Sometimes things are not as they seem...

When you think of Colorado, do you think of fresh, crisp, mountain air and health-minded people?  I used to.

We have moved from Colorado after living two years of absolute hell next to people in a new subdivision who burned wood constantly in their wood burning stove, even though eight neighbors who lived down wind of them complained about the smoke and smell coming from their house.  We moved into a brand new home, that was very energy efficient and it couldn't keep the smell from invading our home and our lives.  We could no longer open our windows or enjoy our own backyard.  The stress from dealing with such inconsiderate people was too much for us.  For us, there is no clean air in Colorado.  For us, the thought of breathing in Colorado only brings back thoughts of coughing and burning in our nose, and that horrible, horrible smell - constantly in our own home.  We don't smoke and we don't let anyone smoke in our home, but here we were - smelling that nasty, rancid smell in our home because of what the neighbors were burning. 

We were lied to when we looked at this house, when we asked the realtor showing the home what the smoke was coming from the neighbors house next door - that we saw as we were looking at the home for sale across the street.  She knew what it was and had told other neighbors she didn't think she'd be able to sell this house, if the people kept burning.  But to us she answered, she had no idea what it was!!  We asked her twice even!  And she even jumped out of her seat and ran to the window to look!  But she continued to lie right to our faces.  She lives in that subdivision and had to sell another home down the street which also was affected by the smoke to a lesser degree than the home right next door to the smoke.    Yes, I guess it was our fault to not investigate further, but she made it sound like nothing and we had NO idea what kind of hell we were in for the next two years!! 

I would have never thought before living there, that a wood burning stove would smell anything other than that kind of pleasant smell that you get a wisp of on a crisp, cool evening.  No, this wasn't like that AT ALL!!  This was like a putrid, enveloping smell that made you sick to your stomach and the only way to breathe at all was by putting a cloth over your mouth and nose.  The worst part was - there was no where to escape from the smell - it filled our home and made us sick.  Our clothes smelled of it, our hair smelled of it, our dogs smelled of it, our whole home smelled of it!  I hate Colorado because of it.

So we sold our home and left Colorado for good.  I could care less what other people think, but until you've been in a situation like that, you'll never know just how bad it was.  Believe me, I would never have known.

Now we live free from the smoke and smell and feel like we can live again.  NOTHING that we encounter now can ever be as bad as that was.