The Portal to Boomeranger World

Merle Kindred, Beavers and Great Housing: What can be done with imagination and attention to the local conditions

Last week, I was invited, along with my partners (Laura Smyth and Elmore Reese) in Thimbleberry Press, to a Keweenaw Peninsula Sustainability Meeting. The current energy crisis, the need for sustainable life practices and what could be done to get the Keweenaw Off the Grid (Laura’s idea) and Off the Nozzle (Vern Simula’s ) were the topics of discussion. That work is beginning in earnest and within the next 10-15 years will be completed. We all believe the Keweenaw Peninsula can be energetically and environmentally self-sustaining and its people have a good future based on sustainable economic revitalization.

More on that in the years to come….

 

The meeting ended and we all stepped out on a deck to admire the late afternoon, the gorgeous light and the pond at the bottom of a grassy and wildflower studded slope. Two critters were swimming around at the end of day—glittering V’s rippling behind them. At first I thought I was seeing ducks or geese, because I focused more on the wake than the animals creating the wake. But then I realized I was seeing Beavers—two of them…no three of them. Little brown snub-nosed heads, popping up with curiosity to look squarely at us lined up along the deck railing goggling at them—at least I was goggling.  Then pop/splash/wham, they slapped down their tails and dived.

They live in a beaver house further up the stream that feeds the pond, in a dam of locally harvested timbers, using low tech methods with local workers—their tools their teeth and they the workers. They are a model of sustainable construction! And VERY VERY cool as well.

 

Merle Kindred (mekindred@gmail.com), a member of this group, came to the Keweenaw some ten years ago with her architect husband, Skip. They built a super insulated, passive solar heated home in a part of the world where you measure snowfall in FEET (sometimes 25-35) rather than inches! The house, which I toured today, is small and spacious at the same time and intended to be a demonstration house in a typical sub division. It is lovely to be in.

Laurie Baker, Guru of Low Income Housing

 

When Merle was suddenly widowed just after their house was completed, she began a doctoral program in how language is used in relation to construction. And that investigation took her to India and introduced her to the work of Laurie Baker (www.lauriebaker.net), master architect who at the behest of Mahatma Gandhi made a 60 year commitment to low cost, beautiful and sustainable housing in India (costfordtvm@gmail.com).

 

Now a vital, gentle and focused  62, and a classic Vaboomer, DR!! Merle Kindred is building a Laurie  Baker inspired house in Kerala, that will house her, an Indian family of friends and a mother-daughter section, as well as a section for guests.

 

Google "Laurie Baker" or "Costford" for more info.  It is a treat.

More Money on Monday: Selling Your House

David Crook in today's WSJ http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121553612650836199.html?mod=2_1590_topbox gives a lot of common sense tips, if you absolutely MUST sell now. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/15/how-to-sell-a-house-if-yo_n_112786.html While most metro areas, especially in the NE are holding steady, over all housing prices are faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalling. A few of his most important tips are to clean up, declutter, and get cracking. Waiting around is not a good strategy for the present.

Unless that is, you are a post-kid and retired boomer and do not HAVE to sell. NJ neighbors, Joyce and Leon, cleaned up, decluttered, priced right and sat back last summer waiting for the droves of buyers who have placed multiple bids on houses in our town for the last 8 years. They'd been eyeing my hometown, Huntersville, NC for several years. They are still waiting.

What I have seen them do is grasp the local situation and adjust their timeframe. Leon says--we are in no hurry. They are fortunate to have the resources to withstand the tax increases we are having. And with roots in the town, they have strong relationships and lots of free time now to take up some new interests.

Boomers & the Mortgage Crisis -- Help Your Neighbor--Buy Housing and Provide It as Resonable Rents or Prices

I never think of the future, it will come soon enough, says Albert Einstein (www.alberteinsteinblog.org). He makes the point that if you are too future oriented you miss you life right now. I agree and disagree with this insight. If you never think of the future, you might end up as many home owners have--which is--OUT. Even some renters are out on their ear, because their landlords have not looked ahead adequately. But I do agree in general that if you ONLY look ahead you miss life right now and so you have MISSED life by never living it here as it is actually happening.

I am hoping that some boomers will boomerang by banding together, buy devalued homes, fix them if they need to be and then find a way to offer them to families and people in need of housing.

But a word of caution here. As with any real estate purchase and especially when the sharks will be swimming, look carefully at the contracts. Make sure you get a fine tooth inspection. Follow the rules of responsible home buying. Don't look for get rich quick financing. And if you partner, be clear about your responsiblities to and with each other.

I think boomers can do a good turn here. They can make some money and provide help to families and people who need housing.