After a lifetime lived in cities, Dan Dailey is creating an off-the-grid spiritual retreat in the remote desert wilderness of the West Texas mountains near Mexico.
Wandervogel Diary is his narrative of the life experiment he has underway at the retreat, Estrella Vista, aimed at living in harmony with nature–plus anything else which happens to be on his mind.
The name of his blog derives from a back-to-nature youth hiking movement that flourished in Germany before WWI.
“I named the blog ‘Wandervogel’ in recognition of the large number of young people who pass through my life like ‘wandering birds,’ especially as a result of my youth justice advocacy work,” he says. Since 2005 Dan has devoted himself to helping young people who, as a result of extreme abuse, commit parricide. The website for his nonprofit youth work, called The Redemption Project, can be accessed at: www.redemptionforkids.org.
Browse his daily Diary for short essays on subjects as diverse as family, education, juvenile justice, the economy (from a cycles perspective), earth- and nature-based spirituality, green building and architecture, off-the-grid living, West Texas life and people, etc.
The historical Wandervogel movement–as well as Dan’s West Texas homeland–are described in detail at http://www.wandervogel.com/, a new camping and hiking business Dan is establishing for his kids. You may wish to visit the store website to periodically monitor his progress, which has been proceeding in maddenly slow-motion due to the rotten economy.
All blogsite content (except scraped visuals) Copyright © 2010, 2011, 2012 Dan Dailey
I am a big fan of John Well’s and found the link to your site. I am impressed with what I read on your blog.
I live down here in Corpus Christi, Texas (the wind energy capitol of the world).
In time I hope to aquire property and go ‘off the grid”. Im sick of ever increasing utility bills. I figure I can go solar and wind energy cheaper and cleaner than any corporation can provide.
I will check your site.
Good luck on your endeavors.
Eric
Thank you, Eric. As admirers of John, we’re both in the same club. I hope the Diary meets your expectations. I welcome you thankfully as a reader.
Dan
Please see this. How can anyone possibly help James Prindle? His X step-father is 34, not 40, and at the time of the crime, the mother of James and her then husband Jefferson Sanders, were separated. She had left him because of his abuse and crack addiction and is now divorced. Why do you believe so strongly James is innocent? Convince me.
Why do you so strongly doubt his innocence?
Hi Dan, As always I really appreciate your thoughts and I visit my land vicariously through yours and Johns website. Hoping to make it out there this month or next.
I have been wondering how I could give you something back and I might have thought of something as I enjoy all kinds of music like you. When I dont want to actively search or pick music I go to Pandora.com and choose an artist that I like and it creates a radio station based on that artists music.
By the way has Paul had any success with his water witching?
Dale
Dale, your suggestion about Pandora is excellent, and I hope other visitors will check it out.
I have been listening to Pandora for more than a year-and-a-half since one of my kids told me about it. It is a marvelous tool for establishing a single song, artist, or cluster of artists as the center of a musical target.
Using the results of what Pandora calls the “Music Genome Project,” new music is automatically served up which has some relation (genre, artists, etc.) to those selections you’ve placed in the center of the target.
Pandora is a painless and pleasant way to research new grooves.
Hello Dan:
It was great Christmas shopping with you on 12/24/10. The stockings were stuffed and in time so were the guests. Jayne produces a children’s play that includes whoever shows up under 16 years of age with whatever talent they wish to present. The plays have moved from inspired works to our most current which was a spoof about the decline in the belief in
Santa Claus. Our 4 grandsons are the key players and always seem willing to participate. The rest of the event has faded but the play lines still make me laugh when they come to mind!
I am impressed once again by your latest casting of yourself. Off the grid yet contributing more than most folks including me. I am very much in the grid making the best of a very difficult real estate market in Arizona. I am a member of the Local Kiwansis Club which has a stong focus on children’s issues. I call us “secret agents for good” as many people know the organization name but nothing about the goals. We are good at operations but not marketing ourselves. I enjoy the organization and when asked, I say we are focused on “fun, fellowship and service, in that order.
That’s it for now. Have a wonderful new year and keep up the good work.
Your old friend,
Kevin
This is my first time i visit right here. I found so many interesting stuff in your weblog especially its discussion. From the tons of comments on your articles, I guess I’m not the only one having all of the enjoyment here! keep up the great function.
Thanks a bunch for one more valuable post. Ive been checking this web site often for the past number of months, and its currently one in all my favorite sites! . I work on an internet site that has very similar content, would you have any interest write a guest post on it? Shoot me an email if you are interested!
Hi Dan, found you via wells….. what do you need for the kids? Clothes? Books? Shoes? let me know, I have land on the ranch but live up here in New England where there is plenty of thrift stores and free stuff, I can help.
All the best
Hey Dan, just got on to your “about” page & from your photo on that , I see that you are an “old fart” like us (Alex’s Aussie Gang). No shame in that, but welcome to the club and more power to your elbow with the good work that you are doing. Not just for Alex/Amber, but all of these other ones for whom you are caring. Wish we (Alex’s Aussie Gang) were in a position to help some of these others out too, but, God willing, we may be able to do so in the future. Cheers. £ance.
Actually, Im far more confounded that anyone with a straight face could equate the taking of money with the taking of life or liberty. Im far more comfortable with the government taking my money than with the government taking anyones life or liberty and I have far less difficulty reconciling that position than I would ever have reconciling the notion that the government should take your life or liberty, but keep its filthy, corrupt hands out of my wallet.
Big thumbs up – thanks!
Whoa, i stumbled on to this site and i find it refreshing that someone else also cares about juvenile justice reform in the states, we as a society often overlook this important topic.
Keep up the good work!
I was searching for more about John Lauber which led me to your wonderful diary. Thank you for caring and sharing.
Hi, I have been reading your diary with great intrest after reading about Paul Gingerich being sent to prison, its been a while since ive seen any reports from “inside” guardians and im realy interested to know how he’s getting on with his life at the moment. Forhim being a child it can only be most awfull some of the things ive read already about his life with how he’s been treated, As a child i used to dream that America was a fantastic country and i would love to be there, and now i feel ashamed of how it fails to look after its most vunerable, Its a sin and gives me pain inside to try to feel how it must be there. I have sent an email to him offering my support, i wasnt sure if he would recieve it or not but i included the extra stamp on there if another ear or heart would be welcomed. I was also considering sending a book or two for reading material but im unsure of the security issue, maybe you could clarify this for me?
Your a very caring guy and your diary is full of great reading so thanks for sharing this with the world, I can only wish that the usa would take some example on how to protect the young children of there country like they do here in england. I feel ashamed to have loved america in my life.
All the best
Andy
I read this and i have somthing to say,
schools are not just hostile in the way you portray, but also in two other ways, supressing the right to BE a dreamer and to be creative. Also, its a social wasteland, if school never existed thousands if not MILLIONS of kids would still be alive, without people to tease them they would have never commited suicide and would have lived a full life. School vs humanity, wrong vs right, living vs being. i cant even get my airsoft team strait because schools tell us airsoft is to dangerouse and is a stuipid idea, and they brain wash parents……….
Dan,
My name is Chris Miller and we met at the storage lockers there last month. You were helping to unload your friend and I was unloading our stuff for our upcoming move down. I didn’t even know you had this blog until today – i’m glad I found it. I just shared a post a couple of days ago on our blog (www.our180.com) about a run in I had on the way down with BCSO. I thought you might find it interesting. You’ll recognize it by the bright yellow “Warning: Police State” image on the homepage.
Anyway… I look forward to chatting again sometime. We’re expecting to be down full time by February.
Take care