4Fords

January 26, 2022

More than a few have politely asked us “why did you sell your home in Bayfield”? Or “What are you doing in New Mexico”? Alan and I know that, to yourselves, you are saying stuff more like “Those guys are insane!” Or “They’re so far from a hospital, at their age!” Etc., etc. We say the same things to ourselves sometimes.

That said, I wanted to put down some thoughts on the matter. Maybe convince you (me) that we’re not crazy or considering age or health or money or whatever. It may take me a few posts.

Today I spent an hour playing with Clair out back, throwing her favorite red Jolly Ball around. She chases it, kills it, then gnaws on it for a few minutes before bringing back for another go. Between throws, I’m watching the cliffs above, looking for sign of predator birds. I know they’re here, but haven’t spotted one for awhile. Maybe I’ll pull out the spotting scope. I’m designing our future water-capture system in my head, too. 2 1600-gallon cisterns buried behind the house, with a culvert “vault” buried next to them containing the pressure tank and filter. It would be plenty for the winter, but we’d need more for irrigation in the summer. Maybe from the well, maybe additional rainwater from the barn roof.

Once Clair got tired of the game, we came in for some tea, and I painted the walls for an hour. It’s our least popular chore, so Alan and I take it in turns, an hour a day. The natural plaster finish is rough and hard to cover, filled with sparkly bits of mica from a local quarry and I hate to paint over it, but the original color has gotten dingy and dull over 25 years, so the room needs brightening. Don’t know the final color yet.

I’m not sure if I have ever felt more at peace than I do here in this remote, hard-to-access canyon. It’s a combination of having a concrete purpose to each day and time enough to enjoy what’s here, without having to compromise either. Too much of our lives we have to choose between work and play: do you live to work or work to live? I feel as if I am finally doing both, together. Mark Boyle, in his book “The Way Home”, about living without technology. makes the argument that living simply is actually quite complicated, but the problems lie within your own ability to solve. I like that.