#Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests

[rodspurethoughts]

The Travis Walton UFO Incident: A Compelling Yet Controversial Tale of Alien Abduction

Adobe Stock The Travis Walton UFO incident is one of the most compelling and controversial alien abduction stories of all time. On November 5, 1975, American forestry worker Travis Walton was working in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests near Snowflake, Arizona, when he allegedly encountered a UFO. The incident has since become one of the best-known examples of an alien abduction story, but…

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

I seriously can't decide what I'm more excited for at this point

🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲

Or

⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️

Ah yay! Thank you!

123 or 1k for 🌲(though you may not get that much because I'm almost done a chapter)

---

“But you know how to calm yourself down,” Buck counters. “I know you have all those therapy skills. Jello whatever.”

“That hasn’t worked once this entire time,” Eddie scowled. “It only worked with old shit.”

“Because you didn’t know what was happening to you,” Buck suggests. “Knowledge is power, though. Right?”

Eddie considers. “Yeah, I guess.”

Buck kisses his forehead. “So you can figure this out. You can practice.”

“I guess I can try,” Eddie admits. He leans more into Buck. 

“Then you can hypnotize me any time you want, for as long as you want,” Buck whispers. Forward, he knows. But whatever. He’s shooting his shot while it’s still around. 

Eddie coughs a little. “Uh, seriously? You like that?”

“Mhm,” Buck confirms. “Feels warm. And it’s easy to trust you, so… Yeah, no downsides.”

Eddie offers an incredulous chuckle and moves to kiss Buck. Buck still gets a little jolt of a thrill every time that happens. 

“You’re something else,” Eddie says. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Buck mumbles.

“No, no,” Eddie says. “Not like that. You’re… You’re incredible, Buck.”

Buck kisses him again. He’s realizing that, last night, he may have stomped over a boundary it’ll now kill him to have to walk back. 

🌲

They eat a bunch of sushi and then pass out on the couch with the TV still playing. Eddie naps with his head tucked into Buck’s chest. His arm is wrapped around Buck’s torso. He doesn’t really know what’s going on with him, sexuality wise, but he knows without a doubt he’s more comfortable with Buck than he’s ever been with anyone. It’s not the Huldra clinginess or whatever, either. Although that is a factor, maybe. Not the whole thing though; when Buck is touching him, he forgets he’s a monster. 

Speaking of monsters, Eddie only wakes from his sushi-coma because the news starts talking about the murders, The ones in Sweden. American hikers found dead in the Swedish woods. Apparently there’s been another. And the same situation. A man who was hiking at Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests in Arizona  and went missing, was found across the world. Murdered. Authorities are looking into human trafficking. 

“According to Swedish authorities, there was a strange bite mark in the man’s neck, which is believed to have been deep enough to be the cause of death. However, no other evidence of an animal attack is present on the body.” 

Eddie runs his tongue over the sharp line of his top teeth. 

And all of a sudden, everything hits him. 

Apache-Sitgreaves is only a four-ish hour drive away from El Paso. How does he know this? Because Adriana and Kyle used to go hiking there all the time. Adriana always wanted Eddie to come with her one time. He never had. And now he’s wondering… The leaves that appeared in his house when he panicked. What if they weren’t made out of thin air? What if they were from across the world, too? 

What if she’s just like him? But alone and out of control? Because when Tommy had attacked him, Eddie hadn’t even thought to use his fists in defense. He’d… He’d wanted to bite him. Tear at his throat with his teeth. Oh, Jesus.

Eddie shakes Buck awake.

“What?” Buck asks, startled. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

“The murders!” Eddie exclaims. 

Buck’s eyes bulge. “Who was murdered?”

“The American hikers,” Eddie says. “The ones they found in Sweden.” 

Buck frowns. “What about them?”

“I think it was my sister.”

---

102 for ⚖️:

---

Well, at least none until a call he’s completely not expecting to result in anything. 

It’s kind of a scary call. Not because of any big disaster. Maybe actually because of the mundanity of it. The everyday sort of activity that almost ends in tragedy. A woman, a single mother, is bathing her young baby. Too young to hold its head up or sit up or anything of the sort. Her back locks up as she’s bent over. A result of an old injury, she says. She has to remain perfectly still, because she can’t lift her baby out of the water. If she moves or tries to straighten up, not only will she be in incredible pain, but the baby could slip under the surface and drown. 

“Please,” she cries when the 118 arrives. “Please help him!” 

Her baby. Not her. 

Buck notices right away that her aura is a soft bronze color. Warm and pleasant. 

Chim rushes over to take the baby from his mother’s arms. 

“I’ve got him,” Chim says. “He’s okay. We’re going to look him over, alright?”

“Please,” she says, tears of relief and discomfort running down her face. 

“Buck,” Hen says. “Can you help me here?” 

She’s trying to carefully move the woman away from the edge of the tub. Buck goes to assist her, following her instructions to the letter, keeping the woman steady as Hen fastens a C-collar on her. 

“It’s not my neck,” the woman says. “It’s my back. I broke it when I was younger.”

“It’s just a precaution,” Hen explains. “Policy.” 

“Don’t want to make anything worse when we move you,” Buck says. 

“Do you have to take me to the hospital?” She asks.

“I think we should,” Hen says. 

“Damn it,” she groans. 

“You can refuse care,” Bobby says. “That’s your right. But Hen here is the best at what she does. If she says hospital, I’d listen to her.”

“C-can someone put clothes on my son?” She asks, clearly terrified to be asking. “His onesies are in the second drawer in the nursery.”

“I’ve got it,” Eddie says, taking the baby from Chim. “We’ll pick something warm, little guy. Won’t we?”

And in that moment, Buck is hit with a swell of emotion. For this woman, who is alone with her child and afraid. Afraid and in pain. For Eddie, too. Unable to hold his own baby, but so soft with this one. Buck feels sad for them. Like there’s a big crack in his heart. 

It’s in that crack that Buck feels himself pulled in in a completely different way than he was with Larry or the shithead lawyer from the call. Those had felt beyond his control. Like he’d been stolen from himself. 

This is different. This is like opening a door that he doesn’t have to open. But he’s too curious not to. And so, he sees everything he needs to see. 

A young girl is in a horrible car accident. She’s in the backseat with her brother. A transport truck driver nods off, drifts into their lane. Her mother and brother are killed. Her back is broken. Her father can’t afford a good enough civil lawyer to beat the trucking company in a tort case. 

After years of physical therapy and trying her best to recover, she’s behind in school. Her grades don’t cut it for university. She ends up bartending, working paycheck to paycheck. Ignoring the strain on her back of working on her feet. 

Eventually, she gets a job in a bank. She takes night classes. She promotes. It’s still hard work, but it’s better for her health. She falls in love. She gets engaged. It’s her coworker. She gets pregnant. He’s not ready to be a parent. He leaves, but keeps the baby anyway. 

And now she’s here. In pain. Old injury flaring up; it hasn’t been the same since her pregnancy. She loves her son. She loves him fiercely. Just, sometimes she thinks nothing in life is ever meant to go her way. 

Buck sees her potential futures, just like Larry. 

A future where her pain gets worse, and she struggles more and more. Where her son’s paternal grandparents sue her for custody. They call her unfit. 

A future where she dies too young. Forlorn and agonized.

A future where she gets the courage to file for child support payments, including back pay. And from that, she can afford the car she needs for her back. It’s not perfect, but she has her son. And she manages to live with a lot less pain. 

There’s only one choice. Buck makes it without hesitation. 

⚖️

He tells Eddie all about it back at the station. He’s seemed sort of flattened, emotionally, since holding and dressing the baby. He wants his back. Terribly. Buck knows. Buck understands as best he can. 

So the news that Buck is one step closer to being able to execute their plan is, as Buck expected, the pick me up he needs. 

“Seriously?” Eddie grins. 

“Yeah! Seriously!” Buck confirms. “It’s a different process, feels completely different. But if I can replicate it-”

“You could do it for Chris,” Eddie finishes. 

[connectparanormal]

There was both a book and a movie about the abduction experience.

From the essay:

Travis Walton’s 1975 abduction in Arizona’s Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest is a well-known UFO case. After a beam struck him, Walton woke up on an examination table surrounded by non-human beings. Despite controversy and doubt, UFO experts find the account consistent with other abductions, making it a significant study in UFO phenomena.

[wigmund]

From NASA Earth Observatory Image of the Day; May 5, 2018:

Using Satellites to Track the Tinder Fire

In April 2018, an abandoned campfire in Arizona grew into a fast-moving wildfire that charred more than 50 square kilometers (20 square miles) near the C.C. Cragin Reservoir in Coconino National Forest.

On April 29, 2018, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 acquired a natural-color image of the Tinder fire as smoke streamed northeast. Streaks of what appeared to be red flame retardant were visible around the perimeter of the fire; the flame retardant may have been dropped by one of several helicopters on the scene. The fire destroyed or severely damaged at least 41 homes and structures, according to the Arizona Daily Sun.

As the Terra satellite passed overhead at 11:15 a.m. on April 30, the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) sensor captured information about the height of the smoke plume. The top of the plume reached about 4 kilometers (2 miles), low enough that it probably remained within the planetary boundary layer—the part of the atmosphere closest to the surface, where the topography of the ground has a significant impact on winds.

Understanding how high wildfire smoke rises is one of the key pieces of information required to predict where and how far a smoke plume will spread in the atmosphere. When smoke is injected above the boundary layer and into the free troposphere,it spreads much farther.

“Most fires inject smoke into the near-surface planetary boundary layer,” explained Ralph Kahn, an atmospheric scientist at Goddard Space Flight Center and a member of the MISR science team. “In desert-like environments in the mid-afternoon, that can exceed 4 kilometers deep, but in most mid-latitude locations the boundary layer tends to be between 2 and 3 kilometers in the afternoon. It is lower at night because of surface heating and convection in the morning hours.”

Researchers and students involved with the MISR Plume Height Project have analyzed and posted data from nearly 30,000 wildfire plumes worldwide. This plume height databases, and another one from the Active Aerosol Plume-height Project, is useful for addressing long-range research questions about how wildfire smoke affects regional air quality and climate. They also can help air traffic controllers, meteorologists, and first responders dealing with the immediate hazards of smoke plumes.

References

Arizona Daily Sun (2018, May 3) 41 homes and structures destroyed in Tinder Fire. Accessed May 4, 2018.

Kahn, R. et al. (2017) Active Aerosol Plume-Heights from Space. Accessed May 4, 2018.

InciWeb (2018, May 2) Tinder Fire. Accessed May 4, 2018.

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory MISR Plume Height Project. Accessed May 4, 2018.

NASA Earth Observatory image by Joshua Stevens, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey and MISR data courtesy of Abbey Nastan/NASA JPL. Story by Adam Voiland, with information from Abigail Nastan (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory) and Ralph Kahn (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center). Instrument(s): Landsat 8 - OLI; Terra - MISR

[shyanshippingsociety]

Hello! I'm looking for a fic I can't seem to find. Shane and Ryan are abducted and stuck in a facility of some kind, and they’re in separate rooms but can see each other. They figure out how to communicate through the walls, and it’s very tender and heartbreaking. Do you know what fic I'm talking about? Thank you!

hello! we found two fics for you! we think it's this one:

The Harrowing Abduction of Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej by QueenModthryth | M, 17K, complete

After filming an on-location section for the season three episode “Three Bizarre Cases of Alien Abductions,” Ryan and Shane chase after a mysterious light in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, but just as they’re about to reach it, they fall unconscious.

Ryan wakes to find himself alone in a small prison cell with four glass walls. Shane is held captive in an adjacent cell that shares a wall with Ryan’s, and they can see each other, but cannot speak to each other or touch each other.

And neither of them are able to identify their captors.

or this one!:

Shane And Ryan Were Here by WhatWereMadeOf | T, 7K, complete

“I’m...where are we? Did you just wake up? Are you okay? Jesus fucking Christ I’m so sorry...I’m so sorry Shane...”

When Shane didn’t reply, Ryan opened his eyes to see confusion on the other man’s face. He watched him lift a hand and point to his ear. He spoke slowly, and Ryan’s heart sank into his stomach when no sound came out.

“I can’t hear you.”

Or, Ryan and Shane get abducted and held captive by aliens. Maybe? Probably? There's some debate.

thank you to our librarians for helping us answer this ask!

[dailyunsolvedmysteries]

Travis Walton UFO incident

The Travis Walton UFO incident was an alleged alien abduction of American forestry worker Travis Walton by a UFO on November 5, 1975, while he was working in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests near Snowflake, Arizona. Walton was missing for five days and six hours. After days of searching with scent dogs and helicopters, Walton says he reappeared by the side of a road near Heber, Arizona. The Walton case received mainstream publicity and remains one of the best-known alien abduction stories, while scientific skeptics consider it a hoax.

According to Walton, on November 5, 1975, he was working with a timber stand improvement crew in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest near Snowflake, Arizona. While riding in a truck with six of his co-workers, they encountered a saucer-shaped object hovering over the ground approximately 110 feet away, making a high-pitched buzz. Walton claims that after he left the truck and approached the object, a beam of light suddenly appeared from the craft and knocked him unconscious. The other six men were frightened and supposedly drove away. Walton claimed that he awoke in a hospital-like room, being observed by three short, bald creatures. He claimed that he fought with them until a human wearing a helmet led Walton to another room, where he blacked out as three other humans put a clear plastic mask over his face. Walton has claimed he remembers nothing else until he found himself walking along a highway five days later, with the flying saucer departing above him.

[rjzimmerman]

The recurring battle of ranchers versus wild horses. Nobody wins those arguments, and nobody loses either. We have “policy” decisions to make. We either enforce federal law, as written and not as creatively interpreted (as it was during Obama’s first term), or we don’t. If we enforce, we seek out and prosecute those who kill wild horses and mustangs. If we don’t enforce, then we repeal the law and go through the process of a political debate before doing that.

Description of this video (or its players) from Time Magazine:

Three years later, Betty Nixon has chronicled the shootings of at least 40 wild horses in this forest in northeastern Arizona, where several hundred of the Heber herd, named for the unincorporated town surrounded by the forest, roam. Each day she sets out on often miles-long treks, recording the live horses she sees and the ones she finds too late. The most recent shootings that anyone knows of were in late December, when three dead wild horses were found. So far, necropsies have yielded few clues.

“I just don’t understand who would shoot a horse and leave it there,” says Jeffrey Todd, a spokesperson for the U.S. Forest Service, Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests. “It’s strange.”

After the December killings, the Forest Service announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction. Wild horses are federally protected, and killing one on public land is punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971.

But in the 51 years since the law passed, it has proved difficult to enforce. Most killings or abuse of the animals occur in remote areas, far from public view, and survivors can’t describe their assailants. And some people might be reluctant to turn in a shooter as population growth, climate change, and success in replenishing wild horse herds across the West heighten tensions between humans and beasts sharing the land.Prosecutions happen, but they rarely result in much jail time.

[goalhofer]

U.S. Daily Precipitation Records Tied/Broken 8/7/22

Moulton, Alabama: 2.39" (previous record 1.25" 1959)

Atigun Pass summit, Alaska: 4.2" (previous record 0.8" 1999)

Chugach National Forest, Alaska: 0.5" (previous record 0.3" 2011)

Indian Pass summit, Alaska: 1.3" (previous record 1" 2018)

Apache National Forest, Arizona: 0.8" (previous record 0.3" 2012)

Sitgreaves National Forest, Arizona: 1.5" (previous record 0.8" 2005)

Gilroy, California: 0.01" (previous record 0" 2021)

Sonora Pass summit, California: 0.5" (previous record 0.4" 2014)

Denver, Colorado: 1.11" (previous record 0.95" 1973)

Great Sand Dunes National Preserve, Colorado: 1.2" (previous record 0.8" 2019)

Trinidad, Colorado: 0.9" (previous record 0.84" 1948)

Unincorporated Bear Lake County, Idaho: 1.05" (previous record 0.29" 1993)

Swan Valley, Idaho: 1.34" (previous record 0.65" 1986)

Targhee National Forest, Idaho: 0.2" (also 0.2" 2008)

Tetonia, Idaho: 0.64" (previous record 0.38" 2009)

Freeport, Illinois: 4.42" (previous record 0.9" 1969)

Mt. Carroll, Illinois: 1.97" (previous record 1.86" 1927)

Stockton Township, Illinois: 4.24" (previous record 1.89" 1991)

Charles City, Iowa: 3.1" (previous record 1.32" 1968)

Clear Lake, Iowa: 2.08" (previous record 1.75" 1991)

Cox Creek Township, Iowa: 2" (previous record 1.14" 1995)

Decorah, Iowa: 1.71" (previous record 1.41" 1925)

Eagle Township, Iowa: 2.89" (previous record 1.65" 1992)

Estherville Township, Iowa: 3.28" (previous record 1.42" 1938)

Fayette, Iowa: 2.7" (previous record 2.34" 1925)

Forest Township, Iowa: 3.75" (previous record 2.2" 1938)

Kanawha, Iowa: 1.03" (previous record 0.85" 1966)

Lake Mills, Iowa: 3.7" (previous record 0.78" 1966)

Manchester, Iowa: 2.75" (previous record 0.72" 1991)

Mason City, Iowa: 3.7" (previous record 2.67" 1968)

New Hampton, Iowa: 3.08" (previous record 2.47" 1925)

Rock Rapids, Iowa: 1.94" (previous record 1.26" 1918)

Sibley, Iowa: 3" (previous record 1.67" 2010)

Spirit Lake, Iowa: 1.38" (previous record 0.83" 2000)

Table Mound Township, Iowa: 2.23" (previous record 1.08" 1970)

Westlake, Louisiana: 0.84" (previous record 0.56" 1987)

Crystal Lake Township, Michigan: 2.44" (previous record 1.39" 1981)

Caledonia, Minnesota: 2.48" (previous record 1.61" 1980)

Owatonna, Minnesota: 1.83" (previous record 1.22" 1992)

Winnebago, Minnesota: 1.58" (previous record 1.51" 1992)

Unincorporated Jefferson County, Mississippi: 1.11" (previous record 0.62" 1987)

Colstrip, Montana: 0.52" (previous record 0.37" 2009)

Unincorporated Custer County, Montana: 0.85" (previous record 0.57" 2009)

Custer National Forest, Montana: 0.5" (previous record 0.4" 1993)

Humboldt National Forest, Nevada: 1" (previous record 0.5" 2017)

Ward Mt. summit, Nevada: 0.3" (also 0.3" 2017)

Silver Creek Divide summit, New Mexico: 0.9" (previous record 0.4" 2018)

Fremont National Forest, Oregon: 0.2" (also 0.2" 2015)

Unincorporated Edgefield County, South Carolina: 0.83" (previous record 0.73" 1991)

Unincorporated Spartanburg County, South Carolina: 1.86" (previous record 0.37" 2012)

Iroquois, South Dakota: 0.91" (previous record 0.59" 1951)

Sioux Falls, South Dakota: 5.44" (previous record 1.88" 1938)

Nashville, Tennessee: 1.35" (previous record 1.05" 1965)

Logan, Utah: 1.38" (previous record 0.24" 2014)

Manti-La Sal National Forest, Utah: 0.8" (previous record 0.7" 2016)

Wasatch National Forest, Utah: 0.2" (also 0.2" 2014)

Blacksburg, Virginia: 1.02" (previous record 0.79" 1960)

New Castle, Virginia: 0.87" (previous record 0.5" 1940)

Appleton, Wisconsin: 3.4" (previous record 1.53" 1980)

Cuba City, Wisconsin: 1.8" (previous record 0.89" 2013)

Ft. Atkinson, Wisconsin: 2.1" (previous record 1.33" 1960)

Genoa Township, Wisconsin: 1.6" (previous record 1.2" 2006)

Green Bay, Wisconsin: 1.3" (previous record 1.24" 2015)

Hancock, Wisconsin: 2.05" (previous record 1.67" 1980)

Kewaunee, Wisconsin: 2.25" (previous record 1.2" 1959)

Madison, Wisconsin: 1.94" (previous record 1.16" 2007)

New London, Wisconsin: 2.29" (previous record 1.38" 1920)

Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin: 1.85" (previous record 1.74" 1920)

Stark Township, Wisconsin: 2.08" (previous record 0.28" 1998)

Stevens Point, Wisconsin: 2" (previous record 1.46" 1980)

Viroqua, Wisconsin: 2.35" (previous record 1.4" 1925)

Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin: 1.7" (previous record 1.52" 1980)

Afton, Wyoming: 1.09" (previous record 0.34" 2000)

Bighorn National Forest, Wyoming: 0.55" (previous record 0.37" 1967)

Bone Springs Divide summit, Wyoming: 0.5" (also 0.5" 2001)

Boysen State Park, Wyoming: 0.25" (previous record 0.07" 1977)

Dubois, Wyoming: 0.34" (previous record 0.22" 2014)

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming: 1.22" (previous record 1.03" 2021)

Unincorporated Lincoln County, Wyoming: 0.61" (previous record 0.44" 1993)

[skepticbeliever-bookclub]

Hi there! Are fics you can rec where Shane and Ryan (established relationship or not) deal with some angst or drama not related to their relationship? Thanks so much for the work you do here!

how’s about these? 

The Harrowing Abduction of Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej -  QueenModthryth | M, 17k, complete After filming an on-location section for the season three episode “Three Bizarre Cases of Alien Abductions,” Ryan and Shane chase after a mysterious light in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, but just as they’re about to reach it, they fall unconscious.

Ryan wakes to find himself alone in a small prison cell with four glass walls. Shane is held captive in an adjacent cell that shares a wall with Ryan’s, and they can see each other, but cannot speak to each other or touch each other.

And neither of them are able to identify their captors.

Acute -  PhyllisDietrichson | E, 21k, complete “I don’t know how to say this. I’m, uh, in the family way, as they used to say.”

Ryan looks at him blankly. “What does that mean?”

“The rabbit died!” Shane gesticulates wildly. Now Ryan looks both confused and horrified.

“There’s a bun in the oven.” Ryan’s eyes slide over to glance at the stove for a moment, then back to Shane. His eyebrows knit together.

Shane tries again. “We’re expecting?”

“Expecting what, Shane?” Ryan asks.

Shane heaves a sigh. “I’m pregnant, Ryan.”

Shane and Ryan Were Here -  WhatWereMadeOf | T, 7.9k, complete “I’m...where are we? Did you just wake up? Are you okay? Jesus fucking Christ I’m so sorry...I’m so sorry Shane...”

When Shane didn’t reply, Ryan opened his eyes to see confusion on the other man’s face. He watched him lift a hand and point to his ear. He spoke slowly, and Ryan’s heart sank into his stomach when no sound came out.

“I can’t hear you.”

Or, Ryan and Shane get abducted and held captive by aliens. Maybe? Probably? There's some debate.

The Genius of the Western River -  Siria | T, 13k, complete Shane’s totally working on being flippant about all those times he joked about Ryan’s godlike physique, never suspecting how true those jokes might be—the two of them just have to defeat a supernatural serial killer first. (A Rivers of London fusion AU.)

Tin Roof, Rusted - beethechange | E, 22k, complete Ryan turns over all five tests, one right after the other.

Plus signs galore. Lines so dark they’ve started to pull dye from the control line, which Ryan’s very brief research suggests translates to “you’re so fucking pregnant the baby’s probably half out of you at this very moment, and if this is a surprise then you belong on a TLC reality show.”

Pregnant, the last one reads, its digital readout leaving no doubt at all. You Idiot!

Or: Sometimes a family can be a curious little pal, his very tall ghost-hunting world-exploring cohost, and the baby an ancient magical wishing well helped them conceive.

Lost a fic? Check out our fic found tag, and if you still can’t find it, send us an ask!

[11837rabbitpl]

Why the West is the Best

When looking to purchase land in the United States, whether or not you wish to retire on the land, use the property as an investment, or are just looking for cheap dirt to own, the locations of the best states to choose will vary.  If you are looking for cheap land, then the best states to look in according to Google are Tennessee, Arkansas, and West Virginia. Yet, according to land investors, although Google is accurate on a broader scale as to where a person may find a cheap property, the most inexpensive places to purchase raw land are not located within any of these states. The top states to purchase inexpensive raw land can translate to the notion of affordable counties, and not the states themselves to the eyes of investors, and most of these states can be found somewhere out west.

When looking at affordable counties, the top states to purchase raw land include:

Arizona, California, New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas

Arizona-

The most inexpensive location to purchase raw land in the United States is Cochise County, located in the beautiful state of Arizona. When most people think of Arizona, they think of hot and dry desert and cactus. Cochise County does fit this description. Cochise County holds a lot of our nation's history, such as being home to the Cochise Native Americans and the old wild gun-slinging west. This county is filled with beautiful mountains, old ghost towns, and a great climate. Many places in Cochise County, such as Pearce, do not rise much above 90 degrees in the summer, making this area an ideal place to reside.

The second least expensive county to own property in is that of Apache County, located in northern Arizona. When most people think of Arizona, they think of cactus, but this area specializes in Ponderosa Pine trees, Douglas Firs, and Junipers. This region is vast, taking up nearly all of the northern and eastern portion of Arizona, with a wide variety of stunning state parks such as The Petrified Forest National Park and the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest which is filled with wildlife and vast lakes.

Navajo County, Apache County's next-door neighbor is also an affordable place to own property. It is home to the city of Holbrook, and Show Low. Some of the Petrified Forest National Park is located within this region and it also offers Monument Valley and Keams Canyon. Also, this is a very large county offering a ton of space and tons of unoccupied lands.

California-

With the city of Los Angeles being so expensive, it might be shocking for people to know that their next-door neighboring county of San Bernardino is affordable! This county is home to the Mojave National Preserve, San Bernardino National Forest, and some of the Joshua Tree National Park, home of the famous Joshua Tree. If for nothing else then it is worth it to own property here to be close to many outdoor recreational activities and visitation to the big city that this area has to offer.

New Mexico-

Luna County offers epic views, tons of exploration areas, and a great climate. It is home to booming towns such as Deming and Sunshine, New Mexico. Deming is home to one of the number one red wines and the biggest winery in the United States at the D.H. Lescombes Winery & Tasting Room. Thus, although Sonoma and Napa counties are still home to some of the best wines in the country, they can move over when competing for desirable property to own land and grow grapes compared to Luna County’s affordability.  

Valencia County, in New Mexico, is home to lush mountain views combined with the heart of the valley. This county is located just south of Albuquerque, it includes the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail, the Cibola National Forest, and the Manzano Wilderness. It is also home to the Facebook Data Center, so if the views and nature don’t amaze you, maybe the job market will.

Colorado-

Costilla county is not only desirable but unusual. It is home to many mountains, including the Rocky Mountain range, but also alligators and aliens. At the Colorado Gators Reptile Park, you can touch a gator. This park was opened in the 1970s and serves as a rescue center for many creatures. The San Luis Valley has also had its share of the otherworldly, as many unidentified flying crafts have been spotted there; and for a better review of spacecraft, just visit the UFO watchtower located within the county.

Texas-

There are three very inexpensive counties located in the large state of Texas, and Hudspeth is one of them. If you enjoy researching or observing ancient styles of agriculture, pictography, and artifacts, then this area may interest you. Hudspeth was home to the Prehistoric Jornada Mogollon people who resided in the Rio Grande floodplain and left behind a ton of evidence of their prior existence here. Also, if you are looking for mountains, fresh air, and isolation, this place will fit those needs.

Brewster County, just like Hudspeth, finds its home in western Texas. Also similar to Hudspeth, this is an area with a lot of lands and a low population of people. This area is home to not only ancient cultures and raider history but holds a portion of the Chihuahuan Desert landscapes.

Lastly, there is Presidio County, one of the larger counties in the huge state of Texas. This county is well known for farmland and this area has been cultivated since 1200 A.D. This area offers scenic drives across the Rio Grande, Big Bend Ranch state park, and Cibolo Creek Ranch area.

Other places to look for cheap land in regards to towns as Michelle Ullman notes in her article 15 Cheapest Places to Buy Land in America:

Marne - Iowa

Coxsackie - New York

Lake Los Angelos- California

Bennell - Florida

New Richland - Minnesota

Cape Coral - Florida

Lincoln - Kansas

Kingsport - Tennessee

Akron - Ohio

Curtis - Nebraska

Citrus Springs - Florida

Marquette - Kansas

Blanca - Colorado

Brookeland - Texas

Elwood - Nebraska

With retirement, it should be obvious by earlier mentioned facts that Arizona and New Mexico would be among the very top places to reside. Arizona holds the number one placement for weather and ranks number seven on the best places to retire in according to Bankrate’s article The Best and Worst States to Retire in 2021. Yet, New Mexico ranks seventh in regards to weather and twentieth for retirees, but also tenth in affordability, which is not bad at all!

When it comes to investing, speaking of New Mexico, not only is the land affordable and the climate more ideal but according to Amy Bell of Investopedia, in her article, The Top 5 States for Retirees to Buy Cheap Property; New Mexico’s economy is on the rise along with the population. As such, although there is no guarantee that land will grow in value, this notion does strengthen the argument that there is a strong chance that it might. Speaking from personal experience as a professional investor and selling land in Luna county since 2018, I have seen a huge increase in the cost of raw land within this county.

Arizona is a great state to look into if you are wishing to invest. Arizona has had a stable economy and a good job market for quite some time. Since Arizona has a ton of land, there are openings to lend that land to many farmers, which could make a great profit. Or, just hold onto it and the value may start to grow!

According to Martinez Ranch Management and Real Estate, other great states to invest in are California and Utah. California is due to the rising costs to reside within the state and paired with its beauty. Utah is not only an affordable place to own property and is sought after for those who are willing to owner-finance land to those who can’t afford to purchase it outright.

We hope this article has helped you on your journey to land ownership whether you are wishing to acquire property because it is affordable, to retire, or as an investment. If you are looking to purchase land in any of the western states, we currently have quite a few properties to choose from, check us out here: www.easylandowner.com

Mention this article and get $200 off of any property we have for sale.

Sources:

Bell, Amy- The Top 5 States for Retirees to Buy Cheap Property, Investopedia, June 25, 2019. https://www.investopedia.com/articles/retirement/062916/top-5-states-retirees-buy-cheap-property.asp

Bankrate US, The Best and Worst States to Retire for 2021. https://www.bankrate.com/retirement/best-and-worst-states-for-retirement/

Martinez Ranch Management and Real Estate, Best Place to Buy Land for Investment, August 5, 2020. https://martinezre.com/best-place-to-buy-land-for-investment/

Looking for property out west? Feel free to contact us at:

www.easylandowner.com

PO Box 374Troutdale Oregon 97060503-482-2089

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

Next theme is the magical ones! I absolutely adore your magic fics you’re so good at creating these fascinating scenarios that lead to really good character development. And I love how you let magic be magic - you use it so effectively and intricately without getting bogged down in unnecessary explanation. It works really well and I really like it!

🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲 (love this concept! Mr “i don’t believe in curses or fate or anything that i can’t prove” has to reckon with being related to magic - absolutely love that let’s watch him go crazy! And hard of hearing buck! Excited to see what you do with that too!)

🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟 (glad to see eddie and shannon working things through! Love stories where they get the chance to re-become the friends they always deserved to be. And as always I love this whole universe and am very excited to continue to see what’s in store for the fire fam)

- PCA <3

THANK YOU!!! I appreciate that so much. Fantasy is so dear to my heart so I am always happy to include any possible elements.

81 for 🌲 (THANK YOU!!!! It's gonna be fucking moody I can telll you that much)

---

Super fucking embarrassing to have him here for this.

Tommy leaves, exchanging a somewhat frosty hug with Buck before taking off. The moment he shuts the door behind him, Eddie gives Buck a pointed look. 

“Uh, what’s going on with you two?” Eddie asks. 

“Nothing,” Buck shrugs. 

“Oh, come on,” Eddie replies. “That was chilly.” 

“It was… Regular temperature?”

“Buck.” 

“Oh, so you can press me for info but not the other way around?”

“Yep,” Eddie confirms.

“What? How is that fair?”

“Because you fold easier than I do. What happened with Tommy?”

Buck groans. “It’s really not a big deal. He wanted me to leave with him.”

Eddie’s shoulders drop. “And you didn’t, because you wanted to interrogate me about Chris?”

Buck frowns. “That’s a funny way of saying, I wanted to make sure my best friend didn’t feel alone after a rough evening.”

Eddie exhales. “I guess that’s nice of you.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“He’s not happy?” Eddie asks. 

Buck shrugs. “He’ll get over it.”

“I still don’t want to talk about it,” Eddie tells him.

Because, really, what would he say? I’m so sad all the time. I feel hopeless. I dream that I’m hollow and I think that it might be true. No. Eddie definitely isn’t going to say any of that. 

“Alright,” Buck nods. “Fine. You want company anyway?”

Eddie takes a deep breath. He nods. “Yeah. I would. Thank you.”

“I’ll grab beers?” Buck offers.

“Thank you,” Eddie says again. 

Buck walks to the kitchen and Eddie sits back down on the couch. He reaches for the remote, intent on changing the channel from the news to baseball. He catches the preview, again, for the upcoming news story on that dead hiker. 

“Parents of twenty-five year-old Ashton Wallace are unsure how their son ended up dead outside of Katrineholm, Sweden. The recent poli-sci grad told family and friends he was hiking in Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests in Arizona, with no plans on leaving the country. According to police, Wallace’s passport was left at his apartment.”

Eddie, uninterested in another devastating family story of loss when his own seems to be ongoing, switches to the baseball game. Buck comes back, sits beside him, and hands him the beer bottle.

“Rangers on?” He ask. He likes to pretend to care about Eddie’s team. It’s sweet, really. 

“Yeah,” Eddie nods. 

“Greatt,” Buck says, settling into his cushion. 

And everything still fucking sucks, but… Eddie is still glad Buck stayed. Things always suck just a little bit less when Buck is beside him.

vii. 

After Weston - the cheerleader who broke his pelvis rather horrifically - leaves the hospital, only to be reunited with his father, Eddie decides to try calling his son. It’s not one of their scheduled Zooms. The ones his mother supervises. But he figures, it doesn’t really need to be. Eddie is still his father. He can call him when he wants. 

He sits on the edge of his bed an hour or so before the dinner hour he knows his parents keep in El Paso, and FaceTimes Chris. 

It rings four or five times before Chris answers. Eddie tries not to take that as a bad sign. 

“Hey, buddy,” Eddie says when Christopher’s face appears on the screen. He has a tight, nervous knot in his stomach. “Now an okay time to talk?”

---

72 for 🧟 (THANK YOU!)

---

Karen swallows. “It’s going to sound crazy maybe.”

“I like crazy,” Chim shrugs. “I just shot my old racist boss. Hit me with some more crazy.”

Yeah, they might want to do a mental health check on him later. 

“Within reason,” Hen cautions. 

Karen would like to point out that within reason and crazy are somewhat oxymoronic, but she resists the urge. 

“Uh, well…” Karen explains. “We have quite a bit of supplies here that could be repurposed. Fertilizer. Fuel. Cleaning supplies.”

“You want to make bombs,” Maddie says. 

“More or less,” Karen answers. 

“More or less?” Hen asks. 

“Okay, so more,” Karen admits. “Exactly more. I think we could set a sort of booby trap in case these assholes come back and try to take our kids.”

“I mean, that’s one way to handle it,” Chim nods, impressed.

“Is that safe?” Hen asks. 

“And could Buck and Eddie theoretically get blown up returning?” Maddie adds.

“Ooh,” Chim nods. “If anyone is gonna get blown up by accident, it’s Buck.”

He is rather disaster prone.

“We’d have to figure it out,” Karen admits. “I don’t have it all thought through yet.”

“Maybe we should do that, then,” Hen says. “But I will admit… If someone comes for our son? A fiery ending doesn’t seem so bad.”

“I happen to agree,” Chim says. 

Karen nods. “Alright. I’ll get to work planning.”

“Would you like help?” Maddie asks. “I took enough chemistry in college. I mean, just nursing school, but… Maybe I can be useful?”

“I’d love help, Maddie. Thank you,” Karen smiles. 

“Good,” Hen sighs. “I always liked bio more.”

▪️▪️▪️

Karen sets up her work the way she used to set up her lab. Everything she needs around her. Music on. Lights at an optimal dimness to create a sort of mad scientist atmosphere she’d loved as a kid. Today, the CD she chooses is Sade. Diamond Life. A true classic. 

She used to have lab assistants and grad students. A whole team of people to help her with projects. Today, Maddie is her enthusiastic volunteer. They’re going to make this work.

“So, what do we need to figure out?” Maddie asks. 

“The explosives are easy enough to make,” Karen says. “As I’m sure you know.”

Maddie nods. “I can imagine.”

“The problem is the fuse,” Karen says. “How do we prevent Buck, for example, or any of the actual children, from accidentally blowing themselves up? How do we ensure that the new-order fascists do?”

“Okay, I’m with you,” Maddie says. “Are you thinking of a timed fuse or some sort of trigger? Like a tripwire?”

[unexplained-events]

The Travis Walton Abduction

Travis Walton (born February 10, 1953) is an American logger who was supposedly abducted by a UFO on November 5, 1975, while working with a logging crew in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in Arizona. Walton was nowhere to be found.

Originally it was thought that the crew he was working with, murdered him. The crew claimed that they saw a UFO in the woods at 6pm on Nov 5th (as they were driving home) and that Walton got out of the truck and walked towards this silver disc in the air. They claimed that Walton was “beamed” into the aircraft and that was the last they saw of him.

Police, of course, was suspicious of this claim especially since there was no physical evidence of anything near the abduction site. The police suspected homicide and began searching for a body as well as administering polygraph tests to all the crew members. It was determined that the crew members were telling the truth and that they had not brought any harm to Walton.

Five days after the abduction, Travis' brother-in-law Grant Neff said he received a midnight phone call from Travis asking him to come pick him up at a pay phone outside a gas station. Walton claimed that he awoke in a hospital-like room (after his abduction), being observed by three short, bald creatures. He claimed that he fought with them until a human wearing a helmet led Walton to another room, where he blacked out as three other humans put a clear plastic mask over his face. Walton has claimed he remembers nothing else until he found himself walking along a highway, with the flying saucer departing above him. He took a polygraph test which he passed. He went onto write a book which eventually turned into a movie (Fire in the Sky).

There were a lot of issues to this story and skeptics don’t believe Walton. Walton had a lot to gain financially from this story and even though him and all the crew members passed polygraph tests (which are a poor determiner of truth) skeptics believed this was a hoax. Its believed that the TV show The UFO Incident (story of Betty and Barney Hill Abduction) influenced this hoax.

This is probably one of the most famous UFO abduction cases in American history and there’s a lot of information (read the source below).

What are your thoughts?

SOURCE

[syotoyakurutoki]

So, after talking to my bf Matthew about fursonas and such, I decided to FINALLY design myself some, based off ideas that I had in mind many years ago x3 The first of these fursonas is Samira, who is loosely based on my Skyrim Khajiit character and has a few of my IRL weaknesses, but also has traits which I wish I had, such as being adventurous and brave. Samira's Bio: Full Name: Samira Dyani Nickname: Sami (disliked nickname from parents and friends) Species: Maine Coon/Havana Brown Cat Hybrid; Samira's appearance is based on the anatomy of a Maine Coon cat e.g. pointy ears, rounded face and her fur colours are based off the Havana Brown cat breed Gender: Female Sexuality: Bisexual Birth Date: 15th November 1993, Scorpio. Ironically, Samira's Zodiac corresponds with some of her personality traits; bravery, fierceness and ambitious nature. Family: Samira was raised by her parents in the small town of Springerville. Her mother, Ananaya, works as an archaeologist and her father, Durjoy, works as a craftsman. Occupation: Adventurer/Hunter Relationship: Prefers to be Single Nationality: Samira was born in the town of Springerville, on the outskirts of the Apache–Sitgreaves forest, located in Arizona. Personality: Samira is a brave, fierce and ambitious individual who enjoys going on long hikes in the nearby Apache–Sitgreaves forest. When she was a child, Samira's parents often took her out for camping trips and helped to teach her survival skills, which she religiously uses to this day whenever she goes hiking. Traits: Daring, independent, adventurous, curious and reckless Fears/Weaknesses: Samira is a risk-taking, highly stubborn and socially awkward individual. Talents: Archery, well trained in survival skills, foraging, hunting (when necessary for food) and stealth Weapon/s of Choice: Bow and arrow, as once described by Obi Wan Kenobi as "a more elegant weapon, from a more civilized age. not as clumsy as a pistol" Favourite Food: As a feline, Samira enjoys her fair share of meat, but will also eat fruit, berries and plants during her hikes, making her an omnivore. Her favourite food overall is pork ribs, specifically those cooked by her mother. Credit to for the body template/back view Samira (c) Me

[stumbleimg]

Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, AZ [OC] [4608x3454]

[couplesmap]

Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, AZ [OC] [4608x3454]

[being-a-nom-shark]

UPDATE ON THE ARIZONA WILDFIRES:

June 27, 2020, 6:02 P.M. MST

As stated by KTAR news:

Bush Fire:

Location: Northeast of Metro Phoenix

Consumed: 190,269 acres

Contained: (As of June 27, 2020) 90%

Evacuation: Lifted, but remain on notice

It ranks as the fifth largest fire in state history.

Sparked: June 13th, 2020 by a vehicle fire

Bighorn Fire:

Location: Southerin Arizona Catalina Mountains

Consumed: 95,225 acres

Contained: (As of June 27, 2020) 40%

Evacuation: New evacuation order was issued at about 1:15 p.m. on Saturday (June 27) for the northern and eastern parts of the Redington community.

Current Evacuations in place:

Mount. Bigelow Lower Soldier HOA

the community of Summerhaven

Willow Creek

Lower Catalina Highway

Lower Mount. Lemmon from Organization Ridge Road to South Willow Canyon.

Originally Sparked: Lightning Strike

Eighth largest fire in state history.

Sabino Canyon, Bear Canyon and Catalina State Park remain closed.

Mangum Fire:

Location: Kaibab National Forest

Consumed: 71, 450 acres

Contained: (As of June 27, 2020) 51%

Evacuation: Jacob Lake, residences on House Rock Road. North rim of Grand Canyon is still closed.

Originally Sparked: Under investigation

10th largest fire in state history.

Central Fire

Location: Near New River

Consumed: 4,499 acres

Contained: (As of June 27, 2020) 80% contained

Evacuation: None

Sparked: Unknown

Aquila Fire

Location: Northeast of Interstate 17 and Carefree Highway

Consumed: 893 acres, multiple structures, one home

Contained: (As of June 27, 2020) 100%

Evacuation: None

Sparked: Human-caused, investigation ongoing

Bringham Fire

Location: Eastern Arizona, burning in Apache- Sitgreaves National Forests

Consumed: 22,903 acres

Contained: (As of June 26, 2020) 37%

Evacuation: None, as of yet

Sparked: Lightning caused