Small Town Here We Come!

After living in large cities all my life, I'm finally going to be a small town girl! We look the plunge and bought a lake house in Mineola, Texas, which is about an hour and a half from Dallas. The house we found is a Victorian farmhouse style, two story home on Lake Holbrooke. Yes, it's peach, but it kind of works! Even my husband likes the color. There are big trees all around it. The house looks old, but it was built in 1994 and is modern where it counts - central A/C!

Living in Mineola, at least on the weekends, will be a real treat for me. It was one of the first places I visited when I was going to set a book (The Bachelor Project, HAR#844, Sept 2000) in a fictional small town. As program director of Dallas Area Romance Authors, I organized retreats to a wonderful bed and breakfast there in Mineola. We would sit out on the second floor balcony and talk writing (and maybe drink some wine) until we were all so sleepy we couldn't keep our eyes open. We usually went during the Iron Horse Fall Festival, the first weekend in November. The weather was cool and crisp and I think everyone had a great time. For me, though, the small town atmosphere of parades, local restaurants and stores, families and friends, really made an impression. I interviewed the chief of police in Mineola to get a feeling for law enforcement in a more rural area. Mineola had about 5000 people then and 5600 now.

The kitchen in the lake house is so cute. There are white cabinets with glass fronts, curtains instead of bottom cabinet doors, a gas stove (I haven't cooked on gas since 1971!) and a screen door that goes out to the back porch. The porch stretches the entire back of the house and is one of my favorite features. I can imagine sitting out there, much like we used to sit on the balcony of the B & B. I don't think I'll ever get tired of looking at the lake. It's just beautiful. We went there on Sunday and the water just glistened from the autumn sunlight. There is a small dock for fishing or to tie up a boat, which we don't have. My son-in-law is in charge of getting a boat! My husband and I know nothing about boats. But then, I don't know a lot about country living, either, and I'm willing to learn. Maybe I'll turn into a small town girl yet. After all, Mineola does have at least one coffee shop that sells books, and I'll bet I can order up some good local gossip with my latte.