AS soon as this worldwide pandemic hit, I thought to myself, we could not be in a better place to sit this one out. This has turned out to be so true! First of all, we do not normally see other people all that much. We have a few acres around our home and rarely need to go into town, which is only a few thousand people strong (Walsenburg, CO), and as it turns out, we only have one case of Covid-19 so far in our entire county.
Officials have severely limited the number of people who can come into our county and if anyone turns up with the virus, they are immediately transferred to a county north of us for treatment. We do not have the proper facilities to treat such a serious illness here. This has all been great considering I am now over 65 and have severe lung disease.
So yesterday I read a real estate article that states:
“Rural demand is much stronger right now than urban demand, and that’s a flip from where it’s been for the longest time, where everybody wanted to live in the city. We’ll see how it comes back, but there seems to be a profound, psychological change among consumers who are looking for houses.”
We moved down here to southern Colorado for many reasons, and a pandemic was not one of them. We were sick and tired of sitting in traffic up in Fort Collins and hearing traffic noise CONSTANTLY!
I figured I only had so many years to live, and I didn’t want to spend one more minute of that time sitting in TRAFFIC!
We found we loved the clean air, the natural silence, native plants and wildlife here in this pinon juniper woodland area. At first I thought I might find the lack of people here difficult, but that simply was not so. I found a few friends out here and others in town.
I also gravitated to a few new hobbies like landscape photography and native plants gardening. All in all this has been a great choice for our retirement…and to sit out an international pandemic!
We have fallen in love with living in tune with the sun and seasons, waking up each day amazed to find ourselves in such a beautiful, quiet, natural place…
Are you ready to follow your dreams of country living? Go read my memoir to help YOU decide!
Adventures of the NEW??? Old Farts 
Hello
I very much enjoy your posts about my hometown stomping grounds. Seeing pictures of the Spanish Peaks always does my heart good. So glad you love Sangre de Cristo country as much as I do. I was lucky enough to be there last May when the Peaks were blanketed with snow and the fields were emerald green.
I have lived in New York City for 52 years, since graduating from college. I’m still in touch with high school friends. My husband and I are fortunate enough to have a country place in Massachusetts where we are staying away from everyone. Our daughter is still in the city but feels prepared to wait things out awhile longer.
Stay safe.
Regards, Jeanette Mall Walsenburg High School class of 1964 (Before the school was named for my Dad)
Sent from my iPad
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So good to hear from you Jeanette! WOW, you really do have some history here in Spanish Peaks Country!
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Amazing, isn’t it, how the planets aligned for you!
In an effort to leave the noise and city behind, you stepped into a wealth of solitude and beauty and SAFETY!
I can definitely see this becoming a priority for many! (Personally, I would give almost anything to be back on the farm!) 😉
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Yes Diane! I had my doubts when we moved here. I worried about it a lot. But now I know this was the choice for us!
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Your view is amazing. I would love that view. My husband I and I were just talking about this very topic a few days ago. We are getting close to retirement, and his parents live in a rural area,on 20 acres, a little over an hour south of St. Louis. We talked about the possibility of purchasing that property some day and living the rural life. I am torn. (But, if I had your view, I would be there in a heartbeat.) I came by from The Women of Midlife Facebook group. (My blog has “mom” in the title, but I bought the url years ago, so I’m more of a “grandmom” age now!)
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Hi Pam. I certainly understand feeling “torn” between city and country life. I was quite torn when we moved here six years ago. It has been a slow transition for me, but I love the silence and serenity now…Wouldn’t have it any other way!
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