Comments on: desert rats

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By: DennisSC

DennisSC — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 04:37:02 +0000

We all pay a price, we all make choices — but only some of us get romanticized. I’m not sure they care (it would be a lot less romantic if they did).

By: JAJA

JAJA — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 13:27:19 +0000

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By: Alice Bachini-Smith

Alice Bachini-Smith — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 02:43:05 +0000

Totally agree with Adriana-
“having paid that price and having tasted the rewards, it’s impossible to go back to ‘normal’, without being broken in spirit in some ways.”
These people have got something special, and they consider it worth the price. I think they’re right (they get a lot of flack- plenty of people dismiss it), but doing this is a personal choice not a moral imperative, because of the personal cost.
Finding the edges of Microsoft and Dell is a seriously ambitious enterprise though. I’m impressed.

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By: m

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 20:48:39 +0000

The Desert USA photos you linked to make me nostalgic for that earthy landscape and architecture of the Southwest–West Texas and New Mexico in particular. The church pictured on the site especially appeals to me, looks very much like a Mexican retablo come to life.
I’ve seen those crumbling stone (and other) structures that some have made into homes in Terlingua (or had when I was there some years ago, at least). What a juxtaposition, those makeshift, sometimes crumbling shacks alongside the fully functioning stores, bar and restaurant, etc. just feet away. Terlingua is an interesting place for sure (as are many small towns far from denser civilization are in my view).
I can relate to those who hear, and heed, the call for an off-the-grid life. I think most of us can to some degree. But life on “the edges”/edge, à la Terlingua’s “desert rats,” is, in my estimation, no more and no less expensive than life in the dead-center, or anywhere else.
I’d argue that “though parts of their lives seem incredibly rewarding-especially from a distance- they’ve also paid an equally incredibly high price for the privilege, which isn’t always so obvious at first glance,” likely applies as much to lives lived on the edge as it does to lives at any point along the continuum.
My suspicion: Life on the edge exacts no more a cost for its positive aspects than any other lifestyle does for *its* rewarding components. (And I realize your post isn’t necessarily stating that a life on the edges exerts a *greater* cost than other lifestyles–though that may be your view, I don’t know–just that it exerts a *great* cost; my comment isn’t meant as a disagreement, just a riff off the points in your post.)
In every life, no matter the lifestyle, there is an opportunity cost for every choice and action. We all pay for the positives in our lives by missing out on possibilities that aren’t viable within the context of our current choices, however good and rewarding though they may be.
No lifestyle holds a monopoly on the level of cost, expense, and trade-offs exchanged for rewards; we all (equally, I suspect) sacrifice what might have been for what is every single day. The only difference is in the particular combination of rewards and sacrifices that works best for each of us.
Costs, like rewards, are personal and subjective, and hold no universal value. They can be measured only by their worth to each individual, making the cost of every lifestyle a variable dependent solely on the person paying it, and similarly, the reward, on the person reaping it.
So, from what I can tell, it’s not that life on the edge is any more costly than life in the bulls-eye center (or anywhere else) per se, but that life *in general* is costly, period. All the more reason then to choose wisely and to choose well.
You can’t escape the costs in any case (regardless of where you live life: edges, center, or otherwise), so you may as well love whatever it is you’re paying so dearly for.
[I've posted a variation of this comment on my own blog as well . . .]

By: Adriana

Adriana — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 14:16:43 +0000

Spot on, Hugh, especially on the “they’ve also paid an equally incredibly high price for the privilege, which isn’t always so obvious at first glance” bit!
Part of the reason why people like that keep on living like desert rats (by far not the main reason though!) is that having paid that price and having tasted the rewards, it’s impossible to go back to ‘normal’, without being broken in spirit in some ways.
Another thing I like about desert rats is that there is no posing involved. Just first hand understanding of sometimes harsh reality, ability not to fool themselves and to much self-respect to bullshit.
I used to like saying – living on the edge takes up less space. But you are right, it is invariably a damn expensive business…

By: RKR

RKR — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:32:09 +0000

Desert Rats probably draw a line in the sand to keep others “out there”.

By: francine hardaway

francine hardaway — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:02:01 +0000

Wish I hadn’t just ordered a new set of your cards; I’d order this one. I’ve been a desert rat for 40 years. Lived on solar in a geodesic dome in the 70s.

By: nikkirae

nikkirae — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:25:35 +0000

Admirable and there’s a hint of jealousy for that lifestyle. I live on little with my family of five but the community of them.. that’s amazing to me.
Of course.. my jealousy is useless when all that keeps me from those edges is myself.

By: Jake Edwards

Jake Edwards — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:41:55 +0000

If my last comment seemed like blunt u.r.l. promotion please take them out and post it anyway. In fact take them out.
…the void is where the edge becomes reality…
SALEABLE EVEN !
its an achievement beyond the limits of euclidean rhetoric.

By: David Everitt-Carlson

David Everitt-Carlson — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 08:04:55 +0000

We have them here in Vietnam as well. I believe we’re called “jungle rats” – those who have fled to the edges because it’s just plain more fun!

By: Jake Edwards

Jake Edwards — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 22:17:27 +0000

Ha ha !
Where is that Rat catcher Tybalt Prince of Cats when you need him ?
Nowhere to be seen.
I`ve been wandering around (Aotearoa) for years and yes, there is a high price to pay
but life without the edges is no life at all.
Just a stultifying, predictable, grey dirge.
Of course those who choose to, pay a different price for freedom using a different currency altogether. Experience
is not cheap, but show me a hollow man who has had any? Or a fulfilled man with none.
The Rat – http://www.myspace.com/jkeedwards
Blog – http://jakeedwards.wordpress.com/
KAPITEL – http://www.cafepress.com/kbrand

By: Noah David Simon

Noah David Simon — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:51:17 +0000

this came to mind. ONE THING http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k1uOqRb0HU