The rumors of my extended alien abduction are somewhat exaggerated…though given the changes in the world over the last couple of years we all might as well be on an alien planet about now.
When the much ballyhooed “pandemic scare” and its accessory insanities took the entire western world/planet—and (in my case) Portland, Oregon hostage, I had no problem recognizing what was happening and what I needed to do if there was to be any hope of continuing to live a reasonably sane, free and authentically human life. It was not an easy thing for me emotionally, since I was entirely in love with my small but utterly magical Portland home, which I had recently put quite a bit of renovating into creating a genuine feeling of beautiful and peaceful, private sanctuary. That said, I also sadly was forced to come to terms with the fact that the wonderful quality of life that I had enjoyed in beautiful Oregon was effectively done—and it simply wasn’t coming back. The power-drunk, political pawns at play, together with the psychotic architects behind the manufactured plandemic, mandates and colluding/contrived media propaganda-machine circus were playing for all the marbles this time (👇). Staying in the city—ANY city (and in Oregon, period), which had effectively lost its collective mind– was NOT an option. By the time the first lockdown (a prison term and not a medical term, btw…as a first clue) was being imposed I knew with clarity and a fair degree of foresight about what was to be in store and that it was simply time to go.
So…after much gnashing of teeth and considerable homework, effort, expense and travel to view multiple properties in multiple states I managed to find a wonderful, remote, off-grid wilderness homestead in the mountains of Idaho. I packed up 16 years of my life, tearfully sold my beloved home in Portland and headed off intrepidly into the wild. Best move I ever made in my life. But let’s just say it was a pretty massive adjustment from the many “amenities” and soft conveniences of city life. A radical all-consuming adjustment was in order.
I wasn’t altogether new to off-grid living, having previously had a fairly primitive log cabin on 40 VERY off-grid acres in the middle of nowhere in extreme NE Minnesota wilderness once upon a time. So I wasn’t walking into something I knew nothing about.
That said…
Not many people in their 60’s choose to start their lives over. Normally as one ages the trend is toward slowing down, downsizing and moving INTO town, where life has historically been a bit easier and where everything tends to be more convenient and accessible. But there was no longer a rational, free and open society on planet Earth, but instead a hostile, alien, upside-down, mass-psychotically bizarro world where nothing made sense any longer. The masses were being manipulated into a state of either glassy or wild-eyed, chaotic madness. Welcome to the for-REAL “Zombie Apocalypse.” I knew I could no longer remain in everyday mainstream society and retain my hard-won mental health.
The city where I lived was suddenly a place filled with fear and paranoia in the eyes of the (thanks to ridiculous mask mandates) obediently faceless population…all standing in their little circles while compulsively distancing themselves from what used to be their family, friends and neighbors. It was like the invasion of the body-snatched “pod people” everywhere I ventured….even in forested city parks. Friendliness was replaced with circumspect suspicion, edginess and insufferably pervasive “virtue signaling.” In the battered, war-torn heart of the city’s (formerly clean and beautiful) downtown area, crowds of disaffected youth—many dressed like ninja’s and carrying gas masks and shields– filled with extreme, unfocused anger resorted to nightly sieges of rioting, senseless violence and unbridled (not to mention unpunished) vandalism. The insipid, brainwashed governor (formerly a high school classmate I actually graduated with in MN, wayyy back when) and a spineless city mayor turned a blind eye to all this insane violence and hostility and instead penalized the legitimately frightened law-abiding, local citizens and battle-weary, overburdened police. None of it made any sense. The somewhat bohemian, quirky city I loved was being blatantly occupied by unhinged hooligans and systematically destroyed, with the blessings of the so-called local authorities. Following the extended lockdowns, what had been peaceful and beautifully green city blocks downtown became tent cities for the growing new breed of homeless (as the economy tanked), the drug addicted and graffiti-filled war zones.
Having a decent grasp of science, actual health and basic logic I knew that what everyone was being forced to do—ALL OF IT– was literally the OPPOSITE of anything that made sense from an actual health-promoting or protecting standpoint. It was all literally dehumanizing. Having given a number of lectures in recent years concerning worrisome societal trends, growing censorship, persecution of journalists and whistleblowers and the encroaching, predatory drumbeat of “scientism” I was pretty well primed for recognizing the global coup d’état underway. In all truth and honesty I literally didn’t spend so much as 5 minutes feeling the least bit concerned or fearful about the purportedly infectious microbial-spook-from-China “threat” at-hand. Not even for an instant, actually. That said, the measures being implemented and unquestioningly (“or else!”) imposed to address it were utterly absurd and terrifying in their implications. Even more terrifying was the irrational complicity of vast swaths of the fear-based, CNN-addicted community, and their blind willingness to “police” and further impose hostile “virtue signaling” on behalf of our dystopian captors. No matter that none of it made any logical or remotely scientific sense.
BTW–If you haven’t seen my 2018 AHS talk given at Montana State University, titled: “Navigating The Matrix” still you can still watch it on YouTube for the time being.
I was more than aware, even then in 2018, that’s “something” was coming, and it wasn’t going to be good. I actually gave a slightly expanded version of this AHS talk at PaleoFx the following year (at the request of Michelle and Keith Norris), and it’s perhaps even slightly better, but it’s hidden behind a pay wall that I have no control over. I don’t even have a personal copy of that video lecture.
But I digress…
Having recently lost my mother to Alzheimer’s after being engaged in her intensive care for some time, I found myself thinking about the earlier lives of both my now deceased parents. Both had been born and lived to early adulthood in their beloved Baltic country of Lithuania, which became occupied by Stalin AND Hitler for parts of World War II and then rapidly became re-annexed to Stalin’s Soviet Union after the war. My parents (not having met yet) actually lived under both oppressive Nazi AND Stalinistic occupation during the war and each managed to escape before the Soviet Iron Curtain fell back on Lithuania following the war’s end. They ultimately met, rather serendipitously in Munich, fell in love and decided to marry. It’s a storybook tale: My mother, a glamorous and well known Prima ballerina who suffered a catastrophic accident that ended her dancing career right about the time she got accepted to the world-famous Kirov Ballet and my father was an especially brilliant (having skipped six grades and landing in medical school at the age of 16) and highly ambitious young medical doctor. The opportunity to emigrate to Canada (where they married and where I was eventually born) presented itself. Some years later, my father’s rapidly advancing medical career took our family to the United States (St. Paul, MN, to be more exact), where he ultimately took over the prestigious position as Head of the Dept of Radiology at the University of MN Hospital where he led a veritable renaissance in that medical field. The Twin Cities is where I mostly grew up and lived my young life, blissfully unaware of anything other than (what now used to be) the opportunity-rich, somewhat privileged, suburban American way of life.
Literally everything about my early life, and my very existence was shaped by World War II. I was even literally born during the midst of the Adolf Eichmann trial. John F. Kennedy was still alive and president. He gave his famous and most important “Peace” speech on my second birthday. By the late 1960s I was captured by the ideals of the ecological movement and the Vietnam anti-war movement. Even as a young child, I was passionate about life sciences, protecting wild creatures (especially wolves), unspoiled wilderness, and very into self-expression through music and preoccupied with the very concept of Freedom. I was most definitely an idealist. Still am, in many ways. A Sixties child. The music of that era moves me deeply to this very day. But my life was also quite insulated when it came to the darker underbelly of the world and the chaos of the era.
Fast forward…
I came to the somewhat startled realization during the insane events over the last 3-4 years that my family history was actually repeating itself and this time I was the one fleeing an oppressive, chaotic, totalitarian nightmare in search of my own hope of relative freedom and safety. Only in today’s globally nightmarish scenario, unlike that of war-torn Europe of the late 1940s, there are precious few places anywhere in the world to which anyone can actually escape or find true sanctuary. My father frequently used to speak to me forebodingly of the fragility of economies and nation states, but his concerns were largely incomprehensible to me at the time. Notions of war on our own, domestic soil, economic upheaval, famine or displacement were as abstract to me as the idea of living in a fascist, totalitarian state. I was similarly mystified by my parents’ somewhat jingoistic, patriotic American leanings and unquestioned allegiance to this country’s Flag, Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Let’s just say: “Ah…I finally get it all now.”
I DO regret my extended absence from my public work (and connecting with all of you), but I do not and cannot regret the somewhat radical changes I was effectively forced to make to my living situation and lifestyle. It was the right, rational and sane thing to do. AND! It has opened up a whole new chapter in my life that has has led to a rather newfound expertise in the art of living a much more ancestrally aligned way of life: homesteading off-grid in a wilderness setting and developing greater self sufficiency while rationally preparing and planning for an uncertain future. It’s a process and a steep curve… Learning the in’s and out’s of seeking and maintaining refuge from growing chaos and societal/economic downturn. As such, I have also become well versed and well suited to helping others sort through their own circumstances and options along the way and have undertaken consulting work with individuals seeking a means of planning for an uncertain future.
Do I define myself now as a “Prepper?” Well, not in any Rambo-esque, hide-out-in-a-bunker clutching an AK-47 sense. Even if the world were not certifiably insane, natural disasters and disruptions of all kinds can happen anywhere, at any time. It’s kind of irrational, if not outright stupid to not think in terms of some manner or degree of standard preparation for “the unexpected.” But also, anyone not recognizing the need to reasonably prepare and plan for the growing instability/decline of the social fabric, of the economy, food supply and other supply line issues, along with the specter of civil unrest is living in total denial or willful ignorance of current and obviously impending world events. It doesn’t take a “bunker mentality” to rationally plan for the unexpected. But it does take a creative, alert, practical, tenacious, detail and community oriented mindset.
By the way, anyone believing that the up-ending chaos of the last three years is “finally over” simply isn’t paying attention. Time to WAKE UP. Please.
Is establishing on an off grid wilderness homestead “the” answer? Certainly, for some. Mind you, I have no delusions that I am out of the woods simply because I am now in the woods. All any of us can do is find the highest ground we can to ride out the global tsunami of madness. Off-grid land and the cultivation of self sufficiency makes sense. Unfortunately, it has become considerably more difficult to find or be able to afford available land and resources for setting something like this up for long term living. Furthermore, there’s a lot to know about where to look, what to avoid and how to think about things. This is not like buying a suburban home. And unless you are able to find an already established “plug-and-play” situation, it can take fully 15 years to set up a fully viable homestead, capable of its own reliable full time energy and food production. It’s also A LOT of hard (though ultimately satisfying) work. But there ARE other, reasonable options.
If my audience is interested in the subject matter, I would be happy to post more articles about this in my blog, or set up a consultation. I am open to requests and direction.
In any case, a significant awakening seems to be occurring throughout the land and across the planet right now that I do find heartening, if not more or less fully vindicating. I carry an unwavering belief in the power and the ultimate invincibility of Truth and of the awakened Human Spirit. I truly hope there are enough of us to rescue and preserve what is left of humankind and human freedom. One thing is for sure: it’s bound to be a “photo finish” between humanity and it’s would-be elite, Malthusian, technocratic overlords.
I sincerely hope this long overdue blog finds all of you well, happy, healthy, sane and working to plan and build a better future for yourselves and your families. May you be actively seeking and speaking Truth to power, and may you have the courage to question everything (including your own assumptions). Turn off your TV sets, put the newspaper where it belongs (into the wood stove for kindling, under some bird cage or cat’s litter box) and dare to speak out wherever possible. No one is coming to save us and (although nice to think about) we cannot realistically vote our way out of this mess we are in—even as it is still important to remain engaged in and fight for whatever democratic processes we have left. Bottom line: WE ARE THE ONES WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR. Seemingly trite, but 100% true.
Bits of advice, off the top of my head:
- Take care of your natural health NATURALLY
- Get out of the city, if you possibly can
- Learn to grow and raise and/or forage, hunt and fish for your own sustenance. Learning a few primitive skills is a plus!
- Get to know your local farmers and ranchers and establish a solid relationship
- Learn to barter and/or develop/compile means of value exchange that can carry you more safely/reliably through an economic collapse or hostile economic takeover (i.e., CBDC’s)
- Find others similarly aligned while forging community and parallel, localized systems for food, services and goods.
- Spend time out in nature, in peaceful self/life reflection.
- Minimize your technological engagement OR ALTERNATIVELY seek out quality privacy phones (i.e., Above Phone/abovephone.com) and privacy-protecting computer technology (i.e., Linux). Turn OFF your TV/radio/social media feeds.
- Laugh often, and spend QUALITY TIME with those you love.
- Question authority and flatly reject all imposed fears, sweeping edicts and dictatorial mandates
- If the authorities say no one should be doing something, then EVERYONE should be doing it (and vice-versa).
- Engage in peaceful civil disobedience in the face of authoritarianism.
- Make a plan for your life and best long term safety, then ACT on it ASAP.
- When an opportunity knocks, ACT SWIFTLY AND DECISIVELY.
- COMPLETELY AND UNEQUIVOCALLY REJECT anything related to government issued digital currency and/or digital ID’s. NO MATTER WHAT.
- Strive to find common ground with everyone you meet and do your best to stay focused on that, and not divisive differences. We are a social, tribal species and we NEED one another to get through this.
MORE SOON!
You have such a command of the English language, you brought me right into exactly what you were going through and how you view the world in such a terrifying yet exciting new time in the world. I am so grateful for reading this.
We were wondering where you had gone, but so happy to know what you are doing such great work for humanity by giving hope and light to the maturing folks in a time of confusion.
Thank you for this. It is beautiful! I am grateful that you are doing well and finding your way during these times. Like you, our family of four escaped the Portland, OR area shortly after the first lockdown. We were living in Oregon City and were seemingly running the “rat race” even though we owned our own business, which was a Yoga and Tai Chi school and was shut down. We lost most of our clients and income. Raising 2 small children, my husband and I sat down and reassessed our lives and realized that we were NOT living our big dream but had become caught up in the cycle that we promised we wouldn’t. So, we searched the country and found a 10 acre homestead….in Central New York. Not exactly the best state to move to, but we are no longer in the city and are starting fresh. It is not off grid, but we are mostly set up just in case. We are growing our own food, preserving it, raising our own livestock, and building our community. We now homeschool our kids and can’t believe we ever sent them to a public school. Thankfully it wasn’t long. Now we are working towards being more and more sustainable each year. We sell veggies and eggs and get our meat locally from farmers. We are also remodeling an outbuilding to start our business fresh. Thank you so much for your inspiration over the years. I have seen you speak in PDX a few times and have your books. I KNOW that soon I will be taking your Primal Restoration course so that I may deeply bring that aspect to our business as I teach nutrition and scratch cooking. It is perfect and goes with living a sustainable life. I am eager to see more of your journey through Blog posts. I have missed you! Thank you, Nora. 🙏
Nora, this article was a blessing to read, to the extent that I printed it out to save for years to come as it so eloquently described the situation we’ve found ourselves in, and everything you said mirrors my own thoughts an views precisely, which helps tremendously in a society that wants to make us out to seem like the “crazy ones”. I just turned 30 years old and stumbled upon your first book when I was 19, which was the first thing to open my eyes to the fact that most of my issues throughout my life had to do with blood sugar issues, not even realizing that what we ate directly affected how we feel in every way. Since then, my biggest interest has been learning about how the mind affects the body, and the body affects the mind. Years ago, I felt really bad as I left you an instagram comment during a time I was suffering from some mental issues, mentioning my suffering and asking for help, and I was grateful you responded, though of course, I had not been fully following what you had advised to do in your books, plus was dealing with cannabis addiction and other temporary mental health issues. I still feel bad about the comment because it didn’t indicate how immensely your work has helped me over the years, and I know there was not much else you could say, and I was thrilled that you even responded, despite me feeling guilty for possibly making you feel bad!
I write this to express my gratitude and to remind you of what a positive impact on so many lives. I came back to your website to read your blog about your feelings on the carnivore diet, which was as helpful as I’d hoped. Then discovering this current blog article made me feel so much better and gives me so much hope. As a single young woman on her own with goals to pursue that off-grid homesteading lifestyle, this was encouraging to read, both to be reminded that I’m not alone in my viewpoints and the reality of our situation, but also to share the optimism you also expressed about the human spirit and Truth having the final say. Despite the bullshit involved in these systems and society, I also feel that to an extent, if we let “them” get us down, they win. Radical peace and happiness is one way to ‘fight’ against the tyrants’ goals. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your life’s work, and I hope you continue to experience peace and joy in the beautiful wilderness in Idaho!
Love this and hope you will write more along these lines. We’re in our early 70s and moved 2 years ago from a condo in the city to 5 acres in the semi-country. Learning to garden and have chickens, canning, etc. Still very dependent on the grid. We’re working on all the “bits” you list above. We’re not buying the dogma of the last few years. There’s so much to learn but we love this new lifestyle. We got a late-in-life start to this but so thankful that God stirred this passion in us and opened all the doors. Looking forward to hearing more from you!
Nora, my deepest condolences for the loss of your mother. When both parents are gone, it’s hard. Sounds like you were very close to your parents, as I was to mine.
Best wishes to you and I look forward to further blog entries.
Thanks for the update. Good to know others saw things the last few years as me. Hope Idaho treats you well, keep up the great work!
Nora, we have talked many times about your mom and your commitment to giving her the best life possible under her circumstances. My sincere condolences on her passing. Thanks for giving us an update about her as well as about your move to Idaho. Fully understand and support your observations and reasoning. Thank you for sharing your brilliant thinking and resources.
Great Article! Very much resonates!
So nice to hear from you. You greatly influenced my awakening to a better understanding of health many years ago in Eugene, Oregon. Now, as always, you are incisive, analytic, grounded, and deeply accurate in your intuitive and thoughtful knowing–a shining light of clarity in these upside-down times.
So good to hear from you Nora. I had been wondering what you’ve been up to. I really like your writing and I must say, while others in the nutrition/food blogsphere tread lightly on this impending totalitarianism, you hit it right on.
I’ve read through the comments above and appreciate them all. It looks like you’ve got some faithful followers. I have yet to read about your thoughts on carnivory as that’s what I’m doing due to food sensitivities and an auto-immune condition.
Have you looked into the med beds? I imagine that’s really going to shut down the world of medicine, as in big pharma. There’s good going to come out of these last three years; big pharma gone, natural remedies making a big comeback, 64000 (?) patents to be released, and of course, freedom to be who we truly are.
I’m a fan of reality TV, fake or not, and thought that you’d be a great candidate to be on Homestead Rescue if they’re still filming it. Or, better yet, do a weekly podcast of you on your land sharing with us the lifestyle, the food, both mental and physical health, and the changes in your thoughts; what you’ve learned since the move. You do have a way with words and you could teach us many wonderful things.
Happy New Year Nora!!!
Loved hearing from you. Thank you. My family has all located to Idaho . I am from Idaho and stuck here caregiving but when this ends I am back to Idaho.
So glad you have relocated and pray the best for you. The problems as I note are pervasive in our society . When I saw the globalists start having their meetings in Sun Valley, Idaho instead of all of them in Switzerland I was a bit concerned. And the Idaho governor tends to buddy up to Newsom in California . Let me say that my family has said they watch the local elections and county elections closely as many of the influx of folks seem to want to start changing the areas they have moved to into where they left. Go figure.
Anyway..so glad to hear from you, Nora. I too am sorry about your mom. I lost my mom a while back too .
Nora , it’s so good to hear from you!
I was fearing that something had happened to you.
Every time I use your recipes, I would send up a prayer for you, providing you were still with us.
We too live in Oregon (Southern) and would love to move to Idaho, but we’re in our early 70’s and money is an issue.
I was born in Southern Oregon, and I never dreamed we would be considering a move, but our corrupt politicians give us no choice.
We are currently full-time RVer’s though, which gives us a little flexibility.
I’m proud of you for making the wise decision to move. May your homestead be incredibly successful and provide security for what is coming.
I’m looking forward to future blogs. Please do send us blogs concerning your progress and any suggestions for how we might follow in your footsteps.❤️
Nora, what a beautiful summary of your journey over last 3 years. It was a pleasure to read it and I felt you were describing what I felt and what happened to us. My husband and I also left the city and moved to 2 acre property in Okanagan, BC where we renovated cozy log house, started a garden and connected to likeminded neighbours. I lost work as a nurse due to insane mandates which btw are still in place in BC. I was heartbroken but over time I came to understand how the events of our lives present to us so we can grow and create ourselves in the image of our highest expression. I admire your continuous dedication to exposing the truth and bettering humanity. Thank you for all you do and wishing you strength, health and peace.
Nora,
To try be succinct and simple, your post on The Road Less Traveled appeared in my email yesterday and I read it today (1/1/2024)! This morning I woke up to a slump and the day got “slumpier” by the hour. I prayed, rebuked the world verbally and then a nap! Then I read your message and can’t tell you how much it lifted my spirits as a relatively healthy 77 year old. I know you through my daughter and sister-in-law (who think you hung the moon), but have not been a regular reader of your blog. Now that will change for sure! I do believe God answers prayer, and did that through your words, courage, honesty, spirit, and insight.
Slump gone! Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Gale
Hi Nora,
It’s been quite awhile since we had any regular contact (back when I was on the board of PPNF with you), but it was great to hear from you. I’m so glad to read about what you’ve been up to the last few crazy years, and that you are spreading the word that this is not over.
Like you, 2020 was a huge awakening for me and I realized that I had to get involved or else my children may not have any freedom left to inherit. I had the urge to do like you and get away from it all to focus on self-sufficiency, but that path wasn’t the one for me because I will not leave my aging mother alone and she wasn’t going to leave. So instead, I’ve become deeply involved in pushing back against the tyrannical over-reach at both the local and state level here in New Mexico (www.nmfa.us) as well as helping people learn how to homeschool, gain some level of self-sufficiency, food-security, health empowerment, etc.
As you mentioned, people seem to be getting lulled back into complacency now, but we need to keep working towards restoration of the ideals this country was founded upon. Now, instead of the pandemic, other avenues are being used and it is all still building towards greater control and power.
I’m glad to hear that you are pushing in your own way against it all. If we all do what we are called to do, we WILL turn things around. I do believe we will prevail in the end, but I’m hoping we can limit as much collateral damage as possible along the way.
I know others who are focusing on the self-sufficiency path (which I think is equally important); a friend of mine will be presenting at the Greater Reset conference in Mexico in a few weeks, and she may be interested in talking with you about what you are doing since she is focused on parallel society.
So good to re-connect with you. I’m standing shoulder to shoulder with you. We’ve got this!
Sorry about your mom Nora. I feel like you but am stuck in a city to be near my daughter. At least I might be in a but safer state but who knows at this point. They will come to the woods too. All we can do is our best.
I too am hearing and seeing the wakening up of the people and as Catherine Austin Fitts says, it is now the time of the great pushback. People all over the globe are standing up and pushing back in every way you can imagine.
All we can do is help and hope.
Nora:
Glad you are back! I love the way you have summed up the past few years. I agree with you about news outlets and the fallacy that you are in charge because you cast a vote. Many officials have forgotten that they work for us and not the other way around. I am afraid that P.T. Barnum’s famous adage is alive and well to this day.
Hi Nora,
It’s good to hear that you are doing well. I don’t know if you remember me, but we have met at several meetings. I am a dentist in Connecticut with your exact take on the virus, the pandemic, and the global cabal. You are an inspiration!
So nice to hear from you again and hear about what you are doing. I look forward to hearing more from you. Advice for seniors who are unable to homestead or live off grid would be much appreciated! I was sorry to hear about the loss of your mother. When my dad passed I felt like an orphan- even though I was in my 60’s! It’s never easy when someone you love passes on beyond this life. Take care. We need sane voices like you in our lives!
Thank you Nora for an interesting read. Truly enjoy and embrace your perspectives. Your encouragement and reflections about your parents as they lived a reality that planted seeds in your spirit is a testament worthy of thought. Wishing you well as you stay strong and carry on.