Is That The Sun?

Blue sky today...... and it looks beautiful. Today's Chronicle is filled with pictures of downtown residents mopping up the water that flooded into their homes. The neighborhoods around the airport got drenched, with more than three inches of rain falling every hour during the storms. As I've said, these same neighborhoods get the brunt of the flooding each and every time.

The airports had to cancel hundreds of flights during the storm-- not just because of the weather, but because the flight crews couldn't even get to the airports because of flooded-out roads surrounding the airport property. Now honestly, wouldn't you think that somewhere, someone, somehow.... this could all be fixed?


Our friend K called us the other day to tell us that her daughter's father-in-law has a cabin for sale.... on 73 acres, with its own private six-acre lake. A rustic, country-style cabin, along the lines of the Comfort cabin, but not identical in style. K eMailed pictures of the cabin and the property, and it does indeed look charming and cozy. We spoke to the owner, who told us that he's selling it because of his wife's recent health problems. He came over here to meet us, and gave us the keys so we could drive up and take a look at it. Which we will do, when we go up to Lake Livingston again to look at more lake-homes.

I'm not so sure about this cabin on the 73 acres.... I don't know if I want to be that secluded. So far, every house we've looked at seemed to be in a location where I would drive up by myself and spend time up there alone, if my husband were out of town. This cabin on the 73 acres--- I don't know if I would be willing to do that, even if brought Gracie along with me. The owner of the cabin told us that he's seen a lot of wildlife on the property-- gentle wildlife like deer, and not-so-gentle creatures such as wolves and pumas. I don't want to even think about what would happen if Gracie saw either one of those on the property.

My husband didn't want to make an offer on that pretty house and private lake in Magnolia because he said the lake was too small. So here we are, faced with another small lake, and he's willing to take a look. "It's only a look." Well.... if we're not interested in a small private lake, then why even have a look-see. But we will.... we have a very detailed map, and the owner told us to get there before dark, and leave before dark. (Not exactly what I want to hear when we're driving through the woods.)

I called my sister last night, to tell her the latest in our lake-house adventures. She laughed... and told me that if we didn't narrow the search a little bit, we'd be looking forever. Actually, we have narrowed the search down.... to just a few areas around Lake Livingston. The cabin-in-the-woods was just tossed into the mix by our friend K... her family has been to that cabin and all have loved it, and will be sorry if it's sold to strangers. There is some interest in that cabin, by a group of four men who want to turn it into a hunting lodge. That idea is making the owners very sad, because they never harmed the wildlife up there, either on their own property or in the vicinity. So the thought of gunshots in "their" woods during the hunting season is breaking their hearts.

As my husband says.... "We'll see." I guess the thought of owning 73 acres with a private lake is enticing to him. As for me.... if I were going to invest in a private lake, then I'd be investing in the small lake in Magnolia, where there would at least be some friendly neighbors within shouting distance.... and the house on that property was a "real" house, as opposed to a cabin.

We also had eMail from the realtor in Nacogdoches. Both of the properties up there that we looked at have been reduced in price. There was the small house (which needed so much work) and the larger house (in move-incondition). Both of those sellers are needing to sell now, and both homes could be had for far less than market value. My husband still says that Nacogdoches is too far to drive if we could get a comparable house in the Livingston area. My feeling is that Nacogdoches is a more historical town than any of those around Lake Livingston.

Never in my life would I have thought that this little adventure would have brought so many choices, so many areas, so many lakes, and so many different towns.