writing – 4Fords Journal

It’s been in the mid-90s for well over 6 weeks. Just like so many other places, we’re breaking records every day. Right this minute, it’s drizzling: the first rain for weeks. Not much, but enough to cool things a bit, which is a blessing.

I follow a number of folks on YouTube who live off-grid in the Southwest. It’s a sub-culture, for sure. What I have noticed this summer is that most of these people have changed their plans and projects from things like building houses, fences, or growing a large garden to focusing on 2 things: fire mitigation and managing heat. It is incredibly apparent that those of us who live in areas of extreme climate change (which includes millions more persons every year) see a need to be prepared.

Alan and I are no different. We love our home and living in the Southwest, but to thrive here, we must adapt to quickly changing weather. Hotter, windier, drier. It’s happening faster than anyone predicted.*

As of today, 3 fires surround us in a triangle, none more than 15 miles away, all quite small. (The Diamante Fire, at 85 acres, is the closest at 10 miles.

**The third fire is too small to show at 1 acre**

Our goal is to make improvements in managing excessive heat using as little technology/electronics as possible. Today, for example, we installed the second of 3 opening windows upstairs that previously did not open. (4 other windows already open, but just don’t move enough air.) That alone is going to bring cool air in during the hot nights. We’ll add some low-profile fans. We may have to end up installing those wonderful mini-splits that are flying off the shelves to cool our bedroom, but we’ll try other options first. That’s the whole point of energy management and conservation, right?

With our Worldpacker, Gig, a few hundred feet of damaged fence got repaired, we built 5 new 1-rock dams, and prepped another 8 in the arroyo. These will hold just that much more water on the land, whenever we do get some water. Not useful for us personally, maybe, but to the wildlife and plants ,it can save lives.

There has been a visibly negative effect of the drought/heat with the animals of the canyon, with the shrinking of the water pockets to a few muddy puddles forcing the animals closer together for survival. A bear came by and knocked on all our doors the other night, a first for us. I’m refilling hummingbird feeders every 2 days. A falcon dropped down to get a drink from a birdbath. A deer braved the dogs to get a drink from the same birdbath. The cows are pushing our fences to get at what little grass we have.

**A deer overcoming her shyness for water.**

Our new water guzzler by the barn has foxes, deer, and lots of birds visiting every day. We want to create more options for them, allow them to have their own space and lessen their stress.

There have been a number of other projects going on around here, too: building a shelter for the tractor, cleaning up old fire hazardous wood, and junk, prepping for my school courses, building gutters.

**Alan finally got his tractor under shelter**

But, it’s not all work and no play around here. We’ve had a few awesome hikes, visited the kids in Durango for an early b-day celebration for Alan, read some wonderful books, (right now I’m reading “What the Robin knows”, by Jon Young. Fascinating.), practiced piano, and enjoyed a few fresh things from the garden: potatoes, greens, radishes, tomatoes, peas, zucchini.

Speaking of the garden, in all my years growing food (nearly 50) I have never experienced such a terrible year. Many plants have shriveled up, or stopped growing. The late frosts in July really did a number, followed by the heat and wind. I’ve poured thousands of gallons of water on it, with little effect. There are some tiny corn cobs forming, though, which always makes me smile.

It’s been a summer, for sure, one I doubt we’ll forget any time soon. Our next Worldpacker comes in early September, so I’m sure we’ll keep her busy. The hope and desire is to get on the road for a bit in October.

Happy Birthday Alan

Peace to one and all!

*Foster, G., & Rahmstorf, S. (2026). Global warming has accelerated significantly. Geophysical Research Letters, 53, e2025GL118804. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL118804

It’s been a while. Just this week after a year of silence, a number of people sent messages asking why I haven’t written recently. Well: life, Covid, work, drought, politics, Worldpackers, and travel got in the way, I guess. Enough said. This summer is a bit calmer, and is the first summer I haven’t been working for years, so I’d like to get back to writing, on this, the 250th birthday of our trembling democracy.

Alan and I are well, if you are wondering, and have continued to be just busy enough to make life interesting. After a winter that involved 2 months of tent camping in southern Arizona and NM, with a few days volunteering at the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous, work around 4Fords has kept our to-do list full. A new septic system, a larger garden, a tractor shed, a large “guzzler” (more below), a great-grandbaby (!), managing water in severe drought and heat, and remodeling a couple of sheds with stucco and metal siding are the current focus.

Our homeowners insurance was cancelled last month, due to “wildfire risk” (although our home is more fire-safe than most), and we have been unable to find any other decent company, so we’re instead working to do more fire-proofing. Alan has built a fire lane behind the yard with the tractor, we’re remodeling the sheds, and considering plans to add sprinklers to the roof. And maybe more cisterns. We have 5, which adds up to 7,000 gallons of potential water. I’d like to have 10,000! Or 15,000! Right at this moment, with no measurable rain for months, we’re down to about 3,000. Our well continues to do great, as long as we don’t stress it, as it takes a bit longer to replenish than usual.

**The garden in early June, as I was planting and mulching and setting up watering**

Temps have hovered in the mid-80s to mid-90s this past month, and in the low 40s at night, but there were 5 (not forecast) hard freezes (30 degrees) just in the past week, so I’ve had to do a lot of covering/uncovering of the tender plants. Even so, I lost several tomatoes and peppers. The drought is the worst we have seen: grasses now only dead straw with inches of dust. Not sure it will come back even with rain at this point. I feel for ranchers and farmers in the area. The creek is nearly dry, with only a few puddles left hidden downstream for the wildlife. Because of this, we have added 2 birdbaths, 3 hummingbird feeders, and several small water basins for the little animals and built a 450-gallon water catchment, called a “guzzler”, for the larger wildlife, next to the barn. Of course, we need rain for that one to fill, but I am hand-filling the little ones. There’s one fox who comes by daily, and has made his acquaintance with Zane, who barks and wags his tail. Turkeys, squirrels, chipmunks, and likely skunk and deer come to these basins, which shows just how dire it is.

Barn water tank and repaired horse corral — **The “Wildlife Wadi”:** **new gutter, tank, and repair of old horse corral, with elk-friendly fence: no cow access**.

However, it is not all work here at 4Fords. We take at least 1 or 2 days a week to have fun, which, for Alan and I usually means a hike in the high country. Our most recent was on the Continental Divide Trail, where we found an amazing waterfall. The dogs were in heaven. There was even a perfect picnic spot.

We’ve also visited kids, hung out with the new baby, been to the Denver area, done a few No Kings protests, made new friends, made a lot of tortillas, cookies, chocolate, and herbal tinctures, and in general have had a great year so far.

Below are some of the pics I like of the year so far.