Introvert Retreat

A morning walk in the desert.

My Writer's Retreat ended last week after 9 days, with a 48 hour break in between where I went home, did laundry and cooked dinner. 

Lilly Harvesting
Saguaro Fruit

During my time away, I managed to make it through the entire book of edits, only to decide it needs more finessing. Think of it like a lump of clay and I'm chiseling away, hoping my sculpture doesn't have an extra large nose, or no nose at all when I'm done. The writing exercise was worth it. But the book needs more love than the nine days I offered it. Right now, I'm burned out on those characters and plot line. Sometimes stories need to brew longer. 

Of note, Lilly's property is situated nowhere near anything. And for whatever reason she wanted the perimeter gate locked at all time. Given it is her house and the price is right, I had no objection. This gave Marty a sense of relief, after all, I was by myself and if some crazy wanted to get me, the locked gate might be another layer of protection. 

However, if some crazy truly wanted to get me, first, they would have had to know where I was. And then, they would have to drive about 15 miles off the Interstate, through the mountain pass, off the main road and then on to a rickety dirt road, past the water tower to the locked gate. Then they had their choice of either scaling the perimeter fence--part of which had razor wire on it or patiently wait until I came waltzing outside to unlock the gate. If they chose to scale the fence, they'd have to deal with the cholla cacti that was everywhere. Then they'd have to come get me, which would be pretty simple as I didn't have cell service. If they wanted to harm me, they'd still have to figure out how to traverse the cholla a second time before hopping back into their vehicle and retracing their steps, because the gate would still be locked.

Additionally, there were signs of life: bunnies, ground squirrels, hawks and what Lilly and I euphemistically referred to as the "extra-large bobcat prints," that ended on the back porch (see pictures below). Not gonna lie, it shoved my fear of snakes to the back burner to think about large cats so willing to come up to the house. Oh yea, there were fat snake tracks too. But I didn't see one up close and personal.  

The invitation is open to try this writing retreat again. It is a lonely existence and I might in the future. Right now I'm enjoying being home. Even this introvert needs people once in a while.  

Bobcat tracks

This "bobcat" print spanned about nine inches.
The tracks went from the edge of the property and ended at the kitchen door. 

This normal sized bobcat print spanned
about three or four inches. Of note, the tire tracks were fresh--I'd returned an hour before the picture was taken, so I'm guessing I had a visitor. Also of note, normal sized bobcats don't frighten me. I've seen plenty in the wild. Mountain lions scare the crap out of me and I've only seen one in the wild.