A little lost

I know I haven't spent much time on my blog. I've been over on Facebook, wasting time. I've been a little lost since the fire. I was in a state of shock, losing everything but keeping the things most important to me; my family and my pets. Nobody died, just a neighborhood. I haven't talked much about this to anybody. My family says I need counseling. It's post traumatic stress syndrome. I've become very quiet, not having much to say about anything. I could probably type for hours on the subject, but not tonight. Tonight is for Milo. Milo was born in the mountains on a cold February day. He's a mountain boy. Always has been. He likes running wild through the woods; chasing rabbits, foxes, and yes, bears. He's not afraid of the dark, just the low rumble of thunder during a thunderstorm. He would always find me and stay close during a storm. On a short drive up the hill to Steve and Dee's house, he would run behind my car, trying to stay with me. He would help me raise the flag at the school house. He would lick my face with that big wet tong and look at me, eye to eye, as if he understood everything I was talking to him about. My brother-in-law lived next door to us, well, kind of for mountain living. That is where Milo's Mom (Shilo) and his sister (Cheyenne) live. When we would leave him at home alone, he would bark and howl; scratch at the door until it splintered. Finally, we started leaving him with his mom and sister. He seemed to enjoy the family living, at least until I came home. Then he couldn't get up to me fast enough. Fortunately, my brother-in-law did not lose his house in the fire. We tried keeping Milo with us in town but it didn't work out well for him. He needed to run free in his forest. We talked to my brother-in-law and his wife. They agree that he needed to stay up in Sunshine, so they kind of adopted him. I get visitation rights anytime I want them. For a while I would bring him into town on weekends. He would not leave me. He was always just behind me, on my right side. When I would take him home, he would jump out of the car and run over to his mom. I quit spending time with Milo almost a year ago. I know it's best for him. He's happy now. I just really, really miss him.

The View

Thanks to Jeff Burch for the view west of Boulder. Sunshine is up there someplace.

Our New Home

Greetings to all that have followed my blog. Sunshine is continuing to rebuild. As far as our family, we have moved to Erie, Colorado. Now we get to "see the view" instead of "being the view". Be safe.

So many things have changed this year, but one tradition we’re determined not to lose is the Annual Sunshine New Year’s Eve Progressive Party. Come celebrate the beginning of a NEW YEAR!

6:00—8:00 p.m. Appetizers at Megan & Brian Joseph’s
175 Misty Vale

8:00—10:00 p.m. Dinner at Suzi & Dennis Covey’s

493B County Road 83 10:00 p.m.—??? Dessert/Champagne at Deirdre & Jonathan Damron’s

86 Misty Vale

Life continues

This little community continues to amaze me. The great community of Sunshine is doing it's best to keep the love flowing. We have had pot luck dinners, FAC (Friday afternoon clubs), and social gathering about every two weeks since the Sheriff let us back into our little town. About half the attendees are driving up from our exile in Boulder to socialize with the folks that didn't get burnt out.



I am not spending much time at the site of our old home. It is still too hard. I do get to see Milo once in a while. He is staying with his mother and sister at my brother-in-laws house. It would be almost impossible for my big buddy to stay in town with us. He would tear our rental house apart. He suffers from separation anxiety and scratches the doors, barks and howls until someone comes home. Not a good situation. This way he can romp and play in his usual neighborhood. Besides, he would miss chasing the bears.



Some of our great neighbors that lost their homes are not going to rebuild. We will miss them.

Although nobody died in the fire, we did lose Scott. He was diagnosed with bone cancer and died a few weeks later. Scott was a wonderful guy. He kept the neighborhood up and on-line. Our love goes out to his wife, Mary and their daughter, Gigi. I can't imagine how strong Mary must be, losing her home and husband within a couple of weeks of each other.

The band is planning a party at the Outlook Hotel on Friday, December the 3rd. I hope you all can come and raise a toast to surviving.

I can't say it been easy to drive from our temporary house in Lafayette to Sunshine. We continue to sift through the rubble and find little pieces of things that we held near and dear to our hearts. The community is trying to hold together. We have had pot luck dinners. One of our neighbors passed away and the family had a gathering in his honor. Most of the neighbor hood was there. Tim and Linda held a fund raiser for the fire department. It was a "Corn-hole" tournament and was a lot of fun. As the dust settles, we find that 160 homes were destroyed by the fire. That has put a big bite in the tax base. The fire department used the tax base most of it's income. There are two fire trucks that are not paid for and financial resources need to be found. We will rebuild.

There will not be a Halloween party this year. We are hoping the community will be ready next year.

A Sad Day In Sunshine

The largest forest fire in Colorado history took it's toll on our community of Sunshine. 90% of the houses were destroyed in the fire. Ours included. The fire started around 10:30 in Saline, one canyon to the south of Sunshine. With dry humity and high winds, it didn't take long for the fire to overtake any attempt to extinguish. Milo wants to re-build.