Tom works his modified chainsaw on his property near Cloudcroft, New Mexico.
The canyon below Cloudcroft before the desert transitions to forest. At nearly 9,000 feet, the small mountain village is one of the highest in southern New Mexico. Tom arrived here more than 15 years ago. The somewhat isolated and rustic environment suits his personality he says.
A flower vase on Tom's property.
Frank, a transient from San Bernardino, California who lives out of his van during the majority of the year, is one of the many people who visit Tom, sometimes for weeks at a time. Tom often helps fellow veterans and old friends. Some are alcoholics in need of motivation to sober-up, others arrive for the crisp mountain air or morning coffee.
Tom looks over school work with his teenage daughter, Tommy Lee. He grew up in an upper-middle class household, but quickly became disillusioned with life in the states after the war. He spent his time traveling, "always ending up in backwaters," he says, and eventually settled here.
Charlie, a local boy, poses for the camera while Frank strums his guitar. Children here play outside, use outhouses and learn from the woods.
Tom and Cassie, his neighbor and current girlfriend, chop wood for the upcoming winter. They spend weeks during October cutting and splitting logs to heat and to cook with, timber being plentiful with the forest nearby.
Tom smokes a cigarette in the yurt. "There's something about living in a round space that feels good. There's a certain sense of freedom about it," he says. Held up by a lattice of light wood and covered with tarps, the yurt is equipped with a wash-basin, refrigerator, bunk beds and a wood stove.
A neighbor's outhouse. Residents of the village truck-in their water or collect rain with giant cisterns. Many prefer the lack of running water, which helps to keep property values down and taxes low they say.
Tom works in his shop, a gutted trailer home. He busies himself with projects to ease his anxiety, a product of years spent living with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) from his time in Vietnam. He calls it a "hyper-vigilance," and he still struggles with it more than 40 years later.
Darrel and Jason sit by the fire. Campfires burn nightly at the yurt and give locals pause to socialize, talk of the logging jobs and drink cheap beer.
Tom was awarded the Purple Heart after his injury. Now, he supports his family mainly through meager veteran's benefits, but he doesn't have much taste for the government, he says. Life off the grid grants him an escape from the hustle and bustle of modern America. He has plans to construct a community garden near the yurt where he will plant rhubarb for his favorite pies.
A double rainbow appears above Cloudcroft, New Mexico.