Floor done, Walls done, Cubs done...

Well Friends, its been yet another productive week!

First and foremost, our Yurt finally arrived!!

Thats me pretending to be useful...

Thats me accepting my role (of not doing anything...)!

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The subfloor, which holds up our house, is finally finished. Our estimate of 2-3 days of labor stretched into a week and a half, but in the end it looks great. Our builder, Thomas, can attest to the fact this was one of the most challenging floors he's ever worked out. Not only is the layout of the joists rather complicated, but we also had to cut every joist at a bevel that will fit perfectly into 27 sides. This is very difficult, trust us. And don't forget that this 27 sided floor pattern is resting on top of a 12 sided foundation... All is all, we're rather relived that this step is done (although we still have one joist that we want to double up as a girder to support our future spiral staircase. But ssshhh... don't tell the inspectors).

Check out all those angles!!

And of course, we had to cut the plywood to shape as well...

Almost done...

Thomas and Michael, our awesome crew: triumphant (in traditional carpenter pose)!

Yes!!! Pretty cool stage. Too bad we're covering it up with a house...

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After spending so long on the floor, we are happy to report that all the walls went up in one day! Props to Smiling Woods Yurts for accuracy and quality. They look great. We've already had several neighbors stop by to have a look. Apparently we are gaining quite a name for ourselves in the neighborhood, and so is our 'spaceship.'

We'll these photos speak for themselves:

Each wall is 10' tall, and heavy! We had to brace each one so they wouldn't tip over.

Couldn't have done it without the forklift... (yes, it's really that massive)

Our backdoor...

Living room windows...

Front door!

Ahhh...

The 'Spaceship!'

Just another peaceful autumn evening.

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And on a more serious note, the Chicago Cubs, yet again, did not make it to the World Series. Though all the hype, they still didn't make it as far as they did in 2003 when they were ahead 3 games to 1, and 5 outs away from advancing. I attended game 7 against the Marlins that year, and sat in the 10th row of the center field bleachers with my aunt Mary Ann. Kerry Wood hit a home run, but they still lost, and the glory days of the Sammy Sosa era essentially came to an end.

Now, what most people don't realize is the direct correlation between the Cubs lack of success, and industrial agriculture.

This is very relevant to our current endeavors.

You see, during the Cubs last visit to the World Series in 1945, a man named Billy Sianis brought his pet goat to Wrigley Field. After being ushered out of the stadium, along with his goat, Billy put a curse on the Cubs.

Incidentally (or not), 1945 marked the end of WWII, and the ushering in of a new era of unchecked industrialism in the agricultural world (brought on through an organized scheme to use up the excess war chemicals).

Billy Sianis and his goat clearly represent the small independent family farmer, that since 1945 has been bulldozed into submission by Big Ag. His curse was essentially aimed toward the corporate conglomerates that continually aim to squash the little man (and woman).

In recent years the battle between small-scale organic farmers and the large mega-corps has been drawing more attention, and is on it's way to reaching a boiling point at some point in this century.

The question is what will come first. Do we need the Cubs to win, and the curse to break, in order for industrial agriculture to see its demise, and the family farmer rise again? Or is the other way around, where the Cubs will only win (and the curse break), after we win?

Either way, the two are intrinsically connected, and as soon as we become aware of the root cause of the Curse, the sooner we can all work together to end it, and the Cubs will win the World Series, and planet will begin to heal.