Excerpt
Funny thing about boundaries, they don’t have to be limitations, maybe they are well- camouflaged opportunities. Thinly disguised new beginnings. The K-T boundary was not so good for T-Rex and his scaly friends yet the earth became a mostly blank sheet of paper for what came next. The Alps and the Himalayas were next, and more. Much more. Two summers ago the mountains between Creede, South Fork and Pagosa Springs were on fire for weeks. One of the largest wildfires ever in the state. This on top of a massive tree die-off over the past decade from the pine beetle. The combination was bad. Paige and I will not live to see the old forests return to the mountains behind Creede, but our grand-daughter will.and in the mountains, change and and new life and different trees and new beginnings take their place. Two years ago The Forest Service put a boundary around the area to hikers and backpackers. The Rio Grande was black for months with ash from the fires. But inside that boundary today is new life. Different, to be sure, but new and fresh and very much alive. The ash in fact was the best fertilizer for the valley and the fish are back as before.
Makes you wonder about other life-changing events that we can easily treat like boundaries. That first job that we are not wild about. Is it a boundary or an opportunity? An important class with a prof that I could not stand. A new marriage about to be embarked on. An unappreciative boss. Taking a chance on a career change. An illness. Adding to the family. Moving, because of opportunity or a lack thereof. Going to different kinds of rehab with hope of being better, stronger, different, changed. Being alone after the loss of a loved one. Seeing our children and grandchildren off to college. Watching our loved ones age and die. What to make of a new person in your life? Our own fears. Again, boundary or opportunity?