It seems natural to begin paring down possessions as we get past age 50 or 60. What brings about this growing need for letting things go? In our case moving helped a whole lot! I learned last spring exactly how exhausting moving can be, both physically and emotionally.
We chose to build a smaller passive solar home for a number of reasons. Cost was a major concern, and parallel to that was a desire to conserve natural resources.
For each of us the question becomes how much personal space is enough? What is just right without over doing it? We have no growing family, and only a small need for guest space.
I learned from moving this past year, that getting rid of your stuff can be a positive but gradual process. You get rid of a small amount and then realize that wasn’t so painful, so you take a bit more to the Goodwill. Before you know it you’ve sent a quarter of your stuff away and don’t even miss it. I pictured walking into the local Goodwill and seeing my stuff everywhere!
Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful!
There comes a time when “the stuff” no longer brings joy, but instead weighs you down. Your old stuff can equal old memories that no longer improve your present. It feels like your past is crowding in on you.
You soon learn that when you become truly selective in what you keep and what you gift back to the world, you are only left with the BEST STUFF … Or maybe, like me, you simply get tired of packing boxes and quit!
After watching an episode of Sacred Journeys on PBS, one which included a bit about the sacredness of mountains in Asian thought, I realized how fundamentally important it feels to now own land with views of our own sacred mountains.
The Spanish Peaks, pictured above, have a centuries-old history of sacredness. Dating back far before the Europeans arrived, this area was a crossroads of the American West. Taos Pueblo, located in northern New Mexico today, has been a major Native American trading center for over 1,000 years. One trail headed north out of Taos into the San Luis Valley, crossing east over Sangre de Cristo Pass, through the gap between Rough Mountain and Sheep Mountain.
Various Native American tribes like the Ute, the Navajo, the Jicarilla Apache and the Comanche passed through this valley regularly. To them the Spanish Peaks stood out because they seemed to emerge out of nowhere up to 13,000 feet running east and west, not north to south like the rest of the Rocky Mountains.
The natives peoples considered this a sacred place of ceremony. As far as they were concerned, this is where mankind first emerged from the womb of the earth. In other words, this was their own Garden of Eden.
The Ute Indians named these two peaks Huajatolla (pronounced Wa-ha-toy-a), meaning the “two breasts” which translates as “Breasts of the Earth”.
We moved here to create a dynamic relationship with these mountains, this landscape and the lovely silence. Mike and I have both traveled to many parts of the world. We now find the inward journey more dynamic and essential than outward ones.
For us this is a sacred place, one where we can celebrate and appreciate the beauty of nature every single day, while continuing a long tradition of sustainable living.
Learn more about what it’s like to move from city life to the country for a slower, quieter, more sustainable life in my new memoir. Just send me an e-mail for a great price!
This year we’re decking the ROOF instead of the halls!
On an amazingly sunny warm December day down here, we just drove up to find that our roof decking is going up fast! I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it never ceases to amaze me how these guys stand up there and balance while fitting in boards and nailing them in.
Check out this balancing act!
So glad we are having such brilliant December weather this year…
and the views just keep on coming!
The sun will come way inside of our house on the shortest day of the year, passive solar at its BEST!
BTW, I just read that for the realtors down here, 2014 was their best year since 2006. Better get down here if you want to find some good deals left!
OK, a few months ago I didn’t even know what a truss was. Now I feel like an expert! Two men were balancing up there, while guiding the trusses from a small crane!
Check out the scene at our mountain property yesterday as we watched the trusses going up!
It was warm and a bit too windy for my comfort, but the brave men putting up our new home in southern Colorado were working very hard anyway, even on a Saturday!
When we arrived they had already completed the trusses on the south-facing part of our home and were working on the back, garage section.
Check out the view from our south-facing windows!
And the view looking west towards the guest bedroom!
Finally it’s beginning to look like an actual house, and they got them in just in time for a little bit of snow today.
Just got back from our build site. The weather is great so far this winter with 60 degrees plus today! This is the part of our house that faces west, towards Mount Mestas.
Mike is facing our solar gain side, directly south with a perfect view of the Spanish Peaks! Here he’s either contemplating his future or perhaps just his navel…
And here’s the future view from our bedroom, a great view of the snowy Sangres southwest of us!
Mike and I had to make a visit to the local medical center in La Veta yesterday, and who should we find there but our favorite nurse practitioner from Fort Collins! She had just moved here and that was her first day on the job…
I know! What are the chances?
I had no idea that she had plans to move down here to retire eventually. She even owns a house here! She couldn’t believe we now live here. She asked how we even ever heard of this place.
We were both so pleased to find an old friend in our new home town, especially one who we like so much and knows our medical history.
Adventures of the NEW??? Old Farts 