Jack knocked on the door. It flung open and I was staring into the wild eyes of an little man. Jack had hit the nail on the head. Rory said hello and introduced himself. He was a fair bit shorter than I, wearing black shorts and an Anthrax t-shirt under a black button up shirt. He was manic, to say the least. Talking a million miles a second, he covered the topics of music, food, shitting and blowing bubbles before we got all the way in the door.
He found the right punk rock to play for being in the kitchen, handed me a beer, and walked us back to where Nina was. The walls of the house were covered in punk posters from the 70s and 80s as well as post modern art and political slogans. Each room had immense collections of records and CDs. Nina, Rory, and Hans - a young guy from Hood River, Oregon, were playing a board game. Nina looked at me, "are you German?"
"nope"
"oh it's a German game, I was wondering if you knew it."
They continued. Rory was upset because he was loosing and accused them of teaming up on him. He talked about how tricky and conniving his daughter was and how he wished to vanquish all his foes.
It dawned on me. This guy is a cartoon character... he can't be real at all.
I talked with Hans a bit about Oregon, travelling, and photography - a hobby we both share.
Nina asked Rory to come help with a bit of construction they were doing on her squat. He said he'd come, but he wanted there to be girls there. "Surrounded by women... I dont want to do anything with them, I just like the company of females.... Make sure they're Asian, and in nurses uniforms..." He went on about this for a while, "Lesbians! I love lesbians!" he exlaimed.
"Nothing wrong with that", I chimed in.
Rory excused himself to get another beer. He left Jack in charge: "If either of them tries to cheat me in this game, you kill them both, Jack. Rivers of blood. The whole room should be rivers of fucking blood... Fritz, you just sit there and watch, you're a guest, Jack has it covered."
When Rory came back, someone had changed the music. "WHO PUT ON THIS HIPPY SHIT?? Well, it's ok, I don't mind."
They finished the game and we finished our beers. Nina got her gear and we walked out to the car, ready for the trip to the countryside.
An hour later we pulled into a driveway. It was unpaved but covered by an arch of short,fat palm trees; barely tall enough to drive the little car under.
The house is the most beautiful squat I've ever seen. It is on the beach and you can almost feel the mist from the ocean while standing on the deck; the roar of the surf is a constant, relaxing sound. The house has 5 bedrooms, home to 4 adults and a child. They have been living here for 2 years, fixing the place up and making it quite a home.
the Backyard
Almost all the exterior walls are floor to ceiling windows giving amazing views of both the ocean and the lush property surrounding the building. It's tucked away in a jungle of palm and exotic plants, giving the place a wild feel. The interior has hardwood floors and wood slat walls. Wild parrots, cockatoos and kookaburras fly around and land up close and personal, examining us as much as we examine them.
They have a collection of animal parts that makes me feel right at home. Nina keeps a lovely banzai garden as well as the veggie garden, which supplements the main source of food for the house - dumpstering. They use greywater and only bucket flush their toilet, a note above it says "we don't waste precious clean water on our shit, please bucket flush from the bath or shower water." Their commitment to living an ecologically healthy lifestyle is quite apparent - putting "green consumerism" to shame.
mask with porcupine quills
eagle head
Kangaroo Claw
Carmen, one of the housemates, shared her interest in astronomy (and rum) with me (who knew nothing about the Southern Sky) on the deck for the night, getting out her telescope and star charts. We looked at the moons of Jupiter and searched out star clusters, I was glad to finally be away from the light pollution of the big city.
Today I went for a walk along the beach & took these shots:
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