rural living
Cordova Pass, at 11,248 feet, lies on the western shoulder of the West Spanish Peak, east of the Culebra Range of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The drive up the pass can be a bit rough at times, but I enjoyed moving through the various eco-systems, and did not even know that we might be able to camp up there sometime. They have a bathroom!
Along the way at the lower elevations we saw lots of these beautiful bushes in bloom. Thanks to my botanist friends I now know these are New Mexican Locust. No wonder I never saw them up north.
Lots of great views near the top of the pass…
…and the trees along the road were florescent GREEN!
Then there is this very cool arch cut into a dike on the other side of the pass. We had to stop so Mike could study the geology of the whole thing, of course.
Our drive down the North Fork of the Apishapa River Valley, down through Gulnare and Aguilar, was lush and so beautiful! This is one of the few places I have been in this country where everything seems exactly like it might have been a hundred years ago.
Bye Bye!Enjoying a Celebration of Never Moving Again!
Today marks two years since we left our perfectly nice home in suburbia for the adventure of a lifetime. It may not sound like such a big deal to move to small town USA to build a custom solar home in the southern Colorado foothills, but it was for us at age 60!
We moved to Walsenburg on June 17th 2014, to sleep on the floor of this hundred-year-old rental, moving in the next day and staying there for 13 months while our new home was forming far too SLOWLY 20 minutes west of town at 7,000 feet. Mike worked as the contractor and purchaser of all things when we found the builder was not taking competitive bids, but just hiring his local friends.
Then on July 30th, 2015 we moved into our new home, HOME AT LAST!
For weeks after that move we just sat and stared out the window, mesmerized with the awesome views out our front windows, too exhausted to do anything else. We finally made it to our goal after many, many challenges and so many days of absolute stress.
Why did we do it? Our trip to Pueblo yesterday answers that question quickly. Being in cities always ruins my day. We need to go there occasionally to buy certain things, but the stress, the heat, the traffic, the bad air and bad manners of other drivers always convinces us we will never live there again!
We have no patience with cities anymore, and why should we when we have a magnificent place where we can escape them?
Today we will drink a toast to surviving all these many changes and challenges, and also to never moving again! Instead we will try to get our patio finished this summer, enjoy the great wildflower displays everywhere, the cool mountain breezes each evening, and offer encouragement to others who have found their new home in this small slice of heaven.
Want to learn more about our experience of moving from the city to the country to live a quiet, relaxed life? Check it out here!
Why write about yourself and your experiences?
As I begin working on my next book, a journal of retirement, I wondered why anyone would find this story interesting. I have certainly had more interest in this blog than I ever expected, with over 50,000 views so far from over 25,000 visitors all over the world! I so enjoy seeing those from other countries taking an interest in our escapades in rural southern Colorado.
Of course the next question is why blog at all? Why do some wish to share their daily lives and lessons with others, while most can’t even imagine it?
In this particular case, I thought there might be some who would like to see what it feels like to choose to leave a nice suburban home in one of the “best retirement cities in the country” to move to a rural area with little traffic or shopping, but so much amazing natural beauty and lovely silence. And as I read the posts I wrote a couple years ago, when considering this gigantic change for myself, I do find my thoughts and worries interesting in retrospect.
I guess what interests me the most is the psychology of changing something major in your life, especially past age 50 or 60. Why do some take the risk and go for it, while others stay home and watch TV? I guess it just comes down to personal taste, but also a gigantic fear of change.
I was full of fear the day we sold our nice home in Fort Collins. I really did not know what to expect, and I admit it, parts of our experience down here have been quite discouraging. But now I know we made the right choice for both of us. Sometimes you just have to take the big risk, leap, and build your wings on the way down.
“We must be willing to get rid of the life we had planned, to have the life that is waiting for us.” — Joseph Campbell
How do we choose what to write about?
This morning I found myself wondering why we find some topics so worth writing about, while others would never make the cut? Why, when I’m sitting around thinking about nothing in particular, will I mark one idea in my mind as something to go back to when I’m writing, and all other thoughts aren’t worth mentioning?
How do we choose what to write about next?
The only answer I could come up with was personal taste. Sometimes I simply say to myself, “That’s an interesting thought.” or “I’ve never looked at things that way!”
Internal thoughts like these actually do determine whether readers come back, because they find my choice of topics or thought processes more interesting than others. But why? I can only surmise that my readers and I share certain values or views on life. Perhaps they find me curious, or in some way similar to them.
I decided a long time ago, when I first started writing a blog, that if a topic was interesting enough to me to cause me to research and write about it, than there certainly must be other readers who would find it interesting.
I started out writing about my own midlife changes. By writing on this topic I met others who had also discovered what a perfect time midlife was to take a long look at your life thus far, and then perhaps change a few major things, before it was too late. Do-overs before it’s all over!
With research I learned exactly how healthy midlife change can be. Who knew? Not me when I first started suffering through a divorce, job/career loss, etc. I thought this was just my own personal hell. Not so!
Somewhere over the rainbow…
Midlife crisis is the gift that keeps on giving! I went from my sad and lonely, unemployed position to finding love, a new career I love, and moving to a fantastic solar home in the southern Colorado foothills.
How’s that for some serious do-overs?
Sedona Sojourn – May 2016
“We travel to seek other places, other lives, other souls.” – Anais Nin
So off we went this past Monday morning to seek warmer climes down south in New Mexico and Arizona…enough snow already! We packed up ourselves, our cat and dog and headed south. Charlie the cat only made it as far as Trinidad, pooping in his box along the way. (Thanks Charlie!) We left him off at our wonderful vet’s place, and were in New Mexico in 20 minutes.
We headed down to Socorro on I-25 and then west past the Very Large Array. Very cool visitor center! It really brought out the space nerd in Mike, and reminds me of the movie Contact from 1997.
We ended the day at Lyman Lake State Park just across the Arizona border, and were disappointed to learn that this campground appears to be removing all of its camp sites for those not in gigantic RVs. They have expensive, new cabins (without toilets!) and only a few non-electric sites. It seems even in the realm of camping, those with the most money win.
Next morning we enjoyed a delicious breakfast in Show Low, and then continued on to Payson to spend a few hours with Mike’s sister and her family. Then on to Sedona where my brother lives.
Our arrival in Sedona was breathtakingly beautiful, but pure culture shock for Mike and I. Intense traffic by our standards with lots of confusing roundabouts everywhere. For obvious reasons, this place is tourist heaven!
However, it wasn’t heaven for us. We picked up my brother John and proceeded north of town to Manzanita campground, which was full. We then spent an hour or so finding no place to stay anywhere near Sedona.
Finally a nice guy at the Circle K told us about some Forest Service land west of town where we were allowed to sleep in our van.
The best part? The beautiful cacti in full bloom everywhere!
For as beautiful as it is, Sedona was not our cup of tea. To us, it seemed like Estes Park (next to Rocky Mountain National Park) on steroids, so noisy, busy and none relaxing! And it really surprised me that my brother, who lives on the land up north in Oak Creek Canyon, likes it there. But the land is beautiful, the weather is nice, and the people we met there were surprisingly helpful and friendly. I guess John has everything he needs there without having to own a car, pay rent, etc.
Our return trip was not so fun. Mike got sick and it was so windy driving across northern New Mexico. We stayed in Gallup. Mike went to bed and I ventured out to find some dinner and a 35-word short story:
A Visit to McDonald’s in Navajo Country
At first glance there was fear. Who was this beige ghost so out of place? Then I smiled, and experienced a beautiful show of relief. An angel-like round face framed by dark hair smiled back at me.
From my visit with my brother I could only conclude: to each his own. By the time you’re 50 or 60 I guess you know what works best for you. This home in southern Colorado with a tremendous view of the Spanish Peaks is our own version of perfect!
We appreciate it even more now…
Best of Boomer Blogs – May Day Edition
I love to remember May Day when I was a kid. We lived in a small town in Iowa where kids made simple paper May baskets, filled them with flowers, and then hung them on our neighbor’s front doors. 
What FUN! Then at school we would do the Maypole dance. Such great spring singing programs! Remember “Spring is busting out all over!?”
Unfortunately the weather is NOT cooperating here today. We are stuck in our second four day snowstorm in TWO WEEKS in southern Colorado. The good news? Over 4 inches of moisture in April! That’s my rain gauge out there…
Luckily we have a few great blog posts from some great boomer bloggers to entertain us today! First up is Carol Cassara:
Visibility seems to be EVERYTHING in today’s intrusive social media environment–and some of the most awful influences on kids and grandkids are way too visible. Carol’s asking what you think parents (and grandparents) can do to combat the influence of negative role models in social media? At the same time, she’s lucky enough to have a nephew who appreciates the wisdom of age.
Meryl Baer of Six Decades and Counting says the pharmaceutical industry is dear to the hearts of most Americans. We buy lots of drugs, but the industry wants us to buy more. Advertisements ply us with information about all kinds of maladies and the pills that will cure them. Meryl spends too much time listening to ads, as she explains in her post: On Becoming a Hypochondriac.
Tom Sightings says, they’ve been talking about it for a few years now, ever since the last of their children left home. It’s a crossroads most of us must face as we retire. So navigate over to “Guess What We’re Doing?” to find out what he’s talking about — and what they’re doing.
Over at The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide, Rita R. Robison, consumer journalist, writes about a new study that found working longer can extend your life. Researchers found that healthy adults who retired one year past age 65 had an 11 percent lower risk of death from all causes, even when taking into account demographic, lifestyle, and health issues.
Too bad so many us do have health issues which prevent us from working longer, or chronic unemployment. It’s also very sad thousands of midlife Americans are committing suicide at an alarming rate.
Adventures of the NEW??? Old Farts 