Ever get into a series of situations with which you had no prior experience but still had to deal with it on a daily basis? Consider handling occurrences so alien that nothing in your background or the places you had lived could prepare you. That was Alexandra''s problem. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York; then married and living in Los Angeles, were scarcely adequate preparation for the challenge she now faced. Life in the first colony on Mars? No, it was far more daunting--building a home and living in rural Northern California.The adventures of building a house, raising a child, having an absentee husband, dealing with the indigenous wildlife, and having three dogs and a parrot misnamed Angel (more like Spawn of Satan) made life an interesting and comedic ride.