Tan is the New Blue

This is Ted. I thought it was time for me to add something to this blog. First, let me say that I am excited about this project, but it's all Anna’s idea. It was the same with the Moon Huts (www.moonhuts.com), our place in LA.  I would most likely still be living in my rental loft at the Brewery Arts Complex if Anna hadn’t pushed me to invest in a space that we couldn’t be priced out of. She made the right choice on those crazy huts, and I am sure she made a good choice on this desert property. Plus, after living in an old quonset for the last year a place with windows must be an upgrade, right?

As for it being in the desert… I went to school at ASU and I remember how much the heat got to me. In the morning I would ride my bike to class and my ears would be ringing by the time I got on campus. In the afternoon I would cycle home and ride right into the pool because it was so hot.  My body doesn’t work well in high temps, so I am worried about that. I'll be one of those people that dies of heat stroke with people standing over me saying, "But it's a dry heat. Get up!" Living in Arizona I remember thinking that if there really is a hell, it wouldn't be full of devils and fire but it would be me stuck in traffic in my underpowered Dodge Colt with the broken AC on a hot Phoenix afternoon for all of eternity. Day after day, stuck on Grand Blvd. in 112 degree heat. I swore off the desert and left that place the day I finished college, so I am totally shocked that I would be anywhere near a desert again now.  

Last week a friend from college saw my Facebook post about the place and tagged the photo, “You know you hate the desert, right?” She added, "I'm just sitting here laughing."

Even as a part time home, it will be an adjustment for me. I am a city guy. There are few art openings and museums in the desert. I love LA and my 7-day-a-week social schedule, but I admit waking up in 29, even in our still trashy, junk all over the place, place, where it's nice to have nothing but roadrunners and lizards around. There are no other homes around us. It is calm and relaxing unless the winds are blowing and the sand is swirling around. There are 2 cats that live in the attic that came with the house. They are yet unnamed and seem 100% ferrel. 

​Right now the disorganization of the desert place is overwhelming to me.  Anna is able to focus on one task a day when she is out there, while I am taken aback by the visual clutter of it. I cope by making hourly appointments with contractors and utility people. I try to focus on the big stuff, or at least hiring other people to deal with the big stuff.  

I keep reminding myself that last year, when I was on Santorini, I spent a number of days speaking to no one and really enjoyed the solitary experience. I’m hoping that this place will have the same effect on me. The blue waters of Greece are more agreeable to me than the  browns and tans of 29 Palms, but maybe tan will be my new blue.

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