[coyotech]

I didn’t grow up rural. I was an Air Force brat and we moved a lot, and saw many different places and things, and lived through turbulent times like everyone did who grew up in the 60s and 70s (and all the other decades, too). My mom and dad had both grown up on farms and ranches, and I remembered the things they told me about it. We didn’t have much money when I was a kid, and mom and dad had both grown up pretty frugal and independent. They taught us kids to be the same. All the things that had recently happened when I was a kid- the events in Europe and Asia with the wars, the concentration camps, the cold war, the upheavals in society that were developing, the natural disasters, all helped form in my mind the idea that there was a bad moon rising, and I needed to be ready. I wasn’t sure for what, but that things would be completely different and it was necessary to be tough and ready … I won’t say I understood things as a teenager and young adult like I do now, by any means. But it was a theme running through the back of mind for most of my life.

I learned to do all kinds of things and adapt to all kinds of situations. I learned to cut firewood, work on vehicles, do house repairs, plumbing and electrical, butcher chickens and rabbits for meat, hunt, survive in the desert and whatever I could do to get ready for whatever I was supposed to be getting ready for.

I got an old house and a little land at the turn of the century and eventually got goats, raised a garden, learned home cures and herbs, and how to fix, make and build more things. I was still working then, but got fired from m IT job at a university for political reasons in 2012. That was rough, but it was also really good for me in many ways. Around 2016 my husband died, and I realized I couldn’t afford to keep my place with its mortgage indefinitely, as the taxes and insurances kept going up on it, and there were ever more laws and regulations being made. I worked on making repairs for a couple of years and tried to sell it, but couldn’t. Meantime things were getting crazier in the world and society. Finally I walked away from my place, went to be a caretaker on a ranch while I bought some land, and then moved onto the raw land and started building almost 3 years ago.

I’m not that far along yet – no livestock or chickens, a small garden, not much storage room, lots of equipment I’d like to get. On the other hand I have built and made quite a bit here, and have a small but comfortable place that I keep improving on, and friends I’ve been making. I call all of that prepping (more like being independent), even though I don’t have a big stockpile of ammo, a year’s supply of food, a bunker or a bug out bag. 🤓