You know you are primal when...

When your H/G instinct can't be stifled just by living in an urban environment. We do lots of urban exploring, gathering found stuff. We live near an industrial area with train tracks running through it. This morning while walking along the tracks we spied a large expanse of barren dirt strewn with what looked like bits of debris. We figured this would be a great spot to find marbles, (we find lots of marbles) so we found a break in the briars and overgrowth and climbed down an embankment to get to it. When we came out into the clearing it was like standing on an alien landscape. What had appeared to be common debris was actually chunks of glass in assorted sizes and shapes. We managed to fill a couple of canvas bags but at about 30-40 lbs each we had to stop because we had to climb back up the embankment, over the train tracks then down a steep incline. We're going back with something wheeled to get more. Not sure what we're going to do with all of it but probably something in the garden.

[IMG]http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll196/rainarana/glass-1.jpg[/IMG]

Those would make gorgeous garden decor. Pictures when you do? Pleaseeee? lol. I love glass, I think it's so beautiful. Rough debris glass like that would almost be like a cross between a Dale Chihuly garden sculpture and rocks in a zen garden.

Seriously, I'm so jealous. That's an amazing find.

Anyway, topic-

You know you're primal when you get up at 6am and go climb rockfaces and pick wild blackberries. And when your pantlegs are soaked with dew and your hands are covered with thorn scratches, and you haven't even had your coffee yet and you enjoyed it anyway.

You also know you're primal when you watch deer saunter over your property and think 'local venison!'

I'm actually really spoiled here. There's seaweed, oysters and crab in the ocean, berries and soon there will be wild apples. There is, technically, wild deer. People also farm here, so in the fall there will be local lamb, beef, pork, chicken, duck and rabbit. People sell fresh eggs from chicken, ducks, quail (!). There's some dude at the market who does wild mushrooms, so there's that too. Wild kale pretty much year round. PNW Groks and Grokettes didn't lack for options.

... when you have ongoing discussions at the barn about how big a freezer you'd need to fit the other person's horse in if it was "time to go" - Always the other person's horse, because you'd *never* eat your own horse!! Theirs... no problem.

Edit to add: My horse is too handsome to eat. And you'd need alot of freezer space to fit 1600lbs of meat, he weighs 2200lbs on the hoof.

[IMG]http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o97/rhova329/IMG_0125.jpg[/IMG]

[QUOTE=CandylandCanary;551454]Those would make gorgeous garden decor. Pictures when you do? Pleaseeee? lol. I love glass, I think it's so beautiful. Rough debris glass like that would almost be like a cross between a Dale Chihuly garden sculpture and rocks in a zen garden.

Seriously, I'm so jealous. That's an amazing find.[/QUOTE]

We're thinking about suspending some on chains and hanging them from the balcony or something like that. I'll probably mulch around some plants with some, possibly dig some into the gravel that I'm going to use for the walkway. There's a group that's putting in community gardens here, and being Tennessee, the ground is full of giant rocks. We're getting free stone for landscaping as well, so there will be lots of hardscaping, rock features, steps, etc . . . I think they'll incorporate well.

Here's this morning's haul. We got most of the bigger ones but there's still plenty of medium and small. Most likely we'll grab smaller loads, because this was a monster to muscle up the embankment and over the railroad tracks.

[IMG]http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll196/rainarana/rockpile-1.jpg[/IMG]

And YUM! I love blackberries! I plan on planting a bunch in front of the retaining wall, an heirloom type with thorns. We want to keep people from sitting on the wall, but they can pick the berries if they want to, and if I don't get them all.

When you wonder why there isn't a "Caves for Sale" section in the real estate listings.

[QUOTE]We're thinking about suspending some on chains and hanging them from the balcony or something like that. I'll probably mulch around some plants with some, possibly dig some into the gravel that I'm going to use for the walkway. There's a group that's putting in community gardens here, and being Tennessee, the ground is full of giant rocks. We're getting free stone for landscaping as well, so there will be lots of hardscaping, rock features, steps, etc [/QUOTE]

That chain thing sounds fabulous. What I find coolest about glass is that the real sculptural aspect of it isn't the glass object itself per se, it's the way the glass cuts and refracts light. Having the pieces suspended on a chain would create all kinds of neat light from the sunlight, at different times of day/angles, etc. Yep, dying of jealously here. :D

I've always liked that style of hardscaping/landscaping. Victoria/Vancouver is a very different climate than Tennessee, but we get lots of driftwood down here. I've seen people do nice stuff with oyster shells too. There was this great unorthodox garden in Kitsilano where someone had taken an old cadillac and embedded in the ground tail-up. They grew roses and dalias all around it, and in it's back seat. The taillights seemed to be hooked up so they would flip on with the rest of the garden lights. I thought it was the coolest thing ever.

Do you guys get cacti and succulents in Tennessee? I'm a bit hazy on American geography, but I know my friends in Texas have stunning cactus gardens.

Hauling glass is pretty primal, I'd say. I wonder if Grok's mate there did much gardening? I guess not, lol. Agriculture was in the far future still.

People have planted blackberries all over their pasture fences here too. I actually (sometimes, on sunday mornings very early, and when there aren't cows in there!) climb the fences and pick the ones on the inside of the pasture. They just go bad otherwise... I'm apparently the only Grokette who can be bothered to pick them! I guess because of the thorns. My hands look like textbook photos of chicken pox right now. I guess Grokette would just break out the glacial clay for skin irritations.

[QUOTE=annyW32f;551799]The contents of your deep freezer sound like a small zoo[/QUOTE]

LOL the first comment you have made that makes sense. Funny too.

... you sigh orgasmically over your traditional breakfast of bacon, eggs cooked in bacon grease and butter, with a little more butter over the top when it's all done. *shivers*

After a really, really bad day you decide to go crazy and binge on whatever "crap" food you want. After hitting the store and buying whatever you want, you look down at your binge plate and see a sliced organic apple with aged raw milk gouda, raspberries and dark chocolate :)

(To be fair, I don't usually eat cheese so it really was an indulgance!)

when working away from home and the hotel has continental breakfast (all bread and cerial) so you go out and order eggs and bacon and sausage with a side of mushroom and tomatoe which they deliver with toast which you did not ask for and did not eat