After Jeff died, I moved to California to help take care of my father. He didn’t actually need a lot of help, but he did need someone there to watch over him, so I was able to find a life for myself. During the first three years, I mostly walked. And walked. And walked. Then I discovered dancing, and that became a saving grace for me. (Well, maybe not “grace” since it didn’t make me all that graceful, but I still managed to hold my own, even during performances.)
After my father died, I became nomadic — housesitting, traveling, staying in motels. But always, I ended up back in that desert town because I didn’t know where else to go. Besides, I had friends there, and dancing.
Then came the opportunity to buy a house in a small town in Colorado. I was sad to leave my dance classes and my friends, but I was delighted to leave California. Although the high desert was livable, the politics of the state weren’t. Even if I could have afforded to live there, I would have left out of self-preservation.
I was glad to settle back into Colorado. That is, I was glad until I realized that the Colorado I left wasn’t the same one I returned to. The state had always been moderate, and yet somehow the state had become uber-liberal, as bad if not worse than California, with punitive policies and little representation of the rural areas. I live far from Denver, but that sanctuary city with its insane laws neutralizes the outlying areas even further. Not only do they try to take our water (which makes the building of the conduit from Pueblo out to the Kansas border a boondoggle because there won’t be any water for them to share with us) but they are also taking away the ability for counties to create their own zoning laws. Instead, small towns must adhere to the same unaffordable “affordability” zoning laws that are being put into place in the big cities. A state that once had a tax surplus is now in a sinking hole of debt because of liberal ideologies and the fraudulent misuse of tax dollars. Then there is the bought-and-paid-for governor who’s making his own deals with WHO and Zelensky and anyone else that can further his agenda of separating Colorado from the governance of federal agencies. (Though he still wants federal funds.) All this creates at times an uncomfortable dichotomy between the individualistic rural areas and the collectivistic urban areas.
So how did Colorado come to this when I wasn’t looking? Tons of money from east coast liberals, and maybe even west coast, came flooding in. Most of the money for democratic candidates comes from outside the state, while most of the money for conservative candidates comes from inside the state. Which says to me that the state would have preferred to remain conservative, or at least somewhere in the middle where it had always been. (Today, slightly less than a quarter of registered voters are democrat, another scant quarter is Republican, and slightly more than half are registered as independent or unaffiliated.) Many districts no longer even put forth a republican candidate for any office. They simply can’t match the funds the democrats have at their disposal.
Why the push to buy Colorado? I have no idea, though I guess it was easy in part because so many people from California had moved here. I never understood that, frankly. You move from a cesspool of high taxes and an overreaching government, and you immediately start creating a similar cesspool, but that’s what they did.
Although the politics of Colorado has changed drastically, the feel of the state hasn’t. The air feels like home. The weather, though not always to my liking, is what I was used to growing up.
And I’ve made good friends here, making this small town even homier.
Even though I grew up in Denver, it turns out I’m a small-town girl at heart, though I do wish — silly me — that politically things were different. Still, the machinations of politicians and their backers, and those who espouse extremist policies have always horrified me so I don’t imagine things will be that different. I hope not. And anyway, I’ve managed to survive seven years here, so with any luck, I’ll continue to do okay.
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Pat Bertram is the author of Grief: The Inside Story – A Guide to Surviving the Loss of a Loved One.
Bertram's Blog 
March 3, 2026 at 5:10 pm
wish the politics were different also. Also, missing my dance group.. Hope spring is soon. I am not really happy with the coolness. You know I am a desert rat. Maybe God will deliver me to Flordia. Ha Ha!
March 3, 2026 at 5:52 pm
It could happen!
March 4, 2026 at 8:04 am
Only if I win a house there prices are tooooooooooo high for this gal.
March 4, 2026 at 8:15 am
Where you are? For sure!!!
March 4, 2026 at 8:25 am
I am living in a trailer on the back lot of my daughter’s house in Pueblo West. Quite different from a 4 bed 2 bath house. HUH?
March 4, 2026 at 8:41 am
Very different! It makes the loss of that special person so much more difficult. I’m sorry you have to deal with this.
March 3, 2026 at 5:12 pm
By the way, I’ve always been a small town girl so I understand raised in a small town outside of Chicago, called Orland Park. No way can I go back those people are crazy.
March 3, 2026 at 5:53 pm
Yep. There’s a lot of that going around!
March 4, 2026 at 8:02 am
For sure. Is it nationwide or world wide?
March 4, 2026 at 8:17 am
I’m not sure. I do know left-leaning places seem to grow a lot of craziness.
March 4, 2026 at 8:20 am
Surely, seems that way.
March 4, 2026 at 8:23 am
I have found that my life is not what I wanted, what I prayed for or anywhere close to what was “expected” of me. However, I have found by grace that things have been provided.
March 4, 2026 at 8:44 am
Good attitude. It’s all we can do, really — be grateful for what we have and what has been provided. I’m not sure I had an idea of what I wanted for my life, which turned out okay because so much that was good in my life came unplanned. Like Jeff. Like dance classes! Like this house.
March 4, 2026 at 8:50 am
I thought I knew what I wanted. However, it turned out differently than what I thought it would.(divorce) Then I had what I wanted but for such a short time, it seemed almost not there. Parents expected better. I really wanted ( our secret) to do the digs in Africa and South America. Ended up teaching special needs children (although I have to admit that was a great choice too.)
March 4, 2026 at 8:58 am
Doing the digs would have been cool. But whatever regrets you have, from my point of view, you turned out great.
March 4, 2026 at 1:37 pm
Thanks, rarely heard from anyone. You are the bomb!
March 3, 2026 at 5:57 pm
When I grew up, Denver was divided into neighborhoods complete with grocery stores, libraries, churches, and schools, so each neighborhood functioned as a small town. This town feels like one of those neighborhoods, which makes it seem even more familiar.
March 4, 2026 at 8:00 am
Guess I would love something like that but I need to be where there is a “family” member (just incase) I have lived in so many places that I am unsure I would feel settled ever again. Apple Valley was my home. I loved it. However, now I just look ahead to spring. Hopefully it will bring me a few trees as windbreaks, a few vegetables for eating and a few flowers for beauty. Have a great one.
March 4, 2026 at 8:13 am
Apple Valley was a good place to live. I enjoyed my years there and the friends I made. But a choice between that and a house? No contest!
And yeah, age does present a problem. Too much can go wrong when you’re alone. Well, it can go wrong when you’re not alone, but at least there’s someone to help. I hope you find some peace with the situation. It’s not easy.
March 4, 2026 at 8:19 am
I look at it this way, Hopefully my family will move to a more acceptable state and I can finish out life freed from the crazies that have beset CA, CO, IL, MI, NY, RI, etc. However, the Communists are moving faster and gaining momentum. You would think that We the People, would look at Europe and just say NO. Don’t give us that EVIL! People are just too greedy. They want the same for everyone and it will never be that way.
March 4, 2026 at 8:24 am
I am amazed by how many young people (any people actually) have no idea where money comes from. They think it just magically appears and is endless, so they have as much right to it as people who work.
March 4, 2026 at 8:41 am
I have a son , the youngest, who never hesitates to let me know when he runs out of money. Thus haven’t spoken to him in a couple of weeks because my Social Security is not covering both of us. I try but it just won’t.
March 4, 2026 at 5:27 am
I would like to better understand what ” unaffordable” affordable zoning means with an example or two from your area of the country (if you could please).
March 4, 2026 at 6:34 am
the “unaffordable” is my snarky comment. But the affordability zones override county zoning laws, to add more dwellings in otherwise exclusive areas. For example, if the local zoning laws allowed one house per lot, say, the state laws can now override that and allow for more dwellings on that lot. If local zoning laws allow for only single unit dwellings, the state can override that and make them put up an apartment building. To be honest, I don’t think this will affect this area at all since it’s pretty stagnant, but the state overreach sets a precedent.
March 4, 2026 at 8:01 am
I really dislike the zoning code.. They are trying to force communism down our throats one way or another.
March 4, 2026 at 8:08 am
Exactly! I just realized how hypocritical it is — the governor is refusing to honor federal laws because he thinks they have no right to put strictures on his power, and then he turns around and does the same thing to the counties in the state. I do worry about their forcing communism on us. I knew they would — they’ve been trying for over a hundred years — I just didn’t think I’d be alive to see it.
March 4, 2026 at 8:12 am
I don’t know what you believe but I am hoping for the Second Coming before it gets too much worse. I really don’t want to see it but I have a very healthy curosity.
March 4, 2026 at 8:14 am
A healthy curiosity will see us through. I told my brother that I didn’t think I wanted to deal with this, but he said that it would be interesting. So that’s how I’m looking at it.