Our Little Earthling

We recently spend 10 days over Christmas break out at our land located southwest of Kingman and northeast of Lake Havasu City. It is high desert so it was quite cold. We went out there to put some barb wire fencing to keep the ATVers from using the corner of our land as their launching spot and also to prevent access to a two track trail we plan to create leading up to our prospective building site.

It was a great trip for several reasons. Brian and Brandon learned the hard way (what other way is there) how to put up barb wire fencing. We learned it is not any easy task and the finished product, including a chain link gate, was not bad for a couple of amateur cowboys. I was the ‘chuck wagon’ cook and maid and spent most of my days playing Scrabble, listening to audio books and researching solar power. One of the two neighbors on our street that are completely on solar power gave me some great reading material on the subject. We used a couple of portable solar panels to recharge our trailer batteries - when the sun was shining, that is.

Brandon took his customary 2 to 3 days to detox from the Internet although every time we went into Lake Havasu for supplies he asked if we could ride around town looking for free Wi-Fi (the answer was always ‘no’). He finally stopped asking but never stopped mentioning it. One of the reasons (or so he says) was that he wanted Internet access was to determine if the rocks he found contained silver (they didn’t although we did find an abandoned mine claim on our property). He would walk the land for hours looking for rocks carrying a 22 rifle (the neighbors reported there was a mountain lion roaming the area). We never saw the mountain lion but our golden retriever, Sandy, fearlessly ran off several cattle that were destroying our fragile desert landscape. Darn those free range laws.

He also did a lot of target practicing. It paid off when he was walking with his father one afternoon and shot a quail with his 22 rifle. He is quite a good shot. He and his father also went quail hunting on Christmas Day. Sandy actually retrieved a shot quail for the first time. Brian was looking for the fallen bird and looked up and Sandy had the bird in his mouth with a ‘Is this what you are looking for?’ look on his face.

Our home was a 26 foot trailer which we all agreed was a lot roomier than the over the cab camper we usually use to camp. It did allow for some good quality family time. I was just thrilled to have more than one room and ran from room to room (all three of them) like a kid. Our routine was to crank up the generator to watch a movie together in the evening followed by Brandon and me playing several games of Yahtzee. There were a couple of days where Brandon had spent all day working on the fence and hit the sack after the movie He worked long and hard and had no trouble falling asleep.

When we got back home we watched the movie The Earthling. It is movie filmed in Australia starring William Holden and Ricky Schroder. William Holden plays a man who returns to the outback where he was born to die in peace after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. His path crosses with a young boy played by Ricky Schroder who is orphaned after a tragic accident with his parents while camping. He is befriended by William Holden who teaches him to survive in the outback before he dies.

It made me think how lucky we are to provide out son with the opportunity to spend time outdoors and developing skills that most kids don’t get exposed to in their lifetime. We are doing what a lot of parents never get an opportunity to do – teach him to be independent. He know how to hunt and fish to feed himself. He knows how to put up fencing and handle a gun to protect himself and his property. He is learning about solar power so he can live independent of utility companies. And most of all, our little ‘earthling’ is learning how to entertain himself without the Internet.