I see that I haven't posted on my blog in almost a year! Where did that time go? My role as "Asset Manager" kicked in big time over the past 18 months! Every phone call, document, negotiation, search, application, and detail of all the transitions below was processed through my mind and creative energy. Roles as "Artist" and "Author" were secondary during most of this time.
We sold our house in State College, PA after twenty years of Happy Valley and Penn State University. Our belongings went to three locations : 31 Tanglewood Trail, CubeSmart in Wakefield, RI, and another storage unit in State College. We intended to spend the summer in RI, possibly planning to renovate the cottage and then return to a rental in PA for fall semester. Vincent would be on research leave for Jan-June, so we would be back in RI then. Retirement plans were fuzzy, not near, not far, but certainly eventual.
In July, shortly after my last blog post, our children and grandchildren arrived for "Beach Week #19." On the very first day, the kids told us that they recommend we consider moving to a condo versus doing a major renovation to upgrade Tanglewood as a permanent residence. Our daughter-in-law got on Zillow and found an open house for the very next day. Along with daughter and daughter-in-law, I went to see the condo on Gibson Avenue in Narragansett. Love at first sight! Four blocks to the ocean! Large rooms, lots of light, secluded grounds, historic buildings.
Vincent and I made an appointment with our realtor to return and see all of the condo units available, and long-story-short, we put a bid on a for-sale-by-owner condo for a good price, but needing a lot of renovation. Paperwork . . . Paperwork . . . Paperwork. And simultaneously having touch up work completed on the Tanglewood house to prepare it for sale: paint exterior, fence, etc. etc. Closing was set for September. We returned to State College to move into a shared rental with a friend, and soon I traveled back to RI for the closing and to meet with contractor for renovation planning.
Penn State threw a new angle into the mix! They offered a "Voluntary Retirement Program" with incentives for eligible faculty to retire at the end of the academic year. Vincent qualified and after consultation decided to accept the offer. So, our fall was spent with more paperwork along with traveling back and forth from State College to RI to supervise the renovation.
By the end of December, we had moved everything from State College to Tanglewood Trail, including ourselves. We knew that we would be back to PA several times in spring, summer, and fall, so it felt final, but not finished, especially with friends.
By late January we moved into the condo and began to stage the Tanglewood house for sale. Meanwhile, we are both exploring our interests in Narragansett, at URI, and in surrounding communities. I arranged for some of my smaller art pieces to be displayed for sale by joining the Fayerweather Craft Guild. Membership includes working at the shop one day a month during the months of May through December. I will also facilitate a workshop for this group in August. My first "work" day in the shop is next week. My larger art pieces will be displayed at a coffee shop, Java Madness, from late September into October.
Vincent had three (at least) academic meetings in Jan, Feb, March and I went along on all of them. We were in Brooklyn once and then in Cambridge twice. Amtrak and MBTA were very convenient for our travel. I walked A LOT on the beach this winter, loving every moment and writing almost every day. That will be my very next post.
In April we returned to State College for a week of meetings, friends, more moving, etc. I added a few days visiting family at the end of the trip. The closing on the Tanglewood house took place while we were in PA. Paperwork . . . paperwork . . . paperwork. Oh, and that reminds me, we applied for all the Social Security, Medicare, PSU health supplement, etc. etc. Paperwork . . . paperwork . . . paperwork! AND of course, I prepared all of the data for our tax return.
And that brings us to May. Almost to the end of May. I've been sewing a lot and will have photos of new work to post very soon! You'll see "Mother Has a Wild Heart" and "Frame of Mind" and "Longevity Banner" soon. I am very happy with these pieces and hope to escalate my visibility with some new gallery opportunities as well.
I've been reading some of my own writing lately and starting to make plans to complete some things and to send other things out for rejection letters. Or whatever comes back! Last summer I did send out a poetry manuscript and received a comment including the words "lush and sensuous" along with the rejection.
Writing this account is significant. It is turning the page, or closing the entire book, of "asset management" work of the past 18 months. I wake up now and walk two steps to my sewing table. I feel writing and reading times and places are abundant. New opportunities are opening and I can begin the day in my imagination mode rather than my efficiency mode. I will close with a quote from Wallace Stevens that is part of the "Frame of Mind" piece that I am finishing today:
"She sang beyond the genius of the sea."
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