buckle-up

Not in our house! So the expression goes; often times, within the context of one sporting event or another as the home team is about to enter the field of play! It’s a cry to colleagues not to let the other side intimidate or indeed embarrass the home team in front of their fans! But it’s also a reminder that it is our home that we hold most dear to our hearts – a place of refuge and cheer. A place where we are at ease! A place we can retreat to whenever the weather worsens or the worries of the day look are overwhelming us. The house was built on an acre plus of land purchased towards the end of 1998. Margo and I were to marry in January, 1999, and we had separate homes at the time, with Margo living in a townhouse in Saratoga, California, while I had a cottage up in the foothills of Boulder, Colorado. Both homes were ideal for us each as they were close to where we were working at the time and yet, simply moving into existing premises didn’t seem to be what we should do. As a c...

The drive between the village of Niwot, where we have lived for almost two decades, and the township of Windsor, where our new home is under construction, is never routine. The principle highway involved is Interstate 25 (I25), an arterial highway that runs from the Mexican border all the way up to Wyoming before joining Interstate 90, which is running east to east for most of the country. I25 sees a horrendous volume of traffic and for first-timers it’s always a shock to see how average speeds have crept up to where these days, if you aren’t maintaining a speed in the mid-80s, you will surely become responsible for creating a mobile chicane. Vehicles on this road can behave badly and oftentimes prove unpredictable so routinely there are sizable wrecks for no apparent reason other than someone was distracted. This is a straight road with really good visibility. Well, most of the time, that is. However, this week there was a storm of biblical proportions that descended onto Colora...

With spring in full bloom and the weather just perfect, we are welcoming the change of season with open arms. In past years we have spent much of this time of the year on the road but not so this year and we were rewarded handsomely with the gradual whitening of the driveways, courtesy of the many snowberry trees that are no longer ours. Typically, March and April are the snowiest months of the year for all those residing along Colorado’s front ranges, but not so this year. After a teaser of a snowstorm a few weeks ago it’s as if Mother Nature threw aside her white mantle and exchanged it for more colorful attire. We took full advantage of the warmer weather spending a lot more time out of doors. With our new home under construction and many decisions to do with structures and fittings already settled upon, it was time to spend late afternoons walking the corridors of the many malls we know. Inspiration? Ideas as to how to best accessorize the home?  A new sideboard here and ...

There aren’t too many occasions when photos of our Boulder home are depicted under cloudy skies but this time, it seems more than appropriate. After spending seventeen years “in residence” in the village of Niwot, Boulder County, the deed has been done. We closed on the sale of the only home Margo and I have known in all the years we have been married. Talk about sentimental – we hardly pass a day without some second thoughts about moving out, but the times have changed since we first moved into our home and selling our home just had to be done. A chapter in our lives has come to an end, as our good friends have reminded us more than once. All the same, it will be tough to write about this when we leave that final time and head to a house that will become our new home. For the next three months we will be simply tenants in our former home, charged with the responsibility of making sure nothing happens before the new owners move in, sometime mid-June. We will have made our depar...