From Kirkus Reviews
When, in 1973, the Colfaxes bought 47 isolated acres in California's Redwood Mountains, they had no inkling of the challenges their rough homestead would pose. Here, they tell the fascinating story of their sojourn into ``rural self-reliance.'' Hounded out of academia because of David's radical political beliefs, the authors sought something different for themselves and their sons. With a worn-out chain saw and The Whole Earth Catalog in hand, they cleared the land and built ``Shining Moon Ranch,'' a home that would not have electricity, a telephone, or running water for years to come. Though they became well known in the 1980's for ``homeschooling'' three of their sons into Harvard, the Colfaxes' tale is one of privation and setbacks, with money a major concern. In 1975, after their firewood business proved only moderately successful, David took a teaching job in Canada. But the family hated the move and returned to California to try truck-gardening and raising livestock. Sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, turkeys, and rabbits turned out to be hard work and unpredictable charges for the boys, but eventually paid off in 4-H and county-fair prizes, and in a profitable goat-breeding venture. Here, anecdotes of the farming life are filled with mishaps (baby Garth ``helps'' by washing 50 newborn chicks with Ivory soap); false starts (in 1983, two-thirds of the goats inexplicably miscarry); dangers (the makeshift water pump catches fire and sets half the ranch ablaze); and privations (the family lives without electricity until 1984). The boys, subjected to intense media coverage (60 Minutes, The Tonight Show, etc.), have gone on to Fulbrights and high honors at Harvard, while David, who was elected to the county school board in 1985, suffered a near-fatal heart attack in 1990 while chasing a bear. The Colfaxes have quite a story to tell and do it justice in the telling. (Eight-page photo insert--not seen.) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
From the Back Cover
It's an idea everyone has had at least once: give up the job, give up the home in the burbs, buy some land and live the good life in the country. Can it really be done? David and Micki Colfax did it. And in this fascinating book they tell how they did it--from their decision to try a life of self-sufficiency in the redwood forested mountains of northern California to the process of building their own house, from the demands of teaching their four children at home (three out of the four children went on to attend Harvard) to living without electricity, a phone, or a steady income. The Colfaxes, urban professionals whose backgrounds were in teaching and academia, moved to forty-seven steep acres of trees and hard ground in Mendocino County in 1973. They had no experience with homesteading and none of the do-it-yourself skills it would require. They learned by doing, plunging into their new life with enthusiasm, a limited amount of cash, and high hopes. By the time the first winter snows came bursting through the walls of their still uncompleted home, the Colfaxes were finding out just how challenging the good life could be. Everything took longer than they planned. The work was hard--bone-numbing hours upon hours of clearing the brush, burning stumps, hauling water, fixing the truck, and preparing food over a gas stove. The land, although breath-takingly beautiful, was harsh. In describing the setbacks, money woes, and disasters, the Colfaxes show how their new life and their Shining Moon Ranch slowly took shape: how crops began to grow, how the house was finally made weather-tight, and how their children learned to read and write at the same time that they learned to raise prizewinninglivestock. The Colfaxes have written a personal history that is as instructive as it is entertaining. Hard Times in Paradise is the story of a modern pioneer family--funny, sad, and, most of all, uplifting. As David and Micki Colfax and their four sons discovered, the ultimate meaning of being a pioneer is to rely on--and to cherish--one another.
