If there’s one thing I learned from Brenda Hogg, RIP, it’s that living itself can be an art form. The universe is an infinitely complex organic place where no two things are identical or fit together perfectly. There’s no controlling it or understanding it, there’s just dancing with it. Success is knowing your most authentic self and figuring out where to slot it in to make the world a little better.
I have to admit that I don’t really know what this magazine is about, it’s definitely not about fences, but I’m not sure that matters. It’s what made sense to Jules and that’s all that matters. He came back from sailing around the world for three years and didn’t know what to do next. He was privileged enough that he didn’t have to do anything next. He could have been like that guy in Garden State who patented silent velcro and spent the rest of his life wandering his mansion, bored. But this is what made sense to Jules Octavian, and I hate to admit it but it’s starting to make sense to me too.
Over the past few months River and I have been talking about what makes sense to us and I’m starting to see it: a cafe. But not just a cafe, a neighbourhood hangout. That’s the problem with living in the country and working from home: you spend too much time alone. There need to be places where you can just get out. Nothing expensive, no big events, a place where you can just pop in and see what’s going on whenever you need to get out.
And the crazy thing is that the cheapest real estate in places like Brownlow is old commercial. Housing is astronomical since the pandemic but you can pick up an old building downtown for next to nothing. It’s probably falling apart but if you can find one in good enough shape they’re a steal. A couple apartments upstairs, co-working space in the back, a cafe out front and voila: community hangout. I’m not looking to get rich, just to do what makes sense to me. We’ll see what it turns into over time.
I’m kind of thinking about it like my own little hangout. I’ll set up a sweet office in the back and work out of there most of the time. River will run the kitchen so we’ll get her awesome baking. Hopefully the rent from the apartments and co-working space will cover the costs. We’ll have art on the walls, it’ll be a gallery, and it’ll all be for sale. And of course we’ll have River’s stuff. In the evening we’ll serve local wine and beer. And we’ll have a little stage for events. All kinds of events: music, of course, and open mics. I’d love to have some standup and poetry. But we’ll do all kinds of other stuff too. Stuff you can just pop in, throw a few bucks in the jar, and take part in. I remember reading this awesome book when I was a kid, I think it was called Losing Joe’s Place, and they had a guy that would just lead people in whatever. One day they made paper airplanes. What a great idea! Anyway, I want that kind of place.
I’m wondering about some kind of newsletter or magazine, too. Maybe give County Fence a little competition. Get writers to submit their stories, cover some local cultural stuff, have a functioning events calendar. Maybe I’ll call it, I don’t know, County Gate or something like that. Anyway, stay tuned. Peace out.
-Walter
