“Head down Highway 160 towards Poplar Bluff and you’ll see a junkyard on your left with a big blue building….look for Bill.” This is the direction I get before driving to a place I’ve never been 80 miles south of a place I’m already at that I’ve never been to. Nothing to keep you on your toes like driving through rural America not knowing anyone and not knowing much about where you’re going, other than you need to meet Bill.

This is how a lot of my summer has been, and everyone I’ve met has been great. At this junkyard lies a new wood drying kiln in the making that will be very efficient and only work with wood that has been acquired in an environmentally responsible method. It may look crude at the moment, but these folks are working on restoring an old kiln that will run off of wood, not fossil fuels, and that, while using water to cool in the drying process, will actually output 5 parts of water for every three parts used. It will dry wood quickly but not too quickly, and produce 1% waste wood as opposed to many traditional kilns that produce upto 10% waste. A lot of rural folks will tell you that they are pioneering a new lifestyle, that there is a movement among Americans to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and to reconnect to the land, and gain an understanding of how to live off the land and with it. So, here’s what what some pioneers look like, and here’s where they are working…in the August Missouri sun. There are people that continually talk about progress but these are the people that don’t talk, they just get shit done.