New Year's Day, 2009, and my house is blessedly quiet.

This is my family's first New Year's Day in Lampasas and really not much different than the typical celebration of all New Year's Days … five bowl games droning in the background, the smell of chicken 'n dumplings wafting through the house and the traditional black-eyed peas simmering on the stove.

But it is quiet.

My husband and I bought a house and retired here last spring to be closer to our daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren who live here, and our two sons who live in Houston. Our roots grow long and deep in West Texas. My family still operates the sprawling ranch where I grew up, and our ties to Abilene will never be completely severed.

Perhaps native Central Texans have a hard time understanding what drives all of us to retire here. Many of us are from rural areas and love the lifestyle.

But the main draw, perhaps, is the terrain and beautiful Central Texas landscape, including magnificent trees. It's hard for Central Texans to imagine how the wide-open spaces of West Texas can be so desolate and without greenery. A mesquite tree is hardly a substitute for a sprawling oak. A pump jack and a wind turbine do not provide the same aesthetic value.

The house we bought is in the Diamond Ridge subdivision at the corner of Diamond Ridge and Rocky Mountain Drive, which I now jokingly call "Epiccenter." We like our house in a wonderful and friendly neighborhood. Before you ask… yes, we were told there was a possibility of an extension of our subdivision behind us. But, like many who buy next to a pasture zoned "agriculture, open space", we decided to gamble.

We lost. The new development started in earnest on Dec. 1. We've endured a rumbling gas truck filling up vehicles at 5:30 a.m. daily; eight to 10 vehicles parked daily in our backyard beginning at 7 a.m.; enough Caterpillars to build a small city yards from our home; the endless noise and dust, plus numerous other inconveniences.

We understand it is all in the name of economic development. No new businesses will ever be recruited to Lampasas without adequate and desirable housing. An expanded tax base is needed for city, county and school improvements.

I've worked for years enhancing economic development in Abilene, perhaps never sympathizing enough with those opponents who said "Not in my backyard" (NIMBYs, I think they are called!). I can live with all of this. Nevertheless, I look forward to back-door neighbors, a revitalized area and working to recruit new business and industries to Lampasas.

The final straw for us, however, was the complete devastation of the trees. I sat on my back porch and cried as a grove of trees surely more than a 100 years old was destroyed in 20 minutes. No regard for the beauty, the quality-of-life value, the displacement of wildlife and birds of the neighborhood.

What makes that even harder to bear is that since moving here, we bought the lot to the west of us on Rocky Mountain Drive to save the trees. We wanted to give the neighborhood children and our grandchildren a place to play and hold Scout meetings, etc. Two young neighborhood boys, Bryce and Nolan Ramon, helped us pick up after trimming trees and removed countless rocks. We hope to hold neighborhood picnics and help the neighborhood youth understand what this area looked like before yellow machinery moved in.

On a personal level, I should mention in November we planted two disease-resistant oak trees in our yard. We paid thousands of dollars for the trees and chose one because it was said to be a descendent of the Hancock Park Golf Course bur oak trees. If I had only known, I could have transplanted magnificent trees right outside my back fence.

"So, are you moving?" someone asked. The answer is simple: Of course, not! This is a wonderful community and a great place to retire. I simply wish more regard would be given to the natural beauty of the area.

Oh, and one thing I forgot to mention is that, because of the development, we have three portable toilets in our backyard! I guess you could say when your small house is overflowing with holiday guests, that is a real plus!

Celia Davis