thoughts about land and property - off the grid living

Creating a simple shelter - and living with it!

	Our Land Story
	We own a nice piece of land. It was not horribly expensive, but still far more than we thought we would spend. It is moderately big, 15 acres, and has total privacy, yet fronts the main valley highway for easy commuting to school and market. At first we didn't think this far down valley was 'cool' enough, with all the athletic skiers and progressive nouveau riche mostly occupying the upper reaches. But as always it has turned out far cooler to be uncool.


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When we first rolled into this valley and had determined the health food store and public school was of adequate standard (what else matter?), we rented a cabin for 6 months then started looking for land. It was late fall with snow in the air. The real estate market was going dormant for the season, so we didn't have to compete with vacationers hunting for second homes. With a relaxed pace, unusual for us, it took us almost 4 months to find this piece.

It was the one we quickly had ruled out earlier on, based on a superficial drive-by inspection. Not until we had had offers in on two other deals and watching them fall through for inexplicable reasons, did we finally reconsider that obscure down valley listing with the unattractive street side appearance. Heading down there alone one day I eventually struggled up a steep road cut through 3 feet of rotten snow, emerged on a beautiful brushy bench and knew this was it. Sonja heartily agreed when she saw it that same afternoon. Here 5 years later we have not, honestly, seen another property we'd rather be on.

It has not always been so. The many previous attempts to settle that all ended in frustration and disenchantment, left us feeling that we were impossible to please and utterly spoiled in a world full of much graver issues than a young couple's inability to be happy. This may off course be true, but nevertheless we do appreciate this property immensely and praise our luck almost daily.


	Our land priorities, listed in order of importance: - Affordable (<$50.000 for this part of the world) - Not part of a subdivision or other planned development - Good feel, energy, aura, juju. That almost imperceptive sensation that says yes or no. - Excellent well history in area. - Winter sun. - Privacy but not isolation. - Hiking opportunities without having to drive. - Native vegetation.

Telephoto image looking south from the vicinity of the front deck. Fall colors are beginning to show in the cottonwoods lining the creek bottom, while the grassy hills have long since turned brown.

Sunrise above the hills to the east, across the river. The semi-arid brush steppe, which is the official definition of our natural environment, seldom show off such spectacular fog and drifting low clouds. We receive a scant 15" of precipitation, mostly as snow, in an average water year. In this image, most likely an inch of rain fell the night prior, causing the river corridor to fill with heavy clouds and spreading fog up into the wooded hills.

Spring time is off course beautiful on our land, as spring times are in any place with minimal impact by man and machines. Thanks to an often abundant snow pack the wildflowers are stunning in the otherwise dry eastern foothills of the Cascades. The feeble beginnings represented by the early Buttercups and Blue Bells, quickly give way to luxurious spouts of Balsamroot, some seen here on our hill side overlooking a swollen river.

The sun is gaining strength in late february, embarking on the long process of melting the thick and dense snow pack.


	A full lunar eclipse underway, just as the moon rises over the hills to the east of our land.