The observations of a refugee from California

Juvenile bald eagle (left) Adult (right)
(1) Eagles are nesting in the area. The juvenile bald eagles, or eaglets are born a light gray and turn brown in color. It isn’t until they are 4 – 5 years old that the iconic white head and tail feathers appear. Bald eagles can live to be 35 years old or more. (photo right)
(2) Workmen show up to saw, paint, pour concrete and adjust this or that. At least half are open carry with the Colt 1911 being the preferred weapon, though there are Sigs, Glocks, etc. The other half are CCW. None of the workmen are illegal aliens.
(3) Waitresses bring plastic drinking straws. They don’t mutter under your breath when you ask for one and speak to co-workers about the angry old man who demanded to murder the planet, sitting over in booth 7.
(4) Mama white tail deer (Joey and Elmer’s mother) doesn’t have a name. I just refer to her as “Mom”. (photo below) She and her family stay in a relatively small area about half a mile on a side if it was a box. They are constantly being hunted by the mountain lions. More on the lions below.
A dash cam is nice, but you don’t see other cars on the road much. You do need a camera for wildlife.
Mom
Lion, on the move.
(5) A Trump hat is a sign of enlightenment (at least in the part of AZ where I live) and people high-five you when they see you wearing one. Both the hat wearers and the high-fivers wear Colt 1911’s in quickdraw holsters. They have AR-15’s, Marlin 45-70 lever actions and shotguns loaded with rifled slugs in their pick-up trucks. None of them think much of the people inside the Washington DC Beltway. A surprising number of them are retired USAF fighter pilots.
(6) People still offer to give me a cat. I have cats. They’re outdoor cats. And if they catch me unaware, they will eat my entrails while I’m still living. Fortunately they have a taste for venison. Speaking of which, I’m worried about Judy (doe mule deer) who hasn’t been seen for a couple of weeks now. She’s getting up in years and the lions – are cats, who are getting ready to give birth, which makes them hungry cats.
(7) Typhus is not a concern. Neither is bubonic plague. Both are carried by rats, which abound in the inner cities these days where residents cater to panhandlers and bums and encourage medieval diseases to return. (more from CW at Daily Timewaster). If there was an abundance of rats, the bobcats, coyotes, mountain lions, eagles, hawks, owls and the wolves that have been reintroduced to the area here would eat them. That’s how it’s supposed to work, and it may not sound progressive to you if you’re living in your mom’s home, unemployed, wearing a onesie and drinking coco. You need to watch “Willard” (film).
(8) I’m an hour drive in any of four directions from ‘civilization’. That means that I need to have a shopping list when I go into town for supplies. I have propane heat and electricity, but I have been chopping and splitting wood for next winter. The wood needs to season before I can burn it properly. 
(9) People call this place God’s Country when I speak to them about it. I suggest to you that it’s more of man’s proper place in the world. I am not a hunter gatherer and I do benefit from civilization, but I am far removed from traffic jams, homeless bums and junkies, and troubled Muslims (if you recall, they built a mosque down the street from my house in California, prompting the early notions of CALEXIT). There are eagles outside in the trees and there is the occasional lion looking to eat Joey or Elmer (white tail deer yearlings).

(10) I admit that I live in a pine forrest and that it can burn down. My house was nearly taken by a fire last summer while under construction. There’s always a serpent in Eden.

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24 COMMENTS

  1. Sounds nice to me. We do have the eagles around here, white tail deer abound, and there have been rumors of lions though nothing concrete. I wouldn't mind living in a similar location but I'd never get the wife to go for it and I've become rather fond of the old girl.

  2. A few trail cameras scattered around the property might catch some interesting critters. Just don't mention Bigfoot or your privacy will be ruined.

  5. I wouldn't worry about Bigfoot or the big "puddy tat". I'd worry about UFOs. If I remember my Arizona geography, you aren't too far from Turkey Springs. "Fire From the Sky".
    Wife and I considered a piece of property near there long time ago, till I brought that up.
    Stay safe, and yes, Californicated is way different than AZ. Glad you escaped.
    Wandering Neurons

  6. I'm about 30 miles as the crow flies from Turkey Springs. If you're going to drive it, I'm guessing that it's closer to 70 miles because of rough mountain terrain and no roads. There may be a forrest road connector or fire breaks, but I really don't know. Yes, there are always UFO's. How are they against a .308?

  7. "There's always a serpent in Eden."

    Indeed. And lions in the coliseum as well.

    No doubt most here have seen this before, but it is worth repeating–

    "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

    Theodore Roosevelt

    Excerpt from the speech "Citizenship In A Republic"
    delivered at the Sorbonne, in Paris, France on 23 April, 1910

  8. We live on eleven acers up a dirt road in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mtns. Close to civilization, but still quiet comfortable. We have plenty of white tails coming through the yard (old and new ones) but no lions. The only culling of the herd here are from kamikaze deer trying to take out a car or truck. And a few hunters at the end of the year. I would love to spend some time in a place like yours for a few weeks to see how life should be lived. I know you will enjoy your new life in them thar hills.

  9. What an uplifting sermon. Thanks for that.

    Don't see much open carry here, oddly, but when you do it's typically Glock or Sig.

  11. I live near the Blue Ridge Ranger Station in the Coconino National Forrest. It's a different blue ridge. But I'm sure it's the same sort of vibe that I have here. Because I'm literally surrounded by national forrest, it's different than just being on the edge of the forrest. A little lonely at times, but I'd be lying if I told you that my home is "rustic". However, there are very few people to mess things up here.

  12. I can't say why the 1911's are popular, just that they are. Since I own (at least) one, I can fit in and be the very soul of fashion. It's said that open carry keeps the progs at a safe distance. The lack of progs in the neighborhood would tend to support the theory.

  13. T.R. was a remarkable individual, among my favorite Americans along with Franklin, Jefferson and Mark Twain.
    His only fault was "toxic masculinity." /S/

    =TW=

  14. Yes, Toxic masculinity is something that needs to be stamped out. Men need to learn to embrace their feminine sides, and accept their manginas. Does anyone want to hear me sing some show tunes?

  15. "The lack of progs in the neighborhood would tend to support the theory."
    I love the scientific method.

  17. Suggestion: buy a cord or two of seasoned wood from some locals, while you wait for yours to season. No shame in that. Gotta have that carbon spewing into the atmosphere through your chimney, it adds to the green house effect that will keep the planet warm. God knows I need it living here in glacier-covered Land of Lincoln.

  19. I think that I'll buy a cord of hardwood to end the season and will stack my own for next winter. I'll do my best to save you, Fredd.

  20. P. S. Rep. Ocassio Cortez (D-NY) says that we only have 12 years left before the planet is destroyed, so it is s temporary reprieve.

  21. Not surprised on the 1911s and open carry. It was that way in the 70s out there and in New Mexico the few times I went through there.

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