On the morning of December 19, with a heavy heart, I drove
north out of Ruby Valley, pulling away from Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge
– our home of the past four years. It
was a fitting exit – snow had fallen during the night, blanketing the marsh and
sagebrush, and the air was crisp and biting.
This was just how the valley was the day we drove to our new home, sight
unseen, four years earlier. And as we
pulled out of our driveway, a Golden Eagle flew up to perch on the telephone
pole beside our house, as though saying goodbye.
It was hard to say goodbye…
Our first night in our new house, before our ABF truck
arrived with our belongings, we slept on the floor of our new bedroom in
sleeping bags, Rod and I. Our last night
in our house, the moving truck having pulled away with all of our things, we
slept in sleeping bags on the floor of our bedroom, Rod, Charley, Reed and I
(well, Reed in his cradle…). I sat on
the floor of Charley’s empty room, nursing Reed, and felt a sudden wash of unanticipated
intense sadness. This is the house to
which we brought home our brand new baby girl.
This was the only home she’d ever known, where we’d raised her to age
three. This had been her bedroom, that I
lovingly and carefully decorated and filled.
Sigh – all the memories. I knew
we’d make new memories in our new home, but it was still so very bittersweet.
Our friend and neighbor Trish Freeman planned a
holiday/going away party, and invited all of our friends from the valley. The turnout was amazing. So many came to celebrate Christmas and tell
us goodbye. It was humbling. And they gifted us with a beautiful framed
piece of art with photos of the refuge.
The night before we pulled out, Charley, Reed and I retreated to the
bunkhouse, since our house was completely empty. And several of our neighbors came to keep us
company. Sarah Morris, Wendy
Malone… all of these people will be
greatly missed. And Charley will be so
sad to no longer have the Morrises to play with… or Paula.
How we will miss Paula. And the
daily visits from Trish (often twice daily sometimes three!) – they kept me
from being lonely. And kept the dogs
sane.
There is so much to miss, already, about Ruby Valley.
The beauty, the grandeur…
we’ll never live anywhere as majestic.
The water – straight from Cave Creek, a mountain-fed
stream. We’ll never have water so pure
and clean.
The isolation. I
learned, a LOT, about myself in the last 4 years. This is the one thing I feared most about
moving from our college town of Fayetteville to Ruby Valley. I was so anxious about being so isolated, and
how I would handle it. Oddly enough, I
ended up loving it – something I never imagined. It is so peaceful, so relaxing. It is actually so much harder for me to
return to civilization now – the crazy business of it all – than to live in
isolation. Who would have thought?
The mail service – we’ll never again be able to put a
package and a note in the mailbox to Don the mailman, saying “Let me know what
I owe you”, and have the mailman pay to deliver your package with a simple “I
owe you”.
Susie and the bus.
Where else can you have your own area delivery system via the
schoolbus? Need to get something to your
neighbor 45 minutes up the road? Send it
on the bus with Susie! Need to distribute
information about a holiday party? Send
fliers to everyone with Susie! And
another perk? Charley got to ride the
school bus like a big girl, thanks to dear Susie.
Our neighbors. When
you live 2 hours (in winter) from a gallon of milk, and civilization, you feel
very lucky to have others to talk to.
Trish, Paula, the Morrises, Wendy…
we all relied on each other for sanity!
We started Ladies’ Night every other Tuesday, which we all looked
forward to. Charley greatly looked
forward to her playdates with Henry and Evie, and her outside time with all 4
(and now 5!) Morris kids. What would we
have done without these people to get us through?
The neighbors and coworkers – as in – “It takes a village to
raise a child.” Charley is all the
better for all the people who contributed to her growth and development through
the first 3 years of her life. I look
back fondly upon these people. The
obvious people I’ve already mentioned – the countless hours spent sledding,
playing on the swingset, splashing in the pool, etc. etc. with the Morrises,
having a “Ladies’ Night” (just Charley and Wendy) to make pottery and play
games, making Valentines with and a Halloween surprise from Trish, coffee dates
and potty prizes from Paula. Then there
was the attention she received from our summer volunteers – Jackie, Pat and
Klaus. And of course Susie… Susie always had a soft spot for Charley and
Charley loved her.
The community. The
people of Ruby Valley were welcoming to us from the start. Inviting us to play basketball, participate
in book club, to attend craft days and baking demos and various events, to be
part of Ladies’ Club – playing bunko and other games, inviting us to play
soccer, etc. They always made us feel
welcome and included, and everyone was super friendly. The Dahls, Livingstones, Larsons, Sampsons,
Neffs – they were all great. It was a
great close-knit community that you rarely find in America anymore. With a one room school house for all the kids
in the valley and a community hall to foster fellowship, it was a great place
to be a part of. Annual Trunk or Treat,
Santa at the hall, egg hunts at the school – we’ll miss it all.
My mom’s group. Not
really Ruby Valley – Elko – but as much a part of my experience living there as
anything. I found the group by inquiring
about birthing classes while pregnant with Charley. Although there were none available, I was
directed to the Family Resource Center, and in turn learned about the Family to
Family classes offered there. As luck
would have it, once Charley was born and spring finally arrived and I was ready
to start traveling to town for “fun” (rather than long grueling days of
errands), they condemned the building the classes were held in. Luckily, the 0-1 year old group started a FB
page in order to keep meeting on their own, and I was linked up to them. That summer, I met up with this great group
of moms in the park a couple of times, and soon found a great group of women
that over the next 3 years became a super support group for me. Once the FRC reopened in a new location, we’d
become a close group, attending holiday and birthday parties throughout the
year. Charley’s and my lives were so
much enriched because of this group, and especially Monica – my dear friend
Monica, Charley’s best friend Layla, and Reed’s almost best friend Owen. ;)
Thanks to Monica, every single time I went to town I had a lunch date, a
playgroup companion, someone to meet up at the park with, and often someone to
spend the night with so Charley and I could fit in both playgroup and
storytime, a couple of lunches and some fun play time with our friends.
What I won’t miss about Ruby Valley:
The winters. The
wind. The weather being bad for 8 months
out of the year. That’s it.
Well, okay – that and the kill everything mentality. Wildlife is generally hated in the west. Coyotes, badgers, ground squirrels,
porcupines, mountain lions… you name
it. Most people see no good in them and
make it their mission to kill them – all of them. I really hate this. I’ve never lived anywhere where this
mentality is so prevalent, so domineering, so – terrible.
The isolation. J Yes, I loved it… but I will admit, I was often jealous of my
friends in town. Playgroups, park dates,
storytimes at the library, ice cream meet ups – all in the course of a
week. Sigh. Oh well – I might as well focus on the “like”
part of it, because where we’re going is just as remote!
Living at the place you work, you can never get away from
the job. Ever. Of course, this won’t change at the new
refuge. L
WE WILL MISS YOU RUBY VALLEY AND FRIENDS!
