Summer                                                                  Most Heat Moon

The deck is done. The last realtor interviewed and gone. Jon, Ruth and Kate drive up to Lake Superior tomorrow while Grandpop does Latin and has lunch with a friend. This very busy week will slow down on Saturday.

This guy’s estimate on the value of our home, different (less) from the realtor we like best, would still give us enough money to buy a home we like in Colorado. That means the actual value, which is probably between them, should be sufficient. Of course, we’re still 7-8 months away from the 2015 market and we can hope that valuation will pick up some by then.

Our basement is two large workout machines lighter, which has opened up a good deal of space. Just right for green tape and red tape boxes. The Vectra home gym and the leg press left a mark here. About a quarter of inch deep into the berber carpet. The 2nd Wind guys were polite and efficient, with only modest grumbling about the Vectra, which is a complex set of equipment with three different stations all connected by cable to a central stack of weights. The one guy said, “Yeah. I’ll probably have to take it to someone else’s house and set it up.”

With each check mark we move a bit closer to the Rockies. Exercise equipment. Sold. One load of books and furniture. Out of the house. Realtors. Interviewed. A new cedar deck. Awaiting a sealant. Lawn and yard work guys. 1 estimate, 2 to go. More empty boxes in the house. Done.

It was heartening today to read over the list of things we wrote down in May and have already completed. There’s a lot more work to be done, but a lot is behind us, too.

Summer                                                                   Most Heat Moon

Where to live? It’s not a question most of us ask very often over the course of our life. Kate and I have the luxury of asking it right now. Having settled on a general area, a 40 mile radius of Denver, give or take, we now face the next task, deciding on a particular lot and a particular house.

Knowing that no one site will have everything we want, though it must have everything we need, criteria have come and gone. Broadband, air conditioning, good insulation, room for our creative sides, space for the dogs, enough water privileges for a garden, access to emergency health care, at least a fire wise lot (at best out of the wildfire redzone), a decent house, those are things we need. Whether we purchase them with the house and property or install them soon after doesn’t matter.

The wants have been in more flux. A new want that may transition to need is living around 7,800 feet. This altitude decreases the high temperatures in summer and ensures cool nights. A single story home, which could become a need, too, seems the wisest choice. We would prefer more isolated over less. Mountain or water views add appeal. Having our own well and septic system is desirable, too. An architecturally interesting home with a balcony overlooking forest, mountains or water. Reasonable driving distance to one of the Denver light rail lines.

A pleasant surprise adds something, too. I found one home, for example, that already has a steam bath. Not a need exactly, but I associate a steam bath and the end of a workout. Our one here been a good, immediate reward for staying with my routines.

Yes, we’re open to unusual housing solutions. This one is called a no-shadow home. We saw a geodesic dome we liked. A passive solar home with the capacity to generate our own electricity would be a plus.

How our new home integrates with the land, our lives and the future needs of mother earth, that will determine which place we choose. Oh, and how much it costs.