I'm pretty selfish, I guess, when you get right down to the nitty-gritty of it all. My dream of living out here, off the grid and far away from civilization, has nothing to do with improving the world as a whole or producing any type of educational benefit to the masses. All I really care about is how this will impact mine and my husband's life, how this will allow our dreams to become reality, and how it will benefit us in the long run.
This type of life is not for everyone and, in fact, it is for very few. There is nothing easy or simple about it, regardless how many times we, or others, may claim that it is a 'simple life'.
It's not. It is far from 'simple'!
A better word would be 'basic'. It is getting back to the 'basics' of life and understanding that there will be a lot of sweat and hard work to maintain this 'basic' life. The simplicity comes in realizing that we, as a world, have become so spoiled and enslaved by the easy things of the world, such as a flip of a switch or turn of a knob to give us electricity and water without a thought as to how it travels to us or how much we are paying for that ease of transport. We no longer have to physically exert ourselves for the basics. We just pay an enormous amount of money to the electric and water companies for the right to have electric at our finger tips and water from our taps. It's bad enough that we have to pay taxes in order to keep what is rightfully ours in the first place!
A simple life arrives when you stop and realize that, with a little sacrifice and a lot of hard work, you can have the basic necessities of life without having to be enslaved to a power company. A simple life allows you to take back control of your basic needs and necessities, where you become independent and solely responsible for those basic needs.
Presently I reside in an old, poorly built, poorly designed, uninsulated house in town. I am currently hooked up to all of the 'on grid' things such as electric, city water, ground line telephone, high speed internet and satellite television. Summers aren't too bad, but in fall, winter and early spring I feel as if I am going to freeze to death! The walls and ceilings 'sweat' and I have to constantly battle mold and mildew. My stove is electric and when we lose power, which is pretty darned often, I am unable to cook. My yard is so tiny (less than 1/8th acre) that I could easily throw a cat from any direction and clear the fences. I also live just a few feet from what can sometimes be a pretty busy highway. Because of that highway, plus the town ordinances against pets running around without leashes, my dogs have to stay behind a fence and my cats have to stay indoors. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but I have one dog and two cats who are suicidal and always end up in the middle of the highway! Add to this that I have two boys who hibernate in their rooms with game controllers in hand because I have allowed them to become dependent on the ease of electricity and internet.
So, I sit here and I pray...I pray for the sell of this house and a permanent move Out Where the Wild Things Grow.
I am excited. To break away from the 'norm', to get out on our property, to build something where nothing once stood, to get busy, be active, be free.
I am fearful. To break away from the 'norm'...how bad will it hurt? Am I too old to chase another dream? Can we make this work? Will we fail? Will this house in town ever sell?
But, if we never get the chance to try, we will never get the chance to know!
So, I pray even more!!!
One day...
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Saturday, March 14, 2015
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Out Where the Wild Things Grow
March 14, 2015
The first time I ventured out here was well over 40 years ago...sometimes it seems as if it were only a few days ago.
Having been born and raised in southeast Texas, where the pine trees loomed higher in feet than I could ever imagine counting, the virgin hardwoods were thicker around than mine and my brothers hands laced together could reach, and where rivers, creeks and even rice field canals held water year round, this place was a whole other world!
Rocks and thorny things took up every inch of space; tall rocky hills and deep thorny canyons were everywhere. The Mexican mountains could be seen in the distance and the sky was endless, glorious and the biggest thing my eyes had ever seen. A person could see for miles upon miles without anything obstructing the view. The air was fresh and filled with the sounds of nothing more than the wind and perhaps a bird or hawk. Deer, both whitetail and mule, could be seen just about anywhere you wanted to look, and if you trained your eyes to find them. Rio Grande turkey, while not easily seen and not always prevalent, were a thrill to watch whenever you did spot them. A variety of raptors and a few owl could be seen, as well as land roaming predators such as mountain lion, bobcat, coyote and fox. There were also javelina, jackrabbit, desert cottontail, raccoon, badger, porcupine, skunk, as well as ground squirrel, rats, mice, horned toad, Texas Spiny Lizards, rattle snakes, red snakes (aka coach whips), bull snakes and garter snakes. Scorpion, tarantula, black widow... these are just a few of the hundreds of different spiders, reptiles, birds and mammals that call this area home.
The first time I ever saw a white skunk was out here, and it was also the first time I had ever seen a skunk that large. It probably weighed a solid thirty pounds! All these years later, I've never forgotten that skunk!
Two evenings ago I watched two gray fox feed on corn in my front yard. That morning I had watched deer, both whitetail and muley, jackrabbit, desert cottontail and 13 lined ground squirrel feeding on that same corn and in that same front yard. It dawned on me, as I watched the fox feed...This is 'out where the wild things grow'.
This is my home now.
Out here, where the wild things grow!
The first time I ventured out here was well over 40 years ago...sometimes it seems as if it were only a few days ago.
Having been born and raised in southeast Texas, where the pine trees loomed higher in feet than I could ever imagine counting, the virgin hardwoods were thicker around than mine and my brothers hands laced together could reach, and where rivers, creeks and even rice field canals held water year round, this place was a whole other world!
Rocks and thorny things took up every inch of space; tall rocky hills and deep thorny canyons were everywhere. The Mexican mountains could be seen in the distance and the sky was endless, glorious and the biggest thing my eyes had ever seen. A person could see for miles upon miles without anything obstructing the view. The air was fresh and filled with the sounds of nothing more than the wind and perhaps a bird or hawk. Deer, both whitetail and mule, could be seen just about anywhere you wanted to look, and if you trained your eyes to find them. Rio Grande turkey, while not easily seen and not always prevalent, were a thrill to watch whenever you did spot them. A variety of raptors and a few owl could be seen, as well as land roaming predators such as mountain lion, bobcat, coyote and fox. There were also javelina, jackrabbit, desert cottontail, raccoon, badger, porcupine, skunk, as well as ground squirrel, rats, mice, horned toad, Texas Spiny Lizards, rattle snakes, red snakes (aka coach whips), bull snakes and garter snakes. Scorpion, tarantula, black widow... these are just a few of the hundreds of different spiders, reptiles, birds and mammals that call this area home.
The first time I ever saw a white skunk was out here, and it was also the first time I had ever seen a skunk that large. It probably weighed a solid thirty pounds! All these years later, I've never forgotten that skunk!
Two evenings ago I watched two gray fox feed on corn in my front yard. That morning I had watched deer, both whitetail and muley, jackrabbit, desert cottontail and 13 lined ground squirrel feeding on that same corn and in that same front yard. It dawned on me, as I watched the fox feed...This is 'out where the wild things grow'.
This is my home now.
Out here, where the wild things grow!
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