Global Warming

On a personal level I’m quite the optimist. Always have been as is exemplified by my chosen direction in life. I’m an artist. Although stuck in a wheelchair, paraplegic (paralyzed from the waist down), I live alone on twenty-five wonderful acres. On a public level, not so much, which is why I live on these twenty-five beautiful acres.

What started out as a favor to my mom, helping her fulfill a lifelong dream of finding a small plot of ground in the countryside, ended up with me purchasing a plot of ground adjacent to her purchase. After she died of complications from breast cancer I took over the stewardship of both parcels. First, we cannot own land, it owns us. Second, and even if the first point was arguable, (good luck), taxes preclude us from ever having clear title. Regardless, since 1986 I’ve been slowly moving towards self-sufficiency. My progress was hampered in 1991 when an accident put me in my wheelchair.

Friends have asked me how I chose this particular location, 160 miles from the Gulf coast and about 500 feet above the current sea level, and I’ve answered, "I was looking for soon to become beach front property." I signed on to Global Warming in the mid ’70’s. I insisted on three criteria from the real estate agent. In order of importance: Flowing water; Located away from paved roads: A southerly exposure. Well, as the song says, "Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad." People came here for water during the dust bowl days of the ‘20s and ‘30s from up to thirty miles away. It is over a mile from the nearest paved road. With the increasing price of gas, the distance grows daily. The slope of the land is gentle enough to render its Northern exposure irrelevant and with ever increasing temperatures probably a good thing.

When the economic crash comes I will at least have water and food. I’ve got plenty of firewood for those ever decreasing days when a warm coat will not suffice. I have space for those family and friends who have not prepared. While I may not have enough ammunition for my guns, I’ve plenty of raw materials to keep my crossbow functioning for generations to come.

Now, into the circle file...