Twelve by Twelve (36 page)

during early spring,
29
,
36

end of,
197

as ordinary,
214

surface noise vs. deeper stillness,
127
,
130

translucent images in,
121–22

noncooperation,
89–92

nonduality,
127
,
232
,
234–35

nonjudgment,
128–30
,
233–34

Norris, Kathleen,
239

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA),
194

North Carolina

birdlife in,
33–34
drugs in,
162–63

homeschooling in,
160

Iraq War casualties from,
219

military bases in,
219

residence laws in,
223–24

taxes in,
5
,
219

wildcrafters in,
96
,
204–5

North Carolina wave,
58–59
,
69
,
98

Northern New Mexico Organic Farmers Association,
86

nuclear weapons,
222–23
,
230
,
238
,
245

O

Obama, Barack,
106

O’Donahue, John,
217

Ogiek people,
176

Oliver, Mary,
20
,
259

Onion, The
,
59
,
188

On the Road
(Kerouac),
87–88

organic farming,
21
,
34–35

organic food,
10

organizer cells,
97

Oriental Timber Company,
249–50

Orion nebula,
138–39

outsourcing,
6

P

Pacahuara people,
176

Paraguay,
176

peak oil,
21

permaculture

author’s mentorship in,
86–90

Benton’s farm,
15–16
,
26
,
36–38
,
211–12

as challenge to globalization,
21

defined,
15

edges in,
140

El Bosque Garlic Farm,
86
,
88–89
,
91

natural curves of,
87

resources on,
261–62

sustainability through,
77

Permaculture: A Designer’s Manual
(Mollison),
140

pesticides,
230

Petroleum Man
(Crawford),
86

pilgrimage,
217–18

Pilgrim’s Pride,
42

plantation economy,
198

political organizing,
10

Pope Air Force Base (NC),
219

positive emotion,

positive psychology,
59–61

post-capitalism,
209

Pound, Ezra,
21

poverty,
152–53
,
251

praise, enemy confused by,
254

prayer,
30
,
192

“Prayer” (Kinnell),
214

predictability, avoiding,
157–58

presence, maintaining,
48–51

See also
warrior presence

present moment, focus on,
60
,
120–22
,
133–34
,
151
,
157–58
,
203

problems, convergent vs. divergent,
240–41

progressives, holier-than-thou,
212

“prone yoga,”
111

purpose,
60

Q

Quechua people,
108

R

racism,
100–103
,
112–13

anti-black,
100–101
,
106

anti-Latino,
101–3
,
112–13
,
118
,
129
,
230

denial in dealing with,
106

forgiveness for,
105

structural,
106

as teacher,
234

Raging Grannies, The (activist group),
203

rain barrels,
27
,
109

rainforest destruction,
7
,
10–12
,
175
,
230
,
234

Raphael,
238

Raul (Mayan schoolteacher),
143

reading,
198–99
,
213

renewable energy,
205

Research Triangle (NC),
35
,
78–79
,
160
,
206

rhythm, world as,
137–38

Riester, Jurgen,
176–77

Road, The
(McCarthy),
12

Robin, Vicki,
209

Ronark (AL),
37

Royal Hotel (Monrovia, Liberia),
249
,
250–51

rubber tappers,
179–80
,
198

Rufus’ Restaurant,
98–100

Rule Number Six,
217

Rumi (poet),
144

ruthhu, hiku
(Bolivian hair-cutting ceremony),
180

S

sabbaticals,
208

Sacred Peace Walk,
220–21

sacrifice,
131

Sahtouris, Elisabet,
97

Samaipata (Bolivia),
255–57

Sam’s Barbeque (Monrovia, Liberia),
253–54

San Andres Peace Accords,
193

San Cristobal de Las Casas (Mexico),
194

Santa Cruz (Bolivia),
180

Santa Fe Indian School (Santa Fe, NM),
86
,
89–91

Sartre, Jean-Paul,
188

School of the Americas,
49

Schultz, Howard,
145

selflessness,
252–53

Seligman, Martin,
59–60
,
151

Selma-Montgomery march,
49
,
123

Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail,
123–24

Shakori Hills summer music festival,
232–33

sharecropping,
127–28

showers,
27
,
55
,
69

Sierra Club,
210

Sierra Leone,
10
,
56
,
220

Siler City (NC)

cooperative housing opposed in,
228

eco-community projects in,
78

immigration issues in,
117
,
230

impact of monoculture on,
74–76

Latino immigrants in,
101–2

racism in,
117
,
118

Silk Hope Catholic Worker,
21

simplicity,
57–63
,
147
,
209–10
,
214–16

sin,
196

Sinoe wilderness,
249

slavery,
106–7
,
127–28

Slim, Carlos,
249

Slow Food movement,
204–5

snakes,
66–68

social class,
101

Socratic thoughts, xiv

soft economy

farmers markets and,
201–3

gift-giving and,
207–8

life energy expenditure and,
208–10

personal shopping choices and,
205–6

as rebellion,
204–5
,
208

resources,
262

Solace of Open Spaces, The
(Ehrlich),
213

solitude

benefits of,
50–51
,
195–97

as human shield,
192–95

as last speaker of a language,
191–92

loneliness vs.,
50
,
195

in prayer,
192

stillness in,
133

at
12
×
12
house,
191
,
197–200

Sontag, Susan,
196

South Africa,
122–23

Southern Season, A (Chapel Hill, NC),
207

Southern Village (Chapel Hill, NC),
78–79

species extinction,
84–85
,
181

spiders,
40
,
73
,
189

spirit, and clay,
237–41

Starbucks,
145

Star Wars
,
212

stick season,
24

stretch-shouts,
158

subdivisions,
233–34

subsistence cultures,
75
,
88
,
153
,
210

suburbia,
84
,
233–34

suchness,
183
,
185
,
188–90

suicide rates,
152

Sulston, Elizabeth,
139

sustainability,
77
,
243–44

sustainability movement,
93

sustainable timber,
10

synesthesia,
139

T

tadpoles,
120–21

Taoism,
125–27
,
213
,
234
,
245

Tao Te Ching
(Lao-tzu),
125–27

tax resistance,
3–5
,
94

Taylor, Charles,
249

tea, heirloom,
55

Teachings of Don Juan, The
(Castaneda),
155–56

Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre,
144

telephones, living without,
28
,
53
,
257

television,
76
,
176

Teresa, Mother,
74

Thoreau, Henry David,
38
,
53
,
85
,
132
,
146
,
223

Tibetan Buddhism,
195–96

Tijuana (Mexico),
154

toilet,
27–28
,
56

Tolle, Eckhart,
196

Toupee (Liberian friend),
251–52
,
253–54

transformation,
217–18

Truman, Harry S.,
149–50
,
151

turtles,
119

12 ×
12
house,
3
,
4

author’s first days spent in,
23–31

author’s first time in,
16–19

author’s last day at,
241–45

author’s return to,
138
,
258–60

author’s transformation after time at,
247–54
,
256

forest bulldozing near,
226–29

inside roominess,
17–18
,
65

land surrounding,
18–19

laws concerning,
5
,
223–24
,
258–59

as living inside,
133–34

noise near,
219
,
224–27
,
230

outside appearance of,
16–17
,
212

permaculture farm near,
15–16
,
26
,
36–38
,
211–12

as rebellion,
208

sacrifices vs. seductions at,
131–32

simplicity and humility at,
214–16

solitude in,
191

visitors to,
53–56
,
65–68
,
102

Tyson,
42

U

Ueland, Brenda,
157

Uffizi gallery (Florence, Italy),
238

UK Jedis,
212

UNC Medical Center,
9–10

Unilever,
12

United States

bicentennial celebration of (1976),
82

car demand in,
179

car ownership in,
58

corporate colonization of,
75–77

divorce rates in,
184

drug abuse in,
163

early settlement of,
167

ecocide denial in,
169–70

eight-hour workday in,
150–51

factory education model in,
161

foreign military bases of,
222

hyper-individuality in,
216–17

mental illness in,
166

myths concerning,
83

nuclear capability plan of,
222–23

resource consumption in,
153
,
188

self-worth and “doing” in,
145

television viewership in,
76

See also
monoculture

United States Army,
220

unworthiness, tracing of,
129
,
130

Upper Guinea Rainforest,
11

urban decay,
74–76

urban slums,
154

urban sprawl,
77

Uru-Chipaya people,
176

V

Van Gogh, Vincent,
132

vegetarianism,
39

vernacular culture,
154

video games,
40
,
168
,
170
,
186

violence,
119
,
122
,
124
,
193–94

Virginia Tech massacre (2007),
166

visitors,
53–56

Vitale, Louie,
221

vitamin A,
43

vitamin D,
43

Voting Rights Act (1965),
123

W

Walden
(Thoreau),
53
,
85

Waldorf schools,
161

walking,
30
,
41–42
,
68–69
,
106–7
,
109–10
,
119–22
,
127–29
,
131
,
143–44
,
157–58
,
257

Wal-Mart,
40
,
74
,
108

war,
219–23

warrior presence

defined,
50

humility and,
212

maintaining,
51
,
74
,
247–54
,
257–58

resources for,
262–63