2021-08-16
Aspirations Aligned

ASPIRATIONS ALIGNED

Yesterday, while Chelsea took Sidney to his first day in college at UNM, Olivia Luz, Milo, Enzo and I had the pleasure of walking across Hacienda Dominguez to plant trail marker signs.

It was hot and one water bottle each was insufficient for what became almost a four-hour hike, but we endured and the family time, becoming familiar with our land and the exercise were well worth the exhausting and dehydrating experience.

It was not until our return that we became aware that we were on the neighborhood watch register. When I finally had cell reception and WiFi again, I recieved a slew of messages from the HTR text group inquiring about “Who’s playing horse shoes?”

Likewise, this past week there was much to do about gunshots having been heard coming from the direction of our property. Despite the subsequent investigation, no guilty parties were found. That said, as one neighbor put it, “Practically everybody is packing up here, but hardly anyone ever shoots.” The conclusion was that someone must have been target practicing.

That all said, I finally put two and two together to make four and realized the sound of us pounding t-posts into sand, gravel and bedrock probably sounded like horseshoe-playing echoing across the arroyos. Good to know we have a strong community here looking out for one another.

The highlight of the hike for me personally was to find out that our aspirations here well align with those of my oldest son, Enzo.

Him and his girlfriend Maddy just graduated from Princeton and traveled across the country for a month and ultimately loved their time in the Southwest. They’re looking for jobs now, but coincidentally the kind of work experience they’re seeking might possibly had right here at our new homestead: permaculture farming, land and water conservation, as well as establishing a regenerative health and land restoration travel and leisure Mecca here in Cerrillos, New Mexico.

Much like how Dominic’s own experience on the lake restoration project in Nevada this summer aligned well, I’m looking forward to see how we can help these two grads gain some invaluable experience, while mutually benefiting and making this world a better place at the same time.