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a phone call from Chico

this morning.  Alyssia is SURE that the motel had bedbugs.  Jenny sounded a little uhhhh, worn.  Julian was skipping about the motel room and yelling for Umma*, Jenny, who had handed the phone over and gone outside.  *gramma.

so…they called from Chico.

003

they left from where Alyssia is stationed in Lemoore, near Hanford.  North.  Fresno, Merced, Modesto,  Stockton, Sacramento to          Chico.               Chico is where jenny and i began spiraling out from.  Chico felt familiar.  and according to the phone call this morning, it is.  it is a college town with lots of farmer's markets.  lots of "stuff" going on.  so, similar in some ways to Ann Arbor Michigan where jenny grew up.  where Alyssia was born, where she returned to for high school and visits her grandpa.    So, Chico. 

tomorrow they will set out for the hinterlands.  the places where jenny actually might want to  anchor her life, her goats, her great magical dog Kadir.    Red Bluff is where she can transfer her present job.  so, Cottonwood.  even Redding.

the hope is for a minimum of 5-7 acres.  10, really.  More even better.

it's funny.  i have always had kind of a snotty opinion about california.  as in it is a place for fake people.  fake lives.  like a movie set kind of thing.  hmmmm…….

 

 

 

 

 

 

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23 responses to “a phone call from Chico”

  1. jude hill Avatar
    jude hill

    i have that thing about California too. is real estate reasonable there?

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  2. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    northern california out…some way from the mainstream.
    all of the properties we looked at on line and that has
    been MANY….land is very reasonable. but it is not
    mortagable. so it needs to be cash or a land contract.
    anything with a home has been say about $500/mo mortgate.
    this for land of 7-10 acres. there’s LOTS of that.
    there is really a LOT of land there for very reasonable
    amounts. people don’t want to live “away”. but in
    comparison to what she has become used to here in N Mex
    …it’s easy. and it’s really beautiful. high mountain
    desert type land, grassland meadow, tree’d with mountain
    oak….even, one place mentioned an eucalyptus grove.
    she wants to build her own home. is willing to live in
    a tent or a little Home Depot shed while she does that.
    she’s smart. i have no doubt that she will pull this off.
    We looked at a place with 40 acres that butted up against
    National Forest. Beautiful. cheap.
    it kind of depends on if her dad comes through…which he
    might or might not. her income can cover any payments…
    it’s the down payment on unimproved land that is the issue.
    he would need to co-sign. he has money coming out his
    wazoo…no issue really, other than he sees her as morphing into me and that IS an issue for him. oh karma.
    when this all began, and we were trying to figure out a
    place where Alyssia could ask to be stationed (Navy), we
    had to factor in Alyssia’s short term husband a father
    of Skipping Julian. he HATED new mexico…is from New
    Jersey. he said N mex felt like Animal Planet. smile.
    dear him. (he’s back in new jersey)
    but we looked all over the united states and ended up
    thinking that N Calif was the most like new mexico. but
    also somewhere where my son might want to end up (in Denver) and somewhere the rest of the family, including
    the tightwad dad would want to visit.
    so complicated, all this stuff. and then, there’s Jenny’s
    son…who i don’t even mention much. he has to prove himself as part of this equation…is working on it.
    so…california. who’dve guessed. but it’s like Oregon.
    people wise, but not WET which i couldn’t deal with.
    ok. done now. xo

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  3. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    i will also add.
    i am beyond
    way amazed at what she intends to do. it is sustainable. who
    would have guessed. but she is ready to take her place in 2011
    and on into whatever comes. i am so incredibly proud of her.

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  4. judy keathley Avatar
    judy keathley

    gosh,grace. you must trust us alot.
    jenny gets her guts —& heart –from you.
    what a story. what an ongoing courageous journey. i am in awe. at what this family is building —how this family is finding/making their way. step by step. stitch by stitch. prayer by prayer. & in awe of your willingness to let us in on it.
    may we always be worthy of that.
    sending blessings to all involved here–even the tightwad dad.
    & much love to you—
    thank you–

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  5. Deb G Avatar
    Deb G

    Laughing about your California comment….I don’t know about Southern California, but Northern California contains some “real” people. But then “all the world is a stage…” 🙂 So glad that the phone calls have been positive; well, except for the bed bugs.

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  6. Kristin Shields Avatar
    Kristin Shields

    Yes, there are plenty of real people in CA. I love northern CA especially. By the way, Oregon doesn’t have to be wet. I’m in the high desert which is similar to NM, but probably has a longer winter. If she doesn’t mind the cold, Eastern/Central OR a great place to live.

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  7. KaiteM. Avatar
    KaiteM.

    it’s exciting, it’s hard, it’s problematic, it’s fun, and all multiplied several times over when there are more than 2 people to account for. take your time and do the research, and consider the potential hazards too in this era of climate change – floods, droughts, bushfires, dust storms, earthquakes – we have them all here and at 60+ i wouldn’t want to be too close to any of them these days.
    sorry to be a dampener, but realistically – “hope is not a strategy”.

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  8. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    All the cities that you listed bring back memories…grew up in Merced County, north of Fresno. Lived in Modesto, Stockton, Sacramento. Growing up in the 60’s, strong sense of the land in northern CA. People used to say those of us in northern CA, DO and those in southern CA, PLAY. Off and on, there was talk of splitting the state in two. CA offers such a gift of varied land; mountains, beaches, farmland, pasture, meadows, desert; it’s all there in one state. AND when you all are finally settled, you will have a feeling, a sense of putting down roots which is really, new/old because it is all about building a life.

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  9. Terri Avatar
    Terri

    getting delicious chills. LOVE the descriptions and play by plays. Really like the way the map lays on Jenny’s cloth and the words you wrote on the map. Also nice that when I click on map/photo, it just keeps enlarging so I can really look at it in detail. what an adventure this is.

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  10. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    judy…i can trace threads back to before the daughter
    was even born and then forward through times i couldn’t see them and now through times that they have a pulse.
    Jenny is the centerpoint to the spin. it’s interesting to
    watch, will be interesting to see how it unfolds.
    you should keep in mind that i was trained to believe
    in talking, telling, “letting it all hang out”. to me,
    it’s the only way it makes sense to relate to other
    people.
    i am hoping your blessing to the tightwad might help…

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  11. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    nope…no cold. for me especially. i’m done with cold.

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  12. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    hope is not a strategy…LOVE THAT! who said that??????
    yes. absolutely yes. what we ended up being fully aware
    of is that no place is without something. none. period.
    and also, it’s my thinking that Climate Change will
    CHANGE THINGS…will continue to change things. so when
    i think, i think about adapting, about evolving, about
    maybe even all the adapting/evolving won’t be enough.
    but, here we are. with this skipping little boy. so
    how to do our best for him and then 6 generations beyond
    if we are blessed to continue.
    thank you so much for thinking about it all…i really
    appreciate you enormously

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  13. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    it’s her root, marti. i want to help compost it, help
    get it set in well. so much, she is like i was when i
    left Michigan…it’s a little scarey.

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  14. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    yupper. adventure supreme. and you knew her when she
    was that contentious teenager. isn’t it AMAZING??????

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  15. Terri Avatar
    Terri

    oh, YES, Very amazing. And I knew Alyssia when she was so tiny as well. I remember babysitting her on New Year’s Eve when she was just 5 mos old, her on the bed next to me, waking up, and she was staring into my eyes. That is when I fell in love. And I think that is how my Christopher was able to come through not long after. There was no maternal desires for me until then. Talking and telling. It’s all in the stories.

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  16. KaiteM. Avatar
    KaiteM.

    TypePad HTML Email
    probably a military person, i dont know but i heard it
    recently. but its good, and i like it.
    i was worried all night that i had overstepped, but as
    we have moved any times in the past 14 years looking for nirvana i thought id
    like to pass on a little of what we learnt. 14 years ago Mum and i bought
    100 acres of eucalyptus forest which was cheap and it had a small cabin on it,
    just the right size to squeeze into for 2 years until we had built, and a huge
    dam for water and swimming and wonderful walks and bushland. but the dream
    turned into a nightmare within a year and we were very lucky to be able to pass
    it onto someone else with a similar dream, even tho we lost a lot of money on
    it. It was affected by flooding, rural property burglars, drought, weeds
    which we couldnt control but had to try to, wild pigs, unbelievable lightning
    strikes which could occasionally turn into a bushfire and a driveway, one km
    long, which collapsed leaving us stranded on one side with the cars on the
    other. I was just 50 and Mum was in her early 70s, that was too much for
    us to handle. so be cautious of the cheap and loveable rural
    hideouts.

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  17. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    Uprooting yourself from New Mexico lets you put down new roots or do you believe that once land grabs hold of your heart, you are only rooted once…

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  18. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    marti…i don’t know the answer to this question. it’s
    put very well
    and in this moment what comes as an answer is that
    maybe i only needed to send down that tap root once??
    i don’t know

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  19. Acey Avatar
    Acey

    man oh man i have lived and died and lived again in the emerald triangle. pay special attention to water rights AND water sources. Who else does WHAT in the same water where you intend to drink, cook and bathe. Full battery of water testing before any deal closes. water. w-a-t-e-r. it’s all in the water which you are already used to in a somewhat different vein. Lotsa tiny microscopic critters zooming all over the place…

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  20. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    emerald triangle???????????????????

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  21. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    good morning to You!,Kaite. i smiled as i listened to
    Jenny yesterday on phone. she comes back today but was
    giving me some of the highlights…one of which made me
    smile with your above in mind: the most BEAUTIFUL place,
    she said, all steep ravines and everything slopey and
    all kinds of amazing vegetation that the goats would LOVE
    but she couldn’t see anyplace to build a house (flat
    enough) except maybe in the driveway (which would be ok
    because the driveway was a mile long) and i’m listening
    and thinking to myself, well, a terraced garden then, like in Tibet….
    beautiful and loveable rural hideouts, ahhhh yes. Sigh.

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  22. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    Acey…i thought i already commented this, but i don’t
    see it here…
    Emerald Triangle????? not familiar with that term????

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  23. KaiteM. Avatar
    KaiteM.

    grace dear, IF you and daughter go ahead with this then there are two extremely important things i want you to consider:
    the first is water, as Acey said below, you must have a reliable source of water near your house, and one that you can safely access and use;
    the second is where you decide to build your house/s, and i would suggest close to the beginning of the driveway and not the end as you may need an exit strategy in an emergency – and i can think of 99 possible emergencies, all of which could easily happen.

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