My Back-to-the-Land Attack c. 1976

Road and Building Site – July 1978

The interest of my nearest and dearest in my blog of a few days back —  “Fifty Years Ago Or So” — with its photo of California Gothic Mother (me) and Son (Charlie) has prompted me to reveal yet another little-known period of my personal evolution.  It came along a few years later.  I was up here  for Christmas — in 1974 or ’75 —  and to help plan Oysterville’s part in the 1976 Bicentennial, when my father introduced me to a man who was interested in buying a particular piece of bayfront property from the family.  It was  a mile or so south of Oysterville — “in an area we used to picnic when you were a kid,” dad said.  “You might have some insights about it.”

I didn’t.  I suspected, even then, that dad was doing a match-making thing.  It worked… sort of.  The man in question was an artist, a bit younger than I, worked seasonally for the Forest Service, and wanted a simple get-away to serve as his home-and-studio during his off-season.  Maybe we could go into partnership?  Which it turned out would be mostly my money and mostly his physical labor.

Sydney and Her Model House (built by Charlie) – July 1978

He had great ideas — showed me where he would raise kiwi fruit in a small clearing in the woods; showed me where he thought the house should be sited; and also where we’d place the wind generator to take optimum advantage of the “westerlies” (or was it the “southerlies”?)  We continued our conversation by mail after I returned to California…  and for several years thereafter.  I visited him at his fire lookout.  We met a time or two on “our” property to clear the area for the drain field and site the 1,000-foot “driveway” from Sandridge Road.  He came to Castro Valley and talked marriage.  And about then I realized that we both liked his dog (1/2 wolf, 1/2 husky) more than we liked one another.

By the summer of 1978, I had a road into the property, a well with great water, a Clivus Multrum composting toilet, a wind generator ready to install, and someone working on house plans.  The artist and I had gone separate ways.  I was left to find buyers for the Clivus Multrum and the wind generator, and thought I’d proceed with building a “summer place” that might segue into a place to retire.  It didn’t quite work out that way… thank goodness!

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