HOMESTEADING CAPITAL IS WHERE YOU FIND IT

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Third, there's no U.S. income tax on overseas earnings ...under certain conditions. If you work out of the States for 510 days without coming back in for more than 30 days. any up to $20,000 is tax-free (as long as you aren't employed by a government agency). We paid Uncle Sam nothing from 1964 through 1971. See what I mean about deals?

BACK TO THE LAND . . . AT LAST

Did our money-saving schemes work? I think they did they got us Outlaw Area No. 1. And Outlaw is beautiful. It's on top of one of the forested Boston Mountains, eleven miles from the nearest town and two from pavement. We have a Pre-Civil War log cabin, a hand-dug well and the already mentioned 576-square-foot frame dwelling. The place is remote,quiet, wild and offers a 360-degree view of nothing but mountains and more mountains.

Next question: Was our long wait worth it, or could we have homesteaded Outlaw without that much cash? Well, perhaps I can best answer by describing just one problem we ran into as beginners on the land.

ELECTRICITY EQUALS POWER

Since our arrival at Outlaw (June 4, 1972) we've found the inadequate lighting and lack of refrigeration very frustrating. In our first month, for example, we lost $13.00 worth of meat milk and eggs because our large Coleman ice chest just cannot cope with 92°F days.

Same with lighting ... we started off primitive and cheap with four old-timey glass kerosene lamps. Their totally silent, soft glow, I must admit, is very "homestead feeling".

Nevertheless—as any optometrist will tell you—trying to read by kerosene's flickering 25-watt light will eventually damage your eyes. For an alternative you can go to pressurized 100-watt Coleman or Aladdin lamps ... but, to quote The Whole Earth Catalog, the Colemans "clank and hiss at you, like civilization". And the Aladdins cost from $22.00 to $44.00 a crack.

So, for us, Ben Franklin had the answer ... but before we throw a switch, I reckon that the final tab will run $700.

BIG BROTHER IS EXPENSIVE

After we'd been here a week, I rolled in to the office of the local Rural Electrification Administration to find out what we'd have to do to get power at Outlaw. And here's what I learned.

The REA's standard written agreement provides that—before anything else can happen—the party of the first part ("M" and I) must clear a 20-foot easement from the company's closest main powerline to our property's meter, or main power pole. After we cut the initial swath, the party of the second part (Big Brother) will put in and maintain the poles and exterior lines. Also, thereafter, Ol' Big keeps the aforementioned easement open.

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