Hi Steemians!
I decided that a photo peek into some big bits of my world would help as a follow up introduction from my intentions post, so here is a quick photo+wordsmith delve into my #introduceyourself.
Here we go!
That's my real name, got it for my birthday. Some fun facts about me:
- received my Bachelors Degree in Linguistics and Romance Languages (Spanish+Italian)
- grew up vegetarian, and started eating a totally plant based diet near the end of 2016.
- embarking on a journey of self-reclamation
- adore experiencing the luxuries of life and am seeking sustainable ways to enjoy the world
- falling in love with astrology+tarot, and would love to find community there! Let's chat!
- curious about cryptocurrencies and alternative lifestyle structures
--I'm sure that y'all will get to know me more as I post more articles (and not all at midnight!). I plan on keeping it casual but creating a space that allows for some real practical and philosophical blogwork to get done! Check out my previous post for more on my intentions for this Steemit blog, and follow me here & on instagram (@sistergoldensnail) if you're feeling some shared interests & /or quality topics are ahead! Starting with the most quality:
This is the dog.
His name is Doogan.
He is six years old and our guard dog/homestead weenie. He definitely looks the part of protector and will proudly scare people off with a big bark and snake eyes, but once he realizes you're friendly he just wants to tromp through the woods with you! We are very proud of him for being such a well-mannered dog, and are sincere on the idea that if you bring a dog (or anybeing) into your family, they should be respectable creatures who respond efficiently to their caretakers. Doogan definitely listens to him when we speak. I’m pretty sure we can communicate telepathically with a bit more practice ;)
My boyfriend Austin and I love exploring nature. We are trying to spend our summers backpacking and being curious creatures in the world. Oregon has beautiful summers, but they are just too short to fit a steady growing period and time to backpack without firm planning. We live in a beautiful ecosystem, which we both hold a lot of respect for. This last summer was devastating with hundreds of thousands of acres burnt in reckless wildfires through the PNW. Lots of beautiful landscapes were destroyed—albeit temporarily. In spite of a bad case of humans, it seems that the earth has a magnificent power of renewal and regrowth, and much of the landscape will again become lush with green moss laden forests.
The river we live beside is the coldest water in our entire area, making it rare to fully submerge ourselves unless it is boiling outside (although we do have deep dive worthy natural pools and waterfalls). The breeze that passes along the channel of the river pulls cool air so that even in summertime it feels like a sweet natural AC is there to cool you down. We enjoy making crafts in our free time. I mentioned in my first post that Austin is a spoon carver. He has a real knack for catching onto woodworking and bushcrafting. He has done a lot in terms of construction, landscaping and plumbing for our yurt.
This is a sweet image I rediscovered of our little Om Dome (cute nickname, huh?) during the Total Solar Eclipse in Oregon this last August. Our property was directly central on the path for the eclipse. This rare coincidence with placement and celestial timing meant we had a full two minutes of darkness during the eclipse. Night-time darkness. Full coverage of the sun by the moon. The world became cold. The dogs all went to sleep in a pile once the eclipse began, and upon the sun's return all pup awoke, bursting with energy as if they had slept all night. I took this one photo from our back porch during the eclipse after noticing how beautiful the crescent shaped shadows looked on the canvas.
My next post will be on the interior/exterior of our yurt, showcasing the elements that help make our life both simple and luxurious! In fact, we just hooked up our beautiful new SHC 6 Steibel Eltron water heater! I will definitely make a post about our kitchen set up in the yurt, and will be sure to include more in-depth info about our water system to help out folks who might not have experience with DIY plumbing.
Please let me know if you have any questions about our lives in the woods! We are always seeking new ideas for camp crafts and natural construction--basically any skill we can learn to do ourselves. I intend on making all my own body and beauty care items this year, and will likely do some posts on self-beautification with plant-based ingredients and natural methods. Not only do we have the capability to make and share photos and videos of our crafts, but we have a beautiful location and the natural resources to make it happen. Anything you have dreamed of learning to do, let us try it first and share our experience! Think of Austin and I as your personal DIY testers.
Thanks so much for reading and sharing space with us! I am looking to share each and every day, to truly get involved in the community and reunite with my voice.
I may end up sharing photos and contemplations from my personal Instagram, current handle is @sistergoldensnail, as well as my poetry/writing insta 
Si tiene alguna pregunta y se siente más cómodo preguntando en español, ¡por favor hágala! Disfruto la práctica y estoy dispuesto a escribir artículos en doble idioma si así lo solicita.