Kylie's Driveway...

I was reading the Nature Conservancy magazine the other day about the drastic reduction in visitors to National Parks. It seems that kids (those 35 and younger) who grew up with Video games are not interested in outdoor activities. No camping, hiking, fishing, rock climbing for this nature challenged population. A shame.

We discussed this last night over dinner. Kylie promised that even if I ever do buy her a "Wi" that she would always want to be an outdoors girl.

Kylie has made it her project to repair the damage to the driveway that the bulldozers did. She loads the rock into a wheelbarrow, and then I dump it for her. She then rakes out the rock...


Her progress as of this morning. I laid out the rocks, as they are "bigger than my head" and therefore, are rejected from the rubble trench.

A few words on the changes in Kylie and Jazmine over the last two months. They have been remarkably patient with this change of life. They gave up really good friends and a school they loved to move here. They have certainly had their moments. But all in all, I'd have to say they are troopers.

They love riding the bus to school. They like their new school and are quickly making friends.

Other changes: They don't ask to watch TV hardly at all anymore. Part of the reason is that we strictly apportion the juice from the PV system. But more than that, they have much more to do outside. Bike riding and just puttering seems to take up their time. Catching bugs. Going to the swimming hole. Finding rocks for the trench: these things seem to have made up for the loss of Webkinz and Hannah Montana.

But don't get me wrong, change is hard on everyone. And these girls have been through a whole heck of a lot in their short lifetimes. Tact necessitates not writing about it. That's the girl's story.

Still, the girls have been very brave during this move. Red Cross Shelters, Two months of 100 plus degree weather. Much less electronic babysitting. Having to stay close to Joni and me during sunup and sundown (due to the Mountain Lion danger). And having to learn how to occupy your time in a wild area... Good job Girls...

At least they won't suffer from "Nature Deficit Disorder" like many of their peers in the city.

What happens to a country when a whole generation is disconnected from the wild? Protecting the wild will be the first thing to go. Hello off shore drilling, drilling in ANWAR, greetings Nukes. Anything shall be sacrificed to preserve the electronic way of life.

Goodbye Polar Bear, Seals, Salmon, ancient forest, clean beaches, uncluttered ocean views, National Park funding, biodiversity, wildlife corridors and viable populations of most species.

He makes his money on what isn't displayed...

On the road to Concow, this guy puts up a roadside stand. I stopped to look at his knives and tools. Mostly they were stuff that was very, very overpriced. I guess if you don't sell any, you don't have to restock your stuff.

This area is steeped in drugs. Meth abounds. Go to the local swimming hole, and over forty year old men with buck teeth and few redeeming qualities (and even smaller vocabularies) smoke weed out of corn cob pipes while your children play. The welfare Moms hang out smoking cheap cigarettes and drinking the 12 pack $5.99 special on beer from the Dome store.

Back to the sign guy. Of course, what this guy really is selling is dope. Just ask him what he has that isn't on display...Religion is no longer the opiate of the masses up here.

Manzanita!!

Joni has been clearing brush. Here she is pruning a Manzanita tree. Live in the west and you'll become familiar with these fellahs. Beautiful. Their green, smallish leaves and distinctive red bark (which peels to even a redder color) matches the landscape of this land. Green pines and red earth perfectly complemented by the Manzanita.

Pull Joni!!

What the leaves look like. I'm told that you can make a tea out of these to ease nausea. The berries on most species are edible (and can be found in the springtime). I've never tried them. Put another experience on the "to do" list.

There are over sixty varieties of Manzanita. This is a little clearing on our property which is currently working hard to be populated by them. The wood is incredibly hard and burns mercilessly hot, and will crack your wood stove if burned.

The danger is past...

The warning sign on our "message board" post office box. What with Cougars, Rattlesnakes and ravenous Black Bears about, it seems that humans and their pets are the most menacing dangers up here...

Pit Bulls on the Ridge...

The past few days, the Ridge has been all a flutter from the terrorism of some pit bulls. These menacing animals have been wandering the Ridge taking out a couple of pets and some poultry.

This morning Joni was working her brush--and I was (once again) digging rock, when Joni yelled: "Get out of here"! The pit bulls (well, one pit bull and the other an "amstaff") ran passed her and started circling our dog. We had another neighbors dog visiting with us (social hour) and the pit bulls couldn't focus on which dog they wanted to attack. The visiting dog was sensible and ran into the house. Our dog got knocked to the ground.

I gathered a stick and pursued the pits. One ran into the house (I quickly got the visiting dog out and shut the door). Joni yelled for someone to get a gun. Our neighbor kid, heard the commotion and came over with his 22. This family has had signs up that they would shoot these dogs on sight (as the pits bulls had killed a long time animal companion--the cherished 14 year old family cat).

I managed to get a leash on one of the pit bulls (a brave exercise by me, I thought). We called animal control and waited an hour to attend to our emergency. I managed to get the other dog on to the deck. He was quite a bit more aggressive.


The aggressive dog...killer of poultry and family pets. He didn't kill our pet mice in the cage next to him.

Our Neighbors kid, here to defend all of us with his 22...

And our heroes from animal control. One dog went nicely; the other was a bit more of a fight...


This wild area attracts all kinds. It's a place where the ragged people go. We have Apocalyptic Christians, Rastafarian's, Pot Smoking Schizophrenics, Anti Social Meth-Labbers, Small Entrepreneur types with cannabis plots and gold prospecting tools, Disabled folks, Day Laborers, Red Necks with old pick up trucks, tools and budweiser, Green Professionals---a cornucopia of rugged individualists and extremists. Some live in tents. Others in trailers. Cabins. Pre-fabs. Getting by cheaply is the norm. DIY.

The Anti-Social Druggies like having pit bulls. They raise them to fight. To be menacing. They want people to leave them alone, so that they can tend to their meth labs and their pot farms. I think that is what we were dealing with the past few days.

From July...tree, shelter and bales...

From perusing some photos that Joni took, I came across this photo of the tree we had to take down. This is the tree Joni talked to...
And this photo from our time at the Red Cross Shelter. Both my Dad and I had to stay in a shelter within the last year. My Dad because of a flood. Me, because of a fire...

A photo after we finished stacking the bales on July 2, 2008...

And Joni in the process of stacking the bales (I forgot that she helped)...

Hot!! Clearing brush and trees after the bulldozers

The top number is the temperature outside as of right now. The bottom number is the temperature inside the cabin. A record for inside the cabin! At least it's a dry heat...

We salvaged some of the trees from the road building and the bulldozing (during the fire). We hope to use a few of these for the Post and Beam.

While I hauled rock, Joni was busy clearing brush and trees...

A couple of downed trees waiting to be firewood...

Steelhead Dinner

Last evening, with the temperature hovering around 101 degrees, Joni decided to cook dinner outside. This has been one very hot summer. The girls have been very patient with this outdoor lifestyle with no air conditioning.

Kylie showing her culinary prowess.

And Jazmine in the midst of a meltdown.

We all have noticed that our bodies have adapted to the heat. We put on sweat shirts when the temperature hits 78 degrees in the evening. Yet last night was pretty unbearable. With the girls having to go to bed earlier for school, it was 97 degrees when they turned in. Cold wash cloths and wipe downs helped them get comfortable. And they were sleeping as the thermometer hit 94 degrees in the cabin.

Today it is supposed to be hotter. On August first, I reset our nifty difty thermometer that records outside and inside temperatures. It also records the highs and the lows. The high temp this month? 114.7 degrees F. The lowest? 58.8. The highest inside-the-cabin temperature was: 103.5

Cool relief does come though. In the evening, the cool air slides down the mountains, after the heat has subsided from the canyon floor. On really hot days, the cool winds arrive around midnight. On lesser hot days, you can count on a wind switch around 9 or 10 pm. So the wind changes twice a day. Up from the canyon floor during the day; down from the mountains at night. Blessed relief.

Hot Afternoon Errands....

I didn't feel like doing much today. I'm still recovering from a wild and woolly five days at work. My own personal Sabbath.

I did make it to the Hardware store/Post Office.
And, of course, a stop at the "Dome" store for some ice...

And on the way home, I spied this Jackrabbit amongst the burned area adjacent to our property. He liked the Billy Joel I was playing in the car.

News: We will start taking down trees and stripping them on September 8. My colleague Gus, and his work crew, have agreed to help with this project. We plan on getting the Post and Beam up (and the roof on) for both additions by September 20th.

A Sin?

Done with rather a rough stretch at work. This sign greets those who wish to use the washer at the dormitory where I stay when working. Every religion needs rules. This is a rather curious one.

The hospital provides laundry facilities for us to use. However, in order to observe the Sabbath, they advise us that we can't do laundry during these times. It's one of those curiosities of working in an Adventist facility. One of the last vestiges left over from when there were some really, really strict rules. One Professor I know, who worked at the local, nearby Adventist College, was fired when he was seen having a glass of wine at one of the local restaurants.

As far as I can tell, this sign is one last hold over from those earlier years. Question? Did I wash my clothes (that were heavily soiled on my Saturday shift from human excrement)? And if I did, was that a sin?

Country Roads, Take Me Home...

After a hard days work, I walked the half mile down to the school bus stop. Had to meet Kylie and Jazmine (it was their first time riding the bus to school). This is the view on the walk down to the bus stop...

Hard to tell, but all of this is burned over...

Here comes the bus!! The area to the right was a staging area for fighting the fires...

And the girls, right on time...

I think every kid should be greeted after school by a puppy dog...

More Satellites! And I dig a (not a pony)

So we broke down and got Satellite TV for the girls. Now Hannah Montana is back in our lives...

The past two days I've been digging rock. It takes a lot of time to fill a wheelbarrow full of rock. Yes, I could have some delivered from somebody who sells this stuff, but the Nearing's gathered their own---so by golly, so am I!

I've gotten most of the rock for the trenches from the pile created by the excavation. This pile needs to be sifted anyway, so I dig and dig. I pull out suitable rocks ("up to as big as your head" Joni says). There are times in my life when my head has been quite big (usually followed by some humbling experience)...so most rocks are fair game.

Many hours have gone into this trench. Most might not appreciate it. I do. "Gonna take a lot of (rock)" sung to the Neil Young tune...

My Semi-Retirement...

On July 1, 2008 I cut back to part-time at the hospital. The good folks there have been gracious enough to give me a schedule that works quite well. I travel twice a month, for five days. So, twice a month I get to spend time with my good friends at the hospital (a good mental health unit creates, and sustains, lasting and deep friendships amongst colleagues).

So we socialize after work. One of our favorite hang out spots is the Chateau Domaine. They make decent bubbly. Fridays is Oyster and Bubbles night. This is my friend GG, who, hopefully will be in charge of the post and beam addition.

I stay overnight in the old Nurses Dormitory. Before that, the building was part of the Sanitarium, which is why all the rooms have huge front porches.

My room with the front porch visible.

Nurses used to have to punch this clock when they made rounds... Now I've seen hospitals that have "Where You Are" detectors on your badge. A computer at the nurses station displays where you are. That's a bit too big brotherish for me...

Oops.....didn't mean to post that again...

For those who are bothered by my carbon footprint driving 280 miles round trip for work---since I stay at the hospital for those five nights, I actually only drive 200 miles more a month than when I lived 10 miles from the hospital. Plus it helps to settle my wanderlust and my hermitage qualities.

The Emperor Butterfly?...

Joni thought this is an Emperor Butterfly? Any experts out there who can confirm such?

Kylie, the famous butterfly catcher...

No butterflies were harmed in this blog. He got away just fine...

State of the Homestead, part nine (the last one)

Yes, the side of the cabin with the pink wrap is incredibly ugly! If we don't get the Post and Beam up this fall (I'm still waiting to see if my friend can fit it into his schedule---this sort of work is way beyond me)...we will side this over (and put up a Yurt for sleeping).

There are more than enough ugly country homesteads. With no garbage collection, poverty and probably just sheer laziness, I'm amazed at how untidy some properties are. I'd rather not be one of them.
I set up our washer outside. Yes, it works...but takes a whole heck of a lot of power. I tried to talk Joni into having it be "family day" to do the wash by hand. That didn't fly. Joni may be one hell of a Granola Chick...but she does have a little bit of the upscale "My Daddy Was An Executive At A Major Corporation" hangover left in her. She looked at me like I had just suggested that we build a rocket and fly it to the moon. She said: "NO". She is probably right. I have more ideas than will to do them. So for now, we take the laundry into town.

We are almost done with living out of boxes. The few that remain are for the kitchen, which remains incomplete. We are trying to figure out how to build adobe countertops.

Now that we have an inside stove that works, we don't use the campstove as often. Yet, it is fun to cook on it in the evening (or so Joni tells me anyway). Like the guy from Being There: I like to watch. Since we don't have water into the kitchen yet, we do wash the dishes outside.

This completes the State of the Homestead series. After a little more than a month, this is how we live. Like any new hobby, it remains fun for now. Will it always remain such? I'll get back to you during the rainy season...