Anniversaries

It was in March of 1999 that we purchased Rancho Status Quo.  We were young and were celebrating our second wedding anniversary that March.  We were naive and thought Y2K would be a thing.  Little did we know that all these years later we would be living some dystopian future, facing a pandemic, climate catastrophe, shortages of food and toilet paper, a likely recession (or even a depression) possible, and a failed federal government that recently did away with the public health pandemic team.  The Empire is certainly in decline. 

I worry for my kiddos and what will happen next.  My doctorate is in public health and public health experts have have known this day would come for a long time....much talk of the 1918 Influenza pandemic occurred during H1N1, when I was a public health official, in the earliest days before we had a handle on the severity of that disease.  At that time, the strategic national stockpile was deployed....I have not yet heard of that measure being taken although nearly every public venue is closed (something that never happened with H1N1).  Anyhow...scary times.

Now, more than ever, I wish my bug out shelter in the mountains was fully functional.  Good news is that much progress was made with help from a contractor over the summer so that the interior is fully equipped with a bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, living area and two lofts (in 500 square feet).  Currently the building is serving as a storage facility for much of our stuff - we are building a garage soon so that we can move things out. 

Bedroom, living room (filled with projects) and Sister's loft looking toward the front of the building

Bathroom on left, kitchen and Brother's loft looking towards the back of the building (window has been installed in Brother's loft since this picture was taken)

The challenges and tasks ahead of us are to get the plumbing and electrical systems fully operational.  Currently we do have a well, which is operational, and the house is connected to the septic system...however we do not have running water inside the house.  We can fill buckets and fill the back of the toilet or use the water to pour over our hands in the sink, but we don't yet have a delivery system set up.  We also have not had our water tested in a very long time, so that needs to be done.  At one time it was drinkable, but you should have your well water tested every year and it has been at least 10 years since we last checked. 

Other issues include whether we will even be able to go shopping at places like Home Depot for necessary hardware, whether we will be able to buy solar panels and batteries, and whether the next contractor we need will still be willing to do the work at our land during these crazy times....I guess there is no reason to worry about these things because I can't do a damn thing about it.

As I mentioned previous we will be rolling out of the valley at the end of this month and hope to stay away for about 6 months.  Today I had my first experience teaching an in-person class online and it went pretty well.  My work will continue online only for the foreseeable future.  I am very fortunate to have this career that is easily transferable to online.  Our economy, heavy in the service sector, is taking a terrible hit and many people are in jobs that do not transfer to online.  40% of Americans cannot afford a $400 expense.  That statistic is troubling when so many low wage workers are going to find themselves with less working hours during this pandemic. 

My advice is to try and get out into nature and find a connection to the whole.  We (as a society) have been living out of balance with the natural world for so long we've forgotten how to be stewards.  We need a shift in thinking and action towards lightening our impact and working in partnership with natural forces.  Each person can cultivate a patch of the natural world, we can unite in spirit to reclamate that which has been lost through our folly and arrogance.  Long-term our goal is to care for and re-green the land, which has been devastated by overgrazing, through permaculture techniques practices.  We have to focus on what we can do, instead of all the scary things we cannot.