I saw it coming, but expected it to hold off longer. Officially as of this past weekend J&H are not coming back to the desert. I’ve been hired to finish packing up the house and get it ready for a realtor to show.
Honestly I never actually expected them to return, at least not permanently. He was always kind of an odd fit here, and she never liked it here at all. Once they moved to where there are trees and family, I didn’t expect the situation to change back any time soon. And in truth he didn’t seem to put up that much resistance.
How this will affect me financially I don’t know. It’s one thing to plan to sell a house out here and quite another to successfully do it, and in the meantime they’ll still need regular upkeep. But it’s safest to assume that in the fullness of time it will pull the rug out from under me entirely. I need to get off my ass and find more writing gigs, since a part-timer in town is not a likely prospect.
I knew folks like that a few times out in the desert where I lived. Could never really understand why they moved out there to begin with, and I can’t even remember any of them who had much of a clue themselves. And yes, a house out there was hard to sell. Some of them had been for sale for ten years or more when I sold my house after only a few months. And that wasn’t nearly as isolated and inconvenient a place to live as my impression of your little gulch.
But, somehow, I thing something will come along to fill the gap. 🙂
Boy, that was an awfully quick decision on J&H’s part. I’d have been surprised had they returned, but I figured they’d take six months or so to make it official.
Sorry about the unemployment, but writing has always made much more sense for a talented — not to mention aging and one-legged — hermit than all that shit shoveling.
Backwoods Home … maybe Outdoor Life? … editing gigs? Some local desert fishwrap? That sadly overdue book? I know it’s scary right now, but get two or three regular outlets for your writing skills and you’ll never long for those shit-shoveling days ever again.
Any idea what the price will be for that house?
Nope, though I’m sure I’ll hear it when the time comes.