Where's the Water?

Early mornings are never my best, most alert moments, so when I flushed the toilet early last Friday I barely noticed that the water gurgled, rather than flushed. On to the kitchen and I poured my glass of water and filled the cat's water dish from the water purifier spout. I began making our breakfast and then turned on the regular water faucet. No water! One sigh and gasp from that taken-for-granted spigot, and then, nothing.

A water main must be broken but I carried on fixing morning nourishment since we had a five hour trip to Colorado and another five hours return facing us that day. My always resourceful husband hurried down to the river with two large buckets. He met another person who was like-minded and told Bob that the spring in town had a long line and so he came to the river for his water.

We returned home that night to running water. Was it only five years earlier when we were not dependent on the city or power companies for water or any utilities other than telephone? We have traded independence for convenience in our present life in the city. I remembered when a powerful spring snow storm took out the power lines in the country. We did not notice anything amiss. Our water came from our cistern rain water, our lights from our solar panels and our refrigeration and heat from the propane tank. Our radio announced that the power was out all over the county. It remained out for about two weeks. Generators were chugging along in homes during that time. We never did use our back-up generator. We had sufficient power from the energy of the sun behind the grey clouds and warmth from our cheerful wood stove in the basement.

It was a liberating feeling, living off of the grid. I wrote about it in my first book, "A (not so) Simple Life". The Alabaugh Fire took away that life for now. It is easier living in town with everything handy, but on days like Friday, when the water was silent, I remembered fondly our days when we returned to our rustic roots and were liberated, for a brief moment in our lives, from dependence on those major monopolies.

On the Road Again

Our time back home in the beautiful Black Hills was all too brief. We barely unpacked from our three weeks in Europe, but we have a presentation to make to the AAUW in Minneapolis so we hit the road once again. Bob and I will discuss our life off of the grid, complete with pictures of our endeavor, and I will reflect on my life of hello and goodbyes which continue to shape who I am.

The Twin Cities was my home for over 40 years. I wrote a chapter about my years living there in my book, "A (not so) Simple Life." It was where I worked, played, raised a family, enjoyed the many theaters, varied restaurants, parks and numerous events. There are friends and relatives to visit and places to see, depending on the amount of time we have. I said a fond farewell in 1998, and renewed contacts only a few times since settling in the Hills. I am cautious about the ten hour drive, however, as my back is still out of sorts from our travels overseas. I only had a few days to cold pack it, visit the chiropractor, and work on some stretches to strengthen the aching muscles.

So we are off again, but this time to familiar places and people, which over time, will have all changed, for better or worse, but in my memory will always remain, as in a favorite book from my childhood, special, warm and comfortable.

Life Off the Grid for Bob and Me

After living on the grid in Minnesota for 65 years, we said goodbye to all electric appliances, Minnesota,  friends and relatives and said hello to life off of the grid in South Dakota. My husband, Bob Lee, prefers to leave a "small footprint" and chose a few small solar panels to collect the sun's energy and large southern exposure windows for passive energy. Because he chose the simple, inexpensive way of life, we rid ourselves of electric appliances and opted for propane and wood for heat and refrigeration. Our only "utility" was our telephone. Later Bob added wind power to supplement our needs during lengthy, sunless days in the winter. That gave us sufficient power to watch a movie on occasion and for me to use a computer for my writing.

We collected rain water off of our roof which ran from the gutters into our 1000 gallon cistern. Bob purified the water with an ultraviolet light and also a filter. During seven years of drought we never ran out of water for cooking, washing and drinking for us, our two cats or our seven llamas.

One of the most difficult things for both of us after the fire was living back on the grid with electricity, water, sewer and garbage utilities to pay each month. Bob grumbles each time he writes those checks. We do recycle and compost in town but it is necessary to pay the total bill to the city. We experience an easier life in town with more conveniences but we often long for the simpler life we said goodbye to on July of 2007.

For more information on our life off of the grid, see the chapter "Sun Power" in A (not so) Simple Life: Our Return to Rustic Roots or "Surrounded by Flames: Our Story" in Cascade of Flames.