New West Microcosm

Serving the world

Shauna Sudbury is the recent owner of Castle Rock Coffee in Torrey. Shauna is a "move-in," like Kirsten and me, and we like to go to her place for breakfast to say hi, grab a baked good, a couple of egg sandwiches and lattes--Kirsten always gets an extra dark roast coffee to top off the already large lattes--and sit out front with a view of Torrey and Boulder Mountain. Castle Rock sits at the junction of two of the most scenic highways in the world and in the summer the locals are outnumbered here by the tourists. As we ate a loud group of eight Harleys pulled up, many with a couple on board. As the painful roar subsided and the helmets came off German floated our way. A Boss 5.0 Mustang pulled up with the top down. Again German. In a few moments a BMW motorcycle with a sidecar pulled up. This time Italian.

The Europeans know what is here and come from around the globe to enjoy it. Perhaps they know it better than the locals. I mentioned us move-ins. In Wayne County there are move-ins and there are locals and between the two there is a deep divide.

The gravel pit I mentioned in the previous blog remains in Wayne County Commissioners plans in spite of fierce opposition and a backed up chain of lawsuits. To my mind, like all the move-ins, a gravel pit in our Torrey-Teasdale front yard is a bizarre and intensely unwelcome offense. That we take offense in turn deeply offends the locals. Gravel pits, and extractive industry in general they say, is their way of life, their custom, their culture.

The world does not come to gateway communities like ours to suffer gravel pits.

When I built my home in Torrey in 1999 I was concerned that I would be the leading edge of a flood of baby boomers like me doing and seeking the same thing. I figured that if too many moved in I would have to sell and go find another quieter place. Fortunately too many did not move in because I have grown deeply in love with this place. And now I am changing my tune about welcoming more move-ins. I can see we need more move-ins to protect the place from itself. And I have a vision for what this valley could be that would be a very good thing.

I see Torrey-Teasdale as a microcosm of the New West and the win-win way of what it could be.

More about that in upcoming posts.