I’ve always thought a place needed to have big trees, mountains and water (preferably ocean size but Lake Michigan works in a pinch) to be considered beautiful. You’ll note that Colorado only truly has the mountain part going for it. Thus, I wasn’t surprised when I moved out here to discover that I didn’t think Colorado was beautiful (much to the apparent consternation of everyone else that lives out here). However, recently I’ve come to the conclusion that what I really need to consider something beautiful is space. Trees, mountains and water are nice but space is essential.

I drove to one of our rural libraries today for a meeting. Even though Weld County has none of the things I traditionally consider beautiful, I love driving on the country roads. Life just seems better when there’s breathing space instead of row after row of houses. I don’t expect I’ll ever end up living in the country (Jaeger really enjoys civilization) but it’s nice to be able to drive through it and dream