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88 years old and still works; broken hip and pulls herself upright to latch the gate. If everyone were like that, what a world it would be.
For many, that's till the norm here. I'm proud to have folks like this in my adopted state.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robyn55
Oh yeah - sounds like a ton of fun to me. Something to be proud off. Just like it's easy to be "Proud to Be An American" when you're sitting in front of your TV watching a football game while some guy in Afghanistan is having both of his legs blown off.
And the bottom line of the article was this:
Ms. Clark, the 80-year-old with the bad hip, said she did not suffer from the solitude either. Her chair is positioned to look through the big picture window that dominates her living room. On a clear day, you can see across her land and all the way, 60 miles or so, to Laramie Peak. It is a landscape drenched with the memory, she said, of her husband, Leo, who died last year after a long illness, and the six daughters they raised together on the land. “I sit, and I look,” she said.
Gosh - that sounds like a lot of fun too. Maybe if this lady had gotten some quick excellent medical care - she wouldn't be an invalid now (which is what the article seems to imply she is).
Robyn
It's a different perspective from yours. Objectively, that doesn't make it better or worse, but it does make it different. Would you force that old lady to move to town, to give up that view, really a view of her life, that she has? She'd be in misery. Would you tell Jesse Cardona he's too old to work? He'd feel worthless.
I've never been in agriculture so I've never worked the way they have. but I live far from the pavement and town; I want to stay where I am. could i get better medical care if I moved to a big city? Yes, but I've heard of people dying because an ambulance was stuck in traffic. I'm from the big city so i know both lifestyles. I'll take my quiet place with the million dollar view. If I die sooner because of my location, I 'll still have lived the life I wished.
I admire tough people; I always have. I hope that I'll be able to work when I'm 88. I had an aunt who worked almost that long. she would have worked longer if she could have found another job after her last employer dropped dead. It was a one girl office.
This morning i woke a little after 5. I was going to go back to bed, but my 7 year old dog heard me and I knew what I had to do. She and my 12 year old went out with me to attend to their necessaries and to run and play and investigate. My arthritis was bothering me so i sat down rather than roam with them. It was fine; I could see them. The sky was blue; the temperature was about 55. I could look at some rock formations a few miles away. We stayed outside for almost an hour. Would you force me to go to a city where medical help is near? I'd rather be dead.
You can have your cities and your football games. I'll take the country with all the frightening risks. There's not enough money in the world to buy me from my lifestyle.
It's a different perspective from yours. Objectively, that doesn't make it better or worse, but it does make it different. Would you force that old lady to move to town, to give up that view, really a view of her life, that she has? She'd be in misery. Would you tell Jesse Cardona he's too old to work? He'd feel worthless.
I've never been in agriculture so I've never worked the way they have. but I live far from the pavement and town; I want to stay where I am. could i get better medical care if I moved to a big city? Yes, but I've heard of people dying because an ambulance was stuck in traffic. I'm from the big city so i know both lifestyles. I'll take my quiet place with the million dollar view. If I die sooner because of my location, I 'll still have lived the life I wished.
I admire tough people; I always have. I hope that I'll be able to work when I'm 88. I had an aunt who worked almost that long. she would have worked longer if she could have found another job after her last employer dropped dead. It was a one girl office.
This morning i woke a little after 5. I was going to go back to bed, but my 7 year old dog heard me and I knew what I had to do. She and my 12 year old went out with me to attend to their necessaries and to run and play and investigate. My arthritis was bothering me so i sat down rather than roam with them. It was fine; I could see them. The sky was blue; the temperature was about 55. I could look at some rock formations a few miles away. We stayed outside for almost an hour. Would you force me to go to a city where medical help is near? I'd rather be dead.
You can have your cities and your football games. I'll take the country with all the frightening risks. There's not enough money in the world to buy me from my lifestyle.
No - I wouldn't force anyone to do anything unless he or she was endangering him or herself (in a very serious sense) or others.
And we don't know anything about this elderly lady's mindset. Perhaps she has 5 children and 20 grandchildren and maybe even great grandchildren scattered around the country. Who have asked her to move near them. And they're too busy to visit her - so they don't. You can paint the picture any way you want (and there are many possible pictures).
The older you get - the more important certain things become. Like being able to get your groceries without driving 30 miles to the nearest store in the snow. Being close to a major medical center if you need major medical care. It is easy to say you're willing to die sooner rather than later now. But what if you got a cancer that could be treated with chemo and radiation therapy - and the treatment might extend your life for 10+ years - but you were 100+ miles away from a place where you could get it? And - for those people who like socializing - being able to get together with other people on a regular basis. Etc.
And - the older you get - the less you are able to do. Like being able to keep on top of 50 or 100 acres or more.
I reckon if you have a 12 year old - you are not very old. How old are you? Probably younger than me and my husband (mid-60's). Certainly younger than my father (he'll be 93 next week). Note that my father's family has an amazing history of longevity. And - at age 93 - he has a villa in an independent living facility (near where I live). Still drives. Does his laundry (including ironing). Cooks a little - breakfast and lunch (the place where he lives serves dinner every night). Goes to the theater and the symphony (transportation through his ILF - he's not going to drive downtown to see this stuff). Attends adult continuing education classes at our local university. And he has all the medical care he needs here to keep him ticking until maybe when his mother died (she was 103). Or - if he's unlucky - when his father died (he was 97).
I guess this is a way of saying you don't have to live in the middle of nowhere to live to a ripe old age. My father and all of his family was/is urban suburban (his father - my grandfather - was a house painter in NYC). Apart from his parents' longevity - his older sister died at 92 - a younger sister died at 85 (but she was obese) - and he still has 2 living siblings - 92 and 87. It's nice to have good genes .
I like in a suburban area of a "minor" metro area. On about an acre of land. It is very much to my liking. Everything I need is pretty close - but I have my privacy. Still - as every year passes - my husband and I need more help to take care of things (we can afford it - so I don't mind).
I think as you age - you may reconsider what you like and dislike. I know my husband and I have done that. Robyn
My father refuses to give up on raising cattle. I don't think he has ever broke even with cattle, but he insists that one day he will make a big profit. I hope he does before he gets too old to keep up with them.
This conversation reminds me of one of our neighbors. In the winters here we usually get one storm each week, most will be between 1 and 3 inches of snow. Commonly three or four storms per season will each give us 6 to 8 inches in an over night dumping. The next day is always sunny, clear and bright. I clear our driveway with my tractor and go out to check on our neighbors. Commonly I will see others as they have finished with their driveways, going around to check on others. This one lady, lives by herself. She has an electric-start self-propelled 2-stage snow thrower in her garage. Her garage door is electric, she starts her snow-thrower in the garage and looks like she is walking along behind an old folks walker when she comes out. She does not want any help, she does just fine by herself. She throws that snow 40-foot in either direction and when she is done her driveway is always much cleaner than the road is. But what gets me is that each time I see her walking behind that machine, is her smile. She must be 90, and she shines the biggest smile that you ever saw, while she is clearing her own driveway.
I could never clear my driveway by hand. It would be stupid to try. I have a 300 foot long driveway. But having a tractor with a snow-thrower changes the equation for me. Moving snow is fun for me. It took us a couple years to figure out the right equipment for the job. But once you get the right equipment, it is not a big deal.
A cold coffee pot set onto the woodstove, and I can be done clearing our driveway about the time the next pot of coffee is ready.
I know that snow scares people. I lived down South in the snow belt for many years, those fools get feet of snow. It takes a out of work to move 2 feet of snow, or 3 feet even. Ouch.
But in this area it is different, and once you work out the appropriate equipment it is not a big deal.
I like that elderly lady living on here own, and I understand her smile. That machine equals her freedom to live on her own.
I'm the youngster in my neighborhood... lady across the street is 103 and has some very interesting stories growing up in Minden NV and being a school teacher at 18... back in the 1920's
She will not let anyone tend to her roses... does it only by herself...
Next door neighbor is 91 and still out on his hillside with a weedwacker keeping the weeds down...
They both revel in their ability to still take care of things that matter to them... other neighbors are in their 80's and still going strong...
My mother will be 80 soon and she prunes all the fruit trees for the "Elderly" at her church... you know she has a constant supply of fresh fruit, her's for the asking... I guess it's in the jeans when you were raised on a family Dairy Farm and had to milk cows before school...
I've read your comments on Nevada, and while I was considering it before, I am even more inclined to move there now.
I am a disabled (not immobile) Vet who had to leave the work-force early and now must subsist on SocSec.
Happily, I am single now, and do need need a lot to manage. But a move is still a BIG deal for me, and I could sure use some suggestions on where a guy might find a quaint Town where the rent ain't "too damn high", the cost of living is manageable, and the folk are genuine Americana.
Minden and Gardnerville kinda appeal to me, as I have no problems with snow. As a Vet, I'd like to not be too far from any Vet related groups and activities.
As long as I am making a "Wishlist" of sorts - Perhaps we could throw in a merry middle-aged rich widow? Well, okay, not "needed" but I had to ask.
You'd probably get some responses if you posted in the Nevada forum (or the area forum specific to Nevada) instead of the retirement forum. Good luck. Robyn
Yes, I think property taxes represent the wild card for anyone attempting to write an article like the one which is the subject of this OP. In many states, property taxes are set by each county, and perhaps even by each town in come cases. So how can we evaluate property taxes state-wide? If you take an average, it could be meaningless if the fluctuations are wide within a state. And property taxes can be huge if they are high, meaning that high property taxes can easily trump state income taxes and sales taxes and become the factor to consider.
And real property tax numbers can be hard to find. We're from Pittsburgh PA (moved to CA), and my mother always told me my sister paid over 6k in property taxes.... but when I looked up her house on Zillow, it listed her property taxes as 2K.
So my next call to her I asked, after telling her it was okay to tell me it was none of business.... but she said her Allegheny County property tax was 2k. then she paid School taxes, which is tied to her property.... and also municipal taxes also tied to her property -- so all in all she pays just over 6K a year in taxes tied to her property.
And I told her I paid less than 2K a year -- but I have horrible roads, terrible schools and when you dial 911 you get put on hold for 15 minutes....
...but I have horrible roads, terrible schools and when you dial 911 you get put on hold for 15 minutes....
I'd rather pay 6K and have services....
I thought you said you were from PA?
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Disabled & Moving
