Having been inspired by Pearl Sutton's (Permies website) efforts to educate and inspire women - I have started this blog. A place to ask all sorts of questions about living rurally. I live in a rural area in the High Desert of California. I have lived many places.....Utah, Oregon, and Wyoming were my favorites. But when I wanted to settle down and stop living in a tent in the wilderness, I chose here. Why? Because here is the best balance. It neither gets too cold, or too hot. The High Desert that I live in is at 3400'. Today, for instance.....it is 45 degrees out with 20mph winds....but I sit inside with windows all facing the sun, and I am in shirt sleeves. The cabin (384s.f) warms up during the day and stays warm at night. I have a small wood stove and have not used it in years. I retired 15 years ago and bought this property - 2-1/2 acres, in a tax sale for $6,000.
Why did I not choose to live off-grid? I will try to make this as short as possible. As I said, I have lived in wilderness, and well, it is fun and wonderful but it isn't something I wanted to do forever. So maybe I understood the challenges better than some who live in the city and dream romantically of living off the land without conveniences. As I look at it, living at this time, unlike back in the 1800's (as an arbitrary timeframe), why not take advantage of all the wonderful conveniences we have now.....not be totally dependent on them, but etch out a way of living that is not primarily based on "conquering" life challenges, but living peacefully and happily within nature, and not running myself into the ground to prove i can overcome something that I frankly don't see as something important as a life goal.
I was born in 1948 and most of my life has been a time where women were not encouraged to do the things I have done. But I did them anyway. Odd things, seemingly unconnected experiences. Eclectic is saying it mildly. I learned a little bit about everything. I had a career that allowed me full autonomy over my life. I often took a year or two off, or maybe a summer....living in wilderness. At some point, around in my 50's, I was wondering if perhaps I had taken a wrong turn some where. Every one seemed to have these well planned lives full of seemingly successful life choices that had garnered them careers that provided them with money to buy material goods. Houses, cars, boats.....I asked myself whether I should have taken one path, instead of all these hundreds of paths.
But then when I started this little project living here, I realized that it was as if all those experiences were training, was schooling, for living here. Learning a little about everything along my life path, Not having relationships that have categories such as friend or spouse, moulded me into a person that I had learned to trust when making decisions. I had learned to move at my own pace, not someone else's. I had learned living in the wilderness that only me was going to save me - LOL, so.......
This blog is for those, probably mostly women.....those who are dreaming what this life is like.....and seeing from those of us who are doing this, what it is actually like. Perhaps you are a mature woman, divorced or widowed and you wonder what it was that your husband did outside in the yard in the garage, out in the garden or fields. Perhaps you are waking up and seeing that life could be different but you don't know where to start. Perhaps afraid, not confident that you can do this.
There are many many wonderful experiences to be had in living rurally. You will have electricity, have water....and as you go along and you learn, and learn, and learn, you can have both....a place that provides comforts but you are ready when the power goes out, when the drought comes....There is nothing you have to prove to anyone. Always remember that. Your word is your word and you should be able to say those words, do those things, without being criticized. Yes, you make mistakes along the way......but you learn sometimes, more from the mistakes, than the perceived failures. I have learned that often when something went array it was because my beginning idea was a wrong concept....and the failure showed me a new path to success. So it wasn't really a failure was it.
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