Linda Zinck:  

Life I haven't been able to get into my own site for about the last 4.5 years, but a friend who knows about this sort of thing helped me get into this. So here goes. I moved out of Denver in 2007 and spent two miserable years in New Mexico in a county with a population of about 12,000 people. Little place called Silver City, NM, birthplace of Billy the Kid. Now I know why he was psychotic. I ended up driving like demons and ufo's were after me about at about 85 mph, 108 miles to to Las Cruces, NM where there was a mall just to see total strangers. The town is supposed to be a paradise, and I guess it is if you like hot and cold running desert rats and roaches in your house. Not to mention some other interesting fauna. But the flora was fantastic. And if you can get past miles and miles of plastic grocery bags and other assorted garbage, you can find some really beautiful country there. I've been living in Douglas County, OR (population 30,000 in Roseburg, alone) for the last five years while getting my act together.The area is depressed financially, but there are enough people and a community college. I love that Eugene is 70 miles away so that if I want to see a mall, it's a straight shot up I-5 to a mall. I am within 50 miles of the Pacific, which I missed for all those years I spent on the other side of the Great Divide. Summer is coming and that means free concerts in the park, hiking, camping, going to the An Tir West War and the festivals and county fairs. Life is impr...Expand for more