Going Sunday visiting, on horseback!

Where I live, Sundays are for visiting. A small community of people live out here, off grid in the desert. We’re all spaced well apart, each surrounded by several hundred acres of open ground.

My neighborhood, houses scattered below

We live in the kind of place where you can’t call a plumber or electrician or even AAA if a pipe bursts or your solar panels short out or your car won’t start. We’re off the grid, off the map, and if we need help, we call on each other.

On Sundays, we call on each other just for fun. Some people stay put and make coffee and oatmeal and some of us wander from house to house, calling out as we get within earshot, “Anybody home?”

Stopping at Jean's place for coffee

I’m one of the wanderers. Today I left my house on foot, climbed up and over my backyard cliffs to see Bob and then up on the mesa to drop in on Carol. Carol has two horses, one a little Arabian called Runner who needs all the exercise he can get. So after visiting with Carol, I saddled up Runner and rode a big loop to see Steve, Jean and Marsha.

Riding to Mesa Viento!

I love living out here for a lot of reasons: the hiking, the space, the quiet, the wildlife, the sunsets. My neighbors definitely top that list too. I’ve had the best neighbors here that anybody has ever had anywhere. Sure, we’re all kind of odd balls, we have to be to want to live way out here, but everybody is good people: kind and interesting and always willing to lend a hand. Or a horse!

Me & Runner