Sunday, December 20, 2009

The site


So this place ain't bad. I've definitely improved my circumstances over Louisiana.
I'm about 1 1/2 hours from the closest big city, and about 25 minutes from the nearest small town.
About 1800 feet elevation, I no longer have dreams of tidal waves.
There is some pretty good infrastructure here.
Adequate roads are in place, 4 wells on the 140 acres, bordered by private forest land.
We're still working on water storage, but a 3K gal steel tank is our main potable cistern, with a 1500 gal tank for non-potable/garden water.
There is quite a lot of collected junk in the form of cars, trucks, refrigerators, old generators, and plenty of unidentifiable farm equipment/gears/machine parts.
Someone wise once said "All that's needed for invention is a creative mind and a pile of junk."
The tools are an asset too. Carpentry tools, metal working tools, a forge, and a couple backhoe/loader machines that need some TLC.
The place definitely has potential.
Curiously enough, the people are mostly of the prepper mindset.
A wise prepper never tells how much she has stashed away.
Lets just say I feel pretty good about it.

The housing leaves something to be desired. I spent the last 3 months remodeling a rotting singlewide circa 1973. Even with my badass wood stove, 2" of insulation and 2 degrees F makes for a pretty cold night.

I'm seriously considering converting a shipping container into housing. They're sturdy, you can bury them in the ground to meet your post-apocalyptic fantasy needs, and until fossil fuels become ridiculously expensive, they are portable.

Cause I'm not convinced I'm gonna stay here.
The site?
Acceptable.
The junk?
Fabulous.
The people?
Let's just say there are issues to work out.
And the people who surround you are probably the most critical factor.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Inaction

We need to find the courage, overcome.
Inaction is a weapon of mass destruction.


So I decided a while ago that mainstream society sucks ass.
There are many reasons for this. I probably don't need to explain them to you.
But, here goes.
It always bothered me that we are fucking up our world.
Poisoning our oceans, our air, ourselves.
Enforcing dominion over the beasts of the earth, the fruits of the vine.
Sticking our germy little fingers into the very pattern of life itself.

It can only end badly for us, so we'd better get our shit straight FAST.
Otherwise, Ma Nature's gonna bitch slap us pretty soon here.

But I'm only one person. What can I do?

I believe the only meaningful change comes from within.
We must live the future we seek.

So I bought a beast of a diesel van to live in, quit my job, traveled across the country and joined a commune.
I finally escaped mainstream society.

What now?

This blog is intended to chronicle my adventures living in an intentional community.
Certainly various rants and ramblings will creep in, but hey, this is my blog, so if you don't like my rants, read somebody else's blog.

Life is all about personal choice and taking responsibility for those choices.

My life is at least never boring.
Wanna come along for the ride?