Well, we made it back to our wonderful and humble straw house on Grateful Way. We've spent three nights here now. Getting things re-organized, cleaned up, re-entering. The culture shock we thought we'd experience coming back to the States didn't happen in New York, where we spent time with my family, and it didn't happen in Florida, where we spent time with Nancy's family and with our new daughter-in-law Saly. It happened when we drove out to the house our first evening back to have a look see, not planning to spend the night just yet. Both Nancy and I felt as if we had just run into a wall. For her it was a lot about all the dead plants outside. Plants that she'd nurtured for years in some cases. For me it was a feeling of utter overwhelm in being struck by my internal story about the enormity of what it takes to live here. Things, I subsequently said, I don't ever want to have to think about again.
We returned to beloved Nina's house in town where we had soft landed back in New Mexico, after what was not a soft landing at the Albuquerque International Sunport the night before. We arrived late, after 11PM, and were scheduled to take an 11:45 shuttle to Santa Fe. Well, we were a few minutes late getting to the shuttle desk, and they hadn't waited for us. Nancy was told they would wait till 11:59, but they didn't. Which meant, by our choice, that we would spend the night on the floor in the arriving passenger waiting area. By the time morning came, and we had arranged to take a 7:15AM shuttle to Santa Fe, we hadn't slept, and we were beat. This no doubt contributed, later that day, to our sense of overwhelm when we drove out to Skyland.
We spent the day in shock, using every thing we had to make the smallest decisions. Taking a shower was too much for me to organize. Nina was a gem. So welcoming. So supportive. So glad to see us.
We've been at the house now for less than 72 hours, and all that shock and overwhelm is gone. We're settling in for the time being, all the while talking about, planning for, and anticipating our next departure. As well as whether or not to sell the house or rent it. We think we're clear about it, and then something happens to upset that clarity. Yesterday it was a conversation with Aaron, in which I told him that my new strategy to sell the house quickly, before we would depart, was to slash the price from 190K to 160K, with a bottom line of 150K. He didn't think this was a good idea, and the conversation turned toward his idea that he might want to buy it as a rental property for himself. He'd have to work up the numbers to see how this might serve all of us. He'll get back to me.
Well that might be a way to go, or it might not. What it did for me though was open me back up to the possible preference, for now, of renting the house instead of selling it. I did a little math of my own, and it looks like we could live comfortably - and very simply and modestly - in Santa Fe if we wanted to, and if we played our cards right, on the fixed income we now have, and if we rented the house we would have additional income as well. It got me thinking about living small in Santa Fe, or anywhere else we might like to spend some time, with a lot of flexibility and no long term commitments. Our community is here in this area. People we care about and who care about us.
Which leads me to Saturday just passed and Game Day on The Land. What a joy it was to see our friends here after 9 months away, and to be the beneficiaries of their good will and affection and generosity and genuine welcoming. Not to mention the good sport and rowdy good fun of playing Guesstures (highly recommended). Thank you all for being the caring and wonderful people you are, and our good friends and neighbors for so many years. We just a few days ago marked our 25th anniversary on Cerro Chato, and many of you have been a part of this adventure from near enough to the very beginning, while others are more recent friends and neighbors.
So good to see you, Lou and Susanne, Tish and Dave, Bud and Tomoko, Mark and Puck, Luann, and new-to-us neighbors Claudia and Gyana, and Steve.
So we're continuing to clean up - our tenant did a pretty good job of things, really, at least in my view (Nancy seems to feel a bit differently about that) and nothing, with the single exception of one of the refrigerator legs, is broken or abused - starting to organize stuff to give away, and just relax back into our lives here. For now!
THANK YOU ALL!!!!!
(I didn't think to take pics of you all. I haven't been thinking in terms of the blog lately, but some of your comments about your enjoyment in reading it led me to this post. I'll get pics when next I see you, and include them here later)
We returned to beloved Nina's house in town where we had soft landed back in New Mexico, after what was not a soft landing at the Albuquerque International Sunport the night before. We arrived late, after 11PM, and were scheduled to take an 11:45 shuttle to Santa Fe. Well, we were a few minutes late getting to the shuttle desk, and they hadn't waited for us. Nancy was told they would wait till 11:59, but they didn't. Which meant, by our choice, that we would spend the night on the floor in the arriving passenger waiting area. By the time morning came, and we had arranged to take a 7:15AM shuttle to Santa Fe, we hadn't slept, and we were beat. This no doubt contributed, later that day, to our sense of overwhelm when we drove out to Skyland.
We spent the day in shock, using every thing we had to make the smallest decisions. Taking a shower was too much for me to organize. Nina was a gem. So welcoming. So supportive. So glad to see us.
We've been at the house now for less than 72 hours, and all that shock and overwhelm is gone. We're settling in for the time being, all the while talking about, planning for, and anticipating our next departure. As well as whether or not to sell the house or rent it. We think we're clear about it, and then something happens to upset that clarity. Yesterday it was a conversation with Aaron, in which I told him that my new strategy to sell the house quickly, before we would depart, was to slash the price from 190K to 160K, with a bottom line of 150K. He didn't think this was a good idea, and the conversation turned toward his idea that he might want to buy it as a rental property for himself. He'd have to work up the numbers to see how this might serve all of us. He'll get back to me.
Well that might be a way to go, or it might not. What it did for me though was open me back up to the possible preference, for now, of renting the house instead of selling it. I did a little math of my own, and it looks like we could live comfortably - and very simply and modestly - in Santa Fe if we wanted to, and if we played our cards right, on the fixed income we now have, and if we rented the house we would have additional income as well. It got me thinking about living small in Santa Fe, or anywhere else we might like to spend some time, with a lot of flexibility and no long term commitments. Our community is here in this area. People we care about and who care about us.
Which leads me to Saturday just passed and Game Day on The Land. What a joy it was to see our friends here after 9 months away, and to be the beneficiaries of their good will and affection and generosity and genuine welcoming. Not to mention the good sport and rowdy good fun of playing Guesstures (highly recommended). Thank you all for being the caring and wonderful people you are, and our good friends and neighbors for so many years. We just a few days ago marked our 25th anniversary on Cerro Chato, and many of you have been a part of this adventure from near enough to the very beginning, while others are more recent friends and neighbors.
So good to see you, Lou and Susanne, Tish and Dave, Bud and Tomoko, Mark and Puck, Luann, and new-to-us neighbors Claudia and Gyana, and Steve.
So we're continuing to clean up - our tenant did a pretty good job of things, really, at least in my view (Nancy seems to feel a bit differently about that) and nothing, with the single exception of one of the refrigerator legs, is broken or abused - starting to organize stuff to give away, and just relax back into our lives here. For now!
THANK YOU ALL!!!!!
(I didn't think to take pics of you all. I haven't been thinking in terms of the blog lately, but some of your comments about your enjoyment in reading it led me to this post. I'll get pics when next I see you, and include them here later)
