You have to climb a hill – to climb a mountain

Last week I was lucky enough to take advantage of the warmer weather to start clearing a spot on my mountain property for a cabin.

In recent weeks I have had machine problems. The Kubota tractor I bought last year needed maintenance. It took three very long weeks to get the parts I needed, but I accomplished this “feat” last week.

I fired up the Kubota, warmed it up, did my checks and went to work!

The first objective was to build a temporary access road to the top of the hill that I had to remove. Then I started chipping away rocks, boulders and soil to start leveling the future structure. After about 10 hours of work, 50% progress! The machine is small. A friend in construction equipment sales called him “bringing a knife to a shootout.” He is right. But, that’s why I bought the tractor. I will continue to take care of “her” and I will take my time.

I am determined to reduce my footprint and my impact on this beautiful place while making it accessible all year round. The cabin foundation will be based on a jetty, allowing for proper runoff. I want it to blend as well as possible with the beautiful surrounding peaks and canyons. I work with a structural engineer to comply with Larimer County requirements and make the structure SOLID to hold up well in the windy environment.

With “baby and mama” bald eagles surrounding and shouting at me from my neighbor’s cliffs, I couldn’t help but appreciate and love even more – my future home. I will see the cliff and the eagle’s nest with a perfect view of the cliff from my room! And, they (along with other wild animals) naturally control the environment around us. We are partners in nature.

As I cleaned up, I realized what I was doing was no different than what I had been doing for years at North Forty News. I climbed a hill four years ago to climb a mountain!

My team and I started small and reduced rocks and boulders (representing the issues). We move these “boulders” every day, and now we have started climbing the mountain. The mountain in North Forty News’ case was expansion – to form Northern Colorado’s only regional weekly!

So my team and I at North Forty News are climbing the mountain.

Where do we go from here? As the newspaper approaches its 30th year, North Forty News will become more involved in our communities as we report on and share news about community-focused events, organizations and people.

As I “nibble” rocks and boulders, I will continue to climb the mountain — professionally and personally and couldn’t be more proud and excited for what lies ahead!