I pen this introduction to an older post from July 2010, today, Monday, December 15th, 2025.
Version 1.0.0
A précis from the book: “David Abram’s first book, The Spell of the Sensuous, has become a classic of environmental literature. (!!! my take too) Now he returns with a startling exploration of our human entanglement with the rest of nature.
As the climate veers toward catastrophe, the innumerable losses cascading through the biosphere make vividly evident the need for a metamorphosis in our relation to the living land. For too long, we’ve ignored the wild intelligence of our bodies, taking our primary truths from technologies that hold the living world at a distance. Abram’s writing subverts this distance, drawing readers ever closer to their animal senses in order to explore, from within, the elemental kinship between the human body and the breathing Earth. The shape-shifting of ravens, the erotic nature of gravity, the eloquence of thunder, the pleasures of being edible: all have their place in this book.”
There’s a ton of videos on David Abram on YT. He is a mentor of mine; I have many. No time for belief, just truths… that change (shapeshift) when new evidence arrives at the light of day.
The chainsaw firewood guillotine, one of the first structures I built here in early 2009, just after the purchase of this 5 A with a Valley view. All in all, I cut over 40 bush cords of wood here, clearing the Acadian forest 3rd or 4th growth for this homestead.
Firewood guillotine for branches and saplings. This blog is about connecting with thoughtfulness to our E-air-th (sp attribution, David Abram: Becoming Animal, 2011) and to our neighbours as well as ourselves.
I began this writing in 2010, the year this passivhaus (German phrase) or passive solar house was framed, roofed and ready for interior building. This building represents all I had amassed at the time based upon the multiplicity of reading I had done and t’other buildings, all reasonably energy saving that I had built up ’til now. Once this pad was finished, I began to branch out and tell the stories of my life based upon my own experiences. At present, there are over 57 ‘chapters’, or separate posts, and they have been divided into headings found in the top category menu. Have fun, I have done so in the making and the tale-telling. Fun to me is not necessarily the pastime of laughter or cavorting around. Fun to me is any activity that commands my full attention and is thoroughly enjoyable. Then I take pictures, write about those experiences and make a post here. Then it’s move-on.org.
There were odd years that passed, during which no writing transpired. Then there was a long pause of many years, especially during the scamdemic, (I’ll write ’bout that over the coming winter), because I felt I had nothing left to say. I’ve changed my mind. Men do that too. There is no schedule. I’m not playing at woodworking very much, but, de temps en temps, there will be a project I’ll tackle.
It would be easy to assert that jayoh is writing because his EGO (Edge G-awe-d Out) needs to be front and centre. I write for my own pleasure. There’s a comment section after each post, and yes, like anyone, I scrutinize what people say and delete the spam. I only check stats when WordPress would send me monthly tabulations, but rarely. I care not what is read and commented upon. I comment plenty on my 223 YT channels. I sometimes shoot my lip off on FB, even though I’m primarily there for Marketplace, as I continue to downsize. I am the proud owner of this t-shirt; indeed, I have a blue one too. One needs courage to wear something like this in public. hahaha
Back in 2010, the original URL was www.greenerbuilding.ca. It was still a WordPress.com site, but not free. Then I spent all my divorce winnings (and I say that affectionately), became house poor, an NS idiom that means all my capital is in this property with no bank savings.
At the time, the tag line for this blog was, a ‘storey board’ from the Annapolis Valley. That is a metaphor depicting an image. It is that throughout our entire life span, we tell the stories of our lives. We relate with others, those stories which we find interesting or technical, as well as those which move us emotionally. Building is of great concern to me, and to other like-minded folk, since we spend a great deal of time indoors heating ourselves throughout colder weather here north of the 49th. Winter arrives in every province and territory in this Dominion.
gorf or frog . . . by any other name
How we heat directly impacts the greenhouse gases we release into the atmosphere. The world’s climate scientists are in virtual agreement that we humans are changing the chemistry of the planet. This is the first time by a living species of animal that this 6th Great Extinction, as it is referred to, by those who have dedicated their lives and careers to it. The biggest aspect of this tragedy is that most people are unaware of this, or if they are, they go on living as if tomorrow will turn out the same as today.
Imported Pakistan pickup. Hey, the car not the driver! I miscalculated and needed several more sheets. 432 in total. Made in NB with oil from ????? These types of products are what we should be saving our petroleum for, not burning it for locomotion.
For me, with my current recognition of this phenomenon, the task is to be responsible for what I build, how I spend my savings. All these choices jayöh makes, he makes with more than a modicum of consideration.
Q.~ How does this affect our Earth? Does it help our mother or does it hurt her? Extrapolate all you do in a given day and think on the consequences. Do you care ’bout your personal carbon footprint? Did BP think like this corporately when it came to the Gulf of Mexico disaster? Sorry, for me it’s all related. And sorry to the misguided MAGA supporters of Oh-Range, it will never be referred to as the Gulf of America. Take your Monroe Doctrine and shove it where the sun don’t shine… please!
yellow spotted salamander egg clutches — spotted in the pond
I intend to build a new house with an ERS (Energy Rating System) rating of 100, or net zero.
http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/residential/ers-next-gen.cfm?attr=24
This is the highest rating that any new building can achieve under the current guidelines adopted at various stages of governance. NS, by comparison to all the other provinces, can do better than just meet the current standard, which here is the National Building Code.
According to a spring seminar held by Solar Nova Scotia, http://www.solarns.ca/ Shawna Henderson of Bfreehomes
http://bfreehomes.com/cms/ presented the membership with this new ERS data. In the future, houses with the highest ERS # will command a premium price upon resale and be much sought after by the paying public. This system will set itself in place much the same as the EnerGuide http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/energuide/home.cfm system has for purchasing new appliances.
Tube-type hot water collectors on a mansion in Cow Bay near Eastern Passage, NS.
Not to jump the gun too far ahead, but to give readers a little sneak preview of this building:
– Under concrete pad, R value of 20
– Wall cavity R value of 60
– Ceiling space R value of 80
– Windows are to be triple-glazed fibreglass insulated frames and sash, with argon gas between the panes and low E on panes 3 & 5. Doors are constructed similarly.
– Two layers of fibreglass-backed gypsum board, i.e., drywall, on all surfaces for increased thermal mass
– Active components of a DHW or domestic hot water plate collector system, ground-mounted.
– Several PV or photovoltaic panels ground ground-mounted to offset electrical usage.
– Establishing a small-scale wind turbine if resources allow, to reach the ERS of 100
no threat felt by my ruby-throated male hummer friend & his harem
I Am John Ötvös, aka jayöh.
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As a species we are in a lot of trouble. Many still have their heads in the sand about what the human has wrought. We can choose to accentuate the negative or live the alternative. Obviously I have chosen the latter. It’s all energy and the former is not working, so it’s time to dust Plan B off the shelf. As David Suzuki points out In his “Good News for a Change”, there are solutions for all of our problems. My task now is to do as Joe Campbell, one of my American heroes exhorts: “Follow Your Bliss.”
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