Now we know why they call the land that surrounds our property a "flood plain". It's like a beast of a riverbed pretending to be pasture until it rains a little. Thankfully we're up on a hill, so the muddy ponds don't reach our living spaces. Still, you have to drive through them to get into town and with the mess a week of rain made to our little dirt roads, I can't imagine being able to travel at all if we have more. I need a boat. A boat would be fun and functional. Always an adventure, homesteading.

Speaking of home, we are in the cabin...barn...loft...structure. Whatever you would like to call it, I just look at it as a 10 X 16 space to keep out the rain and bugs. It's cozy and just asking to be decorated, practically begging my creative sensitivities to transform it into a magical hobbit hole where I can snuggle up to writing novels and drinking lots of wine, maybe learn to play an instrument. I want to make curtains and pick out wall paint. Only, we don't have any walls but the outer slats of corrugated metal. Decorating will have to wait. Damn.

I caught a nasty cold last week. Uncomfortable living situations, even little things that normally wouldn't bother a person, become travesties and tragedies when you are sick. Given my lifestyle, I had a hell of a week. But it's over and I'm better now. Chris took care of me. I'm all healed and my eyes are focusing on progress again. We have so much work to do.

Halloween party. Those of you coming, I've gotta tell you, it's going to be mad fun. Hopefully not too scary, since you're all sleeping in tents at night, but scary enough. I'll break out the good china for this one. Maybe buy a picnic table. We'll see.

Chris and I are relaxing at a coffee house in Austin, enjoying the air conditioning and a couple bottles of beer. He's reading, though I'm not sure what, and is taken by it. I'm getting tipsy and jumping around on the internet, satisfying my tech-cravings while I can. The move went as smooth as it could, I guess. We are living out at the land and, yes, it's hot. But I love it. I wake up to cows and a smooth moon resting on distant trees. Sometimes there are critters, but mostly just bugs and a pleasant breeze. Amen.

I've been in Florida soaking up the sun and hanging with the family. But I'm back now, and I wanted to post my brother's new music video.

See Fernando, Jenny Lewis.

Jenny Lewis "See Fernando" from Team G on Vimeo.

It's his best yet, in my opinion. Bravo, Alan!

Phase I - build a shed

Harder than it sounds, what with packed Texas clay to dig into. Alas, still no cement poured. I guess we'll do that this weekend. I am exhausted.

A felllow "red camper" sent an email out today that really sums up my first Flipside experience, so I wanted to share it...

"Redcampers,

August creeps closer every day and Chris and I's planning has become more and more detailed as we try to work out how to live out of a pop-up camper. We have a wish list, of course, of things that will make life "more comfortable", but we are currently working on essentials.

Here is what we have/own (these are all found image from the internet, not actual photos of the things we have):


Pop-up (this isn't our's, but it looks very much like it)


The inside does NOT look like this, but maybe some day we'll get close. I can dream.



Solar Shower Bag

 
A Truck (I don't need to post an image of a Truck...it's just a Truck).

and lots of building materials.

Here is what we need (as in, we need to build/buy these things before we can move out there):

A nice, large shed for storage and (for me) a place to set up drawers for clothing and a full-length mirror:

 

An outdoor shower. Also not quite this nice...we're building something like a small enclosed room (bamboo walls) with a gravel and smooth-rock floor (so that the water can travel back into the soil...which means we have to use all-natural bathing products) and a pole to hang the shower bag on. Basic, but as this is one of the more exciting things (for me...I've ALWAYS wanted an outdoor shower) I'm going to put a little extra money into it. I want it to be incredible, despite the lack of plumbing. Very Zen.

 

A composting toilet. So expensive, but so worth it. And, of course, an enclosure for the toilet.




Hammocks with mosquito netting (living the dream, kids...sleeping outdoors is wonderful...I feel like I'm becoming one of the lost boys from Peter Pan...maybe I am...I guess I need an animal costume and a slingshot):



We also have to build a dog fence for Peanut. We wont like it, but it's really for his own safety. He has thing thing with cows...and cows will crush his little body if he's not careful. (there are cows that periodically graze through our fields because we haven't put a fence up yet..and, really, we don't want to fence it off until we have our own livestock and can continue to keep our Aggie tax exemption).


Here is my magical wish list of dreams and expensive items that we don't need yet but REALLY want:

Small solar energy system:



A tiny home (and I wants it for my own!), though this is basically what we are planning on building while we're out there so that the winter will be much easier to deal with. We will eventually move into the cabin so that one of the other Icoza members can move into the pop-up. Eventually, the tiny home will be a guest house for visitors.



A water well and pump (dreams, dreams). We thought this particular equipment would be out there by the time we moved in August, but our pricing was a little off and no one has the money to have someone drill it for us yet. Apparently, you have to go down about 400ft for clean water (we were aiming for 100ft), which is substantially more expensive. Some day, though.



We'd also like to have goats, chickens, and maybe a donkey. We're not quite there yet (myself or Chris would have to quit our Austin jobs in order to do this). Someday, someday.

Small green house (absolutely no reason to build this until the well has been put in):



And that's all I'm going to list, because I've finished my beer and have to clean up the house now.

I'm very excited.

Or maybe it's not a fable. I started this story last year as a birthday gift to my younger sister (not-so-loosely based on her), but I've been stuck since writing the first line of dialogue. Her birthday falls in August and I've decided to finish it by then. I have the ending, just not the lead-up to the ending. Also, as a sort of disclaimer, the final story will be printed in a small book with artwork and such, much like a children's book. I say this because it may seem a quick and disconnected read as a short story. It is a rough draft and I will probably go back and "fluff it up" a bit, but...anyway, here it is.

Untitled (as of yet)

They called her the snake charmer, the turtle chaser, the horse rider. They called her wild and free, as all good things are. The tint of her hair shifted with the seasonal color of leaves; yellow, umber, toasted almond, sometimes a deep burnt black. Drifting shaded eyes glanced over the world and she watched it with wonder, participating often in real-time day dreams and thinking nothing of the lightless souls who ridiculed her adventure. She was happy.

All of that changed when she heard the legend. Caught up in the lost story of a charmed beast who could grant her a single wish, her contentment blurred into frenzy and need; an unquenchable want. That is when she set out to charm a wolf.

The vague stories of a dark enchanted forest led her to the ends of the world, to a place where time and sanity meant little to the creatures who dwelled and entered there. She arrived in this land of myth, a black silk dress hanging loosely off her body,  thick leather boots on her feet and a silver bracelet looped around her wrist. She brought nothing to eat and only a canteen of dark wine to drink.

The night wind pitched the dense tree line forward, an entire forest bowing a rickety greeting to the pale creature who arrived at their feet. The girl - fearless, breathless - nodded in grave response, then entered the wood.

A man will stumble every step he fears. This girl, this brave-hearted one, her lissome footpath met the uncertain terrain with unfaltering determination. On and in and down and deeper, she leapt toward her chosen fate, toward the wolf who would grant her a wish. She willed the sound of her heart outward into the darkness, and sang along her deepest desire to the rhythmic pounding beat.

She wished.
She wished.
She wished.

Cold yellow eyes, two moons looking out at her from a spider web of branches, caught her attention. She paused to stare back and smiled.

“Hello Wolf.”