I grew up on the eastern plains of Colorado. Home for me was a small farming and ranching community of tight nit folks who worked hard and looked after one another. Sadly, like most rural communities in this nation that are within an hour’s drive of a major city, my home community has been turned into a bedroom community for Colorado Springs. Pastures that once provided feed for cattle or that were farmed to grow crops have been subdivided into small little parcels for people to build on. Now I am not against the American Dream of home ownership or striving to have something that is yours but have a little pride and care for your property.
Many of these places that have been purchased don’t have a well for water. None of them have an access road, and very few of them have any trees or protection from the winter storms that tend to ravage that part of the world. What most of these new properties have in common though are campers that were pulled in for people to live out of, many of which are not the least bit roadworthy or livable. Somewhere out there, there is someone making a killing selling junked out old school busses that most of these properties drag in and park as a home for the mice and snakes to live in. Theres scores of pallets that have been turned into makeshift fencing for a menagerie of animals that likely share the camper as a shelter. There’s not a dumpster in sight, so feed sacks, household trash and other lightweight disposables blow away in the wind and end up in the fields and pastures of those who are still trying to make a living off the land.
My point to all of this is that if you desire to own a piece of land in a rural area, respect the land that you are tasked with taking care of. There is only one planet earth, and we all have to share it. A collection of wrecked cars stacked up around three single wide trailers married together with duct tape and silicone isn’t art, its junk and nothing more than a habitat for mice and other rodents.
The developers that have divided these places up are only trying to make a fast dollar in my opinion. They have no regard for the community, the people who have lived there for generations or even the perspective buyers who want to make a home where the wind blows and the deer and antelope play. In a decade from now, many of these places will be abandoned with all the trash and junk left behind to rot and blow away in the wind. Folks learn the hard way that the eastern plains are a harsh place to live, and that hour and a half drive into the city everyday gets spendy when you must put gas in your car with every trip you make.
My home community has sure changed a lot since I called it home. Change is necessary, but it’s not always for the better. If country living is something that you aspire to be a part of, do yourself and your neighbors a favor and clean up after yourself. The wind blows hard and often out here, so if you want to live in a camper, you might want to invest in some good rachet straps and tie that thing down, so it doesn’t blow away with you in it one night. That’s my rant for this week, remember to be courteous to your neighbor and keep tabs on your side of the barbed wire. God bless.