Good morning. The shop is open for another round of home repair/improvement conversations.
Sorry I couldn't make it last week. I was up late for 4 nights visiting with a writer doing research on the San Francisco diggers phenomenon in 1966-68. He's been tracking down and interviewing such participants as can still be found and are willing to talk.
One of the founding members of the diggers, Peter Berg, died on July 28 and I will be in San Francisco October 1st for a memorial service at the Randall Museum. This will be something of a reunion for the many people who associated during the digger years and the decades following. I'm expecting to see some folks I haven't seen in nearly 40 years as we gather to remember Peter's extraordinary life.
BTW, I'll need someone to cover that Saturday Morning shift for me, if any of you have the time and inclination to host the Shop that day, Oct. 1.
I also want to give a big shout-out and thank you to kossak Miep, whose generous donation makes this trip possible. The Cosmic Redistribution Service, established back in the digger heyday is still functioning.
Meanwhile out here on the high desert, the monsoon finally got here, breaking the months-long heat wave we've been having, if not actually the Drought itself. The Pecos River is running again, with enough flow at the moment to keep both acequias filled and the irrigators happy. I am monitoring the river's flow, adjusting the headgates
at the diversion dam
to keep the acequia full and yet not overloaded when flow surges come down the river due to rain in the high country upstream.
We have had some rain almost daily, with a few good soaking downpours as well, and the surrounding country has turned green in a matter of a few weeks.
I use this wonderful tool from WeatherUnderground to keep track of storms wandering by, both their intensity and location, to try to guess if a surge will be produced. Another tool on this site lets me observe the river's flow at a USGS gauging station just downstream of the village that has a real-time satellite link.
Later today I'll head in to Albuquerque for a meeting of the Earthbuilder's Guild, a trade group for the adobe industry in New Mexico. I'll be showing drawings of an adobe/strawbale wall system I am devising to combine the thermal mass qualities of adobe with the effective natural insulation that strawbales can provide.
I'll be here this morning to answer questions and join in whatever conversations arise. Thanks for dropping by.