Gianni Simone, a mail artist residing in Japan, writes zine reviews for Xerography Debt as well as their own blog Gloomy Sundays.  Gianni recently reviewed my Quitter: Good Luck Not Dying book.

He (Trace) has been putting out his zine Quitter since 2005. After publishing five issues, he has decided to collect the whole lot into a 40-page hand-made book and he was kind enough to send me copy #35 (I know because each copy is numbered). The object itself is a little jewel, with a great color cover and color and b/w illustrations throughout. And then there’s the writing, of course. Put it simply, I believe that the best writing is the kind that 1) manages to be engaging regardless of the subject; 2) makes me think; and most of all 3) makes me feel like I want to take highlighter and pen and cover the pages with comments and orange marks. Quitter managed to do all these things.

Trace writes what he calls creative non fiction, and through the years has developed the ability to put common words together in original combinations. He manages to be sophisticated in a natural, unassuming way. At the same time, he anchors his rants with stories taken from his memories. Sometimes he will write something like ‘I was born with an extra pair of ribs’ and the reader (or at least a dumb reader, such as myself) will search for hidden meanings until he realizes that is the plain truth. Apart from the autobiographical notes, the common theme that returns in all the five issues is Trace’s decision to ‘quit’ the kind of world that humankind has turned into a huge pile of garbage. Quitting a job he hates and translates into ’someone else’s hopes and mortgage and car payments;’ quitting unconscious consumption; temporarily quitting the civilized world in order to live for three months in ’solitary confinement’ in a forest and study the breeding habits of a small songbird… What he will not quit is fighting to ‘preserve the history of (…) an idea that would often be considered irrelevant by the dominant culture,’ and writing ‘for an audience that is resilient in its opposition of being taken for granted.’ What can you ask more from a zine?

Today was my last full day at work in Wilmington.  I have a meeting to attend next Thursday, and then I am on to more and different things.

I worked at Tidal Creek for most of five years.  Well, I took a few months off in 2004 for a short lived veggie-oil fueled car trip, but other than that have been on the clock at the co-op.  Here is the notice that went into the latest co-op newsletter:

In December of 2003 I found myself working a register at Tidal Creek Cooperative Food Market.  I was happily unemployed up to that point, earning my rent and food money by finding things in the trash and selling them on eBay.  I also ran an organic produce buying club and converted a few old diesel cars to run on used vegetable oil, forming the idea that would become Cape Fear Biofuels.  It was an interesting life even after the point where I decided to hold onto a time card again.

A year or so later I was produce manager.

As manager I have had some profound experiences that have shaped my life and my philosophy of community and food.  I have met and talked to a great many of you.  Those conversations shaped the way the produce department evolved over the years and determined the priorities for bringing in products.  You wanted organic; you wanted local; you wanted trust in the food and the systems and people that provide it.  Hopefully I have given you what you wanted.

It is now time for me to move on and take on new challenges.  I leave for my land in Chatham County to start a farm and get back into the dirt.

Nicole, my long time right hand in the produce department, is also leaving at the same time as I am.

I leave the department in the hands of a new staff and manager who will lead you into a new era.  Please welcome Stephen Chu (manager), Buddy and Stephen K. Embrace them as you have me and all the other produce folks over the years – Mike S, Sasha, Matt, Peter, Nathaniel, Stacey, Daniel, Brad, Shannon, and Nicole B.

Just to add on a bit to this, Mike, my previous right hand in the produce department, has moved to Chatham to get into the sustainable agriculture program.  So there will be a bit of the old with the new…

Our land is still pretty mysterious, not knowing what is around or who is around.  With each trip some of the little secrets are revealed, and I feel that we are becoming more and more part of the sparsely inhabited community.

We met a neighbor who told us a little about the trail network that crosses a dozen or so properties (ours included) and found out more of the family history of the place we bought.  The trails are miles long, dumping out onto various properties or ending up at creeks and roads.

As a start, we walked west on the trail that leaves our property.  It was apparent that the forest had been clear cut in recent history, more recent on the properties south of this particular trail.  Many of the older trees were spaced in a way that indicated that the land had been used as a pasture.  Almost all of the large trees had scarring from when they had been used as fence posts.  Others were just big and dead.

The recently cut forest gives great glimpses of how succession works in our area. We have several models in action though.  Since clearing land for pasture usually leaves the remnants of hardwoods in the area, what would usually be pine dominated growth is now a heavy mix of young hardwoods.

Also, since we have not begun farming our open space yet, fast growing scrub and trees are coming up all over.  Sweet gum, tulip poplar, sumac and cedar are already a few feet high in some places.

So, with the research I was able to look through, I figure the forest around us was cut more than thirty years ago but less than seventy years ago.  I could be wrong as I am also relying on some things that I learned twelve years ago in ecology classes.

Along the trail we found some late ripening wild blueberries.  If I had to guess, they will probably ripen around the first of September.  I haven’t been able to find the name of the wild berry that ripens late.

We also saw quite a few wild creatures, from deer to beetles to spiders.  Several large spiders made great use of hollow tree parts for their webs.

This luna moth (Actias luna) was at the end of its life, having lost its tails.  The adult moths live only a week, long enough to mate.  They don’t even have mouths to eat with, such is the singularity of their purpose.

Noel caught a crayfish (Cambaroides sp.) big enough to use as fishing bait but not big enough to make a very good meal.

The stony creek at the end of our walk deserves much more exploration.  I imagine we will all spend a lot of time there poking around among the rocks and pools.

From the looks of the high banks, it also looks like we could have some nice little swimming holes if the rain would cooperate.

As usual there is an end of the line, which we will be sure to adhere to until we can get some permission to trespass.  It usually isn’t hard to get such permission as long as the owners know your name and intentions.  It should come in time, but we have enough space to explore for the time being…

Since Cricket Bread has been steadily moving towards a life narrative and away from a local-food documentary, I decided it was time to change the look of things.  I will still do a lot of commentary on food issues, but it seems that there will be much more discussion about home construction, work, Quitter, etc..  I hope to do more photo stories as well, similar to the posts about farm tours.

Posts may take a bit longer in coming as I get settled into my new Internet-less home at the end of this month.  I intend to be heavily involved in the sustainable scene in Chatham County no matter what, so there should be plenty to share with all of you.  In the meantime, let me know what you think of the new layout.

By the way, the image header is supposed to rotate when you refresh the page…

Photo by schlag!