Since the opening day of fishing season in the Eastern Sierras, known colloquially here as “Fishmas,” mostly for the benefit of out-of-town trout fishermen anxious to land that first trout of the season, I have been living off and on in the Sprinter van I’ve named Optimus Prime in a mountain camp located fourteen miles west of the small town of Bridgeport, California. When I’m not at my mountain camp, or visiting with the residents of Bridgeport, I’m at my home in Placer County, California, preparing it for sale. Today, the first hint of Fall arrived on a breeze that blew down from twelve-thousand-foot Matterhorn Peak – a bit of a chill after weeks of hot weather broken occasionally by thunderstorms. That hint of Fall and the cold weather it portends, has me feeling the weight of an imminent life-changing decision – do I stay or do I go?
You might say I’ve been on the horns of a dilemma for the past three months weighing the pros and cons of moving to a small town so different from the suburbia near my Placer County home and perhaps ending my sabbatical from the practice of law. I’ll write about these pros and cons as I work my way toward this life-changing decision, but before I do, I’ll simply say that the environment here is spectacular. The mountains, cattle-filled pastures, streams, lakes, and blue skies are gorgeous. The residents are good, kind, hardworking, and hardy people.
Can I find my niche here and live year-round?
Can I give up the comforts of suburbia?
Maybe.
The town of Bridgeport from Travertine Hot Springs with Bridgeport reservoir to the right.
