A book of how the author came to build his home in Morongo Valley, a small rural settlement twenty miles north of Palm Springs. It is a description of his transformation from ethnic city slicker to down-home cabin dweller in California's high desert. As he lets go of his urban preferences and prejudices, he picks up a new set of tools for independent living. As he designed and constructed his "little house on the desert prairie", he developed necessary depths of self-reliance to cope with the elements in a more extreme climate and environment. During this process Cat was schooled in finding and purchasing real estate, residential design, dealing with government bureaucracy, undergoing and surviving home construction, wading through the inconsistent world of home improvement centers, and distinguishing important differences between manufactured and stick-built homes. He offers amusing, sometimes frustrating, and often inspiring stories and tips on what to do and what to avoid in attempting such an ambitious undertaking.