Dear Ms. Wolfe,

It has been a while since we chatted and I was just wondering how you were doing and so I thought I’d drop you a line. Personally I’m just fine. I’ll be moving to Maine sometime this spring or summer to build my own little gulch. I can’t wait even tho’ it will be hard.

We at TMM have acted rather childish with the whole S6 thing and at least for my part in it I am deeply sorry. If driving you away was the result, then we who said those things are idiots.

One other little thing, My Birthday is on the 8th. I’ll be 21. I can finally buy my own booze!

So, how is the desert treating you? Since I used to spend a lot of time in the Mojave hunting snakes and looking for fossils on family outings, I had to learn desert survival stuff.

Water being the most important I’ll just give this one tip to start with.

Yucca flower stalks are full of water. You cut the stalk off the plant at its base then cut the flower end off. Next you put one end in your mouth and squeeze the part in your mouth to release the water. It’s easy even if it tastes a little funny.

In the Southwestern US this can keep you hydrated if you get lost. Killing snakes with a big rock and frying them on a black one makes for good eats too. Or you could just build a fire.

Sincerely,

Ryan AKA GaurdDuck

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Claire,

Just a note to tell you how much I like your writings. They are GREAT!

I’ve been baking bread for a while now so you really struck a chord with your article about this, but I really like your perspective and look foward to all of your aticles and now that I found your blog I’ll checking it out regularly.

Hope all is well in the high desert today . We normally have mild winters here in central Texas but it is overcast and wintery today.

Best wishes,

Charles Allen

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Ms Wolf,

I am curious why exactly you decided to settle on your present location?  While you drop some hints (suggestions of low tax and “reasonable” land prices), the fact that you provide no detail in this regard is a little perplexing.  Considering that you must have certainly kept your cost of living suppressed at your cabin in the PNW, makes many of us wonder at the meaning of the property tax issue.  I know that at one time your truck died and it seemed a major financial hurdle to replace it, from which time you were on foot?

Perhaps to pose a counterpoint, I currently live in Michigan, Napoleon Township to be specific.  It is not a wealthy community with a median income level of $43k/household.  I live on a dirt road, do have electricity and NG and due to our proximity to a sizable lake system a township sewer service was installed in the late 90’s which was quite expensive.

To get to the point, I pay nearly $400/month property tax for our 1/4 acre and 1300sqft floorplan home.  The summer and winter millage adds up to 46.01/1000 in property value or 4.6% of the assessed value per year.

It is specifically this high and unavoidable tax which could be increased at any time (virtually unavoidable now with the population in exodus, over 20% unemployment and a 50% drop in home prices, which are not reflected in our valuations).  For me, I see no possibility of retirement in this environment.

My search for my “Shangri La” has taken me to south eastern Colorado, specifically Custer County.  If you take a look at this website County assessor you can see that taxes on 36 acre lots and homes vary from $6 – $800 annually depending on whether they are zoned agricultural.  Centennial Ranch is an example of a subdivision which has a cattle grazing lease, which provides allows for agricultural zoning.

The location gets 16″ of rain per year, so is not nearly as dry as the spot you are in, and wells are generally successful.  The fact that the valley base elevation is approximately 7000ft does of course contribute to low humidity year round and one can forget about growing things without a greenhouse.  No need for air conditioning.  The area is not terribly remote, although obviously the farther one is off the beaten track, the more attractive the property prices.  I have been to a few places with my dodge ram 1500 (2wd) that were rough enough (in summer) that I was passed by others on horseback…..   One does have a large number of days per year with good solar insolation (clear blue skies) so passive solar, photovoltiac and water heating are all feasible most of the year.   In summer, the daily temperatures may rise into the 80’s but with the low humidity it feels very pleasant.

I am personally somewhat stuck with my home in Michigan, since if I sold now I would be walking away with a balance of about $80k that I would have to pay off (difference between mortgage and market price), so I figure I have a few more years to go before I will be able to get out of here.

Custer county has many of the challenges you mention, including lack of work opportunities in the vicinity.  I am fortunate in that my wife is an RN, so her job is very portable and relatively in demand and I expect to be gainfully employed building the home 6 months of the year and working as a migratory worker all winter during that phase.  Once the home is built I hope to be working on a consultancy basis for remote clients and I have a fair amount of time to work that plan out prior to the move.  Wireless and sattelite communications are certainly making cyber commuting easier all over rural america, the biggest hurdle is between the ears of your potential manager, where ever the work is at.

In closing I must say that I enjoy reading your essays, although it would be nice if you wrote a book and disclosed all the facts that are left out of your short stories.  I would buy it,that is for sure.

Best regards,

Keith Olivier
Jackson, MI

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Miss Wolfe,

Have just discovered Backwoods Home Magazine and am enjoying it and your articles. You have a simple, elegant style of writing that makes it easy and a pleasure to read. I will look forward to your articles in the future.

My wife and I having lived in Reno enjoyed that type of high desert living and I am from the Pacific Northwest, Portland area to be precise. I know what you speak of having water and tax- us – to death taxocrats!

We currently live in Southern Alabama and will be moving shortly to South Dakota for my wife’s job. I want to move back into a high desert region. I used to go camping and hunting in Eastern Oregon and and Northern Nevada at all times of the year, winter too! I too know the music that comes with such a harsh place. I really miss it.

Again thank you for your  writing.

Kevin Cederquist

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Ma’am-

I just finished your article in Backwoods Home Magazine and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it.

My boyfriend and I are in the process of clearing his family’s property to try and start raising our own livestock and a good sized garden. And while we are very gung ho, his family is not so much.

I appreciate the alternative tactics to getting that “lazy brother” to carry his weight should Bob have to host his brother, it’s not an added stress as he’s planned for it.

Thank you for writing a piece that can help us become proactive to our family and friend’s situations as they start to seek refuge. I hope you have an enjoyable holiday season and happy new year!

Teresa

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Claire,

It absolutely sucks that the PTB forced you out of your home, but I am glad that you have found a place of like-minded folks to start anew. You wouldn’t be our heroine if you couldn’t land anywhere and make a place for yourself.

Living here in southern Arizona, about 4000 ft lower than where you are, I read your article with even greater interest than I usually give to BHM. I both chuckled and commiserated, remembering how I felt when I moved here in 1991.

Water, of course, is the big thing. I moved here in April before it got hot but often found myself getting faint before I realized I was dehydrated. Even in winter, the lack of humidity can get to you. Sometimes more so, as you think it’s not hot so you don’t need to drink as much. Wrong. The cold and dry will suck moisture out too.

Speaking of moisture, don’t neglect your skin and not just for the typical feminine reasons. The sun and dryness take a toll on the largest organ we have, which has an effect on the other organs. If your skin is too dry, you are not drinking enough. Stock up on moisturizers. I’ve found that Bag Balm is not just for udders anymore. It’s great stuff.

Here are some signs that you have adapted to desert life:

– You automatically shake out your shoes or boots in the morning before putting them on–spiders and scorpions.

–   You have a glass of water always at hand and you actually drink from it. Frequently.

–   Whenever you are outside and not actually moving about, you will find whatever shade there is.

–   Your eyes are constantly scanning the ground for rattlesnakes and you learn what times of the day/night/year when you can relax your vigil.

–   You find tarantulas fascinating and not just big, ugly, hairy spiders and that lizards are your friends–they both eat bugs.

–   Dust is no more a big of a deal than cat or dog hair. You breathe it, you eat it–oh well.

–   You can smell water.

–   You accept monsoon storms with an equal mixture of fear, awe and joy.

You wrote very well about the metaphysical aspect of desert living. Courtesy of the US Navy, I spent a year in Antarctica which is the largest “desert” of them all. Living here is not really all that different. Nature will do what nature will do and all we can do is try to adapt. There is a stark beauty here and, yes, that sense of pure survival that folks in woody, watered areas just can’t comprehend.

That holds true even for those of use who are dependent on piped in utilities. In the back of our heads, many of us always have the thought of “what if..” The current economic woes have created a huge interest here in Tucson in rainwater harvesting and gardening and solar power.  It’s gratifying to see people ripping up their grass lawns. Some folks, at least, are seeing the light.

Thanks again for your article and I most certainly look forward to more.

From one desert rat to (soon to be) another, welcome.

Coyote

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Claire,

I’m very sorry to read that the evil ones threw you out of your house for taxes. We miss your wit at TMM, but I know it’s your choice.

Keep your chin up and don’t let the bastards get you down.

Kirk

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Your latest article

Hello Claire,

I really enjoyed your latest article. I’d also like to say that I’m sorry to hear about your loss of Cabin Sweet Cabin.

We sure do miss you at the MM forum.

Take care of yourself,

socalserf

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Hi Claire,

Just wanted to drop a line to say hello and that I am missing your posts at TMM, but enjoying reading your BHM articles just the same.

The high desert sounds, well, challenging to say the least, glad you are acclimating.

I hope this finds you well!

Bon courage!

Jeff (Laughing Bear)

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Dear Claire,

How I loved reading your wonderful story of living in the desert. You made it come alive!

And now, here you are, in Last Chance Gulch.   I do not know if you know that is the name of the main street of Helena, where three young men found gold after they had run out of food, money, and just about everything else.

They found a flood of riches – huge nuggets of gold, right there in the gulch that runs through the middle of Helena.

I think you are going to find your own gold in your Gulch.

I am going to enjoy reading the story.

Much Love,

iloilo

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Sorry to hear about the taxman taking your place in the soggy northwest. But we’re glad to have you here.

I enjoyed your article on the high desert. It’s rare that someone “gets it” as soon as you evidently have.

Conditions here are somewhat more harsh than many other places, but that harshness has a beauty and splendor all it’s own. It’s why we like living here, why we do live here. The place has requirements that you must meet to live here, and it takes a certain kind of independent, self-sufficient character to meet them.

As for the solar power, I’ve read many who criticize solar and wind power as not feasible because they are so inefficient they will never replace the traditional power plants. They say it takes so many hundred thousand acres to make a wind farm that produces as much as a coal plant. Sadly, they miss the point. the beauty of solar and wind is precisely that it is most efficient for the individual residence, and perhaps a small neighborhood. It is technology that is perfectly suited to the self-reliant who want to avoid the centralized power companies and grid, which may be more efficient, but is no more reliable and much less accessible or controllable by, or accountable to, the individual. Solar and wind may not make much money for the big companies, but it is a godsend for the independent individual.

Well, again, welcome, and we are glad you’re here.

Ed Dowdle
Show Low, AZ

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