If You’re Looking for a Slower Pace With A Pulse, Allow Me To Introduce You To Salida, Colorado By Hale Chamblee

The onset of the “Green” movement, an increased interest in community and sustainability, combined with the recent economic recession are inspiring – sometimes forcing – people of all walks of life to reconsider and reinvent. These times are liberating. The traditional constructs of modern life are being challenged, lifted, discarded in a way that can be both frightening and exciting. We are being called upon to succeed in a new climate and being asked to think outside of the box. This is a time of opportunity; we have been given permission to change.

I like Salida because it is a place rich in real wilderness and real community, a place more valuable because people still have a relationship with the land, a place where the annual harvest is still bought and sold as livelihood. Salida is a place where whole golden glades of aspen are held precious, as is the annual arrival of the eagles, “balds”, that have come down from the high country for an easy winter of fishing on the river.

Salida isn’t a perfect utopia of a mountain town, but it is a real place. If you’re looking for somewhere you can re-invent yourself and your way of life, if you’re looking for something a little simpler and a little slower, if you’re craving a new definition for riches, or a new kind of relationship with the land, it might just be the place for you!