I admit it. I'm cheating on my Park. At least, in an internet-affair sort of way. I have spent a couple weeks on Zillow, looking at building sites, sending links back and forth with the man. We don't have a big stack of cash to go buy acreage with a six-figure price tag right now, but it's still pretty fun to look. We want at least a full acre, but upwards of ten or twenty of them would be ideal. Most of the time, we are looking in the mountains of Colorado, but the man keeps sneaking in a few other states out west, just to see whether I'll bite. So far, not so much. I'm not even very enthused about the listings that are in the southern half of Colorado. If I'm going to move back there, I want to be closer to our old stomping grounds. In fact, I should clarify. He is looking at properties IN the mountains. I am looking at properties with views OF the mountains. We are still pretty far apart. I think this is what happens when a girl from the rolling hills of Oklahoma marries a boy who wishes he was Grizzly Adams. I want some level land, and room to spread my arms wide. He wants rocks and trees and snow, and he's okay with living on a steep slope to get it. I would be willing to give him a little elevation, if he's willing to give me a road that is actually a road. An awful lot of his suggestions are up seriously rough four-wheeling tracks. I can't do it. And the closer we get to our golden years, the less interested I am in living down (up?) a long, twisty mountain road, away from hospitals, vet clinics, and grocery stores. Unfortunately for me, the lots closer to town come with bigger asking prices. Until I actually get a couple books published and selling well, he has the upper hand in this negotiation.
I have been watching this current fad of Kickstarter campaigns for people to do goofy stunts. You know, the thought dashed through my mind, we ought to start a crowdfunding campaign to get a mountain property for my mountain man. Hell, if I'm imagining something outrageous, I might as well ask for enough to buy a set of shipping containers to use to build the house too. Am I bold enough to do something like that? Eh, probably not. Ever since the guy crowdfunded to make potato salad, the whole idea has most likely already jumped the shark. But if it hasn't...
In just a few short weeks of looking, I've grown more informed and sophisticated about the kind of property we need. I have to think about so many things I'd never considered before, like well water, septic, and south-facing slopes so we can have a year-round greenhouse and solar electric. The man has been studying this longer, and can dismiss a property quickly like he did yesterday, for being only an acre and a half, and being bisected by a stream that would require unobtainable permissions to re-route. Another one was a fantastic property, but the road to the neighbor's house went through the side of the lot. He poo-poohed that too. I've learned how to infer a lot from a Google map quickly, and I eliminate anyplace where the ambulance would have to take more than half an hour to show up. I'm just trying to be practical, but he thinks I'm being an alarmist. Good thing we have a lot of time before we actually have to choose one of these places. It's going to take a miracle for us to find the right spot.
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