How does an old-time city boy exist in two different worlds

Living in the 70s

I took a huge "trip" for me this week -- actually, when all is said in done, I'll be away from the Old Pueblo for two weeks. It's the middle of the winter, for goodness sakes...well, that's how this old man looks at things.

A resident of Tucson, Arizona for most of my life, there's been a time or two when winter never comes. But here I am, setting in a "Colorado Room" at my son's house and having a cup of coffee, watching the deer and the antelope play. Sorry, I just went off on another tangent. That's deer, wild turkeys and a bear or two (actually I haven't seen the latter this week...as far as the antelope are concerned, the last one I saw play was a few miles east of Show Low, Arizona last spring).

So, here I sit and wondering if I could "live" as a resident of Colorado, or should my "old bones" stay put in a land where the temperature reaches 110 degrees in July. The temperature around Grand Junction will reach in the single digits by daybreak.

It's a beautiful land...it's a beautiful country whether you're talking about Colorado or Arizona.

I have a buddy, a teammate on my old-time baseball team, who has it all. He lives during the summer and fall on his 85-acre ranch in Red Lodge, Montana, while spending the hard winters in Tucson. Arnie White, 78, is as fit as a fiddle and can handle himself in Alaska if need be.

As for me, the "city boy" who grew up wearing shorts, a T-shirt and tennis shoes year around, I should continue to watch ESPN, stay inside the house during the summer months and continue to play early-morning baseball, bike the Catalina Foothills and age gracefully.

I don't need to buy a winter coat, or those special white thermal underwear my son wears. Of course, he is 6-2  and 260+, and if I borrowed a pair, it is likely I could cover my entire body and get a comfortable night's sleep.

I''ll be home on Sunday, after a trip through Southern Utah, Monument Valley...Flagstaff...hit I-17...avoid the rush hour in Phoenix... and be back home by sundown.

There are pretty sunsets in Colorado and Arizona.

That's the thing about living in America. You can choose where you live, but dress accordingly.