companies that have begun as offshoots of the group, it is now looking for a larger office space in Tokyo. Thanks to the wonderfully efficient and effective secretary, Naoko Baba, it has received funding and support from a wide range of groups that have helped a near constant flow of speakers and activists visit Japan. While dedicated to promoting a lifestyle/culture change, it doesn’t hesitate to take an active role in campaigns, including the two major ones unfolding in Japan right now; protesting the Rokkasho nuclear fast breeder reactor (and promoting safe and sustainable solutions to climate change) and lobbying to protect the Japanese constitution from losing article 9, the law prohibiting Japan from engaging in war against any other nation.

To most people outside Japan, the Japanese culture is quite enigmatic, fast paced, high tech, nature dominating yet with customs and traditions honouring nature and spirituality. I find people pretty much as alienated from each other and nature as anywhere else in the world, but perhaps with just a little more reason to want to change and a few more reference points in their own culture that only 100 years ago maintained a sustainable, relatively peaceful society. Despite its current wealth and success, Japan is ranked way down at 80 in the world’s list of happiest countries – some 30 000 people commit suicide in Japan each year. Young people are seriously questioning the life choices of their parents and are looking for something more meaningful. Older people left behind in the tucked away mountain villages all over Japan have had their pride in their traditional self sufficient farming culture battered by modern consumerism and techno-gadgets blaring at them from their TV sets and their community decision making process stolen by central political authority. Very slowly young people are moving back to the mountains and are asking to learn more about their grandparent’s wisdom.

And 7 million people are switching off their lights and lighting a candle at solstice in what is becoming a new ritual of peace, reflection and ecological awakening. Looking out from the Shinkansen, there were solar panels on about 5% of the houses we bulleted past – well maybe it was only 2% - but definitely more than I have ever seen in Australia. Are we ready to look at Japan beyond the single issue of whaling and feel some inspiration and solidarity about what is happening here? I hope so – we desperately need to find common ground and shared commitment to rescue the future.

10/8

We are back in our peaceful Ayr home after visiting my family on the Gold Coast. It was a welcome recovery time after the busy election! Our final result was the
best it has ever been in this region - just over 4% of the vote. This seems very small and some people may feel disheartened by these kinds of results - to me it
was very well worth the effort to introduce new ideas and solutions. I think it is so important to offer people a viable alternative and as the environmental issues start affecting people in their daily lives they may start looking for alternative political options. The local newspaper printed every one of the 8 press releases I sent them almost without editing - so this was worthwhile in itself I think (if you would like to read these please let me know!).

Over the next month we will be preparing for our upcoming visit to Japan and I'll be finishing off my teacher's aide course while preparing the house and garden for a period of hibernation. Hopefully someone will take up the opportunity to live here while I am away (see message attached) - but if not our lovely neighbours Don and Colleen are happy to look after the chickens. It's a little sad that the mango project will have to be put on hold - maybe the right person will come to carry this through next year.

Since the election we have had two waves of environmental inspiration - the visit of David Suzuki and the release of the film by Al Gore: "An Inconvenient Truth". I couldn't make it to David's speech, but I am already seeing the impacts in this
local area with people feeling a renewed commitment and being more empowered about holding the local council responsible for bad development decisions. I went to see "An Inconvenient Truth "about global warming despite wondering if I needed to because I am quite aware of the issue. It is not a fun movie - but it is something we must all see and is a very straightforward and clear explanation about the causes and consequences of our activities on the planet. I felt responses on many different levels but especially on the issue of how to respond.

Where is the space between denial and despair? How can we feel empowered enough to think that the little things we do have any impact at all? We search for absolute perfection in what we see as environmental leaders (including Al Gore) but must accept that we are not perfect and just have to do the best we can and support each other in our journey to live simply and joyfully.

There is a rumour around that Al Gore likes Ferrari cars - does that diminish the truth of the message he is presenting? At the end of the movie there are many pieces of advice about what we can do, including voting for politicians that will make a change - and if there are not those politicians available to run yourself for political office. It was good to hear this after running for the Greens once again!

My sister, Inge, often points out my inconsistencies, especially the way I fly across the Earth to sing environmental songs in Japan.how can I really justify this? It is not easy, planting thousands of trees is not enough, can I really believe this music touches people deeply enough to have a profound shift, or empowers people to do something?

So, I too battle a sense of despair especially that what I am doing is enough and is actually causing more damage to Mother Earth. At the same time I feel a sense of urgency in fully owning my role on the planet as someone who has been involved in these issues my whole life, taking a stronger leadership role. It is a hard choice, the choice I have been facing since a young teenager, made even more complex with my beautiful children facing these choices with me - escape to live a purely ecological life (El Milagro) or directly face the monster of our own making destroying our planet and ourselves. I imagine it will be a combination of both, as it always has been.

At least for next I have committed to trying to expand my school permaculture garden project next year and offer this project to the other schools in this region. This will hopefully result in planting many seeds - vegetables, flowers, trees and very importantly, inspiration and empowerment for young people.

And for the near future I look so much forward to meeting my friends in Japan soon. Pacha and I are practising the Kurikindi song together and all of us are very excited! Running the workshops this time will be interesting and important - I hope they are a source of deep empowerment for all.

10/8翻訳

ゴールドコーに住んでいる実家から、静かなここエールの我が家のへと戻ってきました。ゴールドコーストでは、選挙のあわただしさから解放されのんびり出来てよかったです。選挙結果はというと、獲得票はこの地区では今までで最高の４％を少し上回るというところでした。

この数字は一見低く、がっかりしてしまう人もいるかもしれませんが、わたしにとっては、新しい政策などを住民の人たちに披露するという点で努力し甲斐がありました。私は思うのですが、今までとは違う実質的選択肢を提供するというのは重要なことなのです。
　
というのは、環境問題が人々の生活に影響を及ぼし始めているのですから皆が、今までとは違う政策を求め始めているのではないかと思われます。地方紙が、私の送ったプレスリリース８部をそれぞれ掲載してくれました。そのこと自体が、そもそもとても価値のあることだと思います。
（もしお読みになりたいのであればお知らせください。）

来週一杯は、冬に備えて家のことや庭の準備をするかたわら、目の前に控えた日本訪問の準備をし、先生支援コースを終えてしまわなければなりません。誰か私のいない間に留守番をしてくれるといいのですが。もし誰か見つからなくても、ご近所のドンとコリーンが快く鶏の面倒は見てくれますが。マンゴのプロジェクトが保留状態になってしまうのが少し残念ですが、多分、適当な人が来年にかけて引き継いでくれるでしょう。

選挙以来、環境問題を喚起する大きな動きがありました。デイビット鈴木さんの訪問と元米国副大統領アールゴアの映画「不都合な真実」の公開です。デイビッドさんの講演は実現しませんでしたが、このあたりの人々へのその影響は見て取れます。住民が新たに責任感を持ち、地方議会が好ましくない開発事業の決議に対して責任をとるよう今まで以上に要求しているのです。

地球温暖化がテーマ－である映画「不都合な真実」ですが、このテーマに私自身よく精通しているのに、見に行く必要があるかしらと思いながら、見させてもらいました。あまり楽しい映画ではありませんが、とても見る価値のあるものです。とても率直に、そしてはっきりと温暖化の原因と私たちの地球での行いがどのような結果をもたらすのかが描かれています。いろんなレベルでの反応を感じました。特にこの問題にどのように応じていくかという点での反応を感じました。

拒絶と絶望の間に来るものはどこのあるのでしょうか？どうやって自分にできる些細なことが、とにかく何かを変えていくのだと考えられるように勇気付けていけることができるのでしょうか？私たちは、環境問題のリーダーとして非の打ち所が無いものを（アル・ゴアを含めて）求めますが、私たちは皆完璧ではないという事実を認め、自分が出来る限りのことをやり、シンプルで楽しい生活への探索の過程で支えあって行くべきなのです。

アル・ゴアがフェラーリ車の愛好者だといううわさが流れています。でもそのことが、彼が伝えようとしているメッセ－ジを損ねるでしょうか？映画の最後では、私たちに何ができるのかというアドバイスがあります。その中には、この状況を変えていってくれる政治家に投票するというものから、もし適当な政治家がいない場合は、自分で立候補するというものまであります。今回、緑の党から立候補した私としてはうれしいアドバイスです。

私の妹のインゲは、いつも私がやっていることの矛盾を指摘します。特に私が環境の歌を歌いに日本へ行くのに飛行機を使うことに対してです。私はどうやってこのことを正当化できるでしょう？これは容易なことではありません。何千という木を植えたとしても十分ではありません。私の歌が本当に人々に感動を与え心の奥深くに届いて、その結果その人たちに何らかの行動を促しているのだからと信じてもいいのかしら？

そう。私も絶望感と戦っているのです。私のやっていることは果たして役に立っているのかとか、それどころか母なる地球にダメージを与えているのではないかという気持ちと戦っているのです。それと同時に一生をこの問題に取り組んできた者としての地球での自分の役割をきちっと果たさなければと言う焦燥感も感じています。

これは困難な選択肢です。私が十代から直面してきた選択肢であり、私の大切な子供達もこれらの選択に私とともに直面しなければならず、それが物事をより複雑にしているのです。

全くのエコロジカルな生活（エルミラグロ）へと逃れるか、私たちの地球と人類を破滅へと導く怪物と対峙するか。私は今までそうであったように、両方をうまく組み合わせられると思います。

とりあえず次の段階として、学校のパーマカルチャーガーデンのプロジェクトをもっと広げ、このプロジェクトをこの地域のほかの学校にも提案していこうという試みに関わってきました。願わくば、このことが多くの野菜や花、木のタネを植えていき、更にとても大切なことですが、そうすることによって若い人たちにインスピレーションや活力のタネを植えていくことになればと思います。

そして日本の皆さんに今回お会いするのをとても心待ちにしています。パチャと私は今一緒にクリキンディの歌を練習しているところです。皆とてもワクワクしているのですよ！

今回ワークショップを行うことは面白い試みであり、大切なことでもあります。私はこれらのワークショップが皆さんにとって深いところでの活力の源となっていけばと願っています。
【翻訳：中島由美子】

8/20和訳

緑の政治（環境に配慮した政治）の出番がやってきました！
先週州選挙が実施されることに決定し、この地区での緑の政党の立候補として私が受けることになったのです。これは実は中々面白い試みなのです。というのは、私がこの地区で初めて緑の党の候補者であり、唯一の党員だからです。この地区というのは、前回の州選挙で緑の党は２％しか票を獲得できなかったのです。
私は孤立無援というところでしょうか。（といってもお隣のタウンズヒルには緑の党のメンバーが何人かいるのですが・・）

ある意味、このような状況なので気は楽です。だって良い結果を出さなくてはというプレッシャーはないのですから。私としては、精一杯やって経過を見守るのみです。エアーの人たちに緑の党に投票するという選択もあるのだということを知らせてあげるのは良いことだと思います。願わくば、たとえ一握りの人でも従来とは違う政治に目を向けてもらえればと思います。

今度ブログを書く時に、プレスリリースを送りますね。そうしたら地方の問題を理解してもらえると思います。選挙は9月9日に行われます。いずれにしてももうすぐですね！

It's Green politics time again! Last week the State election was called and I was accepted as the Green candidate for my area. It is a very interesting challenge - I am the first and only member of the Green party in this area where the Greens only polled 2% at the last state election. I am completely on my own with no support in this area (although there are Green party members in the nearby city of Townsville).

In a way this gives me a great sense of freedom - noone has high expectations of a big result, so I can do the best I can and enjoy the process. It is great to be able to offer voters in Ayr a choice to vote Green and hopefully let a few people know that there are alternatives to 'politics as usual'. I will try to send press releases as I write them to the Blog web site so you can get an idea of the local issues. The election will take place on Sep. 9th so at least it will be over with quickly!

■see Anja on Greens website
http://qld.greens.org.au/state-election-2006-candidates/burdekin-anja-light

8/13和訳

まったく、どうしたのかしら？！エアーでのスローライフでさえ、あまりに忙しくなってきたようで、最後のブログ書き込みも終えてないしまつ。ごめんなさい！今日は美しく澄み切った日曜日、素敵な一日を約束してくれるような冷たい冬の朝。今日は子供たちと遊んで、庭に種をまいて、ゆっくりクッキングを楽しんで、もちろん、このブログも書き終えます！今日は過去を顧みる日、未来を考える日。そしてそれらすべてに感謝をする日。

７月のはじめに、ナマケモノ倶楽部の多大な援助と愛知万博の招待で、急遽日本に行ってきました。長い間子供たちと離れるのは初めてのことで、とても複雑な気持ちでした。子供たちと離れる悲しさと罪悪感、パチャやヤニの母親であることから離れ、自分のアイデンティティーを再発見できる自由や自己強化。日本では多くのことに挑戦し、友人や仲間と一緒に、１００パーセント仕事に打ち込むことができました。そこで気付いたことは、私の中の大部分は、完全に母親であることに専念している、ということ。頭の中には絶え間なく「子供たち、おなかは空いてないかしら？トイレは？疲れてないかしら？私を必要としている？色えんぴつの場所はわかるかしら？どこにいるのかしら？」といった考えが、次から次へと浮かんできます。親の立場である方は、私の言っていることが分かっていただけるでしょう！

突然、この心の中の会話はほとんど消えて、まるでもやが晴れるように、他の事を思い出しました。私自身、そして、私の人生の使命を。まだこんなにもはっきりと私の中に残っていたなんて。それに子供たちが大きくなったら、地球にやさしい、未来のためのキャンペーンやプロジェクトにもっと参加できるはず。

私が参加した最初のイベントは、代々木公園で行われたキャンドルナイトのイベントでした。夢がひとつ叶ったわ！ケイボー（ナマクラ世話人・辻信一）のおかげで、新しい'キャンドルナイト'の歌も歌うことができたし。音楽の天才、スキャンの最大のニュースといえば、キャンドルナイトソングの新しいＤＶＤを出したこと。これは、スキャン、オハラさん、タクがプロデュースをした素敵で、繊細で、プロフェッショナルな作品です。 また、１１月の次回訪問にそなえて、何曲かをレコーディングすることもできました。この見事な音楽チームに、心より感謝。

コンサートやイベントの間中、「つながりをもう一度」という思いが際立ち、地球や私たちに起こっていることへの長い間抑えられてきた感情を、人間として'感じ'たい、そして解放したいという深い願いが、今回表に顕れていたと思います。きっと、こういった願いはいつもあったのでしょうが、今回はいつも以上に強調されていたようです。きっと、今が、私たちの自意識を拡げるためのワークショップをもつのに、ちょうどいい時期なのでしょう。１１月か１２月に、すべてのいのちとの寄り合いワークショップができればと思います。

日本には１２日間しかいれませんでしたが、とても充実した、感動的な１２日間でした。１１月にパチャ、ヤニと一緒にまた戻ってくるのが本当に楽しみ。オーストラリアに戻って、子供たちを胸に抱き、子供たちの面倒を見てくれていた姉夫婦に本当に感謝しました。みんな幸せそうで、穏やかで。（きっとものすごく疲れているせいね！）休むことなく遊びまわったお休みだったようで、楽しそうな写真がいっぱいありました。

すぐに、３週間のボランティアをしに来てくれたエリーと一緒に、エアーに戻りました。冬にでてくるトゲつき雑草を取ったり、新しくならした土地に、さつまいもやかぼちゃを植えたりするのにちょうどいいタイミング。エリーは学校の庭に感激して、（本当にすばらしい）私たちがそこに植えたものすべてが、とても元気に成長しています！

エリーが日本に帰る仕度を始めたので、私は兄と兄の家族（２歳に満たない子供が二人）を迎える用意をしました。子供たちのためのスペースも確保できたし、彼らのお手伝いも少しできて、よかった。まだ注意はいるものの、子供たちが大きくなるに連れて、どれほど子育てが楽になるかにはびっくりします。ヤニは、まだ自分が赤ちゃんでいたいらしく、自分のスペースやおもちゃやお母さんを、２人の赤ちゃんと共有するのには苦労したみたい。だけど、パチャは、時間ができればいつも赤ちゃんをあやしてくれて、本当に大助かり。

家族内での相互の関わりが、ひとりの人間としての全体的な成長に与える、大きな影響を考えた時、私の人生の中で、兄が持っていた、そして今も持っている役割を、ひしひしと感じました。私が深く尊敬し、慕っている人。その人の意見や支持が、私にとって多くの意味をもつような人。思っていることを何のためらいもなく私に言ってくれる人。家族の中で、なぜか私は、環境にやさしい完璧な生活を送っていて、理想的な親として子育てしている、と思われています。私の生活は、そんな期待にこたえるのには程遠く、それが、時々耐え難く感じることもあります。

完璧でないことに落ち込んだって、何の得にもならないから、私は、私にできることをし続けるだけ。でも、環境にやさしい生活を送るのに、これ以上私にできることはない、なんて言いません。だから私の心は、エクアドルやエルミラグロに向き、近い将来、そこでの生活を想像するのです。表面的には大変な生活だけど、精神的、エコロジー的な面で、地球にやさしい、長続きするライフスタイルの理想像に合わせるのは、ずっと簡単なこと。

Oh dear, what happened?! It seems even slow life in Ayr has become too busy and I didn't even finish the last blog entry - sorry! Today is a beautiful clear Sunday, a cool winter morning with the promise of a glorious day. It is a day I will play with my children, plant seeds in the garden and enjoy slow cooking - and of course try to finish this blog! It is a day to reflect on the past and the future and be grateful for it all.

In early July I suddenly went to Japan, sponsored by the expo committee with lots of help from the Sloth Club. Being the first time I had ever been apart from my children for a long period of time I felt such a mix of emotions. Sadness and guilt for being apart from them, freedom and empowerment for rediscovering
my identity beyond being Pacha and Yani's mother. I was able to do so much and be completely present with my friends and colleagues - I realised that so much of
my being is absolutely dedicated to being a mother, my brain is constantly occupied with thoughts of them: Are they hungry? Do they need to go to the toilet? Are
they tired? Do they need me? Can they find their colouring pencils? Where are they? .it goes on and on and every parent knows what I am talking about!

Suddenly this internal dialogue was almost gone, and like a benign fog lifting I remembered other things about who I was and my life's mission. It was good to know it was still there so clearly! It was also good to sense that when my children have grown I will be
able to continue and increase my involvement in all the campaigns and projects for a sustainable future.

The first event I could go to was the candlenight event at Yoyogi Park - a dream come true! Thanks to Keibo, we were even able to sing the new 'candle night' song. And to top things off Scan, musical mastermind, came along with a new DVD of the candlenight song produced by Scan, Ohara-san and Taka-san - a lovely, sensitive and professional production. We were also able to record a few more songs in preparation for the upcoming visit in November, my deep thanks to this amazing musical team.

A sense of the yearning for reconnection stood out during concerts and events, a deep desire to 'feel' and release long suppressed emotion about what is happening to the Earth and to us as humans in this time seemed to emerge. Perhaps this has always been there, but this time it seemed more pronounced. Maybe the time is right to offer workshops to extend our sense of self. Hopefully we will be able to offer a Council of All Beings workshop in November or December.

Despite being only 12 days in Japan, it was a very productive and inspiring time and I look so much forward to coming back with Pacha and Yani in November. Returning to Australia and the arms of my children, all my appreciation went to my sister and her husband for looking after Pacha and Yani. They all looked happy and peaceful (maybe because they were all pretty tired!) - they had an action packed holiday that was recorded in many photographs of the good times they had.

Soon it was back to Ayr, with Elie coming to volunteer with us for 3 weeks. It was good timing for taking out the winter prickle weeds and planting sweet potato and pumpkin in the newly cleared areas. Elie was impressed by the school garden - it does look good - it seems everything we plant there grows so well!

As Elie prepared to return to Japan, I got ready for the visit of my brother and his family - two children under 2 years old. It was good to be able to offer enough space and to help them out a little. It is amazing how much easier it gets as children grow up, yet they still need our attention. Yani found it hard to lose his position as baby of the family and share his space, his toys and his own mother with two other little ones while Pacha was a wonderful helper and spent every spare moment entertaining the baby.

Reflecting on the deep impact that family dynamics have on our whole development as a human, I relived the role my older brother had and has in my life.

Someone I respect and admire deeply, someone whose opinion and approval means a lot to me and someone who doesn't hesitate to tell me what he thinks! Somehow, in my family, I am expected to live a perfect, pure environmental lifestyle - as well as bring up my children as an ideal parent. I am far away from meeting these expectations and this is hard for me sometimes. Being depressed about not being perfect does noone any good, so I will continue doing the best I can, but not pretending that there is not a lot more I can do to live an ecological lifestyle. So my mind goes to Ecuador and El Milagro and imagining our lives there in the near future. While physically it is a hard life, spiritually and ecologically it is so much easier to match the ideal vision of an ecologically sustainable lifestyle.

candle night by Anja Light

4/29和訳

夜明け前、静寂の中、まだ明るくならないなうちにも、これから始まろうとする新たな一日への素敵な予感が満ち溢れています。ワライカワセミが太陽の昇ってくるのを待ちきれなくて、遠くのほうで鳴いています。太陽の光が空を満たす頃、あらゆる生き物がここにこうして生きていることへの感謝の気持ちを表しているかのようです。

近頃ではスローライフを通して、アイデアや仕事のこと、あるいは使命感がどんどん湧いてくるようになったのです。なんてことかしら！時々真夜中に目が覚めて、やらなければいけないことや、忘れてはいけないことが頭の中でぐるぐる回っているという状態です。

そんな時は起きてしまって、そのうちの何か（例えばこのブログを書くとか）をすることにしています。寝てなどいられない気分なのです。こんなことずっとなかったのに、でもしばらくこの状態でいるのもいいのかもしれません。世の中にはこんな状態がずっと続いている人や、ちゃんと寝むれるように薬を飲まなくてはいけない人がたくさんいるのでしょうね。

私たち家族にとって充実した日々が過ぎていきます。私はというと大工仕事や、庭の仕事、デザインや研究など、成長してどんどん大きくなりつつあるパチャやヤニに手伝ってもらいながら取り組んでいます。

まず一階のお風呂場とトイレです。経費を節約する為と自分がこの工事にもっとかかわりたいという思いから自分でタイルを張ったり、下水の溝を掘ったりしました。これ自身は簡単なことなのですが、やしの木の株を掘り起こすのは大変な仕事でした。なんせ午後掘りつづけて二週間もかかったのですから。（このトイレを使う人は、もれなくこの溝を掘るのに汗した苦労話を聞かされるのでしょうね。）ラッキーなことにトイレとバスタブのベースは、あるお店で見つけてきて、それぞれ4ドル（約300円）で購入できた事です！

ヤニは下水のパイプが取り付けられるまでの間、トイレで遊ぶのがとても気に入りました。何度も水を流してはその水が家の外に流れていくのをみていました。まるで都会の滝！です。鶏たちもこの新しいお風呂をとても気に入っていました。なぜだかトイレがとてもお気に入りのようで、最近気が付いたのですがなんとお風呂のバスタブで眠っているのです。今わたしたちが一番にやらなくてはいけないことは、お風呂にドアをつけることのようでます。（それから鶏小屋のドアを直すこと。そうしたら鶏たちもちゃんとそこで寝てくれることでしょう。

先週、家の裏にブロックで壁をこしらえてちょっとした部屋を作りました。この計画はなかなかのもで、インタグで石の家を建てたときの苦労を思い出しました。もちろん今回のほうがずっと楽なのですが。なんといってもトラックがブロックを運んでくれますし、セメントを持ち込む為のミュール（？）も必要ないのですから。自分で壁をこしらえるなんていう変な女性は、このブロックの業者の人たちに興味津々なわけですが、彼らはというと、どうやるのかという基本的なことを教えてくれてといても役に立つ人たちでした。

信頼の置ける我が雑用係のジーノが、まず一段目に着手しました。次は私の番です。二日間かかって二メートルまで積み上げ、ついに台風にもびくともしない四メートルの作品の完成！数日後にはブロックの表面を赤茶に塗りました。（赤茶というのは、オーストラリアの土の色で私のお気に入りなのです。）今はジーノが、ドアや窓の枠組みを作っているところです。

何かしっかりしたものを作りあげたり、いわゆる男性の領域にはいる技術を身につけるのって、なんて充実感があるのかしら。今回の自分への挑戦の大成功にすごくワクワクしました。その上、建築に要求される肉体的きつさや難しさ、繊細さを体験できて本当によかったです。大工さんを（そして真っ直ぐ均一に並べていくのにぴたりの男性的思考をも）改めて見直しました。これで壁の作り方も習得したのだし、もうひとつ作るなんて事もないしゆっくりできそうです。（次回作ることがあれば、今度はヤニの出番ですね）

先生の助手になるべく新たなトレーニングコースでは、娘の学校でのトレーニングが（勉強と一緒に）始まりました。この学校には80人しか生徒がいないので、子供たちの名前を覚えるのは比較的楽でした。学校で（そして自宅でも）のガーデニングの企画は今まで植えたものが順調に育っていて万事うまくいっています。植物がどんどん育って行く様子に子供たちがおおはしゃぎしているのを見ていると私もなんだか力が湧いてきます。

ここ一ヶ月の間になかなか面白いことがありました。このあたりの農園の100ドルのギフト券を匿名で受け取ったのです。そのギフト券はヤニの幼稚園に置いてあったのです。ということはその誰かは私たちの住んでいるところを知らないということです。一体どういうことなのかしら？知らないうちに誰かに親切をしたとか（たとえば思いっきりニコニコしてあげたとかその人たちの子供を手伝ってあげるような事をしたとかドアを開けてあげたとか）？あるいは私たちがすごく貧しくて援助が必要と思われたとか？
なんだかいろんなことを考えてしまう摩訶不思議な出来事です。

私って、貧しいって言うオーラでも出して歩いているのかしら。車もくたびれているし、着ているものもお構いなしだからかしら。でも私としては世界で一番リッチな気分でいるのですよ。だって元気でかわいい子供に恵まれているし、十分な食べ物やきれいな水、それからやりがいのある仕事、素敵なお友達　とそのネットワーク、応援していてくれる家族、豊かな土地、そして見上げると質素だけどがっしりした屋根があり自分の信念を実行できる自由があるのですから。

もし誰かに私たちには援助がいるんだと思われているのなら恥ずかしいようなちょっぴり申し訳ないような気がします。でも多分私たちには実は、援助が必要なのかもしれません。だって十年以上もここに住んでいて、果物の木を買うのにも値段を見て高いと思って躊躇しているのですから。そのうちセールになるかもとか、誰かの庭に同じものがあるかもとか、あるいはリサイクルショップにあるのではと思ってしまうからです。

種を撒いて十年待ちさえすれば同じ事なのですが！今苗木屋さんに行ってきて、レモン、ライム、マンダリン、トゲバンレイジ、それからスターフルーツの木を買ってきて庭に植えたところです。一年前100ドル使ってでも、何でこうして植えなかったのだろうと思えてきました。今度は、もう100ドル使って、もっと植えようかと思っています。もしこの寄付をしてくれた親切な人が見つかったら、一年分の有機栽培果物をプレゼントすることにしましょう。

今年のイースターのお祭りは特別なものとなりました。だって本物の卵を見つけるのですもの！そうなんです。　私たちの大事なオ嬢様達ったら、ついに卵を産むようになったのです。子供たちもおおはしゃぎで卵を探しました。鶏たちは、とってもかわいいペットで、子供たちが抱っこしたりかわいがったりできるのです。その上、たった三匹いるだけでもお友達やご近所におすそ分けするぐらいの卵お産んでくれるのです。もちろんスーパーマーケットでも放し飼い鶏の卵は買えるのだけど、うちの卵との違いはは信じられないくらいです。パンケーキミックスに一個混ぜるだけででとても素敵な黄色に仕上がるのです。においも抜群です！

来週はスローでディープなエコツアーの準備の為、南のほうへ、当分のんびり旅行に出かけます。
メグさんが言うには、17人も参加者がいるとか。すごい！ツアーが順調に行くようにすることと同時に、スロー、パーマカルチャー、ディープエコロジ－へのアプローチをできる限り伝えるというのは、ワクワクするし、すごい責任を感じます。参加する方たちと交流して、思っていることやアイデア、持続可能な未来へのビジョンなどをシェアするのってとても楽しみにしています。

【翻訳：中島由美子】

It is the pre-dawn peace - still in darkness, but full of potential of a beautiful new day to come. Some kookaburras far away cackle with impatience for the sun to rise. As light fills the sky all living things seem to sigh with gratitude, to be here, to be alive. Recently my slow life has started to overflow with plans and commitments and responsibilities - oh dear! I often wake in the middle of the night and my head fills with the things I need to do and not forget. Sometimes the only thing I can do is get up and start to do some of these things (like writing my Blog!) - sleep becomes impossible. This hasn't happened to me for a while and it is good to observe it. I think about most people in the world who live constantly with this condition, or have to take drugs to be able to sleep well.

It has been a productive time for the Ayr Light household. I have been building and planting and designing and studying - with some help from Pacha and Yani, who have had their own developmental stretches.First there was the new bathroom and toilet downstairs. To keep the costs down and to feel a stronger connection to the project, I did the tiling and dug the trenches for the sewerage. This would have been quite easy except for the huge palm tree stump that I had to dig out - which took about 2 weeks of afternoon digging (everyone who uses this bathroom has to be told of the sweat and effort that went in to digging the trenches!). I was happy to find a toilet and bathtub base at the dump and bought them both for $4 (about 300Y)!

Yani had a great time playing with the toilet before the sewerage pipes were connected - he kept flushing to see the water pour out of the side of the house - an urban waterfall! The chickens also loved the new bathroom - for some reason they were very attracted to the toilet and I discovered recently that they had started sleeping in the bathtub! Our biggest priority now is putting the door on the bathtub (and fixing the door to the chicken shed so they stay there at night)!

Last week I built a block wall to make a big room under the house. This was a great project and reminded me of Intag and all the work to build the stone house.Of course here it is much easier - a truck delivers the blocks and you don't need mules to bring in the cement. The people who sold the blocks were interested and amused by this strange woman who wanted to build her own wall - but supportive in ideas and basic techniques on how this is done.

My trusty handyman Gino started me off doing the first row of blocks - then it was my turn and 2 days later there was my 2 metre high, 4 metre long cyclone proof creation! A few days later I rendered (layered in cement) the outside of the blocks with a dark red colour (I am going for the earthy colours of Australia) and now Gino has been working to build the frame for the door and windows. It is such a satisfying feeling to have created something solid, to develop a new skill that is usually in the realm of men. I was ridiculously excited that I had succeeded in this self made challenge. And it was great to experience how physically demanding, difficult and detailed building can be - I have a new respect for bricklayers d builders (and the masculine mind that seems so much better adapted to making straight and level lines!). Now I know how to build a wall, I can relax and not ever have to make another one (next one is Yani's turn).

In my new training course as a teacher's assistant I have been able to start training at my daughters' school (along with study). There are only 80 students at this school, so this will make it a little easier to remember names! Our garden project there (and at our house too) is going very well with everything planted still alive and well. It is so empowering to watch the children get excited about the growth and exuberance of the plants!

Something very interesting has happened to us in the past month. We received an anonymous donation of a $100 gift voucher for the local plant nursery. The voucher was left at Yani's kindy - so whoever it was doesn't even know where we live. What does this mean? Did we do something kind to someone without knowing about it (smile profusely or help their child or open a door)? Or does someone think we are obviously very poor and need help? It is a tantalizing mystery that has brought up all kinds of issues for me. Do I emit an aura of poverty around me? Our car is very old and I don't worry too much about wearing new clothes yet, I feel like the richest person on Earth - beautiful healthy children, abundant food and clean water, meaningful work, wonderful friends and networks, supportive family, land to be able to grow things on, a simple but sturdy roof over our heads, freedom to practice my beliefs.

I felt embarrassed and rather guilty imagining someone thinking that we needed help. But maybe we did. I have been here for over a year and have hesitated in buying more fruit trees because I look at the price in the nursery and think: that's expensive - maybe they will go on special, maybe I can find one in someone's garden or at the second hand st, really - all I need to do is plant a seed and wait 10 years and they will be the same. Now I have been to the nursery and bought a lemon, lime, mandarin, sour sop and star fruit tree - and they are now planted in the garden and I feel very silly that I didn't spend $100 a year ago and plant them then. So, now I will spend another $100 and plant more fruit trees and when I find out who was the generous person who gave us the donation, I will be able to supply them with a year round supply of organic fruit!

Our Easter Egg hunt was special this year - we found real eggs! Yes, our lovely ladies finally started laying and the children have wonderful fun finding the eggs. The chickens are lovely pets too - letting the kids pick them up and nurse them. Even with only 3 chickens there are still enough eggs to give our friends and neighbours here. Even though we always bought the free-range eggs at the supermarket - the difference with these eggs is incredible - one egg in our pancake mix makes the whole batch a lovely yellow colour and the flavour is divine!

Next week we will make the long, slow journey down south to prepare for the Sloth Deep Eco-tour. Megu has told me that there are 17 participants on the tour - wow! It is very exciting and a great responsibility to do everything we can to reflect a slow/permaculture/deep ecology approach as well as running smoothly. It will be wonderful to connect with everyone and share thoughts, ideas and our visions for a sustainable future.

3/19和訳

ドキドキしながら太陽が昇るのを見て、また素晴らしい朝をむかえることができました。子供たち、ありがとう！そして毎日7時半には寝て6時前に起きるといったスローな時間が送れることに感謝！私たちのように熟睡できるのは特別なことのようにも思えます。日本では誰もが疲れていて、子供たちは睡眠時間をけずって‘がんばら’なきゃいけない。その睡眠不足を通学中の電車の中や教室などで補っていました。ここでは毎朝、様々な自然の恵みに出会えるのです。今朝は美しい緑色をしたアマガエルを見つけました。子供たちがあまりにも興奮していたので、私は彼女たちに大事にされすぎないようカエルを守ってあげなければなりませんでした。

朝食のあとで（雑穀入りのホットケーキが日曜日のおきまりです）地元のマーケットに行き、このあたりにまだ残っている雨林の中のオオコオモリの生殖地を訪れてみました。木の間を見上げると、身体をくねらせ羽をばたばたさせてキーキー鳴いているコオモリたちがいます。怖がらせることのないよう大きい音をたてないように注意します。ここは私たちの大聖堂なのです。自然は神様がお造りになった大きな教会で、日曜日にお説教を聴くために教会に身をおくことはなんら悪いことではありません。今、私の娘パチャはキリスト系の学校に通っています（家から近いし、少人数クラスだからです）。校長先生は‘キリストの教え’を強制しないと言いましたが、パチャは神様の歌を持ってかえってくるし、キリストの話をすることもあります。彼女は神様の賢明な使者（ブッダ、ムハンマド、ダライラマやバハーウッラーなど）がたくさんいることも知っています。実際、この世の全ての創造物が神様から託されたものなのです。私は生きとし生けるものを敬い、重んじることがとても大事だと思っています。パチャやヤニが大人になって彼らが信じるものを何と呼ぶようになるかはさほど重要ではありません。神聖なものへの畏敬の念、そして優しさ、尊敬、敬意、愛情さえあれば彼女たちは（そして私も！）幸せになれるでしょう。

パチャの通う学校が環境保護に熱心なのでとてもうれしいです。地元のランドケア（土地環境保護）グループの一環として岩礁保護プログラムを持ち、クリーンアップオーストラリアデイに参加、雨林や熱帯の果物の果樹園、パーマカルチャーによる有機菜園を広げるガーデンプロジェクロも推進しています。私もすぐさま活動にとびこんで今ではプロジェクトの‘コンサルタント’を勤めるまでに。できればこの仕事を手伝ってくれるボランティアがもっと来てくれるといいのだけれど。

この辺りも涼しくなってきたので野菜の種まきを始めました。パチャも自分の畑にほうれん草、ビート、たまねぎ、ひまわり、ヒャクニチソウを植えました。馬糞を十分に加え耕した私の畑には、大きなキャッサバ（タピオカ）の木をはじめもう少し野菜を植えました。キャッサバは熱帯に適していてこの一本から私の庭いっぱいに100本は育つでしょう。9ヶ月もたてばでん粉を含んだ根を付け、これがほとんどの熱帯の国々（エクアドルもそうです）では主食であり、とてもおいしいのです。サツマイモとこのキャッサバが私たちのこの先何ヶ月かの主食になるでしょう。それに果樹園の長期計画もあります。まず手始めにパパイヤの種を20個植え、レイシやパッションフルーツも植えました。

最近とても忙しいです。学校の先生の助手になるコースを取っているのですが、他の女性と一緒に学ぶのがとても楽しい。授業の教材のほとんどは常識的な内容ですが。理論の上では、オーストラリアでは文化的多様性やそういった側面を積極的に増長する教授法が重んじられているのですが、現場では多くの先生方が個人的な人生のお荷物を抱え込んでいて、教室では生徒に対して独裁的になってしまいます（とりわけクラスサイズが大きくなればなるほど）。親の（世界の多くの場所でそうですが）労働時間はますます長くなり、子供と過ごす時間が減って子供の子守りをテレビにまかせてしまう。私は実際にクラスに行って、状況がどうなのか見てみたいと思います。

私の家をお客様やボランティアの方々をお迎えする居心地のいい家にする計画も少しずつ進んでいます。イタリア人の修理屋さん（ギノ）に手伝ってもらって小さなお風呂とトイレ（どちらも地元の不用品集積所で2ドルで買いました）を据え、私が床と壁にタイルを張りました。ギノは72歳でコーヒーとタバコで生きているかのよう。毎週、日曜の朝早くに来てくれますが、お金がほしいから働いているのではなくて、働くのが好きだから働いてる！（生きるために働いてもいるでしょう）といった感じです。それほどおしゃべりではありませんが、作業は早いし、それにきちんと寸法を測っているのを見たことがないのです。彼がトイレの配管の目測を誤ったので、今日の私の午後は下水管の溝を掘るのに費やされるでしょう。終わる頃にはミスユニバース・ボディビルディング・コンテストに出場間違いなしです！もちろんこの穴掘りだけで200ドルの値にはなるでしょう。でも、できるのなら自分でしたい、私がするわといった気持ちです（汗かいて顔が紅潮して、大きな満足感が得られるから）。もしお金が余ったら他にもしなきゃいけないことがたくさんある。私が支援を必要としている世界の国々で何かプロジェクトや運動を始めるときに必ず考えることです。

ここオーストラリアやエクアドルでボランティアをしたいという日本の方々からもうすぐ連絡が入ると思います。私の友人たち（ヨーロッパ北部に在住）も呼んでここにしばらく滞在してもらえるかもしれません。新たに旅程を5月10日から18日に設定したディープなエコツアーの計画も進行中です。今回をきっかけに定期的なツアーになればいいなと思います。

もう少し野菜を植えて、私たちの陽気なにわとりたち、モリー、ホリー、ルーシーにえさをあげる時間です。みなさんが今回の私の話を楽しんでいただけたらうれしいのですが。

いのちのために
アンニャ、パチャそしてヤニ

【翻訳：山下美朋】

Another glorious morning, with us excitedly watching the sunrise! Thanks to the children and our Slow time we still all go to sleep at about 7.30pm every night and wake up before 6am. It feels like such a special privilege to be able to sleep deeply. I remember how tired everyone seems to be in Japan and how even children have to 'gambate' and exist on just a few hours of sleep, catching up, if they can, on the train, or in classrooms - or anywhere else! Every morning here gives us some kind of blessing - today we found a beautiful green tree frog - the children were so excited that I had to save it from being loved too much!

After breakfast (home made millet pancakes are traditional on our Sundays) we went to the local markets and visited the colony of fruit bats in the remnant rainforest. You look up into the trees at hundreds of twisting, flapping, screeching creatures - careful not to make a big noise that would disturb them. It is our cathedral. I have always felt that nature is God's greatest church and never feel guilty about not sitting in a building listening to a sermon on a Sunday.

My daughter, Pacha, is now going to a Christian School (mostly because it is very close by and has very small classes) and although the school principal assured me that 'doctrine' is not enforced, Pacha sometimes comes home with songs about God and mentions Jesus. I make sure that she knows there are many emlightened messengers of God (Buddha, Mohammed, HH Dalai Lama, Bahaoula etc) - and that, in fact, all of creation is a message from God. I think a spirit of reverence and respect for Life is so fundamentally important - whatever name Pacha and Yani will decide to call this in their later life doesn't matter - as long as they have a sense of the sacred and basic principles of kindness, respect, reverence, love! I think they (and I!) will be happy.

I am very happy that the schoopl has a strong conservation theme. It is part of the local landcare group, has a reef guardianship program, participates in clean up Australia day and has a big garden project including planting a rainforest, tropical fruit orchard and a permaculture vegie garden. I couldn't help but volunteer to help and find myself now listed as the 'consultant' for this project hopefully some volunteers will soon arrive to help me with this task!

It has begun to cool down enough here to start planting vegetable seedlings. Pacha has her own garden patch and has planted Spinach, beetroot, spring onion, sunflowers and zinnias. My patch, deeply mulched with horse manure, has a few more plants - including a big cassava shrub. Cassava is the perfect plant for the tropics and from this one bush I will be able to grow a hundred more throughout the garden. In 9 months it will yield big starchy cassava roots - the mainstay of so much of the tropical world (including Ecuador) and so delicious too! This, along with the sweet potato, will provide a lot of our food in the coming months.

Then there is the longer term plan of the fruit orchard. I have started some 20 papaya seedlings and recently planted lychees and some more passionfruit. I have been quite busy lately. I have been attending a part time course to become a teacher's assistant. It's been fun to learn together with other women - though most of the material has been commonsense so far. In theory there is a great respect in Australia for cultural diversity and teaching methods that focus on positive reinforcement. Unfortunately, in the real world, many teachers carry their personal lifetime baggage with them and become mini dictators in the classroom (especially as classes grow in size).

Parents (like so many places in the world) work longer and longer hours and participate less in their children's lives and rely on the TV set to do most of the parenting! I look forward to actually going into the classrooms and seeing how things are.

My project to convert under the house into a comfortable room for guests and volunteers is coming along slowly. With some help from a local Italian handyman (Gino) - we have installed a small bath and a toilet (both found for $2 at the local dump) and I have tiled the floor and walls. Gino is 72 years old and seems to survive on coffee and cigarettes! He regularly comes to work early on a Sunday morning and I think he works not because he wants more money - but just because he loves to work (maybe works to live)!

He doesn't talk much and works quickly and I've never seen him actually write down measurements. He made a mistake with the calculations for the toilet pipes - which means I am now spending my afternoons digging a deep trench for the sewerage pipes when I am finished I will be able to enter the Miss Universe body building contest! Of course I could just pay the $200 to get a digger in - but my feeling is if I can do it myself, I will do it myself (and I feel a lot of satisfaction in it - with every flush!). Even if I had the money spare - there are so many other things that need doing, and that's before I think of the many projects and campaigns around the world that need support!

I hope I will soon hear from people in Japan who are interested in volunteering here or in Ecuador. Maybe I will even be able to entice my good friends (the Scan clan) to come and live here for a while! And the new deep eco-tour plan seems to be going well, with the revised dates of May 10th to 18th seeming to be more suitable. I hope this will be the start to regular tours. For now it is time to plant some more vegies and feed our three happy chickens, Molly, Holly and Lucy. I hope this finds you well!

For Life,
anja, pacha and yani.

2/19和訳

スローなはずの時間はどうしてしまったのかしら？ここ２ヶ月、この原稿を書くまもなくあっという間に過ぎてしまうなんて。スローでシンプルな生活をもっと楽しむ方法がないかしらと模索しているうちに時間がたってしまったのです。ゴールドコーストでの家族との時間を思いっきり楽しんでいたのもそのひとつです。海で子供たちがはしゃいで遊んだり、じゃれあったりしているのを眺めているのってとても楽しいものです。

夏至やクリスマスは、離れている家族と一緒に過ごす時期でもあります。だいたいはビーチに行ったりしますが、できるだけ無駄なお買い物は避けるようにしています。離れている家族が集まると、せっかく一緒に過ごす素敵な時間であり、気持ちを新しく切り替える機会のはずなのに時々いらいらしたり緊張感が漂ったりします。

しばらく離れて暮らしていると以前のように共有する話題も少なくなるし、また昔のような家族関係を築かなくてはいけないのです。その上お酒が結構入ったり、食べ過ぎたり、睡眠不足になったり、誰がどのプレゼントにするかでけんかしたりなどなどです。日本でも恒例の家族の集う機会には同じような様子なのかしら？こういう時に人間のいちばんいい所と悪いところが出てしまうのでしょうね。

今回の私たちのクリスマスは、特に子供たちにとってお祝い事を楽しむのにもってつけの静かで素敵なものとなりました。私たちはリサイクルの物を贈り物として交換する事にし、それで誰も文句をいうことは有りませんでした。

私の父はダライラマの“ART　OF　HAPPYNESS（心の育て方）”という本を私にくれました。しかし私はその本の題名を見た時苦笑してしまったのです。というのはいつだって家族の中でニコニコして前向きでいるのは私の役目でしたし、しかもみんなが明るくいつも楽しめるように家族を（特にその父を）励ますのが私の役だったのです。

どうしたら幸せでいられるかについてのアドバイスがいったい私に必要かしらと思ったのです。それでも何ページか読んでみたらもちろんそうよ！アドバイスは必要よ！と思いました。私たちはみんな幸せな生活を送るのに手助けや励ましが必要なのです。

ダライラマは、いつだって微笑みながら、それでいて謙虚さをもって誰かを非難するわけでもなく、今の暗い時代の中で唯一の信実を照らすまできらきら輝く太陽のような存在です。この本がきっかけで思い出しました。幸せというものは必ずしも当然のようにやってくるものではないということを。けれども私たちみんなは幸せに向かって努力し、幸せになりたいと強く願うこともできるのです。そして幸せというものは私たちの意識してこうありたいという選択の結果なのです。

たとえば、ある人は不幸な境遇に生まれるかもしれません。あるいは生きていく中で、深い悲しみに沈んだり、大きなストレスを抱えたりするような悲しい経験をしてしまうかもしれません。でもだからといって悲しみのどん底に沈んだり、怒りでのた打ち回ったりする必要なんか無いのです。私たちは幸せに向かって努力し、また自分たちの人生を前向きで創造的な方向に導いていくというということを選ぶことができるのです。そのことを容易にするのがシンプルスローライフだと思うのです。

今私たちはエアーに戻ってきました。エアーは最近のモンスーン型の大雨で緑が覆い茂っています。私としては草を刈ってしまうのは好きではないのですが、（その労力も大変ですし・・）でももしほうっておいたら子供たちが雑草の中で迷子になってしまうでしょう。それでも私たちは自分たちが植えた木が育って、草地から森のようになってもっと木陰を作ってくれるようになるのを楽しみにしているのです。

私たちの住んでいるところは街の中心街から近いとはいえ、その周りは20メートル対40メートル四方の広さがあり、まるでちょっとしたフットボール場なみです。今は木を植えるのによい時期だし、私たちもまたは野菜畑をはじめられるでしょう。夏は太陽の光が強すぎるという理由で、食物の種を撒くのに冬まで待たなくていはならないというのは自然界の不思議のひとつですね。

今週末には鶏小屋を作るつもりです。そろそろ何か生産的なペットを飼う時期かも！パチャとヤニは喜んで鶏の面倒を見るでしょう。（しかも捕れたてでオーガニックの卵がただで食べられるのですもの！）こういうことも都会での自給自足生活への小さな一歩なのかもしれませんね。パチャはペットをとても飼いたがっていたのです－パチャはエクアドルで飼っていた馬やその他のぺットのことをいつも懐かしがっていました。そんなパチャですから、きっとすぐに餌のつつき方、木登りの仕方、トランポリンの遊び方などを鶏たちに教えることでしょう。

私たちは近所の人にも恵まれてラッキーだったと思います。近所に住むドンとコリーンはパチャやヤニのやんちゃぶりにも大目に見てくれておまけにお出かけする時も家をみててくれるのです。私たちが鶏を飼うことを気にすることもありません。たぶん子供たちの遊んでいる時の声のほうが鶏よりうるさいと私は確信しています。

今エアーにある家を開放する準備が整いつつあります！一年間十分自分たちだけでここを楽しんだので、そろそろお客さんを迎える準備をしています。お客さん大歓迎です！もしオーストラリアでのスローライフを体験してみたい方がいらしたら、是非お知らせくださいね。

子供たちと遊んでくださったり、英語を勉強されたり、トロピカルな北クイーンズランドのすばらしいところを色々見て回られたりしながら、わたしたちのパーマカルチャーの畑や地元の環境プロジェクトなどお手伝いくださるととても助かります。あのグレートバリアリーフも近くですし、ヨンガラ船（沈んでしまった船です）の近くでスキューバーダイビングのコースもあります。私たちの住んでいるところには、シャワールームのある離れもありますし、もうすぐちょっとした台所も取り付けるつもりでいます。

エアーの町のさまざまな施設（公園や子供の遊び場、ボウリング場や映画館、スケートボードリンクやプール、図書館、スーパー、病院やリサイクルショップなど）も歩いていける距離にあります。それからなんと言っても家の広い庭です。この庭で私たちは毎日午後になるとこの土地特有のたくさんの鳥がやってきて遊んでいくの楽しみながら眺めているのです。

もし私たちとボランティア活動するのにご興味がおありなら是非連絡してください。（今年５月に予定されているスローでディープなエコツアーに参加して、私たちとこのエアーにのんびりと電車で戻ってくるというのプランもいいかもしれませんね）。
【翻訳：中島由美子】

What happened to Slow time?! Somehow the last 2 months have sped by without a chance to write. We have been too busy investigating the capacity to enjoy a slow simple life! We have also indulged in family time on the Gold Coast - watching the children delight in the ocean and enjoy playing with each other.

Our Solstice and Christmas time was spent with out family - mostly on the beach and trying to avoid shopping and shopping centres! Despite what should a beautiful time of sharing and spiritual renewal - it is often a time of great tension and upset for families. People gather usually after much time apart - sharing less space than they are used to and re-establishing patterns of power and control. Then there is too much alcohol, over-eating, lack of sleep and competition over who gets what presents, etc, etc. I wonder if this happens in Japan too at traditional gathering times? It can be bring out the best and the worst of people. Our Christmas was a nice quiet time - mostly for the children to enjoy a sense of celebration. We agreed to only give each other recycled gifts and no-one felt like they missed out.

My Father gave me a book by the Dalai Lama - 'The Art of Happiness. Actually, I laughed when I saw the title - it has always been my role in my family to be happy and positive and encourage everyone (especially my father!) to lighten up and enjoy the moment - did I need advice on how to be happy?! After reading just a few pages I thought - Yes, of course! We all need help and encouragement in leading happy lives! The Dalai Lama is like a radiant sun glowing essential truths in our dark time, ever smiling, ever humble, non-judgmental. His book helped me remember that happiness may not always come naturally - but is something we can all work towards, it is something we can all aspire to and it is a conscious choice. Ok - some people may seem to be born with a discontent, or have tragic life experiences that bring depression and frustrations - but this does not mean we have to drown in sorrow or wallow in anger. We can choose to make the effort to be happy and to follow our life's mission in a positive, creative way. It seems the easiest way to do this is live a simple, slow life!

Now we are back in Ayr - where everything glows a deep green from recent monsoon type rain. I don't like mowing the grass (too much petrol and work) - but if I don't I will soon lose the children in the undergrowth! We are waiting for the trees we have planted to make more shade to convert grass to forest!

Even though we are close to the centre of town, the land around our house measures about 20 metres by 40 metres - which is like a small football field! It is a good time to plant more trees and very soon we can start our vegetable garden again. It is one of the strange parts of the world where we have to wait for winter to be able to plant most of our food - because the sun is too powerful in summer!

This weekend we are building a chicken shelter. It is time to have productive pets! I am sure that Pacha and Yani will have fun helping look after them (as well as eating fresh, organic, free range eggs!). It will be another small step closer to urban self-sufficiency.
Pacha longs for a pet - she remembers her horse and the many pets in Ecuador. I am sure she will soon teach the chickens to do tricks, climb trees and jump on the trampoline! We are lucky to have very nice neighbours, Don and Colleen, who have great patience with Pacha and Yani's exuberance in the backyard and who keep an eye on the house when we go away. They don't mind our plan to keep some chickens and I am sure the chickens will never be louder than Pacha and Yani's playtime!

We're ready to open our house in Ayr!
After a year of enjoying our own space and getting it ready for visitors - we are ready to welcome people! If you would like to experience a Slow Life in Australia please let me know. Your help will be very much appreciated in our permaculture garden and with other local projects, along with playing with the kids, practising English and exploring the beauty of tropical north Queensland. The Great Barrier Reef is within easy reach, with scuba diving courses available at the nearby Yongala wreck (a sunken ship).

We have a separate part of the house available that has its own shower and we will be adding some basic kitchen facilities. We are in walking distance to all facilities of the town of Ayr (parks, playing fields, bowling alley, cinema, skateboard rink, swimming pool, library, supermarkets, hospital, secondhand shops etc) and we have a huge yard where every afternoon we delight in watching the many native birds come to play! Please make contact if you are interested in volunteering with us. (A good opportunity may be to join the Slow/Deep eco tour that is being planned for May this year - then you could come back with us to Ayr on the slow train.)