New Mexico

We just call it "the mountain"

There's a place in the sun
and before my life is done
Gotta find me a place in the sun.

Stevie Wonder

I wrote my last post last week, but I forgot to post it until yesterday, so here comes another one.

Jackie and I are thinking about moving to New Mexico, and when we start thinking about something like that, we tend to do it sooner rather than later. The reasons for moving are mostly financial. Houses are about $250,000 dollars cheaper in the Albuquerque area than they are here, with lower property taxes and lower homeowner's dues. Our plan was to wait more than two years, until Jackie retires, but she can work from anywhere, and the financial incentives are just as valid now as they will be in two years.

Why New Mexico? Well, it will be nice to move somewhere dryer, warmer. Arizona is too hot, Nevada is too hot and is mostly either Las Vegas or desolation, Texas is out, California is too expensive, the East Coast is far from family. Much of New Mexico is cooler than Arizona, because the Rocky Mountains extend into New Mexico. Albuquerque is at over 5,000 feet elevation.

The truth is, we really don't know much about the place. We do know it will be sunnier.

Jackie and I moved here thirty years ago, in 1995, me in February, Jackie following in either June or July, not sure which. Lucas was born in early August. In October, Edgar hit The Double, and Junior scored from first to beat the Yankees, still probably the highlight of the Mariners franchise.

In December, we bought a house in Marysville. We had a five-year plan to buy a house in California before we moved north, for about $300,000. By the time the five years passed, we would not have been able to afford the house. California real estate always grew in value faster than our incomes grew. But the house in Marysville cost $142,000, and we bought it in our first year here.

Jarrod has lived around the country on long-term work assignments, but this is the only place the boys have ever called home. Thirty years is a long time.

That said, Jackie and I have never felt tied too closely to any one area, and we are looking forward to something different. New Mexico would be a good base for travelling around the Southwest, an area we do not know well.

Most likely, nothing will happen before June, because we have local commitments in May and June. After that, I expect we will move.

As of now, I have walked over 314,000 steps in March, and by the time tomorrow ends, that number will be about 328,000, more than any month since December 2023. The weather is getting better, and we are getting back into a groove.

Last fall on my street.

It rains here, and we have rainbows. My house is on the right, with a pot of gold inside.

A wild sunset from our neighborhood.

Jarrod bought six dog toys for Arlo, whose eyes bugged out.