Talking Leaves -

Talking Leaves Back Issue Sets Available

chris — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:43:46 -0400

For more than a decade, Talking Leaves enjoyed bioregional, national, and international distribution, first as a journal of "deep ecology and spiritual activism" (in its early days in Eugene) and then as a journal of "our evolving ecological culture" (when Lost Valley Educational Center became publisher). Talking Leaves featured articles, interviews, stories, poems, reviews, reflections, and artwork from contributors both well-known and little-known, including Dolores LaChapelle, David James Duncan, Winona LaDuke, John Seed, Helena Norberg-Hodge, Pete Seeger, Chellis Glendinning, Paul Hawken, Joanna Macy, Al Gore, Cathrine Sneed, Alan Kapuler, Nancy Roth, David Orr, Diana Leafe Christian, Dennis Martinez, Tammy Davis, Bob Dylan, Dianne Brause, Ernest Callenbach, Katsi Cook, Ethan Hughes, Amy Martin, David Kupfer, Devon Bonady, Rick Valley, Hannah McCargar, editor Chris Roth, and dozens more.
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Talking Leaves Journal

chris — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 15:19:16 -0500
Welcome to the online home of Talking Leaves Journal, published from 1989 through 1996 by the Deep Ecology Education Project in Eugene, Oregon, and from late 1997 through 2005 in magazine form by Lost Valley Educational Center in Dexter, Oregon. Starting in 2006, regular print periodical production of Talking Leaves was suspended in favor of an online-only format. All of our past magazine issues from 1998 to present are archived on this site, including links to many of the articles, which are accessible on each themed issue's page under "Magazine Issues." Please check out the toolbar menu links to explore the contents of this site.
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Lost Valley Annual Digest 2006

chris — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 13:58:15 -0500
Please click on the toolbar menu item for the Lost Valley Annual Digest 2006, which includes links to pdf versions of the following files:

Cover
Lost Valley: Manifesting Our Vision
Contents
Exploring the Heart of Now
Conference and Event Facilities
Are You My Conference Center?
Ecovillage and Permaculture Courses
Permaculture for Kids Summer Camp
Lost Valley Contact Sheet
Calendar of Workshops and Events
Nature Trail Map and Directions to LVEC
Nature Center Membership and Eco-Forestry
Sacred Botany: Reading the Signs (Reflections on the Genesis of the Nature Center)
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Surviving Without Oxygen: Prison Letters from Greg Michael

chris — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 12:52:56 -0500

Greg Michael was a federal prisoner in Cumberland, Maryland for over 11 years. I spent six months with him while serving a sentence for an act of civil disobedience. He sought me out right away – in order to better connect with struggles for justice outside those prison walls, and to make sure I was taken care of while locked-up. We became friends quickly - he was my yoga instructor and he taught me how to play the Appalachian dulcimer. He was released over a year ago, and we stayed in touch and dreamed revolution together. He even made it to my hometown a couple of times, in part to raise awareness of his prison experience. He died this past October of a heart attack; because of his incredibly healthy lifestyle I suspect he died after suffering the stress and toxicity of prison (which is common after spending years behind bars).

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Lost Valley Educational Center Journal: v15 n04 Talking Leaves Magazine Winter 2006

admin — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 16:04:51 -0400

Winter 2005/2006

Volume 15, Number 4

In this issue we try out a new format. Rather than placing selected contents on web pages we have attached all of the contents as individual pdf files. If you don't already have a pdf reader you can find a list of viewers on Wikipedia.

CONTENTS
Cover & Table of Contents
Introducing the Lost Valley Nature Center
Lost Valley Announcements & Programs
An Elder's Perspective on Lost Valley: An Interview with Dianne Brause by Chris Roth
Practicing Honesty by kaseja Wilder
Transforming through the Heart of Now: An Interview with Karly Dillard by Chris Roth
Transformation at Three Springs (Heart of Now, Nov. 11-14, 2005) by Susanjoy
Introducing DELVE Children's Program by Marty Wilder and Genevieve Pfisterer
Breath, Gratitude, Love, and Service by kaseja Wilder
Education for a Permacultural Future: An Interview with Joshua Smith by Chris Roth
Design Goals for Ecologically Sustainable Human Settlements by Marc Tobin
Reflections on the Summer/Fall 2005 Issue by Diane Tweten
Lost Valley, Indiana by Maggie Sullivan
Adventures in Tiling by Genevieve Pfisterer
Fainting in the Hot Tub by Genevieve Pfisterer

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Thoughts on Death and Dying

admin — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 15:47:23 -0400

After being away for two days, I drove into my customary parking slot and greeted Vince who was working nearby. He said "Justin was killed in a wreck." It was like getting knocked down, blindsided. I was reeling, and starting to grieve. Justin, who usually had an amused sparkle in his eye, was luxurious in few words, at ease in quiet, fluent in music, thoughtful in work. Gone in chaos. The last time I saw Justin, he was busy building the stone wall in front of the Lodge that we designed. We looked in each other's eyes, and there weren't any words to say. No words; no clear thoughts at all; I looked at Justin, felt love, but no words. He seemed a bit bemused like me, like he usually seemed; we hugged goodbye.

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Imagine!: a response to Rabbi Lerner

admin — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 15:46:30 -0400

What a pity that Rabbi Lerner's voice was not heard during the recent presidential campaign. I find his article strangely comforting. Not only does the good rabbi help me overcome some unhealthy judgmentalism by reassuring me that the motivation of the voters who put Bush back in the White House had something to do with seeking "value in life beyond success in the marketplace"--but he sparks my imagination! He inspires me to begin dreaming about how we whose moral values differ from the "Christian right" can begin to appeal to our common desire for "some sense of transcendent purpose."

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In My Heart/Eyes...

admin — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 15:45:26 -0400
Journal Entries and Letters from Justin Davis, July-October 2004
Our friend Justin Davis, who spent seven weeks at Lost Valley this summer, returned to Texas at the end of September and died on October 4, 2004 in an automobile accident (see Notes from the Editor, on page 9, for more on Justin and how he contributed to our lives). His partner Karly has graciously allowed us to reprint excerpts from the last few months of his journal. Thank you, Justin, for your enduring words of insight and wisdom.-Ed.

Ecospirituality in My Heart/Eyes
from a letter to Karly, July 31, 2004
For me ecospiritual means incorporating all non-human things (and human things too!) into my spiritual practice. This means being open to all signs, signals, and communication from all physical and nonphysical living and non-living entities. It also means holding innate respect for the great purpose of all things; the very existence of something is reason enough for me to respect and learn why it exists, because it is there for a reason. It is seeing each thing as a representation/actuality of the great spirit/oneness that holds everything together and is in everything. It does not matter to me that it is not "scientifically verified." I feel most things in the universe are not "scientifically verified"; when I feel something in a present and grounded state, it is true and real for me because my body is an instrument capable of perceiving and recording all sorts of "data."

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Notes from the Editor: Transformation

admin — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 15:44:10 -0400

In July, when I chose the theme for this issue--"Transformation: Endings and Beginnings"--I had little idea of what transformations lay in store. Some transformations were already well under way at Lost Valley--a very large turnover in the makeup of our resident community, for example. Others, including two deaths among our circle of close friends and family, came as great shocks. And the change within the US political system that I hoped would be ushered in on November 2 took a decidedly different turn from what I had in mind.
The late-summer/autumn season itself was full of transformations, which delayed my work on this issue until early November. Some were seasonal: in the months of September and October, we brought in the harvest from the summer crops, and when those were killed by frost, we replanted the garden beds with wintertime vegetables. Until the garlic, winter salad greens, and cover crops are in, autumn gardening is a race against the rain--and fortunately (because I delayed magazine work), we won that race again this year. The beautiful transition from summer's green/brown lushness to autumn's multicolored tapestry (parts of it migrating from twig-tip to ground), and from long, warm, dry days to short, colder, wet ones, was the backdrop to all this garden-related activity.

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Remembering Justin

admin — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 15:43:06 -0400

a letter to the Lost Valley community, October 12, 2004

To all of you, who have sent so much love and held me from so far away, thank you. I want to respond to each of you individually and do not have the energy right now. I know you understand. It has been incredible to receive so much support from you. Wow. I am so blessed.
The funeral was beautiful. One of the first things the preacher said was that he was reminded of the words of Jesus when he read the mission statement of the Lost Valley Educational Center and intentional community where Justin spent time this summer. Then he actually read the mission statement and I felt so loved and recognized.

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