I just had to drop you a line and let you know how much my hubby and I love your magazine. We have been subscibers for only a couple of years now, but have learned so much! In our plight for self sufficiency, your magazine has been so valuable to us-when we receive it…we actually flip a coin to see who gets to read it first! Cover to cover I might add! We always find a project that sounds good, so we put it on the to-do list. And we love the letters from the other folks who also are faithful readers.

Since subscribing, we have managed to put in an even larger garden than we had, and grow and can almost all of our veggies. Anything we need to supplement, it’s farmers’ markets and local farmers only.

We are surrounded by ocean so we do a lot of fishing, as we love fish…I doesnt cost us a dime and its healthy for us..and we love to go fishing!

We also built our own greenhouse from mostly recycled materials! We have a flock chickens for eggs and looking into getting a couple of cows for milk and meat and a few goats for milk for us and also to use in my soaps! Yes soaps!!!

My Hubby is looking into material to make some solar panels to use while we save up to get enough panels to go completely off grid.

We quit our jobs and are now self-employed. Not letting others profit off our labor is liberating!

We live on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. I was wondering if there are any other readers around my parts. I saw BWH for the first time a few moths ago and with the self-sufficiency movement catching on…it would be a benefit and education for all who read!

We are so grateful to you for all the great info. You have been so helpful!!!!!

We look forward to many more years with you!!!

Julie & Don Goulart
Mashpee, MA

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Being the oldest of four children, my father elected to teach me to hunt and use guns in a responsible manner. I am a petite woman that has lived in Alaska for six years, brought down moose, caribou, elk, deer and even bear that was maruading my homestead.

I carry a .270 Manlicher with custom stock using 110 to 150 gr. ammon (depending on intended targets) and a .38 police special. I can put three rounds the size of a 50 cent piece at 100 yards off hand with the .270.

Would I hesitate to use a gun to protect myself or someone else if necessary? No qualms here! And freshly killed game on the table beats beef, pork or chicken any day.

Thanks,

Linda Alexander
Gold Beach, Oregon

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Kudos to Emily Chadwick (Call Me Plumber Jan/Feb.2010 issue).  I hope her toddler was smart enough to be impressed by Mom’s spunk and self reliance.

When I was a young lad, I accidentally dropped a quarter into the toilet after finishing my business, but before flushing.  Oh No!  25 cents was a lot of money to a young one in a poor family in the 1960’s.  My mom instantly transformed into a superhero and plunged her hand into the toilet bowl.  Feeling around under the brown floaters, she pulled the money from the drain of doom.  I could not have been more impressed by Wonder Woman charging into machine gun fire!  Washing her hands and my money, she explained that it’s not always pleasant, but we do what must be done.  It was one of many incidents proving her to be the strongest, bravest woman I knew.

I am now older than she was then.  When I need strength and courage in the face of adversity, I still look to her for inspiration.  I expect Mrs. Chadwick’s daughter will feel the same way.

Paul Miller
Hannibal, MO

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I am not one to say the sky is falling, but I have done what my senses have told me to do. I am also “networking” with reliable people whom I can trust and depend on and with. (That network is a very small one for obvious reasons)

I cannot comprehend that some people cannot comprehend that someday the store won’t be open and there won’t be any food on the shelves. What will they do?

I truly hope all this bypasses us and things get better but if not I’m ready.

One more thing…Love your mag!! I try not to read the whole thing when I get it in the mail and try to save some for late night reading, but dang!….I read it all again on the day I got it. Just will have to read it again…

[Name withheld by request]
Kirbyville, MO

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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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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

===============

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

===============

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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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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When I arrived here in July, I had to keep oven mitts in my car just so I could turn the ignition without buring my fingers.

Many Thanks!

Garth Stewart

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I just finished reading your piece on moving and adapting to the desert. Absolutely fascinating, I must say.

I’ve been a southeastern dweller for most of my life, and I’m used to plentiful water, living in a rainy place and at the edge of a large river/lake. Since I live very simply, power isn’t much of an issue, except loosing a pound or two of frozen foods. I pretty much get along with one light bulb, in whatever room I happen to be.

Your thoughts on life in the dry, severe climate of the desert are, as I said, fascinating. I’m seeing the link to more of your writings, and I’m thinking I’m going to have to clear my (very vacant) social calendar for a month or so to read and appreciate your work. Some of the titles are very enticing!!!

I have to say one thing about the life-and-death issue. It happens here, in Tennessee, also. My 30+ year career as and RN is over, but I still see and hear about it. Granted, we don’t have to confront raw, and sometimes hostile, nature as you might. Maybe we should??? I can hear what I think are coyotes barking in the hills, sometimes. Would love to have one visit my front yard under a full moon someday.

Since my kids were very young, I haven’t seen a sky like the one you described. I envy you the chance to do that daily. When I ask my youngsters if they remember what the Milky Way looks like, they just cock their heads and say—”Well…Yeah…I think so”. We used to take blankets to the yard and stargaze for hours. I’m 65 now and, although in pretty good health, I worry that I won’t really see the stars again—at least from this part of the country. One of the items on my “to do before you die” list is to head far west, to the high desert, and spend a month just looking at the night sky. Maybe take a bunch of pics to share with friends who have not a clue of what a sky like that can be. Maybe use my nursing skills as a volunteer on a reservation at or near the Four Corners region.

The piece I just read sounded like your relocation was, maybe, stressful. I’ve always felt that when a door slams shut, another opens. The story of my life, at least—haha. Hope your transition has proven educational and beneficial.

Looking forward to more of your writings. Thanks!!!

Bill Byford

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A professor of economics asked what happens under certain economic and social conditions.

I said  revolution!!

He said poor people never revolt. The middle class leads revolutions.

Thus we see why, having dumbed down the last two or three generations, the powers that be are entering into the next phase of destruction–impoverishment.

A hungry and uninformed people, whose medicines and other necessities are being held hostage, cannot revolt.

Note that the necessities are very little produced in North America anymore and so are unobtainable.

Enjoy your writing.

God’s protection on you.

Sincerely,

Deborah Harvey

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