call for questions
Hello intrepid humans whirling around the interplanetary skies with me on this gorgeous planet of ours in the year of our Lord 2024. It’s a strange year in a strange time, but here we are, purposeful and dedicated, making our way as best we can figure. It’s been awhile since Troy and I have sat down and had a little chat for the airwaves. I’ve had a few requests for just that over the last while so here I am asking you what you would like us to talk about.
Writing about enduring relationships is something I love doing. It feels almost imperative in today’s world where twisted, unhealthy models of marriage and relationships are being held up as the thing to aspire to. So much of what we were taught turned out to be less than useless, in fact more often harmful, in our relationship. I’d like to shout that from the rooftops if I could, but the coyotes would not take kindly to interruptions in their howling symphonies with a human bellowing, “You’ve been lied to!” So I’ll do that here instead.
If you are a paid subscriber and have questions or something you’d like us to talk about, please include them in the comments below. If you have certain areas around this topic you’d like me to consider writing about in the future, I’m happy to hear about those as well.
Please try to keep questions to one topic and have them submitted by the morning of Monday, November 4th.
Have a beautiful weekend,
Tara ❤️
Hey Tara!
I live just north of Asheville, NC where we had terrible devastation and havoc wreaked on September 27. These are the oldest mountains in the world as they used to be part of Pangea. We also hold the third oldest river in the world, older than the Nile. She runs south to north and swelled at 30ft higher than normal during Hurricane Helene. It was named a geological disaster, potentially the worst one in recorded US history. Countless people lost their homes and livelihoods. The city was without power for at least a week, and some pockets close to 2 weeks. We had no cell service for close to that amount of time, either. And the city still doesn’t have clean water, maybe for months to come. The earth was loving the break from the EMFs, she felt crystal clear the morning after the storm.
The grief and sadness comes in waves everyday. However, this community has been insanely resilient and have come together with beautiful and creative ways of helping each other out. Asheville is a mix of artists and creatives, herbalists, kayakers, backpackers, primitive skills educators, farmers, and good ol’ rural mountain folk. Pack mules were brought in to help carry insulin, supplies, mail, etc to those in homes up the mountains where road access was completely lost. People have created “tool library’s” with donated materials so people can borrow tools to rebuild. There was a “flush brigade” of people going around to folks homes who are elderly or disabled to help them flush their toilets when we had no water. A Kayaker braved the roaring river waters and kayaked to people’s houses who were flooding up to their roof and cut them out of the attic, saving countless lives. He even went back for people’s pets after he got the humans to safety.
The colors here have not been red or blue, but one big pot of purple soup. It’s been amazing to witness the hatred and unkind words toward each other disappear and people kicked into survival mode and helped their neighbor out or spoke to them for the first time ever to check in. Neighborhoods had meetings to bring their people together to ask what needs people had and who had extra things to help those in need while they were cutoff from the entire world. The beauty behind the devastation has been unreal. Death and rebirth. New life and ways of being are forming.
My main concern, and why I write you, is that the water lines to the city from the North Fork Reservoir were destroyed. The pipes were buried 25 feet down and the earth was completely wiped away in one spot, taking the water lines and the backup water lines with it. The city was completely cutoff from water for over 2 weeks. The pipes have since been rebuilt and there is “water” but we’re not supposed to even wash our hands or dishes in it unless it’s been boiled. The city is trying to clean up the turbidity of the water. They’re quoting a timeline of December, but they’re unsure if their efforts and methods of clearing the water turbidity will work. This has never happened before, so no other city has any idea how to help either. The other issue is if you have a well and it was flooded or the system breached, the water must be tested because of so many chemicals from plants that were flooded washing caustic agents all up the French Broad River as well as agricultural pesticides and whatever else they’re not telling us. So, after a long winded post, I’d like to ask what you think the best water filtration system may be in dire times like this? And do you have a preference on a water testing kit/company? We’re not only considering bacteria, but also PFAs, PFOs, etc. It’s quite a mess. The amount of plastic water bottles being used is sickening. Any information you can give would be awesome. Thank you!
We, as humans, are so resilient. My faith in humanity is being restored. It feels back to the old ways of being in community and I couldn’t be more proud of Western North Carolina.
-Michelle
I am in my early 20s and would love to hear how you and Troy spoke to your daughters about dating, and later choosing a life partner. I know this is a broad question but would love your advice for someone of my age group who is single and dating. Lots of love! ❤️