We live here
We moved from the desert to central Texas and look with amazement on the grass and trees that grow here.
I lived my whole life with grass and trees until two years ago. I took them for granted. Never realized how wonderful they are, because they indicate the presence of life.
In the desert water is precious. There is never enough of it. Where we were the so-called “monsoon rains” came for a few weeks every year. The rest of the year it simply didn’t rain. And so scrub brush and sand and the ubiquitous dust covered the land.
The disturbing thing is that almost a million people live in that desert in the cities, and more are coming every year. Oblivious Americans that we are, the big developers have come in and started laying out the sprawl of suburban neighborhoods out on the sand dunes. But how long will it be possible to draw water from the ground before it runs out?
I mean, basic logic tells us that if you remove a resource faster than it replenishes itself, eventually that resource will be exhausted. I realize that people live there for lots of reasons–heck we did for two years–but as I see the direction our country and world are headed, the last place I want to be is in an area that has absolutely no way to sustain the human population that is living there.
So we moved to Austin and are looking for land outside of it. About thirty-five inches of rain per year, trees and grass and rivers. Arable farmland. A place that can support the people who live there. If the economy does tank–whether slowly or rapidly–we will have a place where we can live and help others. And if it doesn’t tank, we will have a beautiful place to help rebuild an authentic culture. Either way, it’s good.
We’ll be out searching for some land this weekend. God bless!
Devin,
Indeed, many areas of the country couldn’t possibly hold the population they hold if it weren’t for cheap energy. Many of those places, in particular NM and AZ and NV saw their recent growth in the 90s, when energy prices were at historical lows. As soon as energy prices resumed their upwards trend due to increased costs to reach new reserves, these places are among those suffering the most recently and experiencing an outflow of population.
Let’s face it, if a low-income job in AZ, say, flipping burgers, would not be feasible without massive air-conditioning, it ain’t feasible. And if low-income services are not feasible, AZ cannot sustain the population many of its cities do.
I bid you good luck in your search for land. I was delighted at the richness of the land East of us towards College Station. It seems to be much wetter than the Austin area though just 50mls away.
God bless.
I hope your land search goes well! I will pray for you and your family. We bought land about five years ago and have been in our house for three now. The water issue is huge, I think – and I can’t understand why more people aren’t concerned. We live where we get about 60″ of rain per year which is great… But our well is over 400 ft deep! Figuring out some sort of water casement is definitely on the todo list, as the creek is about a quarter mile away (downhill) and we haven’t found a non-electric pump that can pump a well that deep. We have a 600 gal storage tank for power outages, but we think about doing more. Although I have to wonder… If things do collapse, will we just be overrun and destroyed by the ravaging hoards from the nearest big city? Probably… But a slow decline could mean less reliable power and that is something we can try to do something about.
Amber,
I came from a country whose economy did collapse, along with the culture. Historically, an economic not a sudden event when society becomes like Md Max’s. In my country, Brazil, it took a decade to take hold, about the same as in other countries and in other times. Oftentimes it happens not with a bang, but with a whimper.
Regardless, it seems to me that you’re doing the right thing and that you gave some thought. It’s valuable to be resourceful and less dependent on an infrastructure, not only because it can fail you, but also because it’s expensive.
WRT to your 400ft well, you might want to consider a windmill to power staggered pumps, say every 100ft, with small reservoirs to feed the next pump up. However, this might require more drilling for each pump. I’m not sure that the cost could be recouped in a reasonable time.
God bless.
As a desert-dweller, I have to say that I find the Arizona desert more beautiful than my heart can take. No matter what green lands I inhabited (New England; Georgia), the desert always hearkened me home. That said, I don’t deny your experience! It is truly beautiful… just a different kind. I’ll have to ask Dean more about our water issues. He is an expert in that. We have an incredible amount of ground water, and ironically, it was Atlanta that came dangerously close to a water shut down a few years back. Go figure!
Congratulations and good luck on your search!
Aw – this kinda made me wanna go see the desert.
“more beautiful than my heart can take.”
Hmmm… never really thought of a desert as beautiful, but I have no doubt it certainly could be!
MBF, I wish I could post a picture! Breathtaking!
No wonder Jesus retreated to the desert to pray!
Heh – that’s a really good point!
I should add, I believe the desert of AZ (Phoenix, Tucson) is much more lush and (dare I say) green than the desert you just left. Just to point out that all deserts are not the same, though each holds its own beauty.
Leila, thanks for commenting. You popped into my mind while writing this, along with other friends who live in the desert, as I wondered what they thought about these things.
so happy you guys are back!!! it feels like just yesterday ya’ll came by for a visit and then left! Would love to have you guys over for a visit again!!!
Veronica we would too! We’ll get settled in and chat with y’all about it.
There you go, knocking my sweet little desert home!
I, like Leila, inhabited Atlanta for several years, and the drought was horrible (as my friends told me. We had moved the year before the big drought). I imagine having holding tanks could help with that. I just know I hated what the rain did to the land around our both of our homes (MAJOR drainage and erosion problems that cost us thousands to battle).
I grew up in Colorado, where we had our fair share of both wet and dry years. And while I do wish we could choose our place of living based on the climate, we have to go where my husband has a good, steady job. Deming is on a huge aquifer, and our well provides us with plenty of water. Could it dry up? I suppose so. I did ask Chris about that when we looked at this property, and he was not concerned. We have the house we need, the land we want, and adjoining property owned by a man ready to sell. But the biggest plus for me is the itty-bitty town. I love visiting my family and friends in Denver, but after being in a big city for awhile, I miss the comfort of a small town. I miss being able to live my life as I choose, a faithful Catholic, without feeling the repression of the secular environment around me. Call me chicken, but I do enough battling with myself (and for my children) already.
And I, like Leila, the desert calls to me. I love its beauty. And while I miss my majestic Rocky Mountains, I love the colors of the desert. We may move after the kids have grown and are gone, but I have a feeling this place may grow on me too much by then to move away. Not to mention, if everything goes to heck by then, we have some friends in Texas we could hang out with.
Amy,
Yes and no offense intended at all. I do think it is possible to live out in the desert but that our current mentality about how we do it (e.g. just live like everyone else in the country does, regardless of rainfall/agricultural concerns) won’t work long-term. In other words we can’t just keep plopping down huge mcmansions on the sand dunes but must have an eye for how to design, build, live, conserve resources as cities expand. But the thing is we won’t do that until we are forced to (by nature, constraints, laws, etc.).
You and Leila and families can come to our place if things go south.
God bless!
Devin
We’ll be there if it does, ha ha!
Besides, we have green and red chilies. Beat that, Texas!
I just saw a You Tube movie today about the water supply. I found it very interesting and maybe a couple of people who posted would also. It’s called “Blue Gold-World Water Wars”. Ahh, trees, grass, life…and allergies. But I’ll take them any day, Devin.
Good luck and many blessings.
Devin,
I am glad you guys are coming back this way. Prayers for your land search. Glenn and I hope to see you all soon.
Susan
I lived in Tucson for two years. And like Leila said, the beauty of the desert is almost heartbreaking. There is nothing like springtime in the desert, is there?
My time in Arizona was emotionally difficult for a variety of reasons, and I found the desert to be the most perfect metaphor for my spiritual life there: drawn to God to pray, as Jesus was, out there in the sand, the deep need for “living water,” the death and rebirth…I could go on and on.
But yet, as long as I lived there, I had an underlying anxiety about water. I worked on the Tohono O’odham reservation, where the elders remember swimming in the Santa Cruz river, with lush trees on the banks. Now, it is a mere trickle and only during monsoon season. As you say, the desert cannot sustain our modern way of life. In fact, the native people are a prime example, as they once had irrigation systems and fertile farmlands until the place was overpopulated and the resources strained (and myriad other reasons). Now, they suffer from obesity and diabetes, eating a modern diet that does not nourish their bodies. Yes, people can live in the desert, but only carefully and respectfully. (I always preferred Tucson to Phoenix as well, because I felt Phoenix had an expectation of grass lawns that Tucson did not have – at least 10 years ago when I was there. Grass doesn’t grow in the desert! Why do we have grass lawns!?!? In Tucson, we embraced the rock garden and cacti!)
“But how long will it be possible to draw water from the ground before it runs out?”
Oh, they won’t run out, they will just do like southern California does and build aquaducts and take water from other areas. Inefficient? oh yeah.
But at least some of these desert areas are starting to not have lawns. When I was a kid growing up in San Diego (a desert), EVERYBODY had a big green lawn with sprinklers. And this is a city which gets it’s water from aquaducts from the Colorado river hundreds of miles away.
Glad to hear you are looking for land Devin. I can’t wait to hear more about your search and what you find. Are you sure you don’t want to move to Kansas near Kevin Ford? Come on, dude, take the plunge and go full-on agro/distributist!
I know, I know… the cubicle beckons.
Perhaps someday we will be free.