1 year later...

Badoom. The sun is reminding us it's the Lord of Easter right now. 20 degrees C outside like something out of early June, even though April fools' day has only just passed, and the equinox is in recent memory despite the world going into shutdown. Solarpunk is about more than just battery technology - it's a reminder that we are intrinsically tied to the our weather, that we come from sunshine, that the gradual tick of the year is the difference between life and death. Solarpunk is about gaia, wu wei, paganism, animism, wicca, and everything else that ties us to the sky, to the roots in the ground, to the green of the leaves.

It's too warm out there for this time of the year, but the bumblebees are fat, and the apple blossom has revealed its pink. My seedlings have turned from whispers to voices over the last few days, and the ants are back.

With the rising of life comes a fresh renewal. The current experiment in running of solar power has now come full circle, one whole year. I feel like celebrating! And yet, the world does seem like a time or place for celebration at the moment. Nevertheless, this means we should celebrate our own victories and successes all the more, to maintain our sense of thriving humanity. Hurrah! Huzzah!

The more permanent home has proven its worth, even now that I'm confined to the house, and can more easily swap over batteries. I've been running at full capacity for the last few weeks, and the only slight issues have been some ants in my DC port, oo-er, and my phone playing up with charging a little bit. Hopefully they'll both just fix themselves...

I'm turning to the future now, as the current setup seems pretty stable. There are some things I want to do next:

1. Power something new. OK, I'm going to admit it - I celebrated by indulging investing in a rather large 372Wh power tank. I figured, rather than just add more 'little' battery capacity, it was time to take it up a notch. I have enough running off straight USB power for my little life (see my current kit), and there are things I do which don't fit in yet. I"m not quite decided - maybe power a laptop, or try to power my photography, or even try to transfer the Raspberry Pi that hosts my tt-rss and wallabag efforts, to tie in with some ongoing thoughts on intermittent networks.

I'm going to spend time testing the new gizmo, and need an adapter cable to charge it, so I'll come back to that in due course. Expect a quick review soon though, once I have it running properly. Here's a sneakly peek though:

HELLO indeed.

2. Do more around solarpunk.  Start posting more links. Maybe start a newsletter. I think the world is ready, and while there's some good stuff out there, I'd like to share it with people, keep the movement alive, inspire ideas and discussion, etc etc etc. Expect more links here to start with, maybe a weekly round-up. Then we'll see where it goes - life has too many plans and too much uncertainty at the moment.

So plans plans plans. This is doable. We can do this. The Sun's out, and even now, it's hard not to smile.