Oh no!! Walmart is here!!!

This is why we're moving......

This picture was taken from the Walgreens in our neighborhood subdivision.

Yes, the mountain views from our neighborhood north of Albuquerque are absolutely gorgeous and some of the best in the area, but when we built our house in Rio Rancho 12 years ago, all that we had as neighbors besides a handful of houses, was a Dairy Farm.
Yes, some people thought we were nuts for building a house near a cow farm, what with the infrequent cow-type odors that would waft over our neighborhood on the rare occasion.

Back then we loved the rural feeling of having a farm with all the open grassland, unobstructed views, almost zero traffic and lots of peace and quiet.

Well, all that has changed since back then. A huge casino and resort was built on the nearby Santa Ana Indian land, a grocery store, movie rental shops, Walgreens, Dr's offices, even a Starbucks, and lots of lots of houses upon houses have all went up all around us and behind us.

Lots of Ticky Tacky tract houses everywhere we look. Lots of views of other houses and their rooftops, a gradual loss of the beautiful dark skies that New Mexico has always prided itself on.

We've had enough. We love our house, even though it is a Ticky Tacky tract house and we love our breathtaking views, but when weighed against all of the other negatives, this is not the lifestyle we want for our family.

We need wide-open spaces, views that go on forever, without houses, buildings, traffic and noise and light pollution destroying our joy. We want chickens and horses, some dogs, maybe some goats and a llama or two...out in the country.

And you know what?

I'd rather have the smell of a Dairy Farm occasionally wafting over my house with the sight of those pretty black and white bovines grazing the wide open spaces, then a humongous, crowded, dirty, noisy, crime-magnet Walmart store as our neighbor.