It was even farther down a steep, muddy road than we are now. But looking at this photo, I’m almost ready to reconsider.
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Well, the VIEW is “Beautimous” …not sure how the house or the road thereto is….but aesthetically speaking….looks good to me….but my vote doesn’t count….More importantly, LOVE the View – as Usual…Your keen eye – Foto’s have made my day “onst more again” ….(just have to throw in this Okiespeak occasionally)….HA…..take care John….Stay Warm….and work on making a woodpile like the one you have in your Foto Feed Files a few days ago….it was MAGNIFICENT!! (and probably cost a pretty penny as well, eh?) Thanks ‘too much some more again’ for the beautiful pix of el Norte!!! Does my heart and soul good to just IMAGINE….(sigh)…..and Dream and Wish….that ….SOMEDAY….We too, might get to live in the area!
I think that place was $1,300/mo. and probably costs a lot to heat. Still, it’s undoubtedly nice. I even know the owners. Don’t really know why we didn’t jump, although I could rattle on about it…
But be careful: it’s beautiful here but very harsh in ways most people can’t even imagine. There is no way you can move here and have anything like the kind of life you had in the past. It won’t work. Moving here even with the most careful preparation and devotion still amounts to blowing up your life. A great many marriages break up as a result, and that’s not all.
At the same time, it’s really intense here. Not relaxing at all. So if harsh, intense, and ultimately bewildering is your style, come on down. 🙂
John, hi again. I love this setting of the record straight for those of us who might get lured by the apparent glamour of it all. What a line that is at the end of the second paragraph, it leaves me curious, interested, and longing for more……..
Well, when we came, and the dot-com bust meant that I couldn’t make a middle-class living via modem after all, we ended up somehow making do with about an 80% DROP in income. And of course there are no jobs here. Obviously we made that up by gutting our savings and going into debt. That’s one thing, and that will tear a relationship apart, all right.
The other thing is the utter strangeness of the high desert compared to temperate locales: I knew it was a desert, etc. etc., but the comfort I’d derived from changes of season elsewhere, with soft warm breezes in the spring, a real summer, etc. etc. just isn’t here. It’s mostly dry and COLD, even in the summer. What I’m saying is that it’s harsh. Spring is one of the worst seasons here, with howling winds and dust. 🙂 So all of this takes getting used to, and that’s a strain. This affects more than relationships. Emigrants go through emotional hell, things happen. A great many people who move here give up and go back “home,” if it’s still there. Ours wasn’t!
THAT SAID, for anyone wanting to see what they’re made of (or needing to), coming here will strip your preconceptions away and leave you utterly defenseless. Then you’ll either find Spirit or you won’t. Overall, it’s been good for us in that way, kind of a “thanks, I didn’t want that, but I guess I DID need it” sort of way. I don’t know if we’ll stay forever, but right now leaving is out of the question, financially. I have no desire to “go back” anywhere, either, because the old life is dust in the wind.
And that’s what I mean!
All that you said, and have said many times before, is the main reason we have NOT made the Leap of Faith required to make such a move….it remains a “Dream and a Goal”….but will in actuality remain that for a while…sadly. I know what you mean about being lured by the beauty…but we have done our Reality Check….and for now will have to make do with the (almost) annual visits….still have some friends there….and they, as you, describe life there as you have….and we may even have to settle for somewhere between Taos and Santa FAKE….BUT…anywhere in el Norte would be a dream come true….and would have to deal with the rest….as I have said…it amazes me how much our lives parallel each other…and my better and stronger (AND Smarter Half) keeps my Monsters on a Leash….otherwise I would be there living in my car as I did in Hollywood when I was Bound and Determined to be a ROCK STAR….but – sadder, older and wiser….we remain in Okiehoma….Preparing for such a Venture….and someday – BY GOD – we WILL make the move….even if only for Part of the Year….while keeping our residence in Oklahoma…but THAT would take more money then I can afford right now for sure….so it remains a Dream for the moment….but certainly a Goal we are working towards!!
And thanks for your TRUTH and HONESTY about Life in Taos, John, you have probably saved a lot of us fools from ourselves in making a hasty move to what we perceive as Instant Happiness based only on ‘The Mountain” and it’s pull and appeal…..
Steve-0 Still in Stillwater……….. (para hoy) !!! : )
Hey John, thanks for that. I know it doesn’t exactly swell the coffers, but I just ordered Buffalo Lights because I want to support you and because I always wanted to have your book, anyway. Come on, people! – if all of us who love this guy’s pictures and his blogs bought a copy (ummm, maybe you all have, and I am the last one , there’s a thought), then it would ease their way.
May the road rise to meet ypou and may the wind be at your back, JH.
Gillian
Why, thank you! 🙂 The books are P.O.D. (print on demand), so there’s an endless supply, heh.
Taos is beautiful, inspiring, harsh, expensive. Compared to where we came from 10 years later, not so costly though: housing, for example, is more expensive back in Maryland these days. Not that I’d want to go back. My latest blog post has something to say about that, too. So much of this is in the mind, you know. And brother, will living here make one see that.
I DID purchase John’s book a few years back….and have read it cover to cover twice….and LOVE IT – and Highly recommend it to ALL! (for whatever My opinion counts….hehehe) ….and do agree with what Gillian says above as well!!
Excellent idea and hope you sell a million copies….OR….how about Part TWO???
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