Tuesday, January 14, 2020

The Sun, She Be Transitin' Back North!



The patterns of nature are more easily seen, when you live out in the sticks. There's more nature, even if it's a much-modified version of nature, put there by farming. You see the seasons in the winter wheat: planted in the first frosty air of October, then small, hopeful green sprouts, if lucky, by mid-November. Those wee green sprouts bring hope to the long nights and short days we get at 40 degrees north.

Much of Colorado becomes its normal shade(s) of brown: brown fields, brown trees, brown dead leaves, brown stalks of corn stubble....you get the picture. To see some green, peeking out, be it ever so small, and ever so delicate, is to remind us Children of the Snow, that promise lies in those green tufts of life, that this drab sea of brown dirt and white drifts of snow will soon yield the promise of another completed trip around the sun, the Sun that warms both the fields and the hearts of those who depend on its trip back up to the Northern Star.

Then, the snows of winter cover those tiny, green signals, of a spring and summer to come. You watch as the furrows ebb and flow, with the falling and melting snows.

Come March, as the days lengthen, the green sprouts grow ever more towards the sun, but they know Colorado, and they know not to trust the sometimes-brilliant sunshine and ofttimes warm temperatures, for they remember what a capricious mother, Nature is.

April, then May, and finally, the rains of late spring arrive (or, more often than not, the center-pivot sprinklers begin their endless 'round the Rosie of farm fields) and the wheat begins to reach for the heavens.

Come July, right around the 4th--when the corn becomes knee high!--the wheat has pushed up its green gown of spring growth, then turns golden brown in the high altitude sun.

What's this got to do with Harvey?

Well, in those warming days of April and May, "*The Harv*" will be taken out of its winter slumber, and preparations will begin to get back on the road, again!

Stay tuned!

Sunday, December 15, 2019

Why Would We sell A Perfectly Good House, full Of Neat Things?

So, here's the full poop: Renee and I, after long consideration, finally arrived at a common agreement.

It wasn't that we didn't agree, just that what we arrived at took a long time to turn over, to think about, to do a "chess analysis" on the many possible moves available to us.

To cut to the chase--or through it!--we both chose that, as a childless couple, there would be no one to whom we could leave all our junk. On top of that, the fact remains, young kids don't **want** the kind of junk we've collected, and all our older friends...well, they are jettisoning *their* junk, too!

Yard sales are of limited use, given that:
-A) we live 'out beyond Woop Woop,' and;
-B) they are a huge hassle for the little benefit gained.

So, to that end, the demonstrably good junk will be sold off, to other Boomers who, before they crank, don't realize as we did, they're drawing in *stuff*.

We realized, we have had *PLENTY* stuff, but not enough seeing.

Seeing the world.

Seeing our own darned country, a great deal of which I've never seen.

I've never been to Yellowstone.
I've never seen any Civil War sites.
I've never been to Bouchard Gardens.
I've never seen The Keys.
I've never seen the Arch.
I've never seen fall, in upstate New York.
I've never seen Ellis Island, the statue of Liberty, or Central Park

Hell, I've never even been next door, to Kansas, and seen "The World's Largest Ball Of String!" The list is..well, beyond the range of the number of tomorrows I *might* have left.

We want to *experience* places, to *see* things we've never seen before, and we are clear-eyed enough to know we have many more yesterdays than we have tomorrows, in which to do so

Time to head for tomorrow...in an RV!

Fortunately, what with Renee's many years at a good county job, my savings from my Federal job, plus the sale of and pay-down of the property, best we can tell, we'll be OK. We won't live like a King and a Queen, but we'll be plenty comfortable.

With few monthly bills. With the open road, to choose how we go, how we live, what we see.

Ergo, we bought Harvey. He's (relatively) small, easy-to-park/drive, and was in good shape for his age (1985).

We *think* we'll graduate to a pickup-with wheel, but that will be down the road, closer to our retirement date--with luck, 2026. That's why we chose a moderately-sized RV, to actually experience and see what size of "Tiny home" we end up with.

Our "practice" RV.



In honor of some excellent friends, in the next year or two, we'll be having a "House Cooling" sale: We'll invite friends, and ask that they choose a thing they like, to take to their homes, and enjoy.

No reasonable offers refused!

So, in a nutshell, this is a bit more detail. I'm still learning how to be a blogger, and to do all the requisite moves, so please be patient...and join us in our adventure!

Paul-n-Renee


Wednesday, December 11, 2019

2020 Looms Large!

So, I've finally had it with Facebook, with the incessant ads, the refusal to actually do what they promise...so, it's off the air on ! January 2020, and onto MeWe.

You can find the link to that, here.

As I get better with these platforms, I'll post more content, so please be patient.To the reason of this blog: we will be documenting our movement towards becoming unleashed from a house, and leashed to a mobile home~

We will be doing as much traveling in the next few years, in anticipation of retiring, in 2026, in this, our "practice" RV, Harvey!

This first photo is in the ghost town of Keota, Colorado, one of the first settlements in this area.


This was taken this past August, up at Red Fether Lakes, one of my favorite, close-by getaways.



So, that'll be all for today!



Monday, September 2, 2019

And now...for something ***COMPLETELY*** different, or, How I Bagged Facebook And Became A Better Person For It.

Just the first of hopefully, many posts, leading into the newest chapter of my life...heading for retirement!

My wife and I are counting down to 2026, when she retires: we will be 'selling up,' as they say in these here parts, and heading out, to see this great big country, and make our home in an RV!

The Sun, She Be Transitin' Back North!

The patterns of nature are more easily seen, when you live out in the sticks. There's more nature, even if it's a much-modified v...