Today I saw a glimpse into my possible future, while holding up a mirror into my distant past, all during one short day trip. It's far too soon to know how likely the scenario is, so take all of the wistful dreaming with a grain of salt.
Upwards of twenty years ago, when our children were tiny, or even when they only numbered one, we used to drive all over the area, several states' worth, in the man's rattly old Datsun that I named Rasputin (because no matter how badly it was injured, it just never died). We did a lot of camping with our friends, playing games in the woods and drinking around campfires at night. A lot of our trips took us down I-25, and as these were our salad years, I did a lot of daydreaming of a more prosperous future, in the passenger seat as we rolled down the highway. I had a fascination with a valley just north of Colorado Springs, that appeared to be a large ranch with just a few houses and working buildings, called Greenland. I had serious lottery fantasies of buying a big spread down there, and building my own big stone house, with nary a neighbor for miles. We used to talk about it a lot, enunciating the name exactly as Wallace Shawn did in the Princess Bride, "Do you want me to send you back to where you were? Unemployed, in Greenland?" Eventually I grew up, and outgrew the dream of a castle on a hill in Greenland, Colorado, but I never forgot it.
Today, we drove down that direction again, through that valley on the way to an in-person interview, a follow-up to a phone interview my man had several weeks ago. He is still in the running for an opportunity to be an instructor in his field of expertise, but the selection process was significantly delayed right before Christmas. We thought we would have an answer nearly a month ago, but now we may not know until February at the earliest, if I understand correctly. If it is offered, we would jump at the chance. How could we not? Not only would it mean getting back to our home state, within a couple hours of most of our friends and family, but it would be in an area where we could consider living a stone's throw from that valley in Greenland. On a clear day like today, that commute didn't seem so bad, but we really should attempt that drive with a little hint of the heavy snows that are common there, to know for sure whether it's feasible. I've been flirting with a house on Zillow for more than a month now (does that mean I'm having an online affair, cheating on my Park??), and today we drove slowly past it, but didn't go inside. We do have a realtor friend who could help us look, although it might just make it harder for me, since it's at the absolute top of our price range, with no room for error. And it's all speculation right now anyway. So many variables would have to align perfectly for us to end up there. I can't imagine it would hurt that badly to dream. They say to focus clearly on the things you really want, right?
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