Jax's Artistic Journey...

I took a day trip...that lasted, well, all day. Mr. Right and I hopped in the car and took off for Shreveport. My sister owns a 5-acre property on the outskirts in a slowly developing area. Of course, we made a few stops along the way to get my lattes and junk food but once we arrived, it was total hicksville! It immediately brought me back to my youth and growing up in a little town called Van Buren. The last time I've seen my hometown was a few years ago on my move from LA to Orlando and, boy, has it grown! Hard to believe the once city with population 25,000 has now tripled in size...

So we got to my sister's house that was tucked away in a very old neighborhood where horses roamed freely and neighbors residing in one place for probably forever...maybe the properties were passed on from generation to generation, but it was not what we had expected. The funny thing was that new development was being built around the old one so it was kind of an odd mix of really nice homes and really old, somewhat dilapidated homes. I can't tell you how peaceful it was out there since the property is at the very end of a dead end strip. I could envision doing a total remodeling of the house and making it Eco-friendly with a tranquil garden and all--but my imagination soon ran away with me...There was so much land that I painted a future in my mind of cottages leading to a walkway that would lead to a Japanese Garden. Okay, I was getting a little ahead of myself, but it's fun to dream. Perhaps more in the fact that it would be a great writing retreat! Anyways, we did a full walk-through of the house--let me tell you, it's a total fixer-upper. The house had been vacant for about eight years so it was mostly age, and wouldn't take much to make it sparkle again. The bad news was that we needed to get an estimator in to take a look at the structure so that if we decide to take on the renovation project, we wouldn't have to worry about having to fix the problems later. Cosmetically it would be a two-week to one month project, but we won't know what really needs to be done until we get the estimates back.

While I stood outside looking at the house, I SO wanted to crack my knuckles and get started. I wanted to start the demolition process and get my hands dirty inside and outside in the yard. I so wanted to create a nice garden...but we opted to take pictures instead. Patience. I need to wait for the estimate on what it will potentially cost if there is structural damage and then decide whether we want to take on this remodeling project. Truthfully, I hate the prospect of moving but a part of me welcomed serenity and change. To hide away and just refocus on me and my future. A part of me wanted to tear down stuff and just start over from scratch. Okay, I'm not entirely delusional....the community is a bit old and some parts of it is depressed from neglect, natural disasters, changing of the times...but you could really see a change was coming. You could see developers making their way slowly and if we decide to make this place our temporary residence, it's going to test me in so many ways. It may even slow down my writing progress to do the manual work...but if we're waiting for some good news anyway, what harm would it be to disappear for a few months just to clear my head?

Back at home and wrapping up my WIP to send out to my agent. There's so much to think about and so much more I need to do...either way, there's a possibility I'll kiss the city life goodbye and head into seclusion for a little while. I'll keep you all posted! :P