breathtakingly peaceful

Last Saturday, Jack, Jack Jr and I took a drive to the middle of our mountain desert state to look at some recreational property that we wanted to buy. Unlike most people, we had made an offer that was accepted before we'd actually seen the property, although our offer was contingent upon an inspection of the property, so technically, we could have gotten out of the deal. But we (meaning I) knew as soon as the realtor sent us photos of the property that we would be purchasing the lot and building a cabin there. We knew from the photos that this was the place where we would build a cabin (and by build I mean literally build, with our own four hands--and the hands of our friends and our children and their friends). We knew it would be a retreat for us, our children, our grandchildren, and generations to come.

The realtor brought his 4-wheelers so we could drive down the public dirt road to our private road and then walk in to see the cabin site. Since the snow was three feet deep, he also brought snowshoes. Saturday was the first time I've ever been on a 4-wheeler, been on a 4-wheeler in the snow (hanging onto Jack's arms and back, since I was the rider and he was the driver), and it was the first time I've ever worn or walked in snowshoes. It was a perfect day, about 30 degrees, no wind, clear blue skies, and the snowshoes were a blast. Amazingly, just like on tv and in the movies, they do keep you almost on top of the snow. Who knew?

As we here in the gardens are nearly famous for our listmaking, we feel a list coming, entitled, "Why we are purchasing a lot on which to build a cabin."

1. The photo from the realtor
2. Photo of our private road with Jack Jr's footsteps following the tracks of a moose
3. Photo from the main road looking up towards our cabin site--we're the little tiny people in the middle of the picture
4. Photo of our land that surrounds our cabin site4. Close up photo taken from the main road of us standing on our cabin site
The photo at the top of this post is the view from our lot, taken where our private road meets the main road and we have the same view from our cabin site.

This place is a private, calm, beautiful escape from everything where we can choose to be with those we love. I can hardly wait to begin building.

I almost forgot--we made snow angels too. It was the best day in a long time.