Surrounded on three sides by the Sangre de Cristos Range of the Rocky Mountains, de Viejos provides as expansive overview of the Town of Taos and of the always stunning Rio Grande Gorge. Above soars a violet blue sky by day and ten thousand stars by night. The one acre ranch consists of granite and quartz cobbles, adobe and caliche soil (or snow, if it’s not July) with sage, chamisa, pines and prickley pears sheltering elk and rabbits, magpies and hawks. The all masonry passive solar house provides a warm, cozy embrace while tall and wide windows provide ample views of the indescribable mountain southwestern light so beloved by artists and poets.
So here’s the thing. This is my 9th real estate transaction in the last 7 years working with 15 different realtors, some of them for 3 transactions. The total of all the sales costs have exceeded the cost of 3 of these houses. The optimism, language and hyperbole of realtors has rubbed off on me.
Near the end of March I had four places to live in four different cities. Made me feel like Romney. But a couple days later I was down to three and in a couple weeks I should be down to a mere two. The largest of the houses (which isn’t that large) is filled with crap I’ve hauled back and forth across the country a number of times. The other is empty. I prefer the empty one.
Everyone needs a hobby in retirement and as hobbies go, this both keeps me busy and is pretty expensive. I haven’t made any money at this, but I don’t think I’ve lost any either. The joy in this, as any realtor will tell you, is in pride of ownership, which is a load of crap, especially when the furnace or well pump breaks.
But it’s fun exploring new places and meeting new neighbors and then trying to avoid those neighbors. The best strategy I’ve found for neighbor-avoidance is to tell them my wife has dementia and I could use some help caring for her. It’s not as effective as my sister-in-law’s strategy, which was to adopt two newborns and ask for babysitting help, but Cyndi is easier to care for than two babies.
A little bit easier.
I'll start with a view of El Salto as seen from our kitchen window.
And the view I'll have while washing the dishes
And the view Cyndi will have while hanging out the laundry
Actually, this will be my view because Cyndi says
I'll be damned if I'm hanging up laundry. Give me a clothes dryer!
The view looking south from the main room
Py enjoyed the window sills
Looking southwest
The south side of the house
Our kitchen window
Lots of magpies
While walking around the yard, we found lots and lots of elk pop.
Some bear scat too
The next morning before dawn we saw elk wandering thru the yard
Cyndi counted 18 while I struggle with the camera in the dark
This is an example of what I captured with the camera in the dark
Actually, other than the photo above, this was the best I got
Lots of pine tree volunteers in the yard
We are trying to identify the species
Anyone know what this is?
A view of Wheeler Peak, the highest point in New Mexico
Looking to the west, we found the desert snow covered in the morning
And I'll end with a sunset
