My summer has been crazy busy — which makes it challenging to find time to travel ten-hours from Katy to our cabin. To make the trip worth it, I have to find no less than a couple of free days to spend there, travel time not included. And in order to get things done I have to be very intentional about taking the supplies I need or coordinating delivery from McCoy’s in Alpine.

So far this summer, we have managed to get quite a few things done. Last month, my friend Paul Kitchen spent a few days with me at the cabin. We worked from first light to last light to complete a number of projects on my list. Paul is a super-handyman and knows how to get things done.

This month, my friend Doyle Lowry traveled to the cabin from Oklahoma to help me check a few more items off my list. Doyle and I have shared lots of adventures together, including backpacking the Lone Star Hiking Trail, completing the Texas Water Safari, and summiting five of the seven named peaks in Texas that are higher than 8,000 feet.

I was happy to have our new water storage tank installed by my friend Mark Chiles. I met Mark years ago at Terlingua Community Church. His ranch is about 20 miles from our place. He is the local rep for Tanks-A-Lot and had the tank we needed. This tank was a gift from Kingsland Baptist Church in Katy on the occasion of my 20th year on staff.

A few hours after Mark installed the tank the monsoon rains came roaring in. What timing! And, with a few more light rains, we now have 400-gallons of water in this 1,200 gallon storage tank. Water catchment and stewardship in the desert is important. Grateful to have this tank which now gives us 3,400 gallons of water storage capacity.

Months ago I built a perimeter wall to create a courtyard in front of our guest cabin. I added a counter area for cooking, installed an outdoor fireplace, and added firewood storage. The next step in the plan was to lay pavers in the courtyard. McCoy’s delivered my order of pavers earlier in the month while I was out of the country.

Doyle and I spent an entire day leveling the ground and then laying the pavers in the courtyard. Working under the shade of the solar panel porch sure helped as the temperature was over 100-degrees. After laying the pavers Doyle swept sand between the joints to lock everything down. Wow! Love the results and can’t wait to get the outdoor table and chairs to the cabin.

The next thing on the list was building a foot-bridge over the swale on our north tract. A couple of years ago, I dug a 300-foot long swale and berm to slow down and retain rainwater on the property. The swale comes alive with native wildflowers in the Spring — a really pretty sight. The new foot-bridge will make it easier to take supplies in our Gorilla cart for some of the permaculture projects we are doing on the north tract.

Doyle helped me complete the final 660-feet of fencing on the north tract. The cedar posts and metal t-posts have been in place for two years. I bought the final two rolls of field fence for this tract at Tractor Supply in Katy. Doyle and I managed to stretch, install, and clip-in both rolls under the searing Big Bend summer skies. Took us two days and gallons of Gatorade but we got it done.

We also installed a gate along the fence on our southwest tract. This gate is across the road from our driveway onto the property where we have our cabins. This will give us easy access to the area where we will add some camping cabanas in the future.

Finally, Big Bend Telephone stopped by to upgrade our off-grid internet service. We have several neighbors who use Starlink but we have been very happy with BBT. Last month a hail storm knocked our dish out of alignment and BBT dispatched a crew to stop by and get us back on line — important because of our security cameras.

Our off-grid retreat is coming along a step at a time. The work is therapeutic for me. After a hard day of work I enjoy sitting by the fire pit to enjoy the cool breezes, the sunset, and then the magnificent star-crowded skies of Big Bend. Hope to get back out West in a few weeks. Grateful for my friend Doyle and his willingness to join me for summer projects at the cabin.