The most memorable moment of today was walking into the room (I was a bit early) and finding Bill Mollison seating at the desk. I didn’t expect it, and my heart made a little leap. Bill gave me a long look, I smiled back and took a seat in the second row.
The Venue: Trinity College of University of Melbourne
The grounds of the college where the course is taking place reminds me of Harry Potter movies. See for yourself.
Topics & Thoughts of the Day
When people say Bill is a story-teller, they don’t exaggerate. Bill began the course with a long 4-hour story spanning topics from Africa aide work to lessons of his grandmother. The stories weave in wisdom and meaning into the events, like the elders that used to teach the young through oral recollections.
Here are my top 5 thoughts of the day:
- Sustainable system is defined as a system that over its lifetime saves or generates enough energy to repair and replace itself. Tortoise, for example, is totally sustainable…unless run over by a truck. Now, here is a thought.
- We call Jesus divine because he changed water into wine. But what about a chook, that transforms wheat into egg. That is the true godhood.
- Inventive non-reaction is the best way to dispel conflict.
- The best place to find water is to look up, contrary to current engineering trend to look down. You look down to find heat. Water naturally falls with gravity, whereas heat naturally rises up.
- When laying out a garden, first define the paths (to the toilet, compost heap, animals etc). Then lay out the garden around those paths.