An Elevated Lifestyle

Back in the late 1970s, when I first began my newspaper career, I researched and wrote a piece about underground homes. Even in the smalltown, semi-rural area where I cut my teeth as a journalist, there were a few mavericks who opted for this type of residence. What fueled interest in such homes at that time was a combination of the energy crisis and heightened fear about the prospect of nuclear winter. But make no mistake about it -- these new age dwellers wanted you to know that their homes might be "low" in stature but high in amenities and comfort.



In fact, not long after I wrote my article, the founder of Celestial Seasonings Tea Company, John Hays, "carved out" what had to be the most opulent underground dwelling of all, in an Arkansas mountainside, complete with stalactites, in preparation for what he believed was the looming holocaust. This luxurious bomb shelter later became the subject of a layout in People magazine, when John's wife, several years later, decided that the couple was no longer in imminent danger and tried to sell the multi-million dollar property.



The property was sold to a fellow who thought it would make a fantastic nightclub; he fixed it up further and even added a heliport. The grand opening saw the likes of Michael Jackson, Liz Taylor, Tom Selleck and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Although the club was an initial hit, it closed after a year for not being sufficiently profitable. The property was sold again and again (in fact, at one point, back to the original owner) and went through various troubles until finally being converted into a lodge in 1998 which has served it well ever since.



Now I bring all of this up because the topic of underground living has been making recent headlines -- but not at all in the same way or for the same reasons as previously.



You see, in the several years that I've owned my "treehouse," I've come to love the feeling of sleeping in the trees, even though that might be a bit of a stretch -- literally. That is, if I reached my hand outside any window on the 2nd floor, I could touch one of the towering pines that surround my home, and so I feel I have made a presentable case for deeming this a "treehouse," which, by definition, connotes a physical loftiness. A sanctuary in which to transcend the travails of common life.



That is why I've lately become fascinated with the lives of underground dwellers, such as those romanticized in the former TV series, "Beauty and the Beast." TV magazine shows have focused recently on people who live in the underground drains in Las Vegas. Dozens, maybe hundreds, of people there have found a niche in these dank, cavernous places, and somehow made them "home," with beds, books, perhaps even a rigged up shower. There is no ventilation, no light except for flashlights or candles. There is the ever present danger presented by co-residing black widow spider, as well as by the prospect of rain/flooding, which has claimed some 20 lives to date.



These creatures, which call to mind the "Omega Man" mutants who can't stand daylight, periodically emerge to make their "living," scouring the slot machines for coins and credit slips, "earning" as much as $500 a day. Yet, they still cannot permanently pull themselves out from their hovels. As it turns out, many of them found their way into this lifestyle via drug and alcohol dependency which they now claim to have beaten, although a few still fear coming back up in to the general populace due to outstanding drug-related arrest warrants.



Reading between the lines, it also seems that these folks have found a strange comfort level in living immediately below the glitz and glamour and cacophony that defines the Vegas strip. And who's to say which is more aberrant?



This way of life is getting a lot of press because of the ongoing deep recession that has affected all of us.



But, it is actually nothing new. Decades back, stories abounded about the "mole people" of New York such as this one dating back to 1990: http://www.nytimes.com/1990/06/13/nyregion/in-tunnel-mole-people-fight-to-save-home.html



And now that more people than ever are out of work or underemployed, uninsured or underinsured, such tales of Hades-esque survival are resurfacing: http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/notes_from_the_underground_cBpY2m15R9J0ysIm58QK1M .



Not exactly the kind of New York that would ever show up in a segment of "Sex and the City," but compelling nonetheless.



Oddly, resorting to the underworld is not relegated solely to major metropolises: http://www.clickorlando.com/news/14673988/detail.html



In these times, I am more grateful than ever to be "above ground."