There has been so much interest in my stepping off the grid and spending some time in an Earthship near El Pardo, NM that I thought I’d talk about one of my concerns while deciding on this adventure. There was no indoor plumbing — only an outhouse. I imagined a cold seat in a tiny box-like space with a half moon cut in the door. It turned out to be nothing like that at all. The room was spacious, the seat warm, and the view from the open door breathtaking. About 20 or 30 feet from where I sat six beautiful wild horses walked across the land one morning. (The photo is of the horses in an open coral. My host puts out salt licks for the horses.)

During the night, however, I did use a commode, and like the pioneers, emptied it each morning.