2010 Beatlick Travel Report: Survival Camp

Date: Jan 12, 2010 10:21 AM

We hit the road for Fort Stockton and our good friend Neil Astor's house last week. We will be moving onto his forty acres in Study Butte as soon as this polar front moves out of town. We got to go see the property on Sunday and it is pretty spectacular in its starkness. Windswept, open land amidst the Chisos Mountain range and many more I don't know by name yet. The sunsets are absolutely spectacular. The goal is to go in and survive for six weeks off the grid.

It's an experiment just to test our mettle and save a few bucks. Imagine, if you got off work one day and someone told you you can't go home. Imagine everything you knew and understood was taken from you - electricity, gas, water. What would you do?

Well we're about to find out. I was comforted to know that Neil's brother is already living on the property. He works in a mine 30 miles away and has a campsite with a travel trailer. I think I would be a little more intimidated if he weren't there. At least he knows the ropes.

Once I get my van in there, if I get my van in there, for there is one really step hill and more than a few intimidating ravines to cross, then it will stay parked till we come out. One time in, one time out, is the plan. The store three miles away has wi-fi so we can stay in touch but the prices on food are prohibitive. The best grocery store is five miles away, but hopefully Neil's brother Henry will give us a ride from time to time.

Now on this imaginary doomsday scenario that I am modeling after I do have a few obvious advantages. I have the luxury of preparing and tomorrow, the 13th of Jan., we will be stocking up on dry goods. I have a shopping list and more survival tips coming to the third page of my website. It's not up yet but will be soon. I'm having fun thinking about what to buy and how to make it all last. The basics are coffee, oatmeal, powdered milk, pinto beans, rice, trail mix, crackers, raisins, boullion, brown suger, and peanut butter all in bulk. So much for the low-carb diet that helped me lose 40 pounds. But I guess if the store is five miles away that might prove itself to not be a problem!

Happy Trails
Beatlick Pamela

David Alfaro Siqueiros in America

....

the same building, different days, like a photograph
compressed in the retna waiting to be born
a montage in a dream where all else disappears
but the building itself
always half-light, red structured brick
double-doors closed

when I was approached by madness at a young
age, I saw my breath before me as a great stone
wall to write upon
an agitation so obscure
perishable only for the throat
holding back the darker blood
to capture the dusk


Chris Mansel