Averse to altering natural features of land beyond construction of shelter and supporting systems, it's still fun to visualize enhancements to the parcel for both functional and aesthetic effect, not the least being engineering part of the seasonal stream to always flow like an artesian well would. Something like this with its simulated spring source being an exercise pool with solar-powered pumps recirculating water from it into a section of the stream. But such engineering

Sheltering for the first time in alternate housing during a thunderstorm, marveling at its high-tech amenities and accoutrements while recollecting how I survived childhood during the 50s and 60s to exist in this current state of being, triggered vivid dreams of a house design. Five years of duck-and-cover drills at grade school as bombers cruised overhead and fighter jets pierced the sound barrier with house-rattling booms, and five years living in a high-desert City Dysfunc

A preferred version of a traditional, single-story house is gelling. Tonight a mood of finely-crafted rustic lodge styling with wraparound porch guides the imagination to this design. This floor plan of five 20 ft x 15 ft rooms totaling 1500 Sq Feet is firm now, and won't change. I've always wanted an inviting walk-in pantry something like this as key feature of the kitchen. The bedroom's main window will face the stream and its wooded banks, view unobstructed. Keeping techno

A little over a year before U.S. Government arsonists burned me out of house and homestead, I absentmindedly set my keys down in a cardboard box in which something or other had recently arrived via UPS instead of puting them into the big rubyware snifter where they belonged right beside the box. Spent half a day looking for them about a week later when it was time to drive upslope to begin the annual wood gathering routine. I could not imagine where else they could be. I alwa

When I was fifteen years old I informed my parents that one day I wanted to live in wilderness but wanted to have a music studio there, too. They told me that would require electrical power, and at that time the only way to have electrical power in wilderness required running a big, noisy generator during recording sessions. So much for that, I thought. Then with passage of time and innovations beyond my wildest teenage dreams, living in wilderness and having electrical power

My sister and brother-in-law just gifted this multi-media sculpture to add warmth to the new house. Its credentials are enroute so I don't know yet who created it or their background. It might have been the work of someone at the Picuris Pueblo. Tiwa. People traditionally big on body art. If this is the case then the white handprint on the warrior's face might signify a victory imbuing its wearer with spiritual purity and lasting peace earned through an act of courage, possib

Three years ago tomorrow, I submitted my Notice Of Loss (NOL) to FEMA as the first step toward being made whole again after the USFS had destroyed my homestead and everything I owned as result of their gross incompetence and criminal negligence in planning, igniting, and mismanaging a prescribed burn which subsequently went wild. I am still waiting for FEMA to finish the task of making me whole again, as are so many other hapless victims of that fire. Consider this typical vi

About a year from now my plan was to sit out on the porch of my custom-built wilderness dream home to enjoy a cup of coffee, a slice of homemade sourdough bread slathered with homemade chokecherry jelly, and take in this delightful view at sunrise: As it is, that will never happen now because the USFS completely destroyed the vast, pristine forestland shown in this photo. The old growth conifers, the aspen stands, the scattered, secretive oak, maple and crabapple groves, and

Upon completion of constructing the home/studio which would stand for twenty-two years before USFS imbeciles burned it all to ash, I was cleaning up around the yard. Picking up a trashcan full of scrap wood and carpet revealed a beautiful little snake with a blue head, brown back and yellow belly coiled compactly on the still damp earth beneath it. Having never seen a blue-headed snake before, I caught it and took a long look at it. It was an early fall morning and still cool

The year I began living year round at the wilderness homestead, I went on a long walk with my parents up the access road which was always nothing more than a steeply climbing jeep track through pristine, old growth forestland. The weather was ideal, the air crisp and clear. After the first quarter mile we had gained almost four-hundred feet of elevation as we approached the point where stream and track crossed when the silence was broken by a chipmunk perched on a large bould

Despite incessant, stifling, vampiric jibberjabber and grabberstabber antics of politicians and clergy, humankind's ability to clamber up onto the shoulders of our predecessors to innovate and achieve ever-increasing levels of prowess astounds and invigorates in ways no mere campaign speech or pulpit pounding sermon ever has. The shoulders of such dedicated researchers and makers are broad and stout. Those of social influencers, sloped and mushy. The architecture of human pr

Homesteading off grid, especially in remote wilderness environments, brings about interesting hyper-awareness of, and dreaming about, systems supporting such a homestead. Access system, water system, septic system, and heating/cooling system are the highest priority systems one must be aware of, dream about, and properly implement if one wants to succeed at living well away from civilized places where these essential systems are provided as public works, utilities, and standa

The new homestead is panning out to be a much more special place than expected. With its rich biome being more than satisfying, and still revealing itself a bit at a time, its lowland views are superbly soothing to eye and mind. Beyond the shaded verge lies its seasonal stream which flowed for more than five months this year. What secrets it will reveal over time are enticing eyefare, so a room with a view has been set up for disruption-free visual access. More sanctuary than

I make no claims of being any sort of Grizzly Adams. In fact, I avoid contact with most wild creatures. After all, they are wild and upredictable, much like I am. No telling what any of us might try to do. But it's fun to imagine every wild creature in this new homestead biome coming together for a group portrait. And it's comforting to know we all live here doing our own things in our own ways. While this is by no means a complete representation of flora and fauna of this ne

An especially vivid and enjoyable recurrent dream of mine has me walking across Oklahoma hills with family and witnessing a huge, black spacecraft descending from within a thunder cell to recharge itself on the stormcloud's massive lightning strikes at its base. Why I keep having this dream is a mystery but I'm always glad when it happens, waking up energized and excited to get on with whatever I had planned to do during the day.

Firewood gathering at the wilderness homestead always began as soon as snow had melted and ground had thoroughly dried. Late spring, usually, but sometimes well into summertime if monsoon rains were heavy and started early. Regardless, delay was never an option, even if I was inclined to put it off. After winter released its grip, I was always eager to get outside to soak up sunlight, fresh air, and wild sounds, sights and aromas of springtime. While winters were never overly

This never happened over more than two decades of chokecherry picking in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. I somehow avoided the situation and only dreamed about it happening, which was excitement enough. But the vivid, recurent dream served well as reminder to stay alert at all times when picking. Still, there were times when I came upon some especially heavily loaded bushes that I was way too focused on the harvest and not so much on my surroundings. A nearby rustle in leave

That's where it's all happening. The new homestead is completely different from the one the USFS destroyed more than three years ago. That homestead thrummed with life force under rainbows, too, just at different altitudes and frequencies. This one is very fine in many ways. I'm going to hang on to the old homestead tract, for a while at least. Its bottom land is looking good and is still copiously bearing wild fruits worth harvesting. Leaving all of it for the wildlife to co

Three years ago about this time the fire was officially declared extinguished, but the hell of it hadn't even begun for its living victims. The USFS–through multiple, compounded acts of gross incompetence and criminal negligence–became arsonists, destroying homes built by those living, breathing, caring, sharing beings. FEMA continues stalling its processing of claims, steadily and ravenously consuming millions from the fund set up by act of law to restore victims' lives, ens

Distant rumbling from a thunderhead a few miles south is no promise of rain tonight at the homestead, but it happened yesterday. A pleasant surprise which cooled down that summer's dogday and made the garden plants happy, too, approaching end of this August. UPDATE: The rain fell at 11:00 PM last night and again at 7:45 AM this morning. Not a lot but enough to keep the green going a few more weeks. A relatively mild summer so far has brought only a few 100+ degree days and ve