Amen to that!! Cherish your memories, take photos and videos you can relive , and move onto newer pastures...
@Cody Fousnaugh The cowboy @Bill Boggs speaks of is a thing of the past! Yes, many ranches still have roundups, hot iron branding, etc., but machinery and modern living have taken a toll on the cowboy or cowgirl of the past. The days of living on the range with limited supplies and hunting to survive are gone. The campfires and real cowboy poetry are gone. Going to a rodeo once a year, displaying your hard earned ranch skills has been replaced with professional rodeo performers that practice and perfect their skills just for the rodeo. They would quit being a cowboy or girl, if things went back in time to the cattle people.that did what they had to do to make a living. The days of carrying a 45-70, a 30-30, a Colt peacemaker, and a Bowie knife as necessary tools are gone. I grew up on a Rocky Mountain ranch (except a few years) and while I experienced branding. castrating, roundups, chuck wagon meals, campfire singing/poetry, and playing like I was Annie Oakley, I also experienced pickups, blasting the AM radio, electric guitars, telephones, two way radios in all our vehicles, tractors, and trailers for hauling cattle to the auction. No riding the Chisholm trail or such. Being an only child, I wasn't afforded the luxury of selecting ranch jobs by gender role. We all did what we had to do. Cooking sewing and cleaning were everyone's work. Refusing learning welding to repair equipment as boy's work, was futile and I learned to love all ranch work. When I complained about not getting to go to town because of 18 hours on the tractor pulling a seeder to beat the rains, my grandmother reminded me of hours she spent walking behind a plow pulled by a mule when my grandpa was injured. It was always about beating the impending weather. The days of the real cowboy and girl ended in the early 1900's. The ranch life I experienced before cell phones, the internet, and quick response life flight, is gone. And yes Bill, I treasure those memories, but have no desire to return to that time. When I tell young people of having an outhouse for years, they asked what I did in the winter. I answered the same as you, when I had to go I used the available facilities. And no, I never had to use the Sears and Roebuck catalog. We had real toilet paper.
Great story, @Faye Fox ! I remember having to pack water (or shovel snow to melt it for water), and only having an outhouse. Like you, the memories are treasured, but definitely not something I ever want to have to do again. Enough of the pioneer thing for my lifetime, I am ready for comfortable and cozy from now on. Miss the horses, riding in the hills, the trail rides and gymkhanas , and all of the good things that went with living in the country and having horses, but from now on, they are just memories for me.
I'm not sure what people are referring to when seeking a senior citizen friendly location. What would that entail? I didn't think there was any place in the USA or possibly world, where the rest of society is going to give you financial breaks and pat you on the head for getting older. Even retirement areas require adequate funding. When I was younger, I would get so annoyed by the whine of seniors about being on fixed incomes. Most everyone is living on a fixed income regardless of age. Living on what you have coming WITHOUT even having to go to work.....now THAT is a true joy. Budget and move on.
Well said, Bess. "Bloom where you are planted." Earlier I was reading about the "best retirement cities" and when I saw San Francisco on the list I surfed away from the nonsense.
I have said this is my last comment on your search for the holy grail. This is in answer to your most recent comment to me. You wear what do because wrangler and cinch and resistol sponser rodeo events. They're much like Nike or the makers of post toasties, you gotta dance with what brought you. You and yours have gone to considerable effort and expense chasing your dream. But know this, I am eminently qualified to speak on western culture, including farm and ranch life, rodeoing, cow lots, stock yards, raising and getting cattle to market. While not a degreed expert, I have much experience with farm and ranch life. My interest has been both business and social. I have attended two rodeos in my lifetime. I took my wife to a rodeo, in our third year of marriage, then a few years later I took my son to see one. Rodeoing is much like the Friday night football games going on all over America. Football is a more popular but participates in both rodeoing and football are seeking fame which is more important to the participants than the dollars earned. When the professional stage is reached both have decent paydays but a rodeo practitioner's professioner life is a bit shorter than the football player. In some areas universities have an interest in the sport and offer schlorships for those who are good and a cut above. There may be small pockets left to satisify your urge for something cowboy but by and large looking for the ideal place, is like searching for that treasure at the end of the rainbow. It's hard to find. Your search does seem a bit childish to me, having watched several industries become unprofitable and so much disappear. It does seem to me at your age you are passing by so much. And, there is always the chance I am wrong.
Perhaps those senior friendly places like where @Lon Tanner lives. I guess they are friendly but when the cash runs out I imagine they’re no longer friendly. To be sure though, there will always be a little tension between the older and younger. The older yell, “get off my grass” whilst the younger folks yell when we insist on the senior discount at a store or go a bit slow. But then, it’s all good because it is what it is and as we grow older we forget what it was to be young and stupid and the young figure we do not know anything. When we were young, we were just as impatient as the young are today. Although, if I remember it right, it was those derned seniors that kept yelling at me to cut my hair! No good old people! Why don’t you GROW some HAIR old man and quit bugging me about mine!!
I am looking for one that I can afford and won't have to live in fear of real estate prices doubling in two years making taxes go sky high and utilities doubling in price. One that won't be invaded by meth labs. One where one's beliefs don't have to be hidden in fear of getting beaten by liberal protected thugs. I guess what I want is a Senior retirement independent living community that is affordable and isn't religious or political based. One that is close to good medical facilities. I am not looking for a financial break because I am a senior, just some place that doesn't have overpriced senior amenities and services included in the price. Maybe I should look into Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville. I could be .... Nibblin' on healthy fruit cake Givin' my protein drink a shake Wanting all of those foods drippin of oil Strummin' my six string on my front porch swing Smelling my neighbors steaks They're beginnin' to boil Getting old hangin in Margaritaville Searchin' for my lost train of thought Some people claim I'm the woman to blame But I know it wasn't my fault Don't know the reason Or really what season Nothing to show but this brand new bruise But it's a real beauty A black and blue cutie I think I'll go and take a snooze Wastin' away again in Margaritaville Searchin' for my lost train of thought Some people claim I'm the woman to blame Now I remember it is my fault
@Faye Fox I don't think there is ANY place where seniors could insulate themselves in a safe real estate bubble. They cause a lot of the tax hikes themselves. They move into an affordable area. They demand medical facilities, wheelchair ramps, better roads, more traffic lights, gated neighborhoods, etc. THEN the local taxes go up and the younger locals can't even afford to live there any longer. This has happened to many many small communities in Florida. Therefore, the senior citizens are not seen as a particular blessing.
@Cody Fousnaugh @Bill Boggs A little spontaneous old cowgirl poetry for you cowboys. The cowboy of the past with all the blood and gore Were not defined by dress from a western store Past cowgirls worked hard from rising till bed Not like the Hollywood ones, angrily marching, Wearing plastic female genitals on their head