Black Sheep Inn

The donkey is braying in the cool night air, the calico cat is fluffed up on the picnic table, the fat spider is spinning a web around the hapless beetle, and I have just shoveled a load of sawdust into Van der Ryn's composting toilet. I am staying at the Black SHeep Inn ecolodge at elevation 10,500ft. Not only does the toilet not smell bad, it in fact smells like flowers and has a view of dramatic peaks and the plateau below that rivels the three tier bunk house where I am lodged. The toilet room is also a greenhouse with pretty little flowers and vines growing all around. The water from the sink doesn't go down a sewage line, but instead empties directly into the garden and irrigates it. A ;erfect little system to infuse the toilet room with the eau de flor.

Spent today hiking from Laguna Quilatoa, a mesmerizing blue green lake inside a volcanic crater, back to the Black SHeep Inn. It was a beautiful hike with lupines laying a royal purple carpet all the length of the trail. For dinner a gourmet vegetarian meal of ministrone soup, cole slaw, and corn bread was served. Now it is 9:15pm and I am off to bed.