New Contributor: Roy "Grandpa"
First of all…
I want to emphasize that I am not offering you a “how-to” anything. Instead, I would like to pass on information from someone that has moved to the southwest area well after retirement and a few of the experiences that this “greenhorn” had to learn.
No Native
Since I’m obviously not a native to the area, the learning curve about the little stuff is something to experience and learn as I go along. I’m a native “North westerner” that has called Seattle and Portland home for many years. Living in the desert is
something that I have never experienced before. Just one example, most of the northwest (west side of the mountains) doesn’t have black widow spiders or rattle-snakes to deal with. We never had to deal with that aspect of animal life. Living in the Philippine islands for over 3 years taught us that EVERYTHING that moved was poison until proven otherwise. Yes, with over 20 years in the military, my family and I did the normal amount of travel before leaving and coming back into the civilian world, so, yes; we have done some other travel as well.
Brats of a different kind
I guess my first indication of the effect on our kids growing up and being military brats was when my son and I were talking one evening about “home towns”. I had a bit of a shock when my son said he really didn’t have a home town, he had too many memories of being here and there or maybe pushed off somewhere else, but all without roots. Until that point, I never realized just how much my military life had affected my family.
Anyway, my point to all of this is that we grow, we learn, and the learning never really stops, no matter what. My son and his family have made their home in the Southwest and we are living here to be close to the grandchildren with an attempt to hold the family together as much as possible. We had the choice of either here or on the east coast, and with no disrespect to our daughter intended; life on the east coast was out of the question. Anyhow -----
Pole Cats
Back to the subject at hand, I wanta share some of our experiences with you about the living
conditions and what many of you take for granted, and to look at me as a greenhorn, who I admit it – I am! Just some of the experiences include the continued encounter with the cats. No – there other kind - You know the kind - the black ones
with the white spots or stripe, and their desire to make their home with us. That seems to be an ongoing saga, but in another article, I’ll explain it further.
Desert Life
Also, in another later article, I want to chat about some of the other animal life here, and those experiences we have met. I was surprised at how many different varieties of snakes that there are in the local area, so learning how to tell the difference remains somewhat of a mystery for me.
Then the bird life is really something to behold. We especially enjoy the comedy acts of the “Roadrunner” family that lives across the street from us. I was surprised to know that there are two different species of Roadrunner, just one of the things I’ll be writing about. Watching out our kitchen window, we get a great variety of bird life display, such as the antics of multiple types of birds searching the grasses looking for something - seeds I guess. We really enjoy watching the quail families, especially in the spring with their new families.
Lizards are plentiful, and their curiosity for the new is different. When we lived in the Philippine islands we had lots of lizards but the most prevalent was the “Gecko”. I can remotely compare the Gecko to the local variety. Here, in the summer months we keep a bowl of water on the ground to attract wild life, and get to see the bunnies, birds, lizards – all kinds of wild life that stop for a drink. The lizard seems to be the only one that really enjoys it because they just hop in and go for a swim. (It could be the root of the problem with the skunks – they need water. I’ll have to experiment and see if that could be our problem. Hmmmmm) Maybe! I intend to chat just a bit about all of this in the coming months as well.
Homesteading
The project of trying to live off the land and be relatively free of dependency on outside influence and materials is a very strenuous undertaking. I admit that it is beyond me at my age, but I really admire those families that really try. To watch families that tend to animals, try to raise garden supplies, build their own homes, the home schooling – everything that goes along with independence is a tremendous undertaking and not for the faint at heart. It requires dedication and determination just to name two elements.
I think you will be greatly enlightened and truly enjoy the efforts of the “Little Homestead” family and those things they share with you – all SIX of the family. In their own way, all 4 grandkids are stars and they share their “growing-up” experiences with you. I am greatly honored to be invited to write for them and share our experiences with their family.
By the way, if you have a tendency to disagree with me - please, no comments. Just shake your head, and tell yourself “what a pity”. I promise, I’ll understand.
Roy
December 2012
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Resources
www.greenhomebuilding.com/adobe.htm
www.earthbagbuilding.com/articles.htm
www.earthbagplans.wordpress.com
We moved from the city to the country in 2005. Since then, we have been building structures, raising livestock and growing some of our own foods. We are crazy about family, nutrition and want the best for our growing family.
