April 3, 2007

A year ago today we arrived back in Colorado from our 5 month bike trip. It feels like it’s been a year but yet it doesn’t if that makes any sense. It is interesting to me to feel the difference in how time passes depending on what you are doing. It seems to pass very quickly when I am busy working and just living the normal life. It doesn’t seem like long ago at the South Pole when each day felt like an eon. I can still feel the dread as I counted them down one by one waiting for the day that we could leave. On our bike trip time seemed to pass moderately. Not to fast, but not too slow. Strange. Anyway, we’ve been very busy with our business which has been a surprise for us. We were convinced that it would take a lot longer to establish ourselves here in Buena Vista. I’m happy to say that things have worked in our favor so far. Sometimes we wonder when it’s all going to come crashing down.

Well, let’s see…I haven’t written in awhile because I felt like we didn’t have much to tell. It was strange going from a life of adventure to a life of routine. Looking back we realize that it was a pretty difficult transition. We were glad to have the business to focus on during that time because we couldn’t get our act together enough to start on the house last year. That is probably a good thing because we’ve changed our minds a couple of times on the layout. Now that the business is rolling along we feel like we can take on the challenge of building our house. We work in the same building with 2 home builders and they have offered to help us where we need it. That will be great because we’re entering some uncharted territory. We’ve learned so much already just in the planning process.

We are excited to get started on our house this spring and we are hoping to break ground in May (fingers crossed). So any of you who want to come out and help we would be so happy to have you in the “Roberts Work for Food and Beer Program”. :) We will be moving out of our house sitting situation as of April 15^th and heading back up to the tepee. Yes we’re moving back…and yes...there is the possibility that our friendly bear may come calling once he wakes up. However this time we’ll be a little more prepared. We have rubber buckshot for our shotgun and some M80’s to use to scare it off if it decides to return. We are also getting some solar motion lights that may help deter it as well. I guess I’m not too worried since I know the only reason it came around was because it was in scavenging mode right before it was going into hibernation. It was just doing what bears do. We overlooked having those scented candles in the tepee and believe me we won’t make that mistake again. And for all those moms out there who think we’re nuts, just remember that the bears were there first and they will still live in the area whether we live there or not. We have to be responsible homeowners and just take care of our trash, food and candles so we do not attract them.

Will it be hard to move back to the tepee after living in the lap of luxury here in our current house sitting situation you ask? Well, to be honest, yes. In some ways it will be difficult, but on the other hand it is our property and our place. There is a lot to be said for that. We’re actually tired of living in someone else’s home and are very excited about having a place to call our own after so long. We’ve been living out of a suitcase now for about 3-1/2 years. Crazy I know! I don’t even remember what we have in our storage unit anymore. It will be like Christmas once we actually are able to unpack it. We also look at the tepee as a kick in the pants. It will be a little uncomfortable to move back, but hey…discomfort is a great motivator. But don’t get me wrong…the tepee is also very cool. For any of you that haven’t ever seen one or stayed in one you should come up to visit so you can check it off your life list. Something about it feels so good….maybe it’s that Feng Shui thing…I don’t know. I think those Indians were pretty smart though. We’ve kept it erected all winter and it survived the high winds and snowstorms and it’s still standing strong. I think the greatest thing about the tepee is how it reconnects you with nature. You are really at the mercy of Mother Nature all the time, good and bad. If it’s raining you are damp, if it’s sunny and warm the light through the canvas is so lovely and inviting, if the wind is blowing you’re confined to it’s protection, if it is night and the stars are out you can stargaze through the smoke flaps. It also lights up like a big candle when we have lights on inside at night. It is beautiful! The other thing I miss is watching the sunrise and sunsets. You really miss out on those when you live in a house. We have amazing views on our property and combined with the rising and setting of the sun they served as our daily entertainment. We are looking forward to not having a TV like we do at this cabin because it is such a time waster. At the tepee we read books, wrote in our journals, knitted, talked, watched movies on the laptop, or just went to bed early when the sun went down every night. I think being more connected to nature and less “plugged in” in general is never a bad thing. We plan on keeping the tepee up even after the house is built to remind us of that but also because it rocks! I hope to deck it out on the inside someday so it’s more like a big comfortable living room. We won’t always live like dirtbags you know. :)