I don’t remember how I first heard about Prince. In the early 80s I had recently returned to Boulder Colorado, lost in severe depression. Imagine sitting in Taipei, Taiwan, certain that I needed to leave or lose my mind. But where to go next?
![original_photo_Thailand_1973cropped[1] (2)](https://adventuresofthenewoldfarts.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/original_photo_thailand_1973cropped1-21.jpg?w=1040)
Living at 7000 feet
So we sat on the computer editing OCLC records for hours on end. Luckily we were allowed to listen to 
Home Designs That Changed America
I found it interesting to watch the PBS special “10 Houses That Changed America.” In this program, the two houses that reminded me the most of our new passive solar home in southern Colorado, were the Taos Pueblo from ancient times, and the Glidehouse.
Ancient pueblo-style homes faced south for the best winter exposure to the warmth of the sun, and had thick adobe walls to help maintain indoor temperatures year round. This design provided much needed warmth in the winter, and cooler temperatures in the summer months.
Then I learned about the Glidehouse, which I had never heard of before. This is now built prefab in a factory, but was originally the architect Michelle Kaufmann’s attempt at creating a reasonably priced green home.
What did that mean to her? She wished to create an energy efficient home that maintained its indoor temperature through its unique design. With excellent insulation and many south-facing doors and windows to add solar heat in the winter, the overhanging roof on the south helps to keep the sun out in the summer. With lots of windows facing south, very little indoor lighting is needed during the day. She also installed a low-flow water system. Kaufmann’s main idea was to conserve natural resources, collaborate with nature, and create a healthier, more comfortable way to live.
Unlike our own custom-built passive solar home, the Glidehouse does not include a specially-designed direct-gain slab that collects heat during the winter months, and then releases it at night, greatly decreasing the need for additional heat. We also spent the extra dollars for spray, polyurethane foam to insulate our outside walls, providing the best R-value for both winter and summer.
I am happy to see more Americans who are concerned about energy efficiency in their living situation, not just to save money, but to live more in harmony with the earth. I love living so close to nature, and waking up to see bunnies coming up to my sliding door to look in in the morning.
Why we love snowstorms in Colorado!
We’ve been sitting in a snowstorm here at 7,000 feet in southern Colorado for the past four days. I loved it! I wrote about this and it seemed like everyone responded with, “That sounds horrible to me!”
This is exactly how horrible it is. When the snow clears and the Sangre de Cristo peaks emerge from the clouds, we are surrounded by incredible beauty. This is our view to the south today.
This is our view to the west as Mount Mestas emerges from the storm.
Besides the stunning views following a storm, we have now received two and a half inches of precipitation, about one-sixth of our total annual rainfall, leading to fields of spring flowers like Indian paintbrush, lupines, penstemon, or these lovely wild iris:
I took these photos last June, west of here in a high mountain meadow. The same can be said of the photo in the header of this blog, an amazing spread of spring flowers which only appear when we get some hardy spring snowstorms!
In conclusion: If you want the rainbow, you must have the rain…
OMG! It’s an April BLIZZARD!
The view outside our home Saturday morning…
WOW! I woke up this morning to an honest-to-goodness blizzard around our house in southern Colorado! Fog, blowing snow and very little visibility here today. So glad we were warned, because I’m not sure we could get out even if we wanted to!
It started last night with an amazing thunderstorm around 8pm. Storms are exciting up here because we are at 7,000 feet, and pretty exposed to the elements. We had torrential rains for around an hour before it switched to big clumps of snowflakes.
This morning I had 1.4 inches of precipitation in my rain gauge, and I’m afraid most of the snow blew away over the top! I don’t even know what to estimate the depth of the snow at this morning. It has blown everywhere, and it’s too damn cold to hang out outside right now to measure.
Our view as of Monday morning…more snow on the way!!!
Whenever things like this happen I always think about the early inhabitants of this area who had no weather reports or any real warnings, no grocery stores and primitive sources of heat, transportation and communication. All they could do is hunker down and hope it passes soon.
If you have any interest, the book The Children’s Blizzard is a well-researched and written account of such a blizzard in 1888, that killed a number of immigrant children when a blizzard arrived suddenly and with no warning.
Morning in “Be-Here-Now” Land
After almost two years living in the foothills a few miles west of Walsenberg Colorado, I still struggle to find a way to help you understand how living here is so amazingly different from the suburbs of Fort Collins. Possibly you can imagine, this has been culture shock after culture shock for a couple of city people.
In fact, I wake up every morning and wonder for just a moment or so, where am I? Then I look out my glass doors at this:
We had a visitor from Denver this weekend so we thought we’d show him some of the rural highlights of living down here in southern Colorado. We drove over La Veta Pass to first visit 
Adventures of the NEW??? Old Farts 