Taos Writer Goes to Houston

subtitled: Keepin it Cool

by Sandy Penny, Taos Writer

Last time we talked, there I was, minding my own business, well, struggling a little with my own business, in Taos. I was writing my ButterFly column for the Horse Fly news and trying to decide what to do next when there it was: an email from an old client in Houston asking if I wanted to come to Houston and do a project for about three months or so.

It was quite a challenging decision for me. The project was starting in July, the hot as hell month in Houston. And, it was a record-breaking summer with temps over a 100 degrees for weeks. That was a worst-case scenario for me. I’m not sure which I hate worse, extreme heat and humidity or below zero winters. I’m kind of a weather wimp. So, here’s the deal, I go to Houston at the worst possible time for the weather, and I finish the project just in time to return to Taos at the worst possible time for their weather (for me). I don’t ski, so snow holds no fascination for me, other than the beautiful landscape it creates.

Why couldn’t it have been the other way around, go to Houston in their fabulous, mild winter and return to Taos just in time for their fabulous mild summer? I will try to manifest that better next time. I agonized for days and finally got help from a counselor friend of mine to help me sort it out. I definitely needed the money. But, what would it do to the Butterfly column if I left? It was just getting a foothold in the community.

I finally made a plan. I accepted the offer, mainly because I needed the money. And, the money, compared to Taos standards, is mind-blowing. I would live frugally in Houston while doing the project, and save up enough money to see me through a couple of years in Taos. My expenses in Taos are quite low. So, I packed up my little red Mazda again and headed south.

More to come from Hot as H Houston …

If you just have to have more of here, read Sandy’s Write and Market with WritingMuse blog.