Living in a Prison

Okay. So it’s not exactly a prison, but it feels like one.

Two years ago my husband and I thought it would be a “grand” idea to buy a small house in a gated community. We’re gone for months at a time, and we felt that in today’s world it would be worth it due to the rampage of squatters, theives, and mischief makers. We also no longer owned horses, mules, cows or a goat. Just a dog. Why leave a large house vacant for months at a time?

Okay. So we buy this small house which suits us since we’re not here full time. Plus, we lived on a 34′ sailboat for seven years, so a little house is not a reason for divorce. Compared to the 34′ sail boat we owned this is luxury. Actually, when not here we still live on a boat…a 43′ Tolly Craft. This may sound like a big boat, but compared to this small house the boat is small.

Anyway, to get to the prison part…This is like living with the gestapo watching your every move. Some people are fine with that. We are not, hence the For Sale sign in our front yard. Nevertheless, the latest infraction we’ve been written up for is the fact that our campervan is parked in our driveway. (There are no garages here.) A van can be parked in your driveway…but not a CAMPER VAN, HEAVEN FORBID, because it’s used for RECREATION and you can SLEEP IN IT.

Because it can be used as a “camper” and not JUST a “van,” it is not allowed. I don’t know what kind of people dream up these regulations and stipulations. It drives me crazy. Obviously, I’m not tempermentally fit to live in a “gated community.”

Nor can my rowing boat be kept in our carport even though it’s not on a trailer.

It was difficult to remain civil when we spoke with the management about our warning letter giving us 15 days to do something about it. (Fortunately, we’re leaving in less than a week for a lot of months, and hopefully the house will sell despite the recession and inflation and spys running around in their golf carts taking notes on residents.) Management, to their credit, was very nice and understanding, but very firm: The RULES are RULES and clearly say… Okay. Odd that you never inforced them in theh past, though.

We are leaving this week and will return as late as possible (like first of November) and hope the house is sold somewhere between April and November. At this point I’ll take any decent offer.

I can only chock this new enforcement or creation of new laws due to management turnover. Their rules are their rules. I don’t have to live here and I can’t wait to get out, but a sale is needed before we can get out of prison. Please buy my house!

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Becky’s Books

I guess ending a corporation here in AZ is just a matter of not paying the yearly fee for three years. Sounds a bit weird to me, but easy anyway. Easier I guess than going through all the paperwork to do it.

So, with that underway effective Jan. 1, 2024, I have declared myself a SOLE PROPRIETOR. I’d be better off if I made it a SOUL PROPRIETOR, but I don’t qualify. Just ask my 8th grade religion teacher, Sister Roberta Mary.

But I will, as a sole proprietor, bill myself as “Becky’s Books” whether or not that’s legal. So what books does Becky still have that can be found on Amazon or ordered online?

Currently, only our nonfiction books (except a few of my fiction ones – after all, it’s MY company ) are available via Amazon or via your fave book store by order. Or from me.

Once again, “A Beginner’s Guide to Owning a Mule” is still our best selling nonfiction book. Following that, it’s a tight race between “Casey Tibbs – Born to Ride” by Rusty Richards, and “Developing the Art of Equine Communication” by C.L. Lee Anderson.

This is not to diminish J.R. Sanders’ incredible “Some Gave All – Old West Lawmen Who Died with Their Boots On.” It is a solid third place.

Every single one of these books was an award winner! Also, “Life Was a Cabaret – Two Fools, A Boat, and a Big Ass Ocean,” another award winner and nonfiction, is still listed.

As for the other books still available are the award-winning “Northern Escape” and “Saving Our Oceans,” both by R.L. Coffield. Once Again, “Northern Escape” was a contest winner. I don’t know if anyone besides my oldest son has read “Saving Our Oceans.” So sad about that! He’s actually quite the genius and said it was GREAT and well ahead of the information that later came out. “Death in the Desert” was denied an award because of its VIOLENCE. Oh My!

Upcoming is Lilly’s new book (she finally got it to me but now we have editing, etc. etc. etc. prepping it for publication). Lilly’s not sure if she’ll use her real name on the cover or not. She’s in Tahiti…having escaped more or less from the Canadian Mounties and her own daughter. So she claims, but the manuscript’s envelope did have a lot of foreign stamps on it. It’ll likely be available next year.

I certainly get mixed up with unusual people!

What’s Your Purpose?

It hit me like a baseball bat this morning (one that I didn’t duck). Purpose. I’ve had no purpose since we’ve moved into this “senior” community.

I arise almost every morning at 5:00 a.m. That’s a full two hours before my husband arises. Every morning it’s like my brain gets a small earthquake or something. I have these grandiose ideas or realizations pop into my head and I can hardly wait for my husband to arise so I can share my enthusiasm for some wild-hair idea.

This morning was by far the best. As I sat drinking my coffee and waiting for the sky to also wake up, it suddenly, like Zeus’s thunderbolt, hit me: Since we’ve moved into this “over 55” joint we’ve had no purpose in life. We’ve just watched life, and traffic, go by. Whoop-de-do. So we take hikes. Big Whoop.

Time was we had animals, kids, and lots of active friends. Well, we only have a dog now and our kids are relatively nearby but they’re both into their 40s and have their own lives. I always had a garden, a horse (or mule), cows, chickens, even a pig once (which I gave away because it’s squinty eyes disturbed me.) My animals made me feel good. I loved them and in their own way I do think they loved me (except for the pig). My purpose was to take care of them and give them a good home. My life just seemed worthwhile and full. I also taught highschool and always cared for my students (well,most of them anyway) and helped them as much as I could. My two sons were watched over (probably too much if you ask them) and cared for like they were going to be kidnapped or something.

Sadly this morning I realized that while I have a wonderful husband and a great dog, I have nothing beyond that. Yes I have two sons and two grandsons, and a wonderful daughter-in-law…but they have their own lives. I have no friends to speak of anymore because they all stayed where they were stuanchly rooted. To be totally truthful, I feel like this is an old people’s home here and, quite frankly, I’m far from being “old.” I am getting older age-wise, but not energy wise! But I feel like I’m fading away here. There are probably others like me here, but I haven’t really found anyone.

So, this morning I convinced my husband we had to find a worthwhile purpose, and that we needed to get out of this environment. Now, that is not to say that they’re aren’t many, many nice people here. But they all seem so “content.” Most people, like us, are just seasonal visitors and they’ve been coming here for many years and have a plethora of pals they meet up with every year.

We don’t have those kinds of friends. My friends own horses still and live in the country like we used to. (Well, my last mount was a mule – nasty girl!) A few live on their boats or in their motorhomes and travel. We used to live on a boat full time. We once sailed the Pacific Ocean in a 34′ sailboat. We put 25,000 miles on that little vessel. I even wrote a book about our adventures…this was all pre “electronics” days. I did the celestial navagation!

It seems that people can get by without a purpose when they’re younger…just doing their thing and having fun rebelling, or hitching across the country, dating, sailing acround the world, etc. But with maturity should come some sense of purpose in life.

My recent “purpose,” actually, has been The Rights of Nature. But how am I serving that purpose when I live in the middle of a big city in a senior neighborhood?? I’m a certified marine naturalist, but here I am in the desert! I volunteer at the Friday Harbor Whale Museum when we’re up north! I support GARN, CELDF, and NRDC. I’m in the wrong neighborhood here.

My husband is a builder. That’s who he is. Can’t build much here in a community where you have to have permission to even plant a garden (which I didn’t get). He’s been pretty unhappy this year – our second year here. I’ve said before that I need to go home – back to the Pacific Northwest – back to the WATER…this time I’m actually going to do it! Hey! I maybe I could actually start “Saving Our Oceans!”

I’ll only be 19 hours away from my herd of boys. That’s not very far!

What’s your purpose?

Lost and Confused

Either I have an onslaught of dementia (which is possible given my age) or I don’t give a crap about a lot that is going on, particularly when it comes to electronics and the internet. I know how to word process and look things up, but that’s about it. Oh, I can send an email…for now. And I can pay bills online. Woo-hoo. But I frequently do get lost. I just figure it gives me a chance to see new stuff!

Today I got on the web to check out another “domain” (aka email) I have. I didn’t know it was a “domain.” I thought it was another email address. Word Press has a domain. Apparently with Google if you have a Google account that’s a domain. I can’t even describe all the directions, demands, and recommendations they had for whatever it was I was trying to do. Oh yeah. I was trying to go to a different email address I have. OMG. You know, I only have so many years left to live; I just can’t waste it reading endless directions from Google.

So, that being said, I have greatly simplified my life. People want to order books? Too bad. Didn’t get your email at my other email address, or aka “domain.” You’ll have to contact me via my WordPress email. Not sure what that is. I should write it down.

As I mentioned a few blogs ago, I’m in the process of “ending” my small publishing business, so really I don’t need all this busywork that goes with it. But all this blah blah blah on Google about my “domain” (aka email) absolutely exhuasted me, which is very funny because for the most part I had no idea what they were talking about.

I just want to spend my remaining brain time working for the Rights of Nature, rowing, and learning Italian. And did I say rowing?

Coming or Going?

Oh my! I don’t know whether I am coming or going! I can blame it on Covid though. Everything is blamed on Covid. Out of a product? Covid caused it. Can’t find your car keys? Blame Covid.

Okay…I have made a final decision…for now. I am NOT going to relocate to the state of Washington, or Oregon for that matter. There. My boat is up there – that’s good enough. In fact, this year when we venture north we’re going to take our vessel out of drydock and we have MIRACULOUSLY found moorage for it… yes… IN THE WATER no less! Truly this is miraculous.

I guess when Covid made its presence well known, people donned their masks and ran out and bought thousands of BOATS…and RVs were a popular purchase too… but not like boats were! BOATS are now flooding harbors and docks in the Pacific Northwest. It is impossible to get moorage in Washington State – at least in the San Juan Island area and to large degree south of there too. Even moorages in Oregon were plugged and had 3-year waiting lists. IMPOSSIBLE. We contacted over 50 moorages, including some in Oregon, and no one had an opening…except for Point Roberts – that kind of makes me suspicious. I have whilly-whad about this place, but I finally committed. It’s a bit further north…and if you’re driving there you have to go through a corner of Canada. Yes. Customs going into Canada, and then customs going back into U.S. territory. Then visa versa. I have to remember to take my gun out of my purse!!

Even though snow is covering most of the United States, we here in our tiny Arizona house are eagerly planning our summer trek. We’re going to NEW areas and places in far northern Canada. Maybe even back to Alaska if it’s not a rainy, cold summer. I just need to get my husband to settle down so he doesn’t want to pull anchor and take off every other day to a new destination. (Speaking of cold, does anyone else think the notorious, hot “climate change” agenda is getting colder – not warmer? I have lived in Arizona for 20 years and this is the worst, by far, the worst winter I’ve ever experienced here. Climate change activists will have to find a new cause.)

Mostly I’m anxious to get back to the Orcas, seals, sealions, cool seaweedy beaches with mysterious rocks and other strange items, and taking hikes where there are magnificent, beautiful trees that make a person feel so healthy, and not a zillion rocks and cacti on hard trails tripping and bloodying me. And water. Lots of water. Cold water, though, but I do have a wetsuit! And up north I can promote the Rights of Nature, including our ocean, and not be ridiculed.

Meanwhile I still have not been able to resolve my problem with Amazon. Maybe Jeff what’s-his-name should hire some of his laborers back.

(And I’m taking copies of “Northern Escape.” People love that book!)

Confusion Reigns

I’m almost ready to give up. I already erased Kindle from my life. Trying to find out about my account took days and I got NO WHERE. NO WHERE.

Now I’m trying to figure out what the hell is going on with WordPress. The main problem is that I am gone so frequently, and use the site so rarely, that nothing seems to make sense to me anymore. Did they change things? Upgrade stuff? Or am I must growing stupid – which is entirely possible.

The whole email thing…what the heck is my actual email here?

Geez I hate this modern technology! I just want to blog. I don’t need to have our books online here. Yes, I like when people buy them, but I am closing my company down and relocating to Washington so book sales are not on my mind nowadays. I just don’t know how to proceed and help here is about as bad as Amazon’s help.

I just want a blogging account!

Going Home

It’s about time. We are going back to our origin…at last!

Our tiny Arizona house will be on the market for sale this week. We believe we have found permanent moorage for our boat in Oregon…and it’s exactly where we wanted.

Yes, we are taking the boat to Oregon from Washington State where it’s been for several years. The marina where we’ll be staying actually allows LIVEABOARDS, so that’s what we’re going to do. Anyway, we won’t have enough money to buy a “REAL HOUSE” because our AZ house is in this “old people” gated community and they are small houses and nowhere near the value of homes in the real world.

We’re leaving Arizona because it is just too expensive, crowded (our area), too much traffic, and continuous shootings and border invaders. In addition, registering cars here can easily cost over $1,000 yearly if they are newer. I about flipped when I found out our campervan was going to cost over $1200 to renew for one year. My husband’s truck will be close to that.

Not to mention the potential water shortage looming! And honestly, the sales tax is punishing. Washington State also has a sales tax and beastly boat registration fees. Every year we have to pay $775 just to keep our boat in Washington. Enough is enough. Same boat would cost us $44 in Arizona and about the same in Oregon.

AND most of the hiking trails up north are not covered in ROCKS over which I continuous trip and fall down because I am gawking around. I return from every hike here in Arizona with bloody knees and hands.

So, we are going back to the water. I can at last make use of my Certified Marine Naturalist status and I can more easily defend the Rights of Nature…assuming I don’t stomp on people’s toes doing so. I’m also eager to work on “saving our oceans.”

I’ll miss volunteering at the Whale Museum in Friday Harbor, but we’ll often return to Washington (and Canada) with the boat for a summer season. (If you stay over 60 days in Washington State and your boat isn’t registered there I guess they hunt you down and kick you out…or fine you.) Not to worry. We spend most of our time in Canada every summer anyway.

I am sad that we’ll be so far away from our two grandsons! However, having a campervan will make our visits enjoable and doable. I never had a family growing up, so I’m a bit loathe to leave the one I have. But as my 8-year-old grandson assured me, “We can see each other on the computer when we skype.” Now I gotta figure that out! I know ZOOM, but Skype is new to me!.

In the process of all this, I have slowly been closing out my s-corporation. I’ve done everything wrong. Now our ebooks probably won’t be available on Amazon or people will buy them and I won’t get paid which means my authors won’t get paid. I’ve spent 3 days trying to explain how Moonlight Mesa got deleted as the provider for these ebooks. If theAmazon folks speak English (bless their hearts) you can’t understand half of what they say due to the accent. They constantly send me from one person to another to another. I finally just gave up.

So, change is good…usually. I have no hesitation other than I’m sad about not seeing my grandsons as often as I’d like, but I’m ready to go home. I need to go home.

P.S. Great news about the Pebble Mine in Alaska not being allowed. After ten years of battle, the mine intended to denude Bristol Bay is toast!!

DISASTER

Oh boy.

Hard to believe, but my account on Amazon got erased. Yep. After years of many of our books selling well on Amazon, somehow Moonlight Mesa Associates got deleted from Amazon’s seller category. I spent the entire day trying to get someone who could actually help put my account back on active. No luck yet.

It’s amazing and unbelievable. Devastating and maddening. We sell a lot of books via Amazon. In point of case, they sent out $137 worth of books in January… Mostly my own mule book, “A Beginner’s Guide to Owning a Mule.” (I do have 99 copies of this book in storage, however, so if anyone wants one, speak up!)

It’s obvious that the temp help I hired while I was wrangling with taxes pushed the wrong button. I’m not even sure why or how she got on the site. She is, obviously, no longer assisting me.

Dealing with Amazon takes a lot of patience and good hearing since many of their employees struggle with English pronunciation. In all fairness, they speak English far better than I speak Hindu or Japanese or whatever. Still, it gets very frustrating despite their courtesy. So…now what? Has anybody here had a situation that’s similar? Can you give me some help, advice, or direction?

We are still in the transition mode here. Although we intend to “close” the business, we wanted to leave some of it open for buyers, and that would mean Amazon, Smashwords, Ingram, and of course the books I order to sell to vendors. Honestly, I’m still reeling from this minor catastrophe. I say minor because in the grand scheme of life it’s pretty piddly, but still…it represents years of work on my part.

My fear is that if the account is activated, will I have to upload all the books? I’m afraid to look to see how many original layouts I still have on my computer. I’ll face that tomorrow maybe. I’ll be out of town for 4 or 5 days starting Wednesday, so maybe while I’m gone I can come to terms with the loss…if there will be one. I guess if this happens I can turn my total attention to the Rights of Nature, GARN, Celdf, NDRC, and my beloved orcas! No questions it will be a better use of my time!

Image of a “certain country” fishing for whales. Sinful.

Hope your day was better than mine!

Moonlight Mesa Says Goodbye

(We’re going to live aboard our boat again…maybe!)

Times have changed.

Moonlight Mesa Associates, Inc. is no more. We will be shedding the corporation soon (actually we’ve mentally shed it already, but the State of Arizona doesn’t yet know). Too bad. What’s really irritating is that I sent them my yearly corporation fee already…being the “on top of things person” that I am.

Moonlight Mesa Associates, Inc. has lived out its usefulness. I am no longer a dedicated publisher. I’m tired. I worked very hard…to little avail if one judges by Moonlight Mesa’s bank account. But we did publish many excellent award-winning books. The problem is this: anyone can write a book (and many do nowadays); it’s not that difficult to publish a book; the problem is in marketing and selling the book. That’s where it gets discouraging and at times brutal.

So, we are now officially Westerns Whales and Oceans (westernswhalesandoceans.com). This is not just a business…this is really who we are at heart. I earned my Certified Marine Naturalist “degree,” and we are, for sure this time, relocating north. Not exactly certain where yet, but it will be the Oregon Coast or the Puget Sound area in Washington State where our boat is now. Yep. Gonna live aboard a boat again for a stretch since we really can’t afford a house AND boat anymore. It’ll be fun…except for the rain.

I will finally have the chance to actually DO SOMETHING regarding the Rights of Nature, and I can look for Cookie, my whale. Meanwhile, we’ll be leaving for the boat in April.

(Our books will remain in print and are available on Amazon of from the authors directly.)

The Rights of Nature Movement is Gaining Ground!

Recently the GARN (Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature) organization met in Italy to get input on the “constitution” they are proposing. I was part of this…even though I wasn’t in Italy. Dang it. I didn’t know about the event until the day before it happened. However, I did tune in via ZOOM and my cell phone.

As I’ve previously mentioned, my attention is slowly fading from actively publishing to adopting the Rights of Nature movement. This is quite a challenge since there is no established “HUB” for the Rights of Nature here in North America even though GARN said there was. No matter. I decided to start my own ‘hub.” I hoped this attempt would be more successful than the “JUST ONE THING” movement my staff and I tried half-assedly to launch.

“Saving Our Oceans” was my biggest attempt to promote the Rights of Nature and I got so discouraged I took the book out of circulation.

So imagine my excitement when I quite by accident flipped the TV channel a week ago and landed on a 60 Minutes segment that was doing a feature piece on a fantastic movement in Montana designed to “return nature to nature.” The American Prairie organization is buying property as it becomes available to foster the return of bison, deer, bears, wolves – basically all animals – that used to roam freely in the area by “rewilding” the area. Their intent is to have a space of land that is 5000 square miles in size…roughly 3.2 million acres.

The organization is working with “Nonprofits, Indigenous Communities, neighbors, local communities, federal and state land managers and prairie enthusiasts from around the globe.” I urge you to check this out. Https://www.AmericanPrairie.org

However, after I mailed my check to American Prairie, I came to realize that I have in fact been very involved in the Rights of Nature movement – I just wasn’t really conscious of it until the American Prairie had my attention. I have always thought of the Rights of Nature movement requiring shovels and hardhats and planting trees and fending off helicopters from chasing wild horses and things like that. Maybe getting arrested for defending prairie dogs.

For starters, the Save Our Wild Salmon Alliance has long held my attention, interest, and donations. I also write letters to officials as requested basically asking them to get off their asses and do something helpful for the diminishing native king salmon population.

I went to the effort to become a Certified Marine Naturalist to work with the Whale Museum (and whales). I have also closely followed and donated to the NRDC (Nature Resource Defense Counsel). And I’ve promoted the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDEF) which is an organization that helps communities take on big biz and the govt. to stop developments that destroy natural resources and nature in general. I just never thought of these activities as being a type of Rights of Nature activity. So now I don’t feel like I’m just spinning my wheels anymore!

Basically, while there may be no official “hub” for the Rights of Nature yet in North America, I can see that a lot of people besides me actually care and support the Rights of Nature movement but just don’t know that’s what they’re doing.