Free Tea Party

A Week Around Orange Coun-Tea – OC, CA

Posted on July 11, 2014 by Guisepi

The Tea zone at the Santa Ana Farmers’ Market

The past week has been filled with some fun tea parties, from Laguna Beach to San Clemente to Santa Ana. I’ve been trying to fulfill my promise to myself to serve tea more often (at least once/week) amongst all my duties and (good) distractions at The Ecology Center. It’s been good to get drawn so nicely into a place, and participate in the vision there, but I keep coming back to the need to fulfill my path and vision.

Sweeping the tea bus – a must before and after every tea party.

Thursday, July 3^rd was Laguna Beach’s monthly First Thursday Art Walk, where shops and galleries open up for a crowd of folks wandering the streets. I love showing up and serving tea at art walks because people are open to new experiences at events like these. To top it off, Edna and I had the help of two of the best tea helpers around – Ally and our friend visiting from San Juan Island, Amanda. We found a great spot amongst the busy-ness of downtown Laguna Beach. The evening was a wonderful collection of folks, from known friends to new ones. A great live band was playing on the street, which convinced us to dance on the sidewalk. We were blessed with the voice of a fellow named Trice from Las Vegas, who sang a beautiful variety of songs – one of which so perfectly fit the tone of the conversation and tea party vibe, that we all requested a way to get a copy from him.

San Clemente 4th of July Tea Zone

The next day was the 4^th of July. We had meant to arrive early at T Street (a surf/beach spot that we could serve tea at and watch the San Clemente fireworks), but when we arrived in early afternoon, there was no way we could find parking amongst the madness. We tried the San Clemente Pier with the same results. Finally we found parking, but it wasn’t a space we could serve tea. I was totally dismayed by the hours of searching for parking, and the overall vibe of excessive alcohol consumption, trash, and debauchery. I almost called it quits and left.

In a last attempt to make do with the circumstance, I decided that we should just set up a rug, cushions, and more in a patch of grass along the main sidewalk to and from the beach. Along with the help of Ally and Amanda, and other wonderful local friends Jeff and Mari, we created a nice little tea zone.

New Tea Friends

The overall experience was a mixed bag of good and bad. It was really nice for me to see the simplicity of serving tea, even without the bus, as having a positive effect on tea-sippers. People were receptive, thankful, inspired, and happy. On another note, the level of disrespect and ridiculous behavior from many folks there for the fireworks was absolutely astonishing. There was a fight. There were many, many folks yelling, “’Murika, F*ck yeah!” as they guzzled beer – at least one of them throwing a beer can at the tea zone. One woman wore a shirt that kind of summed up the mindset: “Let’s get Red, White, and Wasted.” I couldn’t believe how many people actually showed up to be a part of this, and not to mention to bring their kids there. Yet, once again, despite the amount of energy it takes to serve tea at a place like this, the people who showed up for tea, and took the tea zone as a place of respite, made it all worth it.

Teaching an anthropology class at Saddleback College on the history of resource sharing.

On Monday July 7^th, Edna and I were invited to Saddleback College in Mission Viejo to serve some tea and give a lecture to an anthropology class. My lecture was a historical look at the evolution of resource sharing in human history from gifting and sharing, to reciprocal altruism, to debt, barter, money, and all the way to taking or benefitting from other people’s needs or misfortunes. We all sipped tea while talking. Spending a lot of time over the years talking about, reading about, and practicing a gift economy, and other alternative economies prepared me for formulating a lecture on the subject. For the couple weeks leading up to this lecture, I spent a bit of time researching and solidifying this course of history, how it relates to the world today, as well as to the tea bus. The lecture went super well and people were receptive, inspired, and eager to talk more about it. I feel like this opportunity has only solidified my desire to learn more and share that knowledge with others through teaching and potentially writing.

Ann and Paul from The Ecology Center visit the Santa Ana Farmers’ Market.

Yesterday Ally, Edna, and I drove up to Santa Ana to serve tea at the Farmers’ Market. A new friend Kerri, who runs the market, asked us to come and make tea for the people. I’ve had differing reactions and perspectives from Market managers, but being invited to a market is refreshing. Kerri lined up a spot for us amongst an intersection of the market, which was a perfect place. The market is fairly new, so the first half was a little slow. As things picked up, more people came by for tea. Overall, I was actually a little surprised how few people stopped by for tea. But the people who did stop by, were excited, inspired, and we had some great conversations. There were also photos being taken for the next issue of Natural OC – a new eco-publication in Orange County – as well as for Nest Magazine. Keep your eyes on our In The News Page or on Facebook for links to these.

It has been pretty incredible for the tea bus to operate in a place like Orange County. Despite the reputation that this place has, so many people love the tea bus. Everywhere we go people know us, and are excited to interact. Thank you, Orange County!

The tea zone at the Santa Ana Farmers’ Market

This way for FREE TEA!

Showing Saddleback College students the tea bus.

The fireworks in San Clemente

Tea on the grass

Posted in Events, On the Street | Tagged 4th of July, art walk, CA, Downtown Santa Ana Farmers' Market, gift economy, Laguna Beach, Mission Viejo, money, Natural OC, Nest Mag, patriotism, Saddleback College, San Clemente, Santa Ana, The Ecology Center | 6 Comments

Summer Update – San Juan Capistrano, CA

Posted on June 21, 2014 by Guisepi

Solstice at San Onofre Surfing Beach in San Clemente, CA

Another season is upon us. It seems like they just keep rolling through. I guess time does fly when you’re having fun…

The Ecology Center.

Since our last update in Spring, Edna and I haven’t traveled too far or served an enormous amount of tea. Instead, we’ve focused on digging in deep with a new community of folks, working, and taking some time for self.

In early April we took the recommendation of several folks and made our way to an Earth Day celebration in San Juan Capistrano, CA at a place called The Ecology Center. Folks had been telling me I had to visit TEC for a while now, and I thought what a better time than a big celebration to bring tea to? Immediately I was impressed with the place – sustainability in action, permaculture design courses, eco-education for all ages, etc. After a fun day of making tea, I was invited back to a potluck with the permaculture design class. I made tea with all the folks working there and at the end, Evan, who runs TEC, asked if they could hire me for a project. I asked what project? He said, I’m not sure, but I’m sure we can figure something out.

Woking on The Ecology Center’s truck

I came back to The Ecology Center the following week to build a potting cabinet/work-table – and I’ve been here ever since! The projects kept coming, and I was stoked at finding this place. My work here is part paid in money, part paid in resources, and part volunteer. I’ve been building and fixing many things, teaching skills to folks of all ages, taking photographs and videos, organizing, and I even built a bicycle-powered blender.

I had been planning on heading to AZ, where I was hoping to find a good community of folks to be with, some work for money, a place where I could serve tea, and a place where I could just park and folks would come to me. I was told by a friend to not try and find this place, but let this place find me. And it sure did – only not in AZ.

Gathering mallow for tea at The Ecology Center.

The Ecology Center has been a little paradise for the tea bus. They love grey water re-use, so I can dump Edna’s greywater tank on their fruit trees. They have recycling cans, water to fill Edna, plenty of sun to charge Edna’s batteries, all kinds of food growing that I can harvest, WiFi, etc. They also have events throughout the week, some of which I can serve tea at. People know to find me here, and often come for some tea, or just a conversation. I have become a helper to many folks here, even helping people in my spare time with fixing everything from bikes to broken car windows to broken ignitions. TEC is also next door to Orange County’s only family-run organic farm, South Coast Farms, which operates a farms stand with tons of awesome produce.

Soka University’s Garden Show

In late March, we took a little trip to Soka University of America’s campus for a Garden Show they were having. A few of the students there have developed an empty lot into an awesome garden, and they were throwing a party/music show and wanted the tea bus to be there. It was a hassle working with security to get the bus in, as they had health concerns. It was decided that we’d use disposable cups, or people could bring their own mugs. What a bummer! But in the end, security wasn’t there, and we served people in our cups and theirs. After the show, we rolled Edna up a walking path to in front of the dorms, where people were celebrating Earth Hour – an hour without electricity. We lit some of our vegetable oil-powered lanterns, and people gathered in Edna for some tea. We fit 23 people inside, with singing, music, and chatting. It was a wonderful moment for so many folks there, including myself. It is fun to get inspired with younger folks, folks who are just figuring things out in their lives.

I’ve been serving tea only once every couple weeks this Spring, but just made a vow to do it at least once per week this summer. I find that if I don’t serve tea, I feel a little disconnected from myself and my purpose.

Panhe Festival – Who could say no?

When Edna and I have been serving tea, it’s been incredibly well received here in Orange County. We’ve been serving tea every full moon at Aliso Creek Beach for a full moon drum circle, which can be a little crazy, and definitely is busy (10 gallons of tea last full moon). We’ve also pulled up randomly on the streets of Laguna Beach and San Clemente. In March we served tea at the Panhe Festival, which was a fun Native American Earth Day celebration at San Mateo Campground – the site of a previous Native American village. In April we took a nice little trip down to Encinitas, where we were followed by a filmmaker in serving tea at their yearly street fair, as well as a Farmers’ Market (where the market manager went off on us for making tea for folks – “I’m 99% sure that the San Diego Department of Environmental Health would have a problem with what you’re doing”). In May, we boogied on up to Fullerton to a house concert with Andrew Dahl-Bredine, a fabulous singer/song-writer, and were hosted by the awesome Poareo Family. We then headed up to LA to be at a mini family gathering, where many of my family members who had no idea what I was up to got to experience the tea bus first-hand.

Adam and Jodi sing to Willow on Solstice.

Our Summer Solstice was a great day at San Onofre Surfing Beach in San Clemente. We arrived when the beach opened at 6 am to try and skip the lines to get in, but they were already there! It was a day of lounging, serving some delicious Lemon-Tulsi-Stevia sun tea, and hot tea to order. Ally has just arrived back here to Orange County (to work at The Ecology Center), so she accompanied Edna and I in making tea and hosting guests. A long-time family friend from the music festivals of my childhood stopped by to say hi and do some boogie boarding, as well as some other local friends to eat some dinner together. We cooked up some gifted tuna (Thanks, Gregolio!) and had some ridiculous fish tacos as the sun set on the longest day of the year. The beautiful moments that we get to call life are in such abundance!

We’re looking forward to serving more tea around Orange County, as well as some small bus projects on our time off from other work. Thanks for hosting us, The Ecology Center!

A gift from Mountain Rose Herbs

A gift of 127 tinctures from Farm to Market.

We have received a couple of great donations in the past few months. First off, I would like to thank Mountain Rose Herbs for their continued support – this time with an enormous box of teas to get us through the summer. Also, Farm to Market, a local small grocery store that recently shut its doors for good, donated a grocery bag full of tinctures to the tea bus. Both of these donations were exceptionally generous. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Movie night at The Ecology Center.

Tea break for employees of The Ecology Center.

Tea break at The Ecology Center.

Set up for tea and teaching the permaculture class.

Trick for sun tea: use a sprouting lid to strain.

Papap Joe’s espresso bar. Kind of Ironic.

My family – aunt, cousin, grandma, grandpa, great-aunt, uncle.

7th grade scavenger hunt for native useful plants.

The Ecology Center from Edna’s roof

Panhe Festival!

Soka

Singing songs at Soka

Friends play music at Soka’s Garden Party

Flyer for Edna being at Soka

Posted in Events, News, On the Street | Tagged Aliso Creek Beach, AZ, beach, CA, community, drum circle, Earth Day, Earth Hour, Farm to Market, Farmers' Market, full moon, garden, greywater, Laguna Beach, Mountain Rose Herbs, Orange County, organic farm, Panhe Festival, permaculture, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, San Onofre, serving tea, Soka University, Solstice, Summer Solstice, sun tea, sustainability, tea party, teaching, The Ecology Center, tinctures | Leave a comment

Spring Update – Trabuco Canyon, CA

Posted on March 20, 2014 by Guisepi

Spring Cleaning!

Today is a big day! Not only is it the first day of Spring, but it marks 6 years since the day I bought Edna and the one year mark of our Two+ Year North American Tour. According to plan, we’ve been traveling at a comfortable pace – sometimes fast, sometimes slow; visiting many new communities, as well as familiar ones; and making tea at all types of places – from the Pacific Crest Trail to Hollywood Blvd.

Planting a tree in front of the Giving Garden in Santa Monica, CA.

In the first few months of this tour we struggled with finding the balance of no plans, but seeking to accomplish things as well. And finally, I believe, we have found this. Since leaving the more familiar North West Coast, we’ve been graced with many opportunities to sink or swim with the ebb and flow of our adventures. The harshness of the big city environment of Los Angeles (endless parking meters, anti-camping laws, no biodiesel, etc.) gave us an opportunity to swim against the current. And we made it out alive. Just 5 years ago, Los Angeles was an easier beast for us. What happened? Are we softer for our time spent in easier communities? Did LA change? Some of our certain parking spots were gone, leaving us with harder guerilla camping and higher dependency on friends, new and old. In the midst of this, however, we continued to make tea for folks, find and participate in beautiful communities, and figure out where we could take a rest.

A whole crew of wonderful folks on Abbot Kinney in Venice Beach, CA.

Our trip since Winter Solstice brought us down from Nevada City, through the central valley of California, into Ojai for a stint, and on to Los Angeles. For much of the beginning of this trip, my dear friend Ally accompanied us, bringing her own vibe to the journey and tea parties. We went back to Hollywood Blvd – the place where it all started. We relearned the city, driving the old roads, finding new ones. We took rest in the shade of the trees of Griffith Park, and made a trek to visit my grandparents. In between our trip down to Laguna Beach for the Terra Vita Herbalism Symposium, we stopped places like Costa Mesa, Harbor City, San Pedro, Monrovia, Pasadena, Venice Beach, Santa Monica, and more. Each of these places offered a different experience. In Venice, we made tea on Abbot Kinney for a wonderful crowd. In Santa Monica, we participated in a wonderful community called the Giving Garden, where we connected with some wonderful folks and lent a hand at (trying) to fix some things.

Students at the Anneliese School in Laguna Canyon, CA.

At the Terra Vita Herbalism Symposium, we were invited to stay one extra day at the Anneliese School by some of the school’s directors in order to spend some time with the 5^th and 6th graders. And boy, what a blast! After gathering all the 5^thand 6^th graders into one classroom (about 30 of them), I started sharing about what I do with the tea bus. There were lots of words like whoa and cool floating around the classroom. And 6 by 6, we went out to the bus for tea. I told them about and showed them some of the cool things, like the solar electric system, waste vegetable oil system, wood stove, hot water heated by waste engine heat, etc. Afterwards we gathered back in the classroom for some Q&A. I was blown away by how interested the students were. Many of them spent their recess with me and they invited me to share lunch with them. Afterwards, the 5^th graders and their sweet teacher spent part of their class in Edna playing mystery games. Other than the heart-warming but silly request of many of the students for an autograph, the kindest gift was from a student named Drew, who made a Magic (the Gathering) card with a picture of me on it, cup of tea in hand, and Edna in the background (50/50 creature, one forest manna to summon, He uses tea for fun. He gives free tea and is super EPIC).

Tea time in Monrovia, CA for their Friday Night Festival.

My dear friend Edward (who taught me to weld, and helped build my roof rack when I first bought Edna) suggested I head out one of these Fridays to Monrovia for their weekly Friday Night Festival – a street fair with music, food, and art. Having a love for these kinds of events, I couldn’t resist. Immediately upon arrival, a charismatic fellow named Jeremy took a liking to the bus. Instant buddy! And upon asking, the local board shop welcomed the tea bus to park out front, and even put out a message on their networks for folks to come on down and get some free tea.

I get gifted a massage for all my hard tea serving work.

What started as a slow evening became an amazing night with a group of young adults who call themselves “The Family.” Self-described social outcasts, this group has created their own community that has flourished, reaching numbers in the 30s or 40s at times, though there are core members who help stitch the crew together. The Friday Night Festival has served as their meeting place, and brings them out each week. Stumbling upon the tea bus, they couldn’t help but get drawn so deeply in to the concept, construction, and lifestyle behind it all. By the end of the night, with many questions asked, many cups of tea drunk, and a bunch of happy folks, they had decided on potentially purchasing their own bus – figuring out who would be the mechanic, who would build things, etc. We arrived back in Monrovia a few weeks later for another Friday event. Again, what started slow turned into another beautiful night.

Myself riding one of Edwards Frankenbikes.

Amongst our Monrovia street adventures, we spent time at the house Edward and his wife, Robin. They welcomed us to park out front, offered food and showers, fresh homegrown produce and avocados, and even let me work on a wood-working project in his shop – the build-out of my Gift and Take area (blog entry on this to come). I have to say, that after much time apart, true friends are ones as such. Edward was just as excited to be a part of the tea bus’ evolution this time around as he was 5+ years ago. We jive wonderfully and tend to bounce creative ideas off each other. A burner, bike Frankensteiner, and a builder… A true gem!

Amongst the journeys around So Cal, we were invited to come and participate with one of our favorite organizations. We love Common Vision because they are the world’s largest vegetable-oil-powered caravan, planting fruit trees at schools with kids. In the past, I’ve been on tour with, and worked on many video projects for them. This time around I created a fun little 3-minute video to highlight their orchards as living classrooms. In between all the work, I was able to be part of this community, sharing space, food, and several tea parties with all the good folks traveling on the bus, and living at the Sugar Shack – the LA home base for Common Vision. Love you guys!

Common Vision’s bus, Bu, and Edna Lu.

In Long Beach, where we stopped a few times, we served tea multiple times at the FREE YOGA that takes place on the bluff every day. Inspired to create larger access for an often-pricey class, Dharma started teaching free yoga on the bluff. What started small grew quite large and serves up to 70 or so folks on the weekends. It was a pleasure to meet many of these folks, and especially Dharma and Radharani – both of them instructors. When I served there on a weekend, it was so busy I had a line more than 30 people long. I couldn’t make tea fast enough – especially since I was making iced tea! Thank you for providing a gift for the community! It is amazing to see other projects similar to the tea bus out there.

Free Yoga on the bluff.

On a Tuesday, we served tea at Long Beach’s Bixby Park Farmers’ Market. We pulled up to the side of the park and opened our doors, only to hear from our new friend Arturo (from Communitea Culture) that the health inspector was there. I hesitated leaving the FREE TEA sign out. I decided that an interaction with a health official was something that I needed to experience. With the steady stream of people coming in to the bus, I kept my eye out for the inspector (scanning for a clipboard). As I was chatting with a guest, he appeared.

Arturo of Communitea Culture in Long Beach pours tee.

Arturo of Communitea Culture in Long Beach pours tea at the Farmer’s Market.

Do you have a health permit for this?

I didn’t know I needed one for making friends and inviting them into my house for tea!

He was a very reasonable man, but still wanted me to shut down. I assured him throughout our conversation that I was taking my signs down, but that I wanted to know what law said I needed a permit. As I understood it, California Retail Food Code (CalCode) stated very clearly that “private homes” were not, indeed, Food Establishments, and therefore did not require a health permit. He said that signs offering tea to strangers made it public, but that I should come down to the health department and chat with them, as this was not an end-all-be-all circumstance. I obliged, and shut down.

After spending more time researching CalCode, I found the laws that govern Food Establishments. The relevant ones:

114381. (a) A food facility shall not be open for business without a valid permit.

113789 (c) “Food facility” does not include any of the following: (2) A private home.

113758 (6) “Private home” means a dwelling, including an apartment or other leased space, where individuals reside.

Project time in Harbor City at Jon’s.

It seems pretty straight forward to me… What I do, does not require a health permit in the State of California, unless county or city law says otherwise. I could not find any law for the City of Long Beach that does… I was hoping to get a chance to stop by the Long Beach Health Department on my way back through, but didn’t get a chance.

On our way through, we stopped in Harbor City twice, where my good college friend Jon bought a house. This provided us with a perfect place to home-base ourselves. Jon, working 65 hours a week as a lawyer, had written months ago wanting to bring more things into his life like serving free tea and planting fruit trees. And so I came! His big vision includes creating a community space for town hall meetings, and free legal advice on weekends.

Gifted tea cup at San Pedro Art Walk.

Our first evening together, we took a drive just down the road to San Pedro’s monthly art walk. I convinced him to keep the suit on he had been wearing for court, and I put on mine – tie and all – to go serve tea in. A rare rainy evening made it slow. But often that can bring a deeper sense of genuineness to tea parties. People who come in are likely to stay longer, sip more tea, and connect better with the fewer people who are there. We met a couple who had built a sauna in a trailer, some high-schoolers, and more. A kind woman who makes amazing teacups offered us one as a token of appreciation.

When I arrived back in Harbor City a couple weeks later, I set up shop in Jon’s back parking area. It was perfect to do some tinkering with my waste vegetable oil system… There was cement, power, a roof to store some tools and parts under, and a good friend who needed a hand with a few things. During this time, Ally came back down for a short visit before her big trip across the nation. A true friend Ally has become, and like her namesake, she has become an amazing ally.

The new WVO filter (coolant wrapped).

The new Hose-in-hose (HIH) WVO heating setup.

The few projects I was attempting (building and installing a new WVO filter and hose-in-hose setup, up-sizing the hose that feeds my centrifuge, replumbing my clean WVO to include its own pump, etc) couldn’t take more that three days, or so I thought. I ended up underneath my bus for a week and a half, with everything going wrong that possibly could. Phew, that was exhausting. A HUGE thanks to Jon for letting me work on these projects at his house. What a bro!

Now we reside in Trobuco Canyon – a wonderful sanctuary amongst the madness of Orange County. I’m here to make a couple short films for an awesome nature-based educational non-profit called EarthRoots Field School. It’s been a blessing to be brought into a community of wonderful folks, to a place I can call home, even if briefly, to share meals and land. Thank you, Jodi, Adam, and Willow!

On the full moon Edna and I crept out to the beach for a full moon drum circle, which was a blast!

Spring Cleaning!

Alan, Julian, and Lucas at our equinox celebration.

Today was a wonderful day. I got to sleep in for the first time in a while, so it was nice to be warm and snuggley inside Edna for a couple extra hours. Once I finally roused, I spent the day giving Edna love in the form of Spring cleaning on her inside – starting at the top, and working my way down. I only got to window level, but I’ll continue to clean her over the next week while I’m here in Trobuco Canyon editing. In the evening we had a potluck/equinox gathering here at Jodi, Adam, Willow, and Alan’s place with just 10 or 15 people. Tea, food, fire, story-telling – a wonderful way to spend the first day of Spring, and Edna’s (re)birthday. Here’s to the more years to come of tea tour!

Some equinox drumming next to the bus.

Our plan from here is to take our time to get to Arizona and New Mexico. Know a place we should visit, or people we should see there? Let us know!

A big shout out and thanks to Califa and Jed in Silverlake, Gidget and the whole Giving Garden Community in Santa Monica, Jim and his whole house in Echo Park, The Leeds Family in Laguna Canyon, Chris Prelitz and Theresa in Laguna Beach, everyone at the Anneliese School in Laguna Canyon, The Sugar Shack in Mid-Town Los Angeles, my family with Common Vision on the road, Misty in Hollywood, Egon in Hollywood Village, Edward and Robin in Monrovia, David in South Pasadena, Side Street Projects in Pasadena, Ude and Blue in Harbor City, Dharma and Radharani with Free Yoga, Arturo and Anna of Communitea Culture in Long Beach, and Jodi, Willow, and Adam in Trobuco Canyon.

New skylight knob made from an old spigot handle that Edward gave me.

Some reminders every time I walk out the door. I love all these!

Edwards shares some words of wisdom on something – probably something very important.

There’s always lots of interesting characters on the tea bus.

Two tea guests in Monrovia, CA.

Some of “The Family” at the Friday Night Festival in Monrovia, CA.

Misty sips tea on Hollywood Blvd.

Christian, a traveler from Germany, rocks the Make Tea Not War sticker.

Michael and Leo of Common Vision sipping some tea in Mid-Town Los Angeles.

My grandfather, Joseph, with his Model A. Perhaps this is where I get some of my tinkering from.

Free yoga on the bluff in Long Beach, CA.

Even the pup enjoys the tea bus. Venice Beach, CA.

Two wonderful tea guests in Venice Beach, CA.

Gidget brought cake to share on Abbot Kinney in Venice Beach, CA.

Tea Time at the the Full Moon drum circle ay Aliso Creek Beach.

Tea Time at the the Full Moon drum circle at Aliso Creek Beach.

Egon plays ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow” on Hollywood Blvd.

New tires in Mission Viejo, CA.

Old-school tea sipper Lunch Box from 8 years ago comes back for some tea.

Posted in Events, Journeys, News, On the Street | Tagged Abbot Kinney, Anneliese School, art walk, CA, Common Vision, community, Costa Mesa, drum circle, EarthRoots Field School, elementary school, Farmers' Market, Free Yoga, Friday Night Festival, full moon, Gift and Take, Giving Garden, Harbor City, health inspector, health permit, Hollywood, Hollywood Bl, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Monrovia, North American Tea Tour, Ojai, Orange County, Pacific Crest Trail, Pasadena, San Pedro, Santa Monica, spring cleaning, street fair, Sugar Shack, TerraVita Herbal Symposium, Trabuco Canyon, Venice Beach, WVO | 1 Comment

Terra Vita Herbal Symposium

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Guisepi

Many of the teachers, organizers, and others at TerraVita Herbal Symposium.

My friend Mason, who is the event coordinator for Mountain Rose Herbs, mentioned last November that he was helping organize an herbalism event in February in Laguna Beach. He suggested I attend to make tea, and asked if I was going to be in So Cal. Most offers and suggestions like this are usually too far in advance, or I’m not planning on being in the area. This one was different. I was planning on heading south for the winter and it sounded just right.

Laura and Kimberly (making James Green’s Holy Water)

The TerraVita Herbal Symposium is a biannual two-day event, happening once in Ashland, OR and once in Laguna Beach, CA every year. It brings together a community of herbal teachers and students for plant walks, classes, and this time around, free tea. I spent two days parked at the venue, the Anneliese School, making tea, popping into classes, and providing a space for people to interact.

The kind of people that this event gathered was incredible. It was hard to know what to expect because it is Orange County. Not having spent any time here, I was only subjected to the media portrayal of the area. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. First of all, the venue of the event was one of the campuses of the Anneliese School, which has a garden, horses, a huge aviary, and hosts curriculum for the kids that is extremely multifaceted. The attendees of the event were all super down to earth, eager to learn, ready for what the classes and tea bus had to offer, and friendly. I was literally overwhelmed with the attention and affection for the tea bus. Luckily there was plenty of time during classes for me to clean up, make sure there was plenty of hot water and tea, and take some personal time.

Rob’s free make-your-own tea station.

One of the teachers, Rob Talbert, a Laguna local, offered a free make-your-own Ayurvedic tea for everyone in attendance. What a cool thing! A man after my own heart.

After experiencing the tea bus a couple of the school’s directors asked Edna and I to come and speak to 5th ad 6th grade classes on Monday. Um… yes! More on that to come.

I want to thank Elise for organizing this event; Mason and Mountain Rose Herbs for helping make sure it happened (as well as sending us more tea and Make Tea Not War Stickers!); Kimberly, Clay, Elliot, and Logan Leeds for hosting us for two nights (my new family!); all the wonderful guests; all the teachers; the Anneliese School; and SEEDS. Wow!

Closing Circle at TerraVita Herbal Symposium

Fun guests!

Deep conversations.

More tea, sir?

Jodi and Willow 🙂

Sisters!

Reem, her baby, and Maria - great guests!

Reem, Baby Willow, and Maria – great guests!

All ages in attendance.

Posted in Events | Tagged Annaliese School, Ayurveda, CA, elementary school, Laguna Beach, Mountain Rose Herbs, Orange County, Rob Talbert, TerraVita Herbal Symposium | 3 Comments

Back on the Boulevard – Hollywood, CA

Posted on January 29, 2014 by Guisepi

Tea on Hollywood Boulevard.

Wow folks, this is where it all began! Eight years ago this month I was lonely. Working more than full time for little pay, I was craving genuine human interaction without having to spend money. In fact, I was finding that when money was involved, the interaction was almost always less than genuine. So, there I found myself wandering down to Hollywood Boulevard in the evenings to cook my dinner on the tailgate of the pickup truck I was living in. “What are you doing?” passerbys would ask. “I’m making some dinner. Would you care to join me?” And thus an interaction would begin. People of all kinds would sit and eat with me, and then sip tea for hours as I brewed pot after pot.

Setting up for tea.

Now, fast-forward eight years. I’ve since purchased a short school bus and converted it into a mobile free teahouse, as well as a fairly self-sustaining home on wheels. Edna (the tea bus) and I haven’t been on Hollywood Boulevard in 5 years – not since I first purchased her and was living in LA again. In that time we’ve travelled the west coast dozens of times over, as far east as Colorado, and served over 20,000 cups of free tea to around 8,000 people. We’ve served in the mountains to hikers, on the beach to surfers, on city streets to urbanites, and at festivals, farmers markets, art walks – but nowhere compares to Hollywood Boulevard.

The diversity of the Boulevard.

They don’t call this place Hollyweird for nothing. Folks have heard me say time and again that there are folks of all kinds here, from TV producers to gutter punks, from college students to Japanese tourists. One can always count on a VERY diverse crowd at a tea party on Hollywood Boulevard. And last Tuesday was no exception.

We rolled in a couple nights before just as we arrived LA, just to get a look at the old stomping grounds. I stood there in disbelief of my bravery for serving tea amongst this madness when I was 22 years old. There are people heckling you to take tours, buy their rap CD (“Do you like hip hop?”), spare them some change, etc. There are people out to party, people out to make a buck, people out to see the stars on the sidewalk.

I knew this was going to be a full circle moment, so I asked some friends to do some filming. Capturing some of the interesting interactions was such a beautiful thing to do. There’s people in good cheer, a homeless veteran getting some things off his chest, good shots of the diversity the bus draws on the Boulevard, even a reunion with a tea sipper from five years back, etc. The resulting footage will go into a new 5-minute video I am working on for the tea bus’ website. Many of the photos throughout this post are stills taken from that footage. Thanks to Michelle and Ryan of America ByCycle, Jim, and Ally for shooting footage. I’m going to try and get out there once more to get more footage before I leave LA.

It was this diversity that created the tea bus. It was these genuine human interactions that created the tea bus. It was the smiles, the fist bumps, and the tea shared amongst strangers that created the tea bus. And for this, I want to say thank you to Hollywood Boulevard.

Posted in Events, Journeys, On the Street | Tagged America Bycycle, CA, community, diversity, Hollywood, Hollywood Blvd. | 3 Comments

OJAI! Would you like to go on an adVENTURA? – Ventura County, CA

Posted on January 26, 2014 by Guisepi

A guests enjoys the view from Edna during the Ojai Farmers’ Market.

Well yes, I would! Kidnapping my friend Ally, we left Nevada City bound for Ojai. Taking a couple days to get there, we stopped at junkyards to look for another injection pump for Edna along the way. Old highway 99 has all the junkyards coming down through Stockton, Modesto, Fresno, Bakersfield. Not knowing any better, we took highway 33 over the hills and into Ojai. It was a steep and winding road, but we made it on down to a temporary community house in Ojai. The house is comprised of many folks, several of whom left LA after the UP (Urban Permaculture) House was disbanded due to code violations and such. I met one of them in Colorado in 2012, and two of the other folks, Michelle and Ryan, as they bicycled down the west coast in 2012 making documentary episodes for their project called America ByCycle. They followed the tea bus for a week back then, and they came to Blues Recess Massive last summer to help serve tea at our free tea café.

New (used) and old injection pumps.

The mess of installing a new injection pump.

I was stoked to accept their invitation to come work on Edna in their driveway after I sent out an email looking for such a space. Over the course of a few days, I removed and installed a new (used) injection pump, explored the area (local CSA farm, farm-to-table restaurant called Farmer to Cook, etc), and lived with this great community. The injection pump was a long time coming. After not being able to find a fuel leak on top of the motor for a couple months, I finally realized it was coming from the weep hole on the bottom of the pump, which meant she had a leaky main shaft seal. Bummer! That’s what 5 years of biodiesel will do to these Stanadyne DB2 pumps.

Michelle and Ryan of America ByCycle.

On Sunday, we went to the Farmers’ Market in town. We got a perfect spot right next to the market with a patch of grass right off the sidewalk. Just as I suspected, everyone was excited and came in for tea. We had jam sessions, people reading from our library, a photographer taking photos, and more. At one point we had a bus full of people who all lived in, or had lived in, vehicles. Even the 50 or 60 year old, wonderfully dressed and well put together gal lives in a camper. It was fun to share stories.

Ojai Farmers’ Market tea time.

The only person not too excited was the market manager. She came over to us and told me that businesses across the street don’t appreciate venders being out on the sidewalk and street; if the health inspector came he would shut us down; and that Edna was taking valuable parking up for people who had to walk to their cars with groceries from the market. I assured her that I wasn’t a vender, and that I was just a fellow making friends and inviting them in for tea (there’s always exemptions for this in health codes), and that we could arrange for people to help other people carry groceries if need be. She wasn’t amused, and left in just as stern of a mood as when she came over. We stayed all day at market and we never heard from her again. I understand her concerns, and I hate to be confrontational, but I honestly believe in what I do, and I can’t be intimidated by threats – no matter how direct or indirect. Evidently she’s known for this type of behavior. Nevertheless, the guests on this day were incredible.

Michelle of America ByCycle shows us the water station at Euterpe Farm.

On Thursday we left for a day at the coast. On the way we stopped at this awesome little by-donation, wind- and solar-pumped mineral water station on the side of the road at Euterpe Farms. They host little concerts there and fun events. Edna was thirsty, so we dropped some money in the bucket and filled her up.

Ah, we really are in So Cal. Palm trees at C St.

On to the beach! The spot: C Street Surf Break. This is a great spot along the boardwalk where many surfers, from novice to expert, share the waves. There are people walking, biking, skateboarding, and dancing through all day. A nice fellow named David waved at us from his awesome surf van as we pulled in looking for a parking spot. He was leaving soon and after we hung with him for a while, he offered his spot up to us. It was a mellow, but fun day, with friends from the community house coming to visit, and surfers, walkers, and other random loiterers coming for tea. It seems like surf spots like this are perfect for the tea bus, not only because there’s so many open people there, but because hot tea is great when you get out of the cold ocean.

Myself and new friend Jason (photo: Byba Sepit)

That night we went back to Ojai, and after a rough couple days of food poisoning, we left for LA.

Thanks so much to the whole Ojai crew: Heath, Michelle, Ryan, Maylan, Ret, Chuck, Alex, Byba, and all the other lovely people, places, and faces.

Posted in Journeys, Mechanical, On the Street | Tagged America Bycycle, Bakersfield, C St., CA, CSA, farm, Farmers' Market, Fresno, Jam Session, junkyard, LA, Modesto, Ojai, Stockton, Surfing, UP House, Ventura | 2 Comments

Disc Golf and Curtains – Nevada City, CA

Posted on January 17, 2014 by Guisepi

Campfire (and tea) area at Silva Acres Disc Golf Tournament.

I just wanted to give a quick little update from the journeys of Edna Lu the teabus and myself, Guisepi. I’m sitting in a cute little tea shop in Fresno, where I spent way too much money on a pot of tea (ironic, isn’t it). I spent the day driving and in junkyards looking for a new injection pump (my main shaft seal is leaking – I guess that’s what 5 years of biodiesel does to these Stanadyne DB2 pumps). Destination: Southern CA! (Maybe we’re here already?)

Sewing one of the front curtains.

Edna and I just spent 3 weeks in Nevada City serving some tea (see New Years blog entry), and working on some fun projects. The main project I was working on was finishing up the curtains that I started with the help of my friend, Ally, last winter. It’s funny how long a project can take until completion sometimes. With the help of Ally, and her mother, Jennifer, I was able to combine my vision with their practical sewing knowledge to create exactly what it was that I wanted. Also, I got to work on Jennifer’s vintage Singer sewing machine, which was such a pleasure (my Singer Featherweight wasn’t working at the time).

Allly helps out with some sewing.

The curtains are great! Made from (mostly) salvaged fabric (decorations from the Rootstalk tea tent, thrift store scores, and Ally’s grandmother’s old curtains), they provide a few different functions: (1) They block view so I can have the privacy one needs in their own home; (2) They block ALL LIGHT from escaping the vehicle for when I am in towns and cities that have anti-homeless laws for people sleeping in their vehicles; (3) They are black on the outside, so that along with the tinted windows, you can’t tell that curtains are drawn – only that it’s dark looking inside; and (4) They are pretty on the inside (gold and purple gypsy floral designs).

Curtain Design (skip italicized paragraphs if you aren’t interested):

Passenger side curtain.

The gold-colored side curtains are on a wire, and slide from out of the way and into closed position. The top is pushed against the inside side of the bus from the wire it runs on. Just above the wire, a piece of the bus juts inward, so it helps block any light from going out the top of the curtains. The bottom of these curtains snap into place to keep them from moving and light from escaping.

Rear curtains.

The rear curtain used to be on a wire, but it got in the way every time the bed went up and down (its on a pulley system). What a PITA. Because of this, I opted to do a wireless curtain, or rather curtains, here. There are three gold curtains across the back (one for each window). They snap into place, and when you put them away, you simply pull the top snaps and stuff them in a special nook just below the windows. Keeping the bottom attached makes for an easy set up and take down. After only putting snaps on the four corners, I realized that I needed to put more snaps across the tops to keep light from escaping.

Front curtains.

The purple front curtains were such a pleasure to make. There are three that go from behind the drivers seat to in front of the copilot chair. On the sides, they snap into place. The bottoms, they either hang, snap, or magnet into place. Where the front curtains overlap, they either snap or magnet. Originally, for the tops, I was going to snap the curtains to the ceiling, but my buddy Owen urged me to do otherwise. He had converted a full-sized school bus up on Orcas Island when I was living there a few summers ago. He had ordered a flexible plastic track for the curved ceiling of his bus, and suggested I do the same. I was so torn, because I hate buying new plastic. After looking at the track and its specs online, I decided to purchase it. And boy, am I happy with it! I was able to order little plastic pieces that fit in the track that have a female snap on them. This allowed me to make curtains that could snap and unsnap from the curtain track for washing them. I also liked this because the center curtain was designed to mostly be attached to one of the side curtains, but when I want, I can detach it and re-attach it over the inside of the

Handicap door curtains.

windshield. I wanted to do this so that I could expand my inside living space when I had more time to set up, and being semi-obvious about living in my bus was okay (e.g. at a friends house, a festival, etc.). I also sewed a curtain for the driver’s door window, that snaps over my tools when not on the window, as well as a small curtain for a small triangular window up front.

On the handicap door, I put the remnant of the plastic curtain track on the bottom of the roof (which is on the inside). I sewed two curtains so that they open nicely to the side and look super fun and pretty. I wanted them to look nice because the door is the first thing people see when they approach the bus for tea.

Broken snap (male piece is still stuck in the female plastic piece).

Snap solution: small nuts and bolts put through snaps.

The only problem I had in using the flexible track was with the snaps. The female snaps in the plastic pieces that slide in the track are so tight to snap the male snaps into, that it not only makes it hard to snap them in, but it makes it so about 1 in 10 snaps break apart when trying to pull the snaps apart. The male snaps come mounted to a length of webbing that you’re supposed to sew into the top of your curtains. It’s a great design, other than the breaking snaps. To fix this, I decided to purchase some super small stainless nuts and bolts, which bolt right through the center of the snaps. I put some thread locker on them, and all seems good!

Snapped on cushion cover on fridge.

Other projects that I worked on were: re-sewing the cushion on the fridge so that it snaps to the lid and doesn’t slide around anymore; attaching the handicap door inside roof in a more secure manner; installing a new fresh water pump (love this!!!); installing a magnetic latch for the cabinet door on the front of the box below the copilot chair; and fixing and installing a new brass water filter faucet from the ReStore.

Truk passing out prizes.

Amongst the projects, I made time to serve tea at the Silva Acres Open Disc Golf Tournament. Silva Acres is an amazing disc golf course on private land, built mostly by the hands of a fellow named Truk. Several years ago Truk had experienced a dark part of his life, which ultimately led to an accidental over-dose on pharmaceutical drugs. This left him in both physically and mentally rough shape. He doesn’t remember a month of his life. Slowly he began to come back to reality, but with a lot of anger. Instead of letting this fire cause destruction, he channeled it. His method was to go into the forest behind his folks’ house and just start clearing. He cleared branches and brush, but didn’t quite know why at first. Then he knew. He was building a disc golf course. Over the next couple years, and with the help of friends and family, he has transformed the property into a top-notch 18-hole course (two of the world’s best disc golfers were at this tournament). His story is inspiring because of his low-point that created such a high, not only for Truk, but for such a large community of disc golfers, friends, and family. And thus, Silva Acres Disc Golf Course was built.

I met Truk last Summer in Nevada City when I was serving tea (blog entry here). He came aboard the tea bus and said something like, “No way! This is what I wanted to do.” Inspired by all the free tea he received from locals in Nepal when he was traveling there a little while back, he had decided he wanted to use free tea in a similar way. After he found the tea bus, he took his truck on the road to Santa Cruz and served free tea to strangers. He also made it a custom to make free tea in the clubhouse at Silva Acres for all the players and guests. Excited about all that FREE TEA holds, he invited us to come make tea at the Silva Open, the second annual disc golf tournament at his course.

The tea zone at Silva Acres.

Ally, Edna, and I arrived first thing in the morning and set up at the top of the hill in the center of the property. The Sunday before the tournament they light a fire in a fire pit up there, and keep it burning through set up and until the tournament ends on Sunday evening. This fire creates a space for people to gather out in the course. We were lucky enough to get Edna up the hill to perch just next to the fire. We set up a rug, chairs, a small table, and cushions, made tea and invited people in.

Tea guests at the disc golf tournament.

The day was exciting. We made one of Mountain Rose’s new blends – Mint Chocolate Maté – which when served with cream and honey is just about one of the most delicious energizing teas I can imagine. The people loved it! The players, fans, family – everyone came for tea. In the little down time we had, I tinkered with the brass faucet I bought at The ReStore that wasn’t working (wasn’t fully machined inside – must’ve been a floor model. A few holes drilled, a couple holes tapped, and we were good to go). When the evening wrapped up, we had the awards ceremony and a raffle up next to the bus and campfire.

Reunion with Sash and Dominique, who were ridesharers 5 years ago.

Reunion with Sasha and Dominique, who were ridesharers 5 years ago.

Edna and I also had the wonderful surprise of a couple folks who had been ridesharers on the bus in her early days (5 years ago). Sasha and Dominique, two Stanford students, got a ride with us from the Bay at Humboldt with a couple of their friends. It was great to see their smiling faces, as well as some friends they brought. I love sharing Edna with people who haven’t seen her since the early years, when she was just a yellow shell.

When the night was done, we spent a magical moment with Truk and wished him farewell.

And now we travel south towards Ojai, where we will be briefly before heading to LA and beyond!

SOUTHERN CA: Come find us on Hollywood Blvd or at the TerraVita Herbal Symposium on Feb 8-9^th in Laguna Beach.

Posted in Events, Journeys, News | Tagged CA, curtains, disc golf, fresh water, Fresno, Mountain Rose Herbs, Nevada City, projects, ReStore, salvage, Silva Acres, Southern CA | 1 Comment

New Years Eve – Nevada City, CA

Posted on January 1, 2014 by Guisepi

Miss Pink get serenaded.

Every year I celebrate the New Year as an anniversary of serving free tea. It was eight years ago this January that I first started serving tea on Hollywood Blvd to strangers. I learned in those early days that included in the genuine interaction I was seeking with people, I would have to be a listening ear, provide a comfortable space for people who are going through rough times, and be a genuine friend to these complete strangers. Last night was a reminder of many of these things for me.

Throughout the evening there was good number of people who were out seeking relief, going through emotional pains, in rough relationships, and more. I’m not sure if it’s the fact that it’s a new year and people take time to reflect on the past and future at this point in time, or the fact that there’s lots of drinking involved, but there were many out who needed the tea bus.

This is one of my favorite things about the service that the tea bus provides: the services we provide are multifaceted, and not always obvious at first glance.

A fellow came up to the bus, but was nearly in tears. It was obvious he had a lot going on in his mind. He couldn’t even pick out a tea to drink, and finally when he was sipping his tea, his tears came out. When he was finished, he said, “I don’t want any more tea, but can I just stay here for a while?” He was overheard talking to some other guests, telling them about how he hated this world and didn’t want to be here. But throughout the evening, he began to play music, talk to people, a friend of his came by and called his name eagerly. In the end he sang us a song and left with a little more lightness in his stride.

Xmas tree Rosemary bush lights the way.

A middle-aged woman came to the bus with some friends. Not only was she the only one brave enough to come aboard, but she was also the most curious. She asked the ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions that many people ask. I could see on her face that she was inspired by my answers and immediately she became comfortable. When the chance came up for her, she began to tell me about her daughter who passed away very suddenly recently. She told me how her daughter would have loved the bus and the whole concept. When I learned that the daughter had lived in the Eureka/Arcata area, where I have served lots and lots of tea, I told her that her daughter had probably been on the bus at one point in time and sipped a cuppa tea. This touched her, and she left the bus with a little spark of happiness amongst the grief of losing her daughter.

At one point, four teenage girls came to the bus. Two of them were eager for tea and interaction, while the other two looked at their phones and urged them to leave for a party. The two who got tea were full of questions – whys, hows, and whats. Captivated by my responses, they encouraged their two friends to stay saying, “How often do you come across something like this?” Eventually all four girls were listening and interacting, and they stayed until the last drops of tea were sipped from their cups. As they left, one of them turned to me and said, “This changed my life.”

A nice fellow plays some nice songs on a nice mando.

A 50-something-year-old fellow came to the bus and was immediately intrigued. He was a little quirky, a little quiet, a little shy, but you could see in his eyes that he sought community and connection. I run into fellows like this sometimes. They become regulars on the bus when we’re around. Maybe it’s because they’re lonely, want to interact, and seek some guidance and answers for these things. Because I was a somewhat like this before I started serving tea, I tend to connect well with them. This particular fellow was in and out of the bus all night. “Why be anywhere else?” he said in regards to the countdown to the New Year. I told him I made a conscious decision that this country, my home country, is where my energy is best put towards making a change in this world. He said he made the same decision in his life years ago, but felt like he wasn’t acting on his desire to make a difference. I could tell when he left, however, that his unspoken New Years Resolution was to act on this desire. I could see in it his eyes – the way that the wheels were turning in his mind.

A young woman enjoyed spending some time on the bus, ringing in the New Year with a few of us. Later, she left and came back with her boyfriend and friends. She came to me and said, “You’re saving people tonight, providing a space like this. You even helped save a rocky relationship. Thank you.”

Eghan, Ally, and others.

It was great to have such a mix of people throughout the evening: my good friends Eghan, Ally (and even her parents briefly), Suzette, and Gregory all showed; a fellow who I had met while serving tea at Reed College a month ago; Miss Pink (who called me four years ago and tried to convince me to travel with her pink revolution across the country); two ladies who used to live on Lopez Island (sent by my friend Sue); Keith (who was traveling in a bus when I met him in Eureka last year); Sam (another RV dweller); Truk (who has been on his own free tea adventures in his truck); several musicians; and more all came in for tea. The conversations dipped in and out of politics, money, dreams, environment, community building, and our intentions for the year to come. I feel blessed to have been in such company, and to be a well-used service to people in need.

Tea is not the defining feature of the tea bus, only the vehicle for some of these unseen services. It is a pleasure to share them.

Happy New Year!!!

Posted in Events, On the Street | Tagged CA, community, Hollywood Blvd., Nevada City, New Years Eve | 2 Comments

Merry Xmas! Winter Update – Nevada City, CA

Posted on December 25, 2013 by Guisepi

Merry Xmas! Free Tea sign was a gift from Noah and Ashley. Copper Tea kettle ornament was a gift from Jennifer. Xmas tree shaped Rosemary bush was a gift from Whitney. Ornaments, lights, and candles were from a dumpster

Well, it seems as if the craziness of Spring and Summer caught up with us, and our focus over the course of fall has shifted from outward craziness (serving tea, events, traveling) to more inward craziness (many, many bus projects). We arrived in Portland in early October on my birthday, where we’ve been for the most part (except this crazy weekend in Eugene). Edna and I have been staying with our dear friends Owen and Whitney, where we have been hosted with grace. There’s an amazing shop space here, as well as plenty of space to park Edna, and other nomads who bring their rigs in, such as Ally and her tea van, and Sarah, Waka, Tahi, and their Acro Yoga RV. It was a beautiful sight to walk out the back door of the house to see the mist of autumn creep in with a couple vans and buses in the yard with a campfire pit in the center, and a wood-fired hot tub between it all.

Owen’s Shop

Ally’s van was another project that we worked on a bit, from draining and refilling the rear differential, changing the oil, and bleeding the brakes, to installing a rod to keep her belongings from sliding across the floor when she brakes, putting in some hooks, and finding prized parts at the junkyard for fixing her wing windows. It was fun to share knowledge about hands on things and then let her run with it and fix/build things herself.

I also helped out my buddy Owen by helping organize some of his shop (including most of the nuts/bolts/hardware), and we built two awesome 4’x8’ work benches on casters.

To break up all the projects, Edna and I got out a little bit into the city to make tea for people. We served a bunch of tea up at an Elephant Revival show at the Aladdin Theater, as well as a Shook Twins show at the Alberta Rose Theater. On Halloween, we setup on Alberta St. for an unofficial Last Thursday Art Walk where we had crazy medicine man, ninjas, a police officer playing guitar (not sure if it was a costume or not), an inmate doing a strip tease, and myself and Ally as the King and Queen of Junk. There were jam sessions and my buddy William showed up with his WonderVan, which is a nicely built out minimalist space on wheels. Another fellow who I pointed in the direction of a sweet diesel van for sale during the VBC came by with that van that he had recently moved into. We geeked out on some things and I shared some crucial info.

King and Queen of Junk

Inmate does a strip-tease.

Halloween Jam Session

Medicine man

Hey, everyone needs tea.

I bought a nice little folding bike on Craig’s List that needed some work, so I brought Edna a couple times to a place called Bike Farm and shared tea and some of Ally’s baked goods with all the folks there. Bike Farm is an awesome project. Several days per week they are open to the public and have volunteers there to help you learn how to fix your bike. There’s tools, bike stands, cheap/used bike parts, etc. I love this place! I put new tires on, put on new brake pads, trued my rims, repacked my wheel bearings, etc. I love learning new things like this. Mad respect to Bike Farm.

Tea at Reed College. Photo: Chris Ellis

Edna and I were also invited back by Reed College to come serve tea. If you remember, we arrived on campus without permission during finals week in the Spring and served up a gang of tea. They liked us so much that they invited us back. We spent 15 hours there and made over 300 cups of tea. It was a long day filled with students, faculty, facilities staff, alums, and to top it off, there was a “noise parade” that demonstrated against Reeds investment in fossil fuels. I truly love serving tea to college students, especially brainy ones like Reed students, who intellectually get what I do and love it. Thanks to Gary (Community Safety) for not kicking us off campus the first time around, and telling Student Activities to have us back. Thanks to Daphne for arranging it all. Thanks to Ryn for buying us milk in the dining hall so we could make tons of chai. Thanks to the students who donated teas both times we were there. Thanks to Rebecca for writing a sweet little article for The Reed Quest (Reed it here).

Serving at Reed College. Photo: Chris Ellis

Photo for the Reed Quest. Photo: Chris Ellis

A lull at Reed

Some of the bus projects:

INSIDE:

Fold-down desk.

– Fold-down desk/curved shelf. This was a big one. I had been wanting to fill the one void in the bus with this fold down desk idea that had been brewing in my head for a while. It was a fun project, but took a while. The desk is essentially a cabinet with a fold-down front that becomes the desk. To support the desk, there’s an old brass adjustable window bracket, which can be adjusted depending on what angle the bus is parked on. Inside the cabinet there’s several shelves, each of which has a sweet little wooden box that slides easily in and out. Each box has a purpose (misc tools, electronic gear, desk/craft stuff, fun stuff). To latch the desk shut, you just lightly slam it into place and a cool brass catch keeps it up. On the side of the desk are both a 110v outlet and a 12v outlet. This allows me to run my computer and hard drives for video editing and other computer work. On the top of the desk is a curved shelf that goes from the side of an upper cabinet to the wall. The front piece is eight separate 1/8” thick pieces of redwood that I glued together one at a time while clamped to a piece of ¾” plywood shaped in the curve I wanted. This was the longest part of the desk project, as I waited at least 24 hours between every glue up. In the end the curve wasn’t quite as arced as I wanted, but it was so close that it ended up working great.

Cardboard mockup of curved shelf.

Empty space for the desk.

Desk cabinet being worked out.

Fold-down desk.

Plywood jig for the curved shelf.

Using the fold-down desk to work on my computer.

Purple heart sink shelf.

– Sink shelf – In front of the sink there has been an unfinished edge where the sink rests on the front of the cabinet frame. I had been holding onto a beautiful piece of Purple Heart for this exact project, but it was too thick. I was wanting to find a planer to thin it out, but ended up doing a fine job milling it down on the table saw. I attached the shelf using some salvaged shelf brackets to the front of the face frame, and curved the inside of the shelf to match the curve of the sink. I was worried that it might be in the way, or feel weird, since the sink is often my main perch while serving tea. But alas, the shelf looked and felt beautiful, with its purple color deepening more as the days drew on after I milled it down.

Covered window/shelf/shop towel holder.

– Covered window/shelf/towel roll – In the front of the bus there’s a small window that I don’t really use. It’s down low, and in front of the flapper doors. Many similar buses don’t even have them. I keep my tools there, so I can’t see out of it anyways. I painted a nice piece of thin plywood black on one side, and finished the other side with hemp oil/citrus thinner, and covered the window with it from the inside. It sits in a little cubby, so I put a piece of wood across the front, and now it perfectly fits boxes of rubber gloves. Above it, I added in a piece of antique brass tubing with some custom dowel holders made from salvaged hardwood to hold those blue shop towels that come on a roll like paper towels. It fits perfectly, and you can get a towel out without even lifting the hinged shelf above/in front of it.

Ceiling trim.

– Ceiling trim – I had done most of my ceiling trim a couple years ago, but had left a little unfinished – mostly above the bed where no one but myself saw it. I had also broken a piece of ceiling trim at one point, and cut another too short when closet plans had changed mid-build. I decided to get all this wrapped up and finished, along with some stainless guides for the line in my bed pulley system. The ceiling trim is Ipe (which is kind of like a plastic of the forest) cut into thin strips and screwed in.

– Wood Stove Rebuild – I love my little stove, but it was running so hot, and I noticed that a lot of the sealant was starting to come out. My theory is that since my wood stove sat in a barn for seven years after being built, that the stove cement never cured right because it really needs to be fired to cure fully. This left it in a vulnerable spot. That, along with the many bumps in the road, had taken its toll. Andrew Moore, the stove-maker, suggested that a rebuild was too hard and that just resealing it would be sufficient. When I took it out, I realized how bad the cement was coming out, so I decided on the full rebuild. I looked online to see what people had to say about it and just did it. It’s pretty much just four sides clamped together between the top and bottom by four long stainless bolts that run through the inside of the stove. After complete disassembly, I cleaned out all the old cement with wire brushes, cleaned all the pieces, and used some denatured alcohol where any cement was to go. To rebuild, I started by putting cement around the perimeter of the bottom, put the two long side upright in the cemented bottom (had a friend hold them), cemented the grooves in the other two sides, put them in place, duct-taped all the corners, ran my wet (and gloved) finger along the seams to smooth out the cement, cemented the top perimeter, put it on, and ran the bolts through the stove and tightened them enough to get some cement to squish out, but not all of it. I cleaned up all the seams while it was still wet and let it dry inside the house. The one big problem that I ran into was that one of the sides was slightly taller than the other sides. It must have been done this way in the casting process, or perhaps when Andrew cleaned up the castings. But it kind of messed up my cement job in that it made the stove a little less stable while I got it all squared up. I ended up having to come back in and reseal a place or two once the first layer of cement was dry. Next, I refinished the stove with a nice black stove polish. My stove tends to see a bit of water because it’s right next to the sink, so I try to polish it once a year or so to keep the rust to a minimum. The next day when I got it all back installed, and I did my first firing, it was super weird how many of the seams started to steam. I’m not sure if this is normal or not, but it might have been because the cement still wasn’t totally dry. I’m not sure. It’s held up since, so I’m not too worried.

Wood stove rebuild photos:

Tea Menu! Stained with Pu-erh.

– Tea-staining – Throughout all this, Ally and I got into some tea staining, starting with some paper for our new tea menus, and getting into my bed sheets, and some of her clothes. Over-steeping and boiling tea draws out tannins. Tannins give many dark woods their rich colors, which makes tea great for staining all sorts of things from fabric to wood to paper. I have been working on a tea menu for the past year, formulating ideas, making sure I can get all the teas from our sponsors on a regular basis, doing design and layout, etc. This summer I was given some bi-fold menu covers (Thanks Ric and Joan!), which were perfect for my project. The menu has a sweet cover with art by Catherine Moore (where most of our website and sticker art has come from) and teas from Mountain Rose Herbs, Eco Teas, and Organic India. The inside carries a big selection of caffeinated and non-caffeinated teas, spices, herbs, and blends. The back cover highlights many of the people who help support the teabus.

Boiling various teas for tea-staining.

Brewing several gallons of tea for staining.

Tea stained paper: Pu’erh, Early Grey, Darjeeling, Houjicha, blank.

Tea-stained clothes

Inverter mounted under co-pilot chair.

– Inverter – This was another major step. I had been hauling around and storing this great inverter for a couple years, but finally got everything ready to install. It is mounted underneath the copilot chair in a cabinet with built in ventilation and easy access. I had to drill down through the floor into the battery compartment below, line the hole with PVC pipe, and wire everything up with a fuse, large 2/0 cable, lugs, and heat shrink tubing. This inverter is awesome because it provides the bus with up to 1000 watts of pure sine wave 110v power. This makes it possible to run all sorts of regular household things. I will use it mostly to charge 18v power tools, run my computer, etc. Make/Model: Xantrex ProSine 1000.

Inverter cables ready to go.

Holes drilled in floor for running the cables from the batteries to the inverter.

Holes for the inverter cables to the batteries below.

Crimping the lug on the inverter cables.

Broken water filter cap.

– Miscellaneous – Cork board in the closet for hanging souvenirs, a rack inside a food storage cabinet for easier access to food, a door for the guitar slot and a trim piece above it, a fold down shelf on the inside of the back door for putting things on/working on projects, fixed the water filter (which keeps cracking – anyone want to sponsor us with a new water filter?), a new handle for helping people get into the bus through the big side door, and probably many more things that I just can’t remember.

MECAHNICAL/ELECTRICAL

– Rear Differential – drained, cleaned, and refilled. Added a temperature sensor.

– Transmission – drained (including the torque converter), new filter, new pan (with a drain plug – yay!), refilled. Changed out the old temp sensor with a new one.

– Oil Change – Just the basic

New starting batteries/hold-downs.

– New Batteries – My old ones were pretty much toast. I decided to upgrade the way my battery cables attach to the batteries. To do this, I took some pieces that clamped on battery posts and gave them ¼”-20 threaded posts, and on my cables, I crimped on lug ends. This makes it incredibly easy to hook up or unhook my batteries. It’s just a wing nut on each terminal. I also upgraded the ground on one of my batteries to 2/0. Everything else was 2/0, just not that one. I also bought new universal battery hold-downs. I had been riggin up all sort of things to hold down the batteries for years because I never had the original hold-downs. Finally, I bit the bullet and bought some new (adjustable) pieces of plastic (I hate buying plastic). With a few modifications, they worked great!

Old leaky caps on the solar/house batteries.

New battery caps on solar/house batteries.

– Solar Battery Bank Caps – I upgraded my solar/house batteries this Spring to some much nicer Trojan T-105s. I had taken the battery caps off my old batteries and put them on my new ones because they opened and removed all three caps on a battery at one time. However, they leaked quite a bit. After doing some research, I found that often these caps that do three at once often leak. So, I sprung for some called Water Misers. Apparently, they allow off-gassing, but capture some of the water back and keep it in the battery. They’re perty and seem to work well so far (no leaks!).

Oil Cooler rebuilt.

– Oil Cooler Rebuild – I had been dreading this project, mostly because I knew nothing about it. In the end, however, it wasn’t too hard – just messy. I had oil leaking out onto my oil filter, and dripping down in a few other places and determined it was the oil cooler o-rings. Fortunately, with this motor (International 7.3 IDI) on the E-Series Ford Vans (as opposed to the Ford Trucks) you don’t have to jack up the engine to remove the oil-cooler. Also, conveniently, the International bigger trucks use the same oil cooler setup as the vans. I mis-ordered the front gasket, but was able to get it from the International parts dealer here in Portland. I had to drain the oil and coolant (make sure you drain the coolant that’s in the block too!), take out the lower radiator hose, remove the battery ground, and unbolt the cooler. After taking it off, it came apart with a few whacks with a rubber mallet. The outer o-rings were falling apart, but the inner o-rings were okay. It had probably never been apart in 24 years. I replaced the o-rings, and then used a floor jack (with the cooler between it and the frame of the bus) to push the two ends back on the tube – difficult, but fun. I got it all back together, filled her back up with fluids, and voilá, no more leaks.

I learned through a bunch of this mechanical stuff that I have a latex allergy. Both times that I used latex gloves for several hours, my hands got little swollen red itchy painful bumps. I guess I have to use nitrile.

Owen’s Shop

I feel super blessed to have been living at Owen and Whitney’s place, to use their shop, and to have a place to call home, even if so briefly. A big ol’ thanks to them.

I was also fortunate to have met a fellow named Ray, who is also a WVO (waste vegetable oil) user. I was selling some aluminum fuel line on Craig’s List listed for use with WVO and he responded. He was super adamant about WVO needing to be free, and since he doesn’t have a WVO car at the moment, and he still collects from some restaurants, he hooked me up with 90 gallons for free! That will get me most of the way to LA. Thanks, Ray!

Edna and I left Portland on the 23^rd, headed south for warmer weather and Christmas with friends. As of now, we’re in Nevada City, CA finishing our curtains, possibly replacing our injection pump, and working a few other projects before heading to southern California come January. Our main destination is Los Angeles, but we’re looking into some other places as well (Slab City? Oceanside? Quartzite????).

Donation from Wish Garden Herbs.

Recently we received an amazing donation to share with our tea guests from Wish Garden Herbs of a boxful of tinctures, from immune-boosters to sleep-helpers to emotional-soothers. Runa Tea also sent us a huge box of various blends of their Guayusa (relative of Maté). We also stopped at Mountain Rose Herbs on our way south to pick up a big box of various teas. I would like to thank both of these companies for being so so so generous with us. Thank you!!!

WE NEED: A shop/work space in southern CA. Do you have one? Or know anyone who has one? We can work-trade 🙂 …

Awesome donation from Runa Tea.

Posted in Bus Building, Mechanical, News | Tagged Bike Farm, CA, Catherine Moore, Eco Teas, Elephant Revival, Halloween, inverter, Last Thursday, mechanical, Mountain Rose Herbs, Nevada City, OR, Organic India, Portland, projects, Reed College, Shook Twins, solar, tea menu, tea staining, VBC, water filter, Wish Garden Herbs, wood stove, woodworking, WVO | Leave a comment

Weekend of Tea – Eugene, OR

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Guisepi

The tea zone at the Free Herbalism Project event. Photo: Thomas Dick

I knew I was going to be heading to Eugene on Sunday for the second Free Herbalism Project event (see blog entry from the first one here). As time drew nearer, I began to think I should head down the night before from Portland, just to make sure I was there and well rested. Ah, but the Saturday Market is happening the day before, and that’s always a fun one, I thought to myself. I should show up the night before. Oh, and wait, the Birds of Chicago are playing on Friday. And shoot, the Fermentation on Wheels bus was having a going away party on Thursday. In this manner, my day trip to Eugene took on a much longer form.

Fermentation on Wheels bus.

I packed up on Thursday and made my way south, arriving Eugene just in time to make it to the Fermentation on Wheels going-away potluck. Run by a gal named Tara, Fermentation on Wheels is a similar project to the tea bus, only their focus is on ferments – from kraut to cider. Tara is just starting a US tour where she will be traveling, working on farms, fermenting foods, and teaching workshops. I had been in touch with her, because I appreciated her project and wanted to be a helpful person for her journeys in bus land.

Fermentation on Wheels party.

The potluck was aboard her mid-sized school bus. It is set up with a kitchen and bedroom, deluxe captain’s chair, carpet, cabinets, and best of all a sweet fermentation station built by a nice local craftsman. I brought the tea grab-basket, hot water, and cups. We all ate ferments, cheeses, salamis, fruit salad, and more. Many folks showed up and we had a grand time, with a fellow named Banjo playing a banjo and singing with his sweetheart. We talked bus conversions and travel. I shared Edna a bit with folks, and it was a grand night.

Mechanical (i.e. skip if boring):

As I drove off into the night towards my buddy Mason’s house, Edna’s transmission started shifting funny. I pulled over, only to find the tranny fluid was super low. No fluid to be found at 7-11. I took the chance and drove halfway across town to the only open gas station. After filling the tranny, I found a small leak on the fitting that runs tranny fluid into my radiator, I wonder if this is why I’ve been having transmission issues. I could’ve sworn I checked the fluid recently and it looked fine. The next morning I tightened the fitting, but it was so loose that I think I need to take it out and put new Teflon tape on it. Luckily, I was already planning on dropping the transmission pan, changing the filter, and replacing the fluid.

Tahi gets flown by Sara.

The next evening started a 48-hour journey of non-stop tea serving. I found myself parked in front of Cozmic Pizza around 5pm, where my friends, Birds of Chicago, were playing. They seemed beat from the journey (one of them is pregnant – congrats!), but put me on the guest list. All sort of people stopped by the bus that evening – musicians, street folks, a dancer, etc. We chatted and sipped. It was fun to reconnect with the Birds, as well as make some new friends. My friends Sara, Whaka, and their little girl Tahi all came for tea and to do some Acro Yoga (Sara was my second mom in LA when I first bought the bus, and helped me get some of my first tea sponsors, including Mountain Rose Herbs). It was a late night, but luckily a local woman let me park at her house for the night so I could arise early to get good parking for the Saturday Market. She gave me some tea she had made as part of an herbalism course. Strictly floral, this tea has become a favorite…

Whaka flys a tea guest at the Saturday Market.

At the Eugene Saturday Market, Edna and I set up just across the street. We had a nice corner with plenty of space. Sara and Tahi came to help serve tea, and Whaka set up to do some Acro Yoga for people. This couple is amazing. They travel in a diesel Sprinter RV, spending their summers running a stand-up paddle boarding business in Wisconsin, and then travel for much of the rest of the year while teaching yoga, Acro Yoga, and Thai massage, as well as doing bodywork (Thai massage, therapeutic acro yoga). One of the things Whaka does is just “fly” people everywhere they go – meaning that he puts you up in the air on his legs, and puts you in all sorts of positions while stretching and massaging you. I will tell you that this is one of the most wonderful things your body can experience. And people see/feel this, which gets them excited about learning, getting bodywork, or attending a workshop. It’s really a win-win situation. Sara, Whaka and Tahi showed up to almost all the events I was serving at this weekend, and it was such a blessing. See their website here.

The Market brought out many amazing folks from students to vendors. I presented the Gift and Take box to a homeless couple who were in dire need. Eugene is a pretty receptive town for something like the tea bus. My dear friends Matthew and Steph stopped by with their four-month-old Jobin. Marshé, who used to be Mountain Rose’s event coordinator, came by with her niece for some good catch-up. I love all these people.

I packed up in the afternoon, filled up some biodiesel, and headed out to Lost Valley, which is an ecovillage and Permaculture learning center a little ways outside Eugene. I had been to Lost Valley a couple times before to have a look around and serve tea. On this day they were having their annual open-house/harvest party/potluck. I set up for tea, ate some good food, and met all sort of fun interesting folks. Of course at a place like this people were super interested in all my alternative systems like solar, waste vegetable oil, biodiesel, woodstove, water, greywater, etc. I seem to come back to this place every couple years, and hope to continue to do so. Thanks, Lost Valley! And thanks to Simon for inviting us out there this time!

The whole Free Herbalism Crew (Mountain Rose folk, Steven and Howie, Free Tea Party folk). Photo: Thomas Dick

Guisepi and Ally sipping and serving tea. Photo: Thomas Dick

Early the next morning I awoke to drive to Mt. Pisgah to set up for the Free Herbalism Project. The site itself is gorgeous, with massive Maple trees, large fields, birds, and this time, lots of fall color. The morning was misty and cold, but it looked majestic with the little bit of sunshine shining through. Ally arrived at 9:30 and we got to setting up with the help of a few Mountain Rose Herbs folks. A little later Daruka arrived with some friendly faces that we had met at Blues Recess Massive. Move bus, roll out rugs, place cushions, start heating water, set up tables, hang parachute, decide that parachute doesn’t work, take parachute down, sweep rugs, put out mugs, make signage, put out sweeteners and milks, hang Free Tea sign, put out bus tub, arrange picnic tables, start serving tea. People arrived before I felt ready, but I just started handing out tea. I had met a nice fellow named Cypress at the Fermentation on Wheels party who had served tea at the Symbiosis Festival this summer, so I invited him to come and help for the day. With him, Ally, Daruka, Sara, Whaka, and the two folks from Blues Recess (Ani and Mikayla), we were set.

Tea passing!

The event is part of the Free Herbalism Project, which Mountain Rose Herbs (one of our sponsors) created to bring herbal lectures, plant walks, etc. to people for free! Their first one was in August (see bog entry here), where we served our 20,000^th cuppa free tea. This time we had the honor of having Howie and Steven from the Columbines School of Botanical Studies hosting a Basic Botany and a Medicinal Plants of the Northwest lecture. There was merchandise for sale here, but all the proceeds are donated to different groups. This time it was donated to Columbines School.

Making tea upon request!

The crowd was smaller this time ‘round, but we actually served more tea (around 700 cups). We were non-stop busy, but our slight lack of preparation last time put us in better standing this time, and our line didn’t get nearly as long. This kind of interaction of serving tea in a kind of hurriedly manner is not my favorite on the genuine human connection end of things, but nevertheless, it still has a level of deep beauty. Cypress was a great tea server, but got a little antsy when the line got long. Ally, whose philosophy is patience is a virtue of the tea experience, took a look at the line and saw people talking and interacting. She reminded him that this wasn’t a coffee bar, and a woman in line said Amen to that! I think the efficiency that Cypress wanted alongside the authenticity of human interaction that Ally wanted was a perfect balance to have from these two tea servers.

Last time at the Free Herbalism Project I was too busy doing legwork to serve tea. This time, I made sure to serve up a bunch of tea myself. This was so great! I love getting to say hello and interact with all the folks who come up to the bus, even at this fast pace. Even though it was quick work, I took the time to speak individually with people who wanted to interact. There were some great conversations! We were also blessed to have Whaka flying people!

At the end of the day, I sat to reflect upon the past three days of making tea. It had been a long and draining weekend, but I felt more satisfied that I had in a while. When the mind and body just want to rest, and we feel good about our work – that is pure satisfaction. We packed up, ate a good meal, and hit the hay.

Next stop: Portland! We’ll be spending some time there doing some bus projects and then heading south for the winter. Come to the Elephant Revival show on the 25^th at the Aladdin Theater!

Posted in Events, Journeys, Mechanical, On the Street | Tagged Acro Yoga, Birds of Chicago, Columbine School for Botanical Studies, Eugene, Eugene Saturday Market, Fermentation on Wheels, Free Herbalism Project, Koha Yoga, Mountain Rose Herbs, OR | Leave a comment

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