doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Wildly off-topic, seeking Nirvana?

Good to know Ryan, thank you.

Others may have seen it, a little news fun fact blurb. MI is one of a small few number of states with a shortage of uhaul trailers……seems there are more folks leaving, on one way trips. Lol.

Makes sense, if you're trying to get started into the world. I'm not. I'd be bringing a pile of guns and flyrods and looking for something much different. I'm not calling it a "last stand" but the right place could become that.

Look at your life calendar.

You are aging out.

Michigan’s UP doesn’t have the big trout water like the western rivers.
For the purposes of liquidity, since I don’t recall ever having read a post of yours concerning dogs or wives, I would recommend a condo with a nice view in one of the harbortown’s. And then when you decide to move back to wherever your kids are at, you’ll have no problem selling out.

CZ: I hadn't considered a condo, but I suppose that could be an option as well. And as far as "big trout water" goes, the known destinations out here are now largely overrun. It breaks my heart, and it isn't just me aging out.

I've got the wife, the child, and even the dog but most of the places I've haunted over the years didn't have many condos. That'll teach me to think a little bigger, won't it? The liquidity argument is a good one, but I'm not sure how the shooting and hunting lifestyle will fit in with the condo "crowd" (where does one hang his deer or clean his birds & fish?).

I'm looking at surgery next week that could determine how I recreate going forward, and I think I've come to grips with the fact that my days afield are now numbered (after you've planted enough people, you start to get a clue). I confess that I am selfish in that I haven't really considered the liquidity component for any of my possessions. I will start thinking more about that factor now too.

The biggest challenge to the condo-idea is my need for privacy and peace and quiet. I suppose even that is obtainable (for the right price?). I've been blessed in this life (& in so many ways) but I'm not sure I've been blessed quite that much.

I fully understand where you're coming from & can relate in many ways. Being as we're in the same age group & live in the same state, I've thought about making a move myself. Every conversation I have with myself comes full circle to the age-old question -- Is the grass truly greener on the other side of the fence?

There are a few basic facts which come into play when considering a major move.

1. No matter where you go--you'll always be considered an outsider pilgrim/immigrant. Here in Colorado, we know all about this in spades as you well know. If you don't have friends or close family where you move, life can be lonely & miserable. You can only fish & hunt so much & the other 99.9% of your time will be spent living your daily life.

2. This is the big one!! You're married and keeping your wife happy is what makes your life comfortable. I'm sure you've had conversations with her about moving, but have you actually listened to her? Before you contemplate making a move to someplace you think will make you happy, you better have a bunch of long serious talks with her about it & truly listen to her, she might go along on the surface, but deep down she might be hating the idea of moving to the boonies in a colder environment compared to where you've lived the last twenty years. Bottom line is: Happy Wife-Happy life!

3. If you're moving because of politics. Forget It!! Politics are everywhere & can change on a dime. There's no hiding from the results of any given election and always remember the populace centers in the big cities have the votes & control the election outcomes.

4. You control your own happiness--it might be wise to make the best of where you're at now and just travel to the places you think of as nirvana. Before you make an expensive anxiety filled move, rent a place where you're contemplating moving to for a few months & see if it really is the nirvana you dreamed of! You might be surprised at the results of that test drive.

Dogon: All good and practical considerations, thankyou! You've hit just about every point that I've been pondering. And you're sadly right: politics won't matter much after this next election. It will define so-much of our lives going forward.

My wife is actually driving this to a large degree (& much to my surprise). Part of that is her trying to understand how life will look in retirement (she's 7-years younger & pretty "type A" but... she's burning-out badly these days) and I'm discovering that, gasp(!)...women & aging are very different than men & aging (perhaps we have less to lose?). She has complained for years that I was "stuck in the past" (& that's simply because I had it so damn-good then) so perhaps this is her way of getting me to look forward a little? I now have friends and family in Florida and frankly...I'm sensing the wisdom of wintering in warmer climes, but she recoils at that thought. To her, Florida is (evidently) an endless strip-mall hell, full of brainless idiots and doddering old fools. She is a northern girl and she claims to love all the seasons (well, she'll be shoveling the driveway mostly by herself this winter, so we'll see how that goes).

Whatever we do, it will be after much prudent consideration. Colorado has become home to her in so-many ways (we've been in this house since 1991). Uprooting here will be near impossible at this point, but I'm playing along and we'll see how it all develops. She is arguably responsible for all the good things in my life (the best $5 I ever spent was for a marriage licence). She kept me alive through my 15-year Lyme's adventure and she's given me a fine son. Her happiness IS paramount to me (and also because I'm not entirely stupid).

Nirvana is in so-may places...







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Photographs just don't do it justice.

Not necessarily accurate unless you are one unpleasant SOB.

The very fact that you fish and hunt means that you will be welcomed with open arms at 99% of the 'Sportsmen's' clubs you will visit. Clubs are always looking for new members and it's easy to make new and lasting friends.

What better way to get to know a new area? I did just that here when I moved.

I've found this to be near universal... I was only unwelcome at one skeet club downstate due to my casual attire and lack of an imported car.

It seems you ruled it out, but why not stay based out of familiar grounds in CO, and find a little hide away, modern amenity cabin in WY. Maybe, a fiveish hour drive completely changes the surroundings, or small carrier flights. Even a shortish move to Ft. Collins cuts out that Denver area traffic snarl, but makes it easy to visit. Trout flyfishing can probably be found anywhere, but it doesn't hurt to have high peak snow melt, feeding crystal clear streams. Get better sooner rather than later!

craigd: I haven't ruled it out entirely, but as a product of the eastern deciduous forests myself (NW Pennsylvania) I do have an affinity for that type of biomass. I'm also haunted by the memory of how nice things still were out here even 10-years ago now(!). It's hard for me to go fish a stream (take the time, burn the gas) that once was beautiful and productive but now is crowded, trashed (not too-strong a word here), and essentially devoid of fish. I painfully understand why royalty in Europe (and/or the wealthy here) needed to make their best hunting and fishing spots private, because the hoi-polloi tend to destroy any such resource by abusive overuse. As a card-carrying member of said hoi-polloi, this bothers me to no-end, but...I have no other real solutions. Trout streams are a very delicate resource that doesn't much tolerate overuse and moreover... crowding is anathema to an old flyfisherman such as myself, as I fish to get away from it all (humanity, crowding, noise, etc.). As with most of the classic male pursuits (hunting, golf, gambling, drinking, etc.) fishing is an escape mechanism and there is no escaping from the crowds here in Colorado anymore. At least not on the Front Range. I also realize that this problem is endemic in the streams of the east and west coasts as well, thus my interests in "flyover country".