The Seed is Planted

On the back of my Mapquested directions to our Colorado destinations, I begin sketching out an idea for a mountain retreat: we’d buy 35 acres of land and on the property we’d have an elegant yet Spartan cabin that we’d rent out to city dwellers who need a quiet repose from the stress of urban living. It would have an outdoor shower, a feather bed and aromatherapy. No TV. No Internet. No telephone. We’d create packages with horseback riding, yoga classes and massages in town. Everyone would live happily ever after.

I know it is the dream of countless Texans who have escaped the August heat in the cool mountain regions of Colorado. For a week after their return they float in a gauzy dream state, holding on to the final fleeting remnants of the peace they found in their mountain hideaway. Maybe I’ll move there, they think. It’s so pure, so clean, so beautiful. No crowds, no cars, no shopping malls or multiplex movie theaters. Why don’t more people live there?

At first, I'm afraid to share my thoughts with my husband. While I tend to be the more practical one and he the dreamer, I know that if he shoots down my notion with the fair dose of reality it, quite frankly, deserves I will be crushed. I feel I have never been so on fire about anything in my life. Did I think I was motivated in the past? Because THIS is motivation. This is the real deal.

But he doesn't shoot it down. We see eye to eye through that tiny sliver called hope. Chance. Daring. Craziness, boredom, burnout, inspiration. Call it what you will, but we're going for it.