Diary of a Mad Woman Gone Sane

Someone asked me recently what off grid means. If you know already feel free to skip this post. Or feel free to read it. I'm sure the person who asked me is not the only person who doesn't know what it means. I have 3000 watts of solar power. This might sound like a lot of power, but it's really not. I don't run most of the things that are found in a house. I have to shut off things I'm not using. The only thing that is always on is my small fridge. I limit my TV time and don't have it on for noise. I listen to music on my phone, most of the time. I have to take care of my own trash disposal. I have to take care of my own bathroom disposal. That's a gross job, and my least favorite. I can't get an ambulance to come out here, because of the roads. When it rains, I wait to leave my house until it dries up a bit. I live on an unmaintained dirt road that turns into quicksand when it gets wet. People get stuck out here quite often. I don't yet have runnin...

Now is the time of year when you wear shorts during the day and can't stop sweating,, then think about starting a fire at night. Fall is here, but she is only making an appearance at night. Summer still owns the daytime. Personally I'm looking forward to cooler weather. It's been a long hot dry summer, until the monsoons arrived. This year we had a legit monsoon season. Flash floods, lightning and thunder. Lots of rainbows this monsoon. It's been too long since we've had so much rain. I'm always grateful for the free water from the sky. This year is the first time I've had a green yard. Mostly weeds, but green nonetheless. I have little trees sprinkled around the property. I will be getting everything ready for the impending winter. This is the season where the men are separated from the boys. Winter can be difficult out here in the presert. Most people that come out here don't stay through the winter, or the summer, for that matter. This is my 5th winte...

First of all, I apologize for being so sporadic in posting. I'm preparing for winter. I have learned not to get caught with my pants down when it comes to winter. It's October 3rd, 2020. My good friend and his very pregnant dog, Red, are staying at my house. Something I never expected to do again was to have puppies. I had golden retriever puppies when I was in the military as a 20something. Wasn't interested in doing it again. Red produces 8 beautiful large puppies on this day, under a camper I had. My friend crawled under the camper, retrieved all 8 puppies, and handed them to me. We took them into the camper and Red finally followed, grudgingly. It was getting chilly at night but they weren't ready for the school bus yet. She was a great mother but she had to be able to get out. If it was warm enough I could leave the door open. At night I'd leave the door cracked so Red could go on a walkabout. I got to pick a puppy from the litter. I chose Zoey. She...