Yolotli and the new greenhouse

I met him during Occupy Portland in 2011, and he inspired me to get the Portland Buddhist Peace Fellowship rolling back in 2014, when he was houseless and using the name Antonio. Now he’s living in a Tiny House community and steering a new organization, the Municipal Eco-Resiliency Project, or MERP, and he has changed his name to Yolotli to claim his Aztec heritage. He and his comrades are creating urban gardens to feed those who can’t afford to buy fresh vegetables and fruits, and he asked me to come document their work on a greenhouse. The pouring rain didn’t stop them, and I had great fun documenting their work (see Extras to get a sense of the greenhouse and one of my playful photos). 

They built the structure out of foraged bamboo; they anchored it with some kind of cement alternative; they joined the uprights to the overheads with discarded bicycle inner-tubes; and now they’re measuring and attaching the plastic that they hope will keep out the cold and produce good growing conditions. They’re germinating vegetables from seed and doing everything possible with donations, found materials, and alternatives to capitalism. It’s a work of courageous optimism, and I love being one of their photographers. 

After I made two hours’ worth of photos of them in the rain and sleet, my fingers were numb and I needed to go inside to use the toilet. There I met with an unexpected adventure. The Black German Shepherd in the house forgot that we’d been introduced and attacked my thigh, leaving me with about three inches of lacerations, bloody skin, and bruises. I drove myself home and walked to the ER, where I was bandaged and given a prescription for a week’s worth of antibiotics. I’m fine, just shaken, but I think I’ll take it easy tomorrow.