After flying from Utah to New Mexico, we headed north out of Albuquerque and then turned left at Taos. After crossing the volcanic Rio Grande Canyon, we arrived at Earthship, a troglodyte community located in the New Mexico desert. While waiting for our host, we walked around the visitors center . . . and wondered what we had gotten ourselves into?
We were eventually escorted to two self-sufficient homes located about a mile from the visitors center. The south-facing homes were constructed into the landscape. They were like something a well-to-do hippie on LSD might envision. Or like something a monastic Michael Jackson might want live in. But they included a lot of water reuse features that would be helpful for individuals living in the desert Southwest.
Three of us stayed in one house and the other two stayed with a biker in a second very ornate nearby house, which included among other things, a tilapia fish tank. By the time we settled in, it was time to have dinner. A small Mexican restaurant in Taos had been recommended. So we headed to town, the 6’4″, 300+lb biker named John included.
The eating place was packed, so we had to wait outside for a short time. It was threatening to drizzle. After getting settled under a sun shade, we spied the number-two boss in our regional office. He, his wife, and daughter were in transit from Durango to Albuquerque and just happened to be eating at the same place we were. Obviously, he was surprised to see us and we were surprise to see him.
After we moved inside the restaurant, the boss came over for a friendly conversation concerning what the hell we were doing there. We also introduced him to our “bodyguard,” John.
Our new friend was on leave from his job repairing helicopters in Saudi Arabia. He told us he was working for some subset of the old Blackwater corporation. He enjoyed jobs in “dangerous” areas and making a lot of money. John was riding around the West on his custom Harley and had stopped at Earthship to examine the eco-friendly homes.
Our boss thought John was pulling his leg, until he pulled out some Saudi Arabia currency. Eventually our food showed up and we all set about eating. The food was good and John picked up the tab.
Back at our troglodyte house, we all enjoyed libations. The next morning, John took off, but we toured several of the houses. Of particular interest to us were the water harvesting features, water recycling systems, the methods of housing construction, and the solar energy systems. It was all very informative. The community that has grown up around Earthship feels very much like a high-end hippie commune. Everyone seemed very ernest and very displaced in time. But as with everything with history, maybe their time had iterated back.
At noon, we continued on our journey of discovery.
