Rocks

Rocks, rocks and more rocks.  Yes, that's why they call them the Rocky Mountains. 

Our land is covered with rocks.  Big ones and small ones.  Round ones, but mostly flat ones.  And it was with these flat ones that Les was working one day last week.

I had been working in the office all day, but around 4:00 Les called and told me to come up when I was done working.  I thought that was a brilliant idea and quickly loaded Schultz up in the car and headed up to the mountain.

When the guys excavated the ditch for the electrical conduit to the house and to the shed, they came upon... you've got it!  Lots of rocks! 

So when I drove up to the mountain at Les's invitation... look what I found to greet me!  And there's my gargoyle on top of that rock wall.  (No, not Les!  The winged creature on the left is the gargoyle -- my best Mother's Day gift ever.) 

OOooohh, and look at that gravel!  That's some fine gravel, isn't it?  :)

I'll see if I can get a better picture next time I go up there.  I'll bring my actual camera rather than my cell phone.

More later...

Another Storm

Tonight we had another thunderstorm.  Les & I went out onto our front porch to watch the storm.  There was a gentle rain and quite a bit of lightning.  Then, the rain got heavier and heavier and once the wind started blowing it was time to come in.

Schultz took his place under the bathtub... that's where he feels safest during a storm.  I haven't the slightest idea how I'm going to get him out to go to the bathroom before bed.  He's not moving anywhere!

The ranchers around here are very happy to have all of the rain.  That means that their livestock will have food over the winter. 

What a peaceful co-existence the people of Trinidad have.  (Most of them anyway.)  You have ranchers, retirees, want-to-be gangsters, and trans-gender people all mixed up together here.  It's surprising how accepting this town is.  And for this I am thankful.

Schultz Update

Schultz has to be wherever we are.  And right in the middle of wherever we are, too! 

Some days are good and some are bad.  I have taken him off of all medications with the exception of an occasional pain pill.  I took him off of the Prednisone because it completely changed his personality.  He was not himself.  He would pee and poop in the house -- something he has never done before.  He couldn't stop panting.  He was afraid of everything.  He was ravenous and drank 3 bowls of water a day.  He was absolutely miserable.

Since stopping the steroids, he now has better control over himself.  His appetite is starting to go back to normal.  He is still terrified of thunder and strange noises, but he seems like a much happier boy.

He is starting to lose a little more control over his back legs, but we expected that to happen.  We just don't want him to be in pain.  We know that he'll let us know when he's ready.

Sometimes I wonder what all the fuss was about because he seems like a perfectly normal 10 year old dog.  And other days I wonder if the end is near.  Such an insidious thing -- cancer.

Newspapers

Small town newspapers tell you things about small town life.  As an example, the headline from our local newspaper last week read, "Jaden's First Fish."  It had a very large picture of a very little girl and her father holding a very, very big fish. 

The paper also mentions when and where the Rotary Club meets and the status of Trinidad Lake and the Purgatory River that runs through the middle of the town.

One of the features I like the best is the historical reference.  The paper features an article pulled from its archives 100, 75 and 50 years ago.  They can do this because The Chronicle News has been in existence for 133 years!  The article posted in today's paper from 100 years ago refers to some barbers who got into a fist fight and caused a general "ruckus."

Don't you just love it?

The Blues

The Trinidaddio Blues Festival is coming to town!  This concert in the park highlights some of the local talent, and also brings in stars from around the country.  August 28th is the date for this year's 12th annual concert -- it's a really good time!

http://www.trinidaddio.com/

Electricity & Rocks

We now have our power pole on our building site.  We have the pedestal in.  The next part required was to run a line from the pedestal to where the house is going to be and also to the garage.

Since the house isn't even started yet, there wasn't a real need to run that line to the house at this time.  But -- thinking ahead -- we decided to go ahead and run that line now as our road (driveway) is being graded and graveled this week.  It would be a shame to have a nicely built road and then have to dig it up to run the power later. 

We had a backhoe scheduled for last Monday.  But it was broken so we had to wait.  Finally on Saturday, our electrician from Tom's Electric, picked up the machine and drove it up to our property.  He made somewhat short work of digging some trenches for the conduit.

Since he had to get the backhoe back by Monday morning, we met him for breakfast early Sunday and then went up to the property to finish the job.  An electrician working on a Sunday on a non-emergency job?   That's Trinidad for you.  Les had to chip away at a clump of concrete so that they could get the conduit against the garage.  Tom was working on the other end of the trench.  And I picked out rocks for a decorative wall. 

Tom and I figured out the orientation of our house (which I will have to change again slightly) so that we knew how far to run the conduit.  Once Les was finished jack-hammering away the concrete we were ready to place the conduit in the trench and cover it back up.  All I can say is, backhoes are marvelous things.

And as for the rocks, Les has been working hard at clearing the middle of our circle in the driveway.  And we have so many gorgeous rocks it would be a shame to not decorate with them.  While Tom maneuvered the front loader on the backhoe, Les & I were tossing rocks into it so that we could being them to where we want them.  Some of them were really big and this is very, VERY rocky ground.  I've heard more than once -- that's why they call them the Rocky Mountains.

LesSchultz

Tom

That's Trinidad For You

There's a saying I've heard from more than one person... more than one time.  "That's Trinidad for you." 

What that means is that this little frontier town and its' people have their little quirks, time-table, and a beauty that's unique, although sometimes frustrating.  It's probably best to split this thought into 2 segments. 

The people...

For the most part the people of Trinidad are very kind, warm, welcoming folks.  You can tell who is a Trinidad native because there is a slight accent to this part of the country.  The people here are genuine and kind.  Most are hard-working, generous people.  We have heard from complete strangers the request to stop in any time.  Come have a cup of coffee and visit for a while.

The frustrating part (one that I must learn to accept) is that there's time -- and then there's Trinidad-time.  When one says that they'll "be there in the afternoon," you're not sure if they mean today -- or even this week.  And you can't always pin them down to a day, either.  The laid-back attitude is one that I hope to accept and surrender to soon. 

The town... 

This town was part of the Santa Fe Trail in the mid 1800's.  It's an old frontier town.  When we first came here 5 years ago, we thought that the town had a bit of a crusty feel to it.  But one-by-one, the buildings are coming back to life.  People are starting to notice this little town. 

Trinidad has had repeated times of good fortune and repeated times of hardship.  It's been a thriving mining town and then the mines closed.  And these buildings that were once built with splendid care and detail, fell upon hard times.  But if one looks past the outer layer of disrepair and broken windows, you can see the art and love that went into building it.

The people who are starting to notice this little town are seeing this beauty and are starting to take these buildings and bring them back to life.  All one has to do is to take a walk down Main Street.  There are buildings that have such grace and intricate detail.  They just don't build them like that anymore.  Scroll work; faces carved into sandstone; corbels; intricate molding... it's really an art show in and of itself.  And this is what people are starting to see. 

Of course, there are still many, many buildings and even homes that are still "crusty."  Some are probably hopeless.  But that's OK too.

The Road

Some "forward" progress has been made on the house... or at least the driveway. 

Several days ago I wrote about how the entrance to our driveway was steep & sharp and somewhat dangerous.  That problem has now been resolved for the most part.  Next, comes the actual driveway.

Last year we had a guy come up and cut a road to our building site.  He did a fine job, but with the construction of the shed (garage) during the winter, there were monstrous ruts in the dirt.  The whole time I've been living here I've been bouncing about on the top of these ruts trying to smooth them back down, but there's only so much my little Jeep can do so we brought out the big guns.

This picture is of the big grader we hired to "de-rut" our road.  I am standing where our living room will be looking down at the "Ranch Owner's Association" (ROA) road.  The grader is on its way up!

Once the road is nice and smooth again, we are hauling in 275 tons (Yes, you read it correctly.) of gravel.  With any luck, we'll be able to take good care of our road so that any and all touch-ups will be held to a minimum.  This part of our construction will eat up a little over $3,200 and we haven't even gotten to the house yet!  I see our savings dwindling rapidly, but it's all for my dream. 

I can't wait!

Taking a Break

Today, we had to go to the bank. 

While Trinidad has many of one's desired conveniences, it's still a small Colorado town.  That said, you really have a choice of only 4 local banks.  We've been banking with Wells Fargo Bank since 1985.  I have a longer history with my bank than I do with my adult children!

After slaving away at my desk all week, today we took a break and headed into New Mexico so we could deposit some checks into the bank.  I know that it sounds like a long trip, but New Mexico is only about 15 miles away and the nearest Wells Fargo Bank is in Raton... 17 miles away.

It was very hot in Trinidad today.  It was 91 degrees and fairly sunny as we left our beloved little town and headed south.  The Raton Pass is nearly 8,000 feet in elevation.  By the time we crested the pass, the temperature had dropped to 65 degrees and it was raining.  17 miles -- 26 degrees.  Wow!

That's one of the many things I love about this place.  It has rained nearly every day.  Mornings are usually sunny with a cool breeze and moderate temperatures.  By mid afternoon, clouds are making their way in.  By late afternoon we have a short storm, and then the clouds move off and reveal the sun again.  It's so interesting here...

More later....

Catching Up.

I know it's been a long time since I've written about our adventures.  I've been struggling with having to wait for my home.  But I think that I've reconciled everything well enough so that I can start heading in the right direction again.  I feel like I've really been de-railed due to the fact that we can't start building this year.  I've been pushing and pushing, but I have to come to terms with the idea that I can't always have my way.  My head knows the right thing to do is wait... but my heart wants my house today.

On to happier things!  Yesterday was our 27th anniversary!  We went out to a little Mexican restaurant that we like.  Our friends Jim and Joelle, Ken and Angela, and Steve and Carol joined us.  What fun.

After dinner Les & I went up to our property.  Les has been working on trimming the dead branches from the trees surrounding our building site.  He's also been cutting away some of the scrub oak so that we can walk through the trees with ease.  It's really amazing what he's done so far.

A few days ago we hired a guy to fix the entrance to our driveway.  The Ranch Owner's Association road cuts through our property (as it does everyone's) but our building site was a good 20-30 feet in elevation above that road.  So we cut a road up to the property about 3 years ago.  That was a very tight turn and extremely steep.  It would have been impossible for any trucks to get up there with our building materials. 

Last year we hired another guy to fix that problem.  He came with his bulldozer and widened the entrance to our driveway.  He also "cut a road" to our newly chozen building site.  We put another 20' of culvert at the entrance to the driveway. 

Still, though, it was too steep and too sharp of a turn.

Bob from Febbraro Construction came to fix the entrance to the driveway once and for all.  He had to knock down several trees to accomplish this, but we now have a manageable, safer entrance onto our property. 

Moral of the story... You may have to redo things as you go to build your home.  Try to keep all of that to a minimum, obviously.  But I think it may be inevitable.  People change their minds and make changes to the plan.  And sometimes the people you hire are not the sharpest tools in the shed and you have to have their work redone.

The end to yesterday was wonderful.  Les and I went up to the property and watched the sunset.  Glorious -- Magnificent -- Majestic -- Perfect.