It began in early 1970, during the infancy of his macrobiotic
years, when his T'ai Chi teacher in Boston laid down the gauntlet to the
class. Duncan asked his class if anyone would like to help him build a
log cabin on his 250 acres in the mountains of British Columbia.
It sounded like a great adventure to Paul and Jake, the only two volunteers.
Jake begin cleansing with an all fruit diet while Paul ate buckwheat and
miso soup.
The day to leave saw Paul and Jake on the entrance to I-90 in Boston,
thumbs out, wielding packs and sleeping bags. Jake's bag was a warm
down but Paul could only muster a summer bag. Three days later, traveling
day and night (except for one night spent on a dormitory floor) they arrived
at an old farmer's house in Fernie, British Columbia at 2 a.m. where Duncan
awaited. The farmer's wife, Katy, promptly got out of bed to fix
them cornmeal, bread and eggs. It wasn't two hours later that Paul
awoke with stomach cramps and diarrhea. Where he went the Earth only
knows.
Morning, toboggan loaded with roots, grain, seaweed, beans and supplied,
the three men pulled it seven miles up the mountain along an abandoned
logging road to the site where the only structure was a crude teepee -
20 foot poles leaned against a big pine (lower branches removed) with tar
paper spiraled around, and a dirt floor. They found a few boards
to lay their bags on. Paul didn't really sleep except in fits for
two weeks, curled tightly to avoid freezing during 10-15o nights.
He thanked the hard work in the daytime for his remaining unscathed by
frostbite. Five feet of snow remained from the thirty-two feet which
had fallen that winter.
The first task was cutting logs, straight ones, for the cabin.
No chain saw here to pollute, only Swede saws, axes, draw-knives and rope
to pull the logs as much as one mile to the cabin site, where they laced
the peeled trees into a cabin (after excavating four feet of snow which
still lay on the ground).
Food Never Tasted So Good
They took turns cooking on a Coleman stove, kept warm (for a few
hours) at night by banking the fire in a pit in the dirt floor, and kept
the vegetables from freezing by burying them in the snow. Food never
tasted so good.
After about two weeks, not having had a bath, they started a fire to
heat water, but Paul stripped to the buff, ran 100 yards over the snow
to a "hole" in the creek, splashed and rubbed, ran back to the waiting
fire, and put on clean clothes. He felt like a million dollars.
Snow melted first beneath the big trees and there they lunched on sunny
days, where chipmunks stole rice from their hands and birds began to sing.
Low shrubs began to appear as the snow receded, while buds expanded into
tender shoots on the trees. The muted gurgle of streams slowly gave
way to the melt as fresh breezes plied the forest with smell and sound
until flowers popped joyously forth and streams roared rebirth. Forests
and valley awoke in a profusion of foliage and earthy stirrings.
The moist fresh winds carried scents of cedar and pine followed by the
complex sweetness of clovers from the valley. Our spirits were alive!
Soaring above to savor the Earth's delights! Flying deliriously....
Time for Planting
With the cabin built and the weather significantly warmed and snow remaining
only in patches, it was time to break ground for planting. Who says
you need to eat animal food to swing a grub hoe (heavy as a pick axe) nine
hours per day busting ground? Or to carry 200 pound logs on your
shoulder over brush, fallen trees and uneven ground? To run and not
tire . . . your aura riding amidst the treetops.
It was work like this, intimately tied to the earth that brought Paul
to a kinship with nature and a thirst to understand his universal roots
and destiny. Long walks, 6 miles (one way) from the valley late at
night after helping farmers with their hay, took him through dense forests
after dark, often scrutinized by cougar, deer, and bear, but never molested.
Eight months after he arrived in the early April snow, Paul left because
there was no provision for the winter. He was at a point in his spiritual/psychic/conscious
development where he felt about to open up, to blossom into a much greater
awareness; like antennae turned into wide-band radio-telescopes.
But winter was setting in and he returned to life in populous New England
where for months he enjoyed fabulous success in everything he attempted.
Paul's dream from that time has been to have a place where he could
go beyond where he had been, to advance in consciousness, health and understanding
and show others how. Western religion says "Come and believe."
Paul believes that one must "Come and see" or "Come and experience."
Paul and Mary (who shares this dream) have miraculously stumbled upon and
bought a 170-plus acre piece of land right up against Glacier National
Park in Montana. Shangri La! They will be establishing a small
macrobiotic community there but need help to build tight homes, root cellars,
kitchen(s), other buildings, establish a good water supply, perhaps erect
a windmill and much more, plus offer cooking classes, meditational direction,
T'ai Chi and other ways of growth, gardening, macrobiotic instruction,
crafts, fence building, survival courses, world class fishing, hiking trails
you wouldn't believe, mountain biking, and many other spirit lifting and
strengthening pursuits.
In the springtime when the Montana mountains awake is the perfect time
to set out for this land hugging Glacier Park on its most accessible eastern
side. Paul & Mary are liquidating their assets now.
The challenge of building from scratch in order to accommodate (eventually
. . . sooner rather than later) a small macrobiotic community will tax
mind and body; but, as most hard work expended towards a worthwhile goal
brings deep satisfaction, so will this, as we create with hands and share
in the camaraderie of friends, building a better world.
Winters blow harsh here. The first couple winters may be spent
traveling, visiting, learning, working elsewhere, until provision for cold
weather and isolation are established. Then, what a conscious metamorphosis
could occur spending winters in study, writing,. meditation . . . amidst
the fierce wind, cold and snow.
But, did you imagine yourself becoming a great influence towards a
more conscious world by enveloping yourself in posh environs and creature-comforts
within the urban jungle and its distractions? Fields of energy surround
your body. When they grow strong enough, work in urbania will be
more fruitful, the temptations and distractions buffered by your strengthened
being. We think this Montana community will be the ideal place
to develope the inner strength and consciousness as befits true humanity.
We hope you do too.
For more information contact:
e-mail address:
wolfroadvq@sio.midco.net
NOTE: NEW E-MAIL
ADDRESS AS ABOVE AFTER FEB. 1, 2002
Paul Kern and Mary Schramm
1019 So. Norton Ave.
Sioux Falls, SD 57105
PH: (605)338-1151
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