How To Raise A Yurt on YouTube!

I finally uploaded a rudimentary yurt slideshow to YouTube, complete with royalty-free music that spans several genres.  It's long, and hopefully enjoyable (TWSS!). 

Off The Grid: A Brief Book Review

5: The number of books found on each of our nightstands at any given time.
10: The number of books I have overdue from the Library right now.
Whoops.

Luckily, the latest book to nightstand-hop was loaned to us by family.  It is called Off the Grid: Inside the Movement for More Space, Less Government, and True Independence in Modern America by Nick Rosen.

The first part of the book was a fascinating history of "the grid", which I really enjoyed, and also touched on the history of the off-grid movement. He then travels around the country staying with (and interviewing) off-gridders who come in all shapes and sizes.  The range of people he communicates with (or writes about) is baffling - marijuana growers, Daryl Hannah, Earthship creator Michael Reynolds, Amish multi-millionaires, and the The Last American Man.  Rosen definitely keeps you guessing, and challenges majority assumptions.  Worth a read.

Should we call it snow?

So far, this winter has been defined by shorts, t-shirts, bare feet and sunburns.  Although we're practically in drought conditions, we're definitely not complaining - last winter was really cold.  Here are a few photos we snapped during the winter of 2010-2011 to illustrate.

Should we call it snow?

Maia is happy to hide out in her pup-tent next to the warm fire, thank-you-very-much.

Hmmmm.  High winds.

Someone told us to "let the shower drip" to avoid pipes freezing.  Obviously, the pipes still froze, as did the shampoo, and we created a shower-stalagmite!

We'll call it snow-in-training!