permaculture

[Jay Woods <woodsjay@cox.net>]

I didn't know you were aware of what I have been going 
through with Omaha Parks and Recreation Code Enforcement. 
You write it up much better than I could hope to do.

I found that they like the looks of broken concrete as a rock 
fence as a retaining wall better than they did log walls. 
Likewise, for some reason humping dirt into a berm with logs 
buried in it was OK. A good attorney willing to go to district 
court seemed to slow them down. They probably don't like to 
listen to a sarcastic judge.

On Thursday, January 06, 2011 06:53:23 pm Bob Waldrop 
wrote:
> Below is a little essay I just published regarding the results of
> today's visit of code inspectors to my property in Oklahoma 
City.
> 
> Bob Waldrop, Romero Catholic Worker, Oklahoma City
> 
> http://www.bobwaldrop.net/?p=417
> 
> When I moved to 1524 N  21 in Oklahoma City, there were 
flat mostly
> empty lawns.  Now a mini-urban eco-system flourishes.  It is
> beautiful, it is interesting, even during the depths of winter.  
But
> alas for me and my little niche of the ecology during this age 
of
> peak oil denial, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and not 
all
> beholders are created equal.  Some of them carry guns and 
may compel
> obedience to their own personal visions of urban beauty and 
land 
> use.
> In case you haven't figured it out, the code inspectors have 
been
> here for a visit.  And suddenly, things that have pretty much 
been
> fine for a decade are violations.  No appeal, no argument, no
> nothing.  They have all the guns on their side, and that is a
> powerful argument.
> 
> So we just spent an hour or so removing all of the beautiful 
logs and
> such which have decorated our ecosystem and contributed 
to the
> fertility of the property.  Yes, they are weathered and slowly
> decaying, but that's their function in the eco-system.  they 
are
> giving nourishment to the land from which they grew, since 
most of
> them derive from two elms that were on our property but 
that  were
> taken down during ice and wind storms, and one large dead 
tree that
> was hit by lightening.  A large chunk of that tree has been 
slowly 
> nourishing a peach tree that I planted, but no more, now it is
> laying on a pile awaiting disposition.  There are no 
comfortable
> places now on which I can sit and watch my garden grow 
while petting
> my cats or my dogs.
> 
> Yet these same inspectors have nothing to say about the 
practices of
> many of my neighbors, and of Oklahoma City government, 
who spray
> toxic cancer-causing chemical stews across the landscape 
with
> careless abandon. Who cares if kids get leukemia or women 
get breast
> cancer?  Victorian England was the mature culmination of 
landscape
> design, and we must replicate that everywhere. A place for
> everything, and everything in its place. Nature is our enemy, 
it
> must not be nurtured, it must be whipped into submission.  
When it
> comes to ecology, the ruling ethos Oklahoma City is "we 
don't need
> none and we ain't gettin' none either."
> 
> They even demand that I enclose my compost pile, even 
though it is
> behind a fence and not visible from the street and I am 
pretty sure
> they can't point to a single word of chapter and verse that 
would
> actually mandate this. Fine if it makes them happy, but let's 
not
> pretend that it is anything other than the abuse of power 
that it
> is.
> 
> We are going to attempt to mulch as much of this as we can, 
some will
> be used for firewood, some of it is incredibly beautiful aged 
wood,
> if anyone artistic is reading this, and can get by soon, and is
> interested in aged wood for craft purposes, it is laying in a 
pile
> in front of 2120 N McKinley, which is the small house behind 
our
> house at 1524 NW 21, which is the southeast corner of N Mc 
Kinley
> and NW 21.
> 
> I guess I'm not surprised that this is happening.  I've been a 
bit
> harsh on some of our political leaders lately, like Mary Queen 
of
> Lynch Mobs Fallin, and Tyrant-Emperor Barak Obama, and 
over the
> years, there is somewhat of a correlation between code 
violations
> and my political rhetoric online.  Plus, as systems go down 
for the
> count, generally there is one last "push" for the old status 
quo. 
> Repressive regimes become even more so, wasteful and 
gluttonous
> societies build billion dollar highways to nowhere.  The feces 
will
> always make it to the lowest level, and unfortunately these 
feces
> have no nutritional content for compost or biogas.
> 
> So OKC code enforcement  can be quite proud of their own 
little
> contribution today to pushing this nation towards the ash 
heap of
> history.  They were quite nice personally, one might have 
been a
> little more hard coppish, but it wasn't an ugly confrontation 
in
> terms of shouting and etc.  I could have made it that way, I 
was
> very tempted to denounce hem to their faces for what they 
were, in
> the best style of the Tea Party, and as I have often done 
online to
> a wide collection of characters in our ruling aristocracies.  
And
> ten years ago I probably would have done that, and in fact, 
did a
> little of it with some of the inspectors.  But these days there 
are
> only so many battles that can be fought.  However tempting 
it is to
> go to the wall to defend my own little patch's fertility 
systems,
> there are bigger and more important battles to fight, and 
right now
> I just don't have the time, energy, resources, and etc to go 
to war
> with Oklahoma City over this. I'm even making plans to move 
my
> elderberry patch, since if they are going to be moved in the 
next
> year, now is the time to do it, and the inspectors implied that
> during the summer, they would be back with line-of-sight 
violations.
>  So some annual beds will trade places with the elderberries.
> 
> Also in danger are my beautiful native roses (Rosa arkansas) 
which
> line one of the streets, and every year we trim them so they 
do not
> obscure the stop sign on the corner.  She's going to check 
on that
> and get back with me.
> 
> I am not the only person in Gatewood neighborhood who 
gardens close
> on to the curb.  If not common, it is not isolated either.  I can
> think of two houses in particular, right next to each other, 
which
> have even more foliage than I do.  They however do not blog
> criticisms of the powers that be, so they are left alone, and I 
am
> glad of that.
> 
> All of this is complaint driven, the inspectors do not come out 
to my
> house on their own volition.  Some real person or persons 
called
> this trouble down upon me. I am glad they are leaving others 
in the
> neighborhood alone. Sure, it's not very constitutional to 
single
> someone out because of their politics, but we are like 
imperial
> Rome.  They maintained the symbols and fictions long after 
the
> substance of the Republic has degenerated into the Empire, 
and we
> follow their most august example.  These days the 
Constitution isn't
> much more than a sentimental symbol.
> 
> Some may well wonder what the big deal is anyway, 
including my code
> inspectors, who may eventually even read this since it will be 
posted
> on the internet and tens of thousands of people may 
eventually see
> it (my collection of websites generally receives about a 
million
> user sessions a year, from 108 different countries).  Well, the 
big
> deal is fertility. Sure, I could haul in fertility, and I have to do
> some of that anyway.  But as time goes on, I've been having 
to haul
> in less fertility.  When I take a soil sample to the county
> extension office for testing, the results are crazy.  "I don't 
know
> how you can grow anything there your nitrogen is so high."  
I can't
> find one right now but I will dig one of them up and edit this 
in a
> day or so to include the data.
> 
> Why not allow nature to be part of the process of my urban 
garden?
> 
> Permaculture principles at play here include stacking 
functions and
> redundancy for important/critical systems, and fertility is 
most
> definitely a critical system where redundancy is necessary. 
Not
> forgetting "use small and slow solutions."  And "favor
> natural/biological solutions."  All of which now become 
problematic
> in my little schema of things.
> 
> Well, permaculture is nothing if not about adapting to 
changing
> circumstances. So we'll see what can be done, there is 
always
> something to be done about a damaged eco-system.  We'll 
just have to
> think and observe for a while and see what we come up with. 
> Something will sprout, I'm sure of it, one nice thing about 
biology
> is that the hope of new life springs eternal.
> 
> For the record. . . The  logs in my garden serve these 
functions: 
> (1) Slowly composting and giving fertility to their area, (2)
> Habitat for beneficial insects, (3) Many of them are nice 
places to
> sit, (4) Many of them are cat petting perches, (5) Many of 
them
> serve as the borders of various beds and divisions in my
> eco-systems, (6) They were all deliberately placed where 
they were
> to fulfill specific functions, (7) They are landscape art.
> 
> They are not trash and debris, as the city defines trash and 
debris,
> but because I am a special case, they are in fact magically
> transformed into trash and debris, and they must be 
removed or the
> city will remove them for me and pay a private contractor a
> gold-plated price to remove the items, and then put a lien on 
the
> title to my house so they get their money.
> 
> So it goes, one more speed bump on our peak oil quick trip 
to the ash
> heap of history.
> 
> In the spirit of Christian charity, and called to do so by the
> Gospel, (even though I don't want to, lol.. . . people who pray
> should pray for my intention that I receive a more grateful 
heart
> about this) . . I am willing to forgive all involved with this for
> the violence and destruction they are causing to my 
household
> eco-systems.  I just picked the music for the Sundays of 
Winter
> Ordinary Time, and coming up in February, we Catholics will 
hear two
> long readings from the Sermon on the Mount, with full and 
complete
> instructions on how we should deal with those with whom we 
have
> disagreements.  The code inspectors were lucky that I 
recently
> (yesterday!) had such a vivid reminder of the norms of 
Christian
> life and praxis otherwise I might be contacting a lawyer 
about now
> instead of writing this minor elegy in a melancholy key about 
this
> government-mandated destruction.
> 
> You know, as I write those words, I had a sudden glimmer 
about how
> destructive government can be and typically is.  I am very 
lucky that
> the destruction at my place is being accomplished by due 
process of
> law, and I am allowed to do the destruction myself, so I can 
save
> and conserve what I can.
> 
> Even at this late date, there remain some advantages to 
being white.
> 
> If I was in Afghanistan, the destruction likely would have 
been
> accomplished with napalm, or fuel air bombs, or soldiers 
kicking the
> door in, or terrorists planting roadside explosives, and if I was 
in
> New York, I might have been on the receiving end of airliners
> transformed into missiles at the behest of enemies of our 
particular
> government.
> 
> Or I might be a child starving to death.  Every minute that I 
have
> spent writing this little elegy, 12  children elsewhere  have 
died
> from hunger-related issues.  720 an hour. 16,000 every day.
> 
> So the destruction and due processed violence at my house 
is a small
> thing in the greater scheme of things and in light of what is
> happening elsewhere. A lot of that happens, though, 
because we
> Americans are such gluttons and poor stewards of the 
resources of
> this finite planet. This system, however, will only tolerate  a
> certain amount of independent thought and action on that 
subject, 
> and if you cross that line, it's defense systems mobilize and 
treat
> you as the threat that you in fact are to their selfish gluttony.
> 
> I will not forget what has happened.
> 
> I will increase my already not-so-insubstantial efforts to 
create
> alternative structures in the midst of the collapsing ruins of 
the
> old. When Oklahoma City hits the ash heap of history, an 
event that
> is likely to be sooner rather than later, we will all need such
> alternative structures.
> 
> Got a local food system?  Got a local energy system?  Got 
extra
> insulation? Got an alternative economic system?
> 
> The time to build the cellar is before the tornado hits.
> 
> The time to create alternative structures  is before  the ruins 
of
> the old collapse entirely upon the ash heap of history.
> 
> _______________________________________________
> permaculture mailing list
> permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
> Subscribe, unsubscribe, change your user configuration 
here:
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/permaculture
> Read the public message archives here:
> https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/permaculture
> Command to put in your browser's Google search box to 
search these
> archives: site:lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/permaculture [search
> string (omit the brackets)] List Usage & Guidelines:
> 
http://ibiblio.org/permaculture/documents/permaculturelistguide.faq
> Permaculture http://www.ibiblio.org/permaculture
> Permaculture Mailing List Blog
> http://permaculturelist.blogspot.com
> permaculture forums http://www.permies.com/permaculture-
forums
> List contact: permacultureforum@gmail.com