Desert Living With the Grandchildren    October 1, 2008 

This fall is going to be a little different for us here at the desert ranch.  Two of my grandchildren have come to spend the winter with us.  They are use to a suburban life and have to make the transition to limited electricity and limited water supply.  We have a small solar array and batteries that we use for most of our electricity with a generator for back up.  The hardest part of their adjusting to the limited electric power is the amount of time spent on the electronic games.

We have to haul all the water we use here at the ranch, so they are having to learn to take showers with a set amount of water rather than just let the water run for fifteen to twenty minutes. Actually they are doing quite well with the limited water supply without too much complaining especially since they came from a home with a swimming pool in their back yard.  They miss the unlimited electricity, but they are willing and able to find other ways to entertain themselves in their free time.  They like to play outside and read, without expecting someone else to entertain them.  Home schooling is the hardest on them I think, because they have no excuse to be distracted by other students and the teacher can catch more of their mistakes.

At least they don’t have as much to adjust to as their older cousins did when they would come to spend the summer with Grandma and Grandpa.  We only had kerosene lanterns and flashlights then.  With a small generator for watching a couple hours of news and TV programs before going to bed early.

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