Age of Ethics and Consciousness: Yurt Project Update

Custom diagrams and article created by Jahrun Chilam Balam 2010.04.17-19

Over the last several years I have been contemplating a lifestyle that is increasingly minimalistic, one where the the focus is on nurturing the part of Earth that I occupy, to restore habitat and ecosystem, and at the same time, grow an abundance of foods for year-round sustenance for myself, tribe, and local community. Sprouting inside of me, is a seed of yearning for home and abode in nature.

Coded inside the seed is my feral creature, one that beckons in a language before the learned tongue of English, so vividly imploring my retreat from domestication; starkly awakened and motivated by messages from seemingly independent sources, like Anastasia, to simply strip off my clothing, place it into a watertight bag, bury it under a rock or in the hollow of a tree and then wander into the forest to live. In strides, I am in the flow of, and flowing toward, a full-time and intimate sensory connection of myself as a completely aware energy being, with that of the Earth as a complete living energy being, all its hosted organisms, and to open the shamanic experience of singularity with The Cosmic Organism.

Three years ago I began looking at the possibility of living in a yurt, and that idea has matured. In March, I decided to purchase a 24-foot diameter yurt from the Colorado Yurt Company. They provide an online Color Builder tool for previewing canvas color combinations. Here is the preview of the colors I have selected. I received a call the other day telling me that the yurt would probably be ready at the end of this week, which is today. But where to put it?

Two weeks ago, I re-established connections with a couple who own and operate an organic foods market in the northwest corner of Arkansas. I first met John and Sue in January 2007 while driving across the country with my dear friend Willow. In between and during our intense discussions about the world and food, I played my flute and Willow treated John to a massage. We connected so immediately, like star family. So... when I first phoned John a year later to talk about coming out that way to research land, upon introducing myself "This is Jahrun. My friend Willow and I visited your store over a year before.", he asked excitedly "Is this Jahrun the flautist?! Sure, come on out I'll be happy to show you around!" John went on to tell me about having read the Anastasia books that I told him about, that he bought a greenhouse kit, and that he had two large parcels of forest land.

Alas, I never did make it to Arkansas as I had a long way to recover from a stage-4 bone marrow cancer diagnosis, baby Tara was to be the third daughter born in my bed, I was to grow a beautiful garden where I would spend the summer with my lovers and my three daughters, I liquidated my possessions and closed-up the house I was renting in Lancaster to drive to Dallas, and then by early October 2009 I embarked on a bicycle expedition from Mexico to Panama. End of January 2010, I returned to cold and dismal Philadelphia, regressed in my health, an ever restless gypsy, discomforted by the vibes of being back in this country, an outcast, a stranger, a year later. So now I leave for Arkansas this Thursday and jettison the scene here in Saratoga Springs to be with John and Sue, and to be working with them to install the yurt somewhere in the forests of their 80-acre permaculture space of love.

It surprises me a bit that many people have never even heard of a yurt, and of course I am more than happy to inform. Many people I have talked to have been quite interested in my yurt ideas and have raised some good questions. Many of the answers regarding qualitative living experience I cannot provide as I simply do not have the experience of actually installing and living in a yurt. But questions like "Will it be warm enough in the winter?" and "How will you heat it?" meet my clarity of vision and seem relatively simple to answer.

Heating
For heating, I plan to have a variety of sources for heating water, including a passive solar collecting panel and also a wood stove/oven that has a water loop, like the ESSE Ironheart EWB. The Ironheart EWB has an inlet and outlet on the left side to circulate water through the wood stove and then into a hot water reservoir. The hot water reservoir itself could also contain an electric heating element that could be used in conjunction with hydro-electric, solar-electric, or any other generated power as a back-up for providing heat and hot water.

Pictured here is a real-life example of a very basic yurt pad being made that includes an in-floor heating loop. A cement truck delivers a pour of cement having an earthy pigment. Well-illustrated by this photo is the fact that little to no lumber is used in constructing the pad. If you begin researching yurts yourself, you will notice that most yurt installations are founded on the creation of an elaborate decking plus a circular wooden-structure pad on top of that! Using so much lumber to create a deck seems counter-culture to the low-impact significance of having a yurt in the first place. But, concrete is very energy intensive to produce and deliver, though it is quick and easy.

Earthen Adobe Floors
While the above picture does illustrate the basic concept of having an in-floor heating loop for a yurt pad, I prefer something much more organic and planet-grounding underfoot and so I have been researching techniques for creating earthen floors. I envision an earthen floor made from mostly clay found on site mixed with sand, straw, grain hulls. Once dried and cured the floor will be finished with linseed oil or some other natural curing oil(s). Some people are using an orange oil. Maybe a final coat of carnuba or some other natural sealing wax. Some people are embedding their art into their adobe floors using additional pigments, or other natural media like pebbles. This could be fun!

Clay is a major industrial mineral resource in Arkansas. Combined industry output in 1995 amounted to over 1 million tons of raw clay, valued at over $1.2 million. In 1995, Arkansas ranked 4th in the nation in production of both kaolin and fire clays, and 9th in common clays. Few data concerning tonnage and grade of individual clay deposits in Arkansas are available, but the amount of potentially useful clay in Arkansas is substantial.

Unlike concrete cement, not only will an earthen floor further reduce the cost and amount of lumber resources required, an earthen floor is easily re-integrated back into the natural environment at such time as it is deconstructed. What actually happens for me will depend on several factors including what materials are available at the site, how much help is available and, how quickly I am able to obtain the prerequisite materials. It occurs to me that I may need to construct two pads, one as an interim solution until the earthen floor dries, with the plan to move-in before winter. I may simply live outside until then. This feels okay to me so long as I have a hammock.

Some advantages of Earthen Flooring:
● Eliminates construction waste – excess earth returns to landscape.
● Attractive, grounding, comfortable, slightly spongy, comparable to leather.
● Materials are inexpensive if not freely available.
● Installation mistakes are easily to repair.
● Easily absorbs other pigments for special designs or artwork.
● Minimal pollution as materials require little processing or transport.
● Durable with proper care and easily repairable with nearby clay soil.
● Low maintenance, able to be swept or moist-mopped; properly sealed.
● Stabilized earthen flooring is not dusty.
● Easy to shape flooring into other features.
● High degree of thermal storage and slow thermal release.
● Good for radiating a soft and even heat from an in-floor heating loop

Some Disadvantages of earthen Flooring
● Labor intensive to install.
● Long time to dry and cure in some cases.
● High traffic areas may require additional materials.
● More vulnerable to scratching and gouging than hard tile or cement.