ForeverGirl
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« Reply #5 on: March 03, 2009, 11:14:45 AM » |
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This is a quote from the "Continental Divide" thread on 7xSunday.net. It was a reply to an email from someone asking about this area of NM. This couple did decide to move out here (from SC) and love it! We hope to have another gathering here in the next couple of months. If any one is interested in seeing the area - please come if you can! There is more info about the area on the Continental Divide thread here:http://www.7xsunday.net/forum/index.php/topic,19487.0.html
Main points about the area are in bold text:
Yeah, we love it out here. Even though I was raised in Tennessee, and traveled all over the world, I can honestly say there's just something about the high desert that enthralls me. I think it's the wide open spaces, and being able to see for miles across the changing terrain of red rock canyons, aroyos, pine covered mountains, and sage brush plains. And oh, the aroma! (note: There are a few areas for sale that are near small lakes and springs...)
Anyway... it IS dry. It's not like tossing a seed in the backyard and then watching it turn into a beanstalk. You have to garden WITH the land out here. However, the Indians did garden; pumpkins, corn, beans, peppers, etc... successfully. There aren't many bugs or diseases to fight - just the dryness. Plants that like alkalinity do very well: broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage... My potatoes and beans are growing like crazy this year!
As far as ministry goes, my husband is actually gone right now to the Flea Market with friends. They set up a tent and a couple of tables and a sign that says "What Does the Bible Say About ________?" and answer Bible questions. They also give out Bibles and show people how to use a concordance and study. The Navajos seem to really appreciate the idea of just answering questions straight out of the Bible instead "white man religion." I usually go with the kids as well, and help sell jasmine tea, bottled kombucha, and watermelon slices. We stay pretty busy, make a little bit of money, and talk to a lot of people.
... Right now though, the only internet out in the rural area would be satellite. Here in town we have DSL, but this town is NOT a great place to live. All the Indians that have an alcohol problem come to town to drink because it's illegal to drink on the Reservation.
The super adobe housing is something we'd like to try as well. It's really cheap, for one thing! The guy who is building the super adobe house (earth bag) spent 1K on the bags and the rest is just dirt and labor. He cut the trees off of his own land. Later he will stucco it inside and out for a smooth finish. We also love adobe, which is mud brick, but oddly enough, it's the rich-people construction of choice. Gabe helped his grandfather build a straw bale house which we lived in for two years. Straw bale is my personal favorite. It's very warm in the winter and cool in the summer and has a great cozy feeling inside.
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What diff. size (acres) pieces of land are there? $?
In R_____, the area we are looking at, there are plots of land (no house) as small as 5-10 acres and as large as 480 acres. The prices per acre depend A LOT on how big the plot is. The smaller plots are going for 3-5 thousand per acre! Yikes. The larger plots (200 acres+) are going for around 1,500 an acre. The 480 acre plot we know of is expected to go for around 500 - 1000 an acre.
> Did you say there was water sources on/near the land? streams? wells?
Pretty much everyone out here has to dig a well. There is a lake in R____, but hardly any properties have year-around flowing springs. Some people also do rain collection. Wells are sometimes wind powered because we have a lot of wind on the plains.
> Who owns all the Forest Land that it is next to?
The Forest Land is National Forest. The Reservation land is "reserved" for the Indians, but they mostly live in town so the land is empty. I'm talking about thousands of acres. The National Forest land is about 8,000 feet altitude, and covered with ponderosa pine and pinon at the base. It is very populated with elk and deer.
> Is the wildlife protected (deer & elk)? What about the timber?
The wildlife on the National Forest can be hunted with a permit during hunting season. The same goes with private land. The timber on the National Forest land is protected, but private land is yours to do with what you will. There is a water rights suit by the Zuni tribe, wanting to limit the use of water on private land if it is runoff from the Zuni reservation. The owners we have talked to say that it will be years before the suit is settled, and if it is, the owners will still have to be allowed a reasonable amount of water use. Gabe knows more about that, if your husband wants to know anything in particular about the water rights issue.
> Who is selling the land?
Various people. Individuals.
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> What is the weather like? Summer? Winter?
This is High Desert. Our altitude keeps it from getting very hot here. In the Summer it can be in the 90's for a month - during the day. But when the sun goes down, the temperature drops 40 degrees. In the winter it rarely gets below 0 - our coldest month the temperatures are usually in the teens at night, and up between 30 and 50 degrees during the day. We get a lot of snow compared to the Southern states, but not as much as Colorado. Our rain fall in the plain is 9 inches a year, and in the mountains it is about 35 inches a year. R_____ is around 20 inches a year.
> Silly ?: do most around there (the Navajo's) speak english? just curious. Smiley
The younger ones speak English with a limited vocabulary and a funny accent. The old ones may not speak English, but will probably understand quite a bit. We also have a large Mexican population here. Some of them speak English, others don't. The Zuni's are the same - but not as many of them. We actually have a lot of Indian tribes around us: Navajo, Zuni, Acoma, Pueblo, Apache...
I came from the South. My family, as far back as we can trace is from TN and Georgia. When I came West (Gabe is from here and I moved when we married) I expected to be really lonely and lost. I was pretty lonely the first year, but as I began to meet people I discovered the coolest thing: Everyone in the West is from somewhere else and moved here and stayed here because they are strangely independent and creative.
The people out here wouldn't fit in anywhere else. There are so many inventors, artists, herbalists, and wrinkled, brown, old geniuses camped out in the desert. The Indians are from here, but even they are curiously still pioneer-like in their way of life. When you drive down the road to Zuni, you still have to stop while a Navajo herds his sheep across the road, and slow down to avoid hitting the cattle that are grazing on the side of the road. You will see old Grandmas baking bread in a fired mud oven in the back yard, and they will still be dressed in their old traditional flowing skirts, velvet blouses with silver coin buttons, and heavy strands of turquoise from the mines. The cowboys in their spurs, jeans and hats still sit on the tailgates of the their trucks passing around a smoke from buddy to buddy while they wait for the women folk to sell their wool and hand woven rugs.
Town is more modern than Zuni and Window Rock (towns on the Rez) but it's still a cultural experience. Nobody really fits in a mold here. This makes it safe to homeschool, homebirth, home-doctor, and live the way you feel is right. Nobody cares. This is the wild west.
There actually aren't any homeschool laws other than you are supposed to send a letter to the state board of education and tell them that you are homeschooling "Johnny" and he is in first grade... Even that is not checked up on or pursued... never heard of anyone having any difficulty homeschooling. There are so many "hippy" type people in this area, people that take care of their own medical needs, schooling, etc... The state is pretty relaxed.
It isn't necessarily easy to live here - but the hardships are not related to bad people; just raw, untamed country.
So, you ready to come see it?
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