Improvement

Managed Moves getting us on track. H getting on same page at last.

http://cdend.blogspot.com/2016/09/impressive.html

Disappearing Act

I'm going to blog elsewhere, at Disappearing Act. If we ever get to Russellville Park, I'll return to retirement news and photos here.

Status: ManagedMoves will downsize us. Huge accomplishment. Saves Harriet's kids doing it later.

Moving to Russellville? Have to sell house. Has to be presentable. Depends on how much crap - excuse me, invaluable reminders of her life - still has to be sorted out. Don't take any bets.

But I would love to be surprised.

Last try?

Once again, to convince her to let me help going through her stuff, I am not her enemy. She can't do this alone. We'll see.

Bad news

I don't have confidance we can get out of here this year. H moves like a snail and changes her mind every day. Very depressing.

Over and out.

Progress

The return

Suddenly (again) everything is more difficult than it needs to be. I'm passing the buck to the company. Get as far away as I can. Unfortunate.

Downsizing basement

Heroes

2 women working in basement. Man, they have a system and get things done. I am impressed.

Spectacular!

This company has done more in two hours than I did in six weeks. An ending imagined! Listening to Caruso to celebrate.

Help arrives

... today. Hope it accelerates the transition.

Trash and more trash

3 more bags out ...

Bowl of the soup of the wife of Kit Carson

Been making this since grad school. Turkey, garbonzo beans, avocado, cheese.

To the rescue

Downsizing help arrives tomorrow. Hooray!

9/11

Turned day into study, documentaries, reflection.

Not so hot ...

... today. One box. Cooking. Dragging ass. Old.

Iffy

Half speed, low energy ... chores to do ... What?

Shotgun King

Sketch, in old age, would rather ride shotgun, cruising, than anything. I dig it.

We listened to the Mariners take a 14-0 lead. Crunch time.

Salvage the day

Baking olive bread ... not a total goof off.

Saturday challenge

Feel like a day off ... college football etc ... Sunday free, I don 't follow pros. Decisions, decisions.

Translation

Rec'd request to translate some of my short stories into Indonesian. Granted.

Late entertainment

Story Corps selfie

https://storycorps.me/interviews/selfie-090916/

Passing time

The worst part of the cycle: waiting for energy renewal.

A wee 2nd wind

Emptied desk in office, manuscripts, contracts, business correspondence, all recycled. Ms already digitized, no use for rest except to be reminded of how much work for hire I did in 80$. A very busy writer.

Exhaustion

Early start, a lot done ... but need second wind to continue.

May try out StoryCorps app.

Safe arrival

Call from Harriet, waiting for ferry to Salem.

Hot damn!

Pac 12 network just joined Sling TV, my provider since cutting the cord. Watching live UCLA soccer as I write.

Good karma!

Man, recycling the PC feels like major change. Liberating.

Content/content

Love mornings like this, puttering in the kitchen. Only improvement, move scene to Russellville, so I can take a break, wander into lobby, strike up a conversation, brag a little.

Chicken two ways

My easy Korean marinade, a staple ... a parmesan rub I found, trying for first time.

Love labor intensive cooking!

Ghost of Wayne Morse

I keep thinking of the Sen. Wayne Morse speech with which I end American Gadfly, my one-man play about him: that democracy depends on an educated citizenry. He is rolling over in his grave. Sarah Palin was embarrassing enough. But now!

Mellow

Harriet departs on 2nd trip east tonight, short visit in Mass. with high school buddies, back Tues. when calvary arrives. Gives me my last four days of solo downsizing, will do all my energy permits.

Modest plans

Deposit the dismantled computer system to recycling facility. Rearrange and evaluate office furniture freed up as a result.

Cook something labor intensive.

Pass it along

Had a good keyboard, which with Finale software I used on a number of projects over the years. Past tense. Instead of selling it, I gave it to my publisher, colleague and friend, TS, who also will use it well. Karma.

Cold brew

My God, I'm in fashion! Coffee brewed in refrig, which I've been doing for ages, is the new beverage rage, says the WP. Damn. I hate fashion.

Tech downsize

In the old hyperdrama, digital filmmaking days, I had 2PCs linked together with 3 external hard drives, a pretty sophisticated arrangement. Today I tore it down. Keeping two drives, recycling the rest. Will rely on netbook and tablets.

A major downsize!

Baking = sanity

Fighting reality

Having a hard time with fact that Trump has so much support. Are so many of my fellow citizens this reckless, this gullible?

StoryCorps app

StoryCorps, of course, is the series of interviews/dialogues between ordinary folks that runs on public radio and elsewhere, getting archived at the Library of Congress. I just learned they have an app, making the series accessible to anyone. Beautifully designed, easy to use, free. I plan to take advantage if it.

The app triggered an additional form, the self-interview or audio selfie. I'll begin there.

Maybe start a series at Russellville.

Labor Day

... reminds me of the Wobblies.

Legacy of the Wobblies, a show I did at UU with General Strike, the labor songs group.

One member said my version of Miner's Lifeguard brought her chills, the best performance of the song she'd heard. No better praise than that.

Where to begin?

Someone unfamiliar with my writing asked where to begin. A fair question. My recommendations.

1. A Charles Deemer Reader. An overview of my work, my favorites among plays, screenplays, fiction, essays, poems.

2. Whole Cloth: the Quilt of Literature.  Documents the influence of my life on my work, making them inseparable. A short memoir. "Amazing," says one review.

3. Sodom, Gomorrah & Jones. A novel very close to my heart and mind, autobiographical in spirit. Two cogent reviews at Amazon.

"It is intelligent, funny, bawdy and real."

"...a treatise on living in the 21st century."

R.I.P. Fred Hellerman

Of the Weavers.

Hellerman on right

The end of retirement

Excellent documentary on BBC (at 3 a.m., when else in America?) about the history of pensions after WWII, a golden age of retirement, and its end because folks live longer and fewer pay in.

Retirement is not a birthright but an historical aberration enjoyed by a few generations in wealthy countries. Young folks today will have something very different if anything at all.

Lucky once again!

Harriet's opening II

Harriet's opening I

Manic depressive?

Out on errands, before returning to find flowers, I was wondering why I was feeling so good. All the usual stress events are present. Downsizing, selling the house, so many possible complications.

Well, I'm not in a flood or wild fire. Not in a war. Not an immigrant. Not a Republican.

What's the worst that can happen? Doesn't seem too bad. And we may even get lucky. We may get out of here before turkey time.

***

Uploading video from opening. Takes forever. Once upon a time, did this every day, making movies.

What a surprise!

On our front door, congrats bouquet on Harriet's opening, from ... Russellville (3 women we've been dealing with)! Talk about feeling good about our new home.

Still trying to finish ...

Conclusion

We agree we're too old to be doing what we're doing. We belong in Russellville. Alas, many hoops left to navigate.

American depression

... that so many "fellow citizens" believe Trump is presidential material. What an extraordinary failure of our educational system that this is happening! Maybe, as Mencken has written, it's always been this way.

Energy

My daily allotment keeps shrinking.

Old times

I just rec'd a forwarded letter that had been addressed to me c/o Nobby's, one of my hangouts in the 1980s! By chance, I have breakfast there now and again and stay in touch. A short letter about Woody Guthrie, also dating me to the 80s (my show), from Seattle, from someone I don't remember. What the hell? An old drinking buddy? An old girlfriend? I could be pretty wild then. There's an address. Hmm.

This person seemed to assume 1. Nobby's would forward the letter 30 years later, 2. I was still alive.

Two longshots, both right.

Ah, the wonder of it all.

Last minute

Rushing to finish art list before opening.

Harriet's opening

You are invited to a comprehensive exhibit of the paintings of
                               HARRIET KAUFMAN LEVI

                                      Opening Event....
                      THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER FIRST, 5-7 p.m.
                                      Artreach Gallery
                                 in the lower level of the
                       FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
        regular gallery hours Monday-Friday 10 a.m. th 2 p.m.
         1126 SW Park Avenue, Portland, OR across from the
                                   Portland Art Museum
                      Exhibit runs through September, 2016

A snail's pace

The slowness of our transition drives me crazy.

A beautiful creation

Highlight

I cut my thick toenails. Highlight of the day. Pathetic.

Hangin' in like Gunga Din

Another pickup

Boxes for Vietnam vets tomorrow. Must have donated 100 boxes by now. Running score: CD 100, HKL 1.

A relaxing day

Much needed. Back to the downsizing work tomorrow.

Harriet has a solo show opening end of week. Likely her last one.

BBC

Far, far superior to American media. I listen in early morning hours.

Hear, hear!

From an old poet friend ...

"The medical community would like me to stay alive simply

because 80 percent of all one's medical costs will be

incurred during the last five years of your life.

I find that the medical community and insurance companies

are a cold,  calculating group of money grubbers. Innocent

at first, I thought they were humanitarians. Was I ever stupid



I lived in Canada too long (17 years)  and once a person has been

given a taste of democracy, it is extremely difficult to live and be governed

by corporate tyranny."

Hiss boo

Mariners game blacked out in Pdx.

Oh well

Another day of vegetating.

Mariners on TV

Free game of day tonight. Doesn't happen often. On 3 game losing streak, all blown late leads.

Mantra

Expect it. Ignore it.

Bumpy homecoming

At the airport baggage claim, she went looking for wrong luggage, had forgotten what she had. We were there forever. And home, not thrilled with my good work of downsizing. Here we go ...

American football

In years past, I'd be excited about the start of college football season about now. Not this year. European football (soccer) and rugby are superior games and haven't yet been overrun with corporate hype.

Harriet returns

She says she's ready to help with downsizing. Hope so. Be a drag if she's not. Help arrives in a couple weeks. Meanwhile basement may not be as bad as I think.

Perpetually exhausted.

Transition

Will we ever get out of here? Sometimes I wonder. The task is monumental.

Battery

Desperate need of battery charge to continue. No fuel.

No energy

Mariners game, barely awake. Got half of BR done.

Running out of steam. Need a few breaks.

Cheese rolls

Attitude adjustment

Improvement today, feeling positive, whether from 3 a.m. pancakes, banking, baking, jazz, kind words from NYC, or whatever.

After bread comes out, cruising with Sketch before BR chores.

My father's son?

My dad was very dapper, always dressed up, even if casually. In contrast, I'm a slob.

At Russellville I can create a new image. Put a tie on in the morning. Be the dapper old codger hanging out in the lobby. Hmmmm!!

A baking morning

Rye bread, then cheese rolls.

Theatre collective in Brooklyn seems excited about my climate play. Hope they like it (obviously).

Should I go to dinner in a tie at Russellville? FOR THE HELL OF IT.

Mad start

I was up at 230, making blueberry pancakes. Ate, back to bed. Up, banking, a little play marketing. No desire to eat ha ha.

BR part two later. Maybe cruise with Sketch first.

State of psychic exhaustion.

Feeling my age

More than my age. Need to get into Russellville, where I'll have fewer chores.

Done

Emptied my closet, got rid of half, put it back together. Dresser tomorrow.

What a chore! And no help so far.

Time travel

Sketch has considerable eccentricity in old age. He expresses agitation and discomfort but stops immediately if he can ride shotgun on a car ride.

Today we drove through NW Pdx, where I happily lived in the 80s. This era of Pdx had two theater directors and a composer on the city payroll (!! in parks & rec !!). The neighborhood was bohemian, "the way Greenwich Village used to be," said my agent.

Gentrification began in the 90s, leading to the white techie bike-riding suburb of SF that is Portland today.

Today, lots of young folks out spending lots of money on brunch and $5 pints of beer. Not my kind of place.

Come on, Russellville!

Auspicious

Up early to cheer on Galen Rupp in marathon ... bronze medal!

Shopping, ready for major work in BR this afternoon.

Survival

Sketch and I suffering in the heat today. Cooler tomorrow.

Memory

H called, all upset about an email. Thing is, we went through this same email yesterday and resolved it. She doesn't remember. I had her delete it so we don't do it again tomorrow.

Life without continuity is a challenge.

Energy tanked

A vegetable.

West coast jazz

From 50s primarily. The sound track of what remains of my sanity. Hard to imagine life without it.

And wonderful technology: "Alexa, play west coast jazz radio." And she/it does!

Another step

Moving into bedroom today, another go around with my closet and dresser.

Harriet has so much to do. Hope she can, does.

Man, the house could be sold in two months with some good fortune. We can use some.

Knock on my wooden head. The prospect of disappearing in Russellville is exciting.

Morning?

Sketch woke me to go out ... now I seem to be watching O golf and thinking of breakfast.

Logic

100+ today. How am I keeping house cool? Baking quiche!

Zero sum

Harriet and I are back on the same page.

Sketch had a bad night, we both got little sleep.

Bronze and gold soccer games today. Rooting for Sweden.

Jerks

Hope Solo. Ryan Lochte. Ugly Americans.

Should have seen it before

Still in kitchen

Decided to do refrig and freezer and also dishes.

Need to get my attitude better after setback. Feel like I'm getting no help and obstacles I don't need.

Day and night

4 great days, then H had one of her relapses, which I had to resolve. Not the same since. Light at end of tunnel disappeared. Will we ever get out of here? But I muddle along, downsizing. Sketch tries to humor me. But this is no longer fun.

Downsizing

Harder than expected, won't get to a!l 13 tasks but making progress all the same.

Progress

A great morning

Cheese rolls, women's marathon, west coast jazz, cold brewed coffee.



More work in kitchen cupboards than I thought. Next several days.

Huge amount for Harriet to do upon return. Worry she's not up to it. Not easy work.

I'm making great progress.

Cruising with Sketch

What a great way to take a break. West coast jazz on the radio, windows down, Sketch loving riding shotgun, mellow mellow.

On a roll

Another good work day, finishing pots and pans. Leaves dishes and food in kitchen. Then to bedroom. All this before the major work, the basement.

I need a vacation.

Terrific start

Downsizing going better than expected so far! Improves the spirit, yes, we may actually get the hell out if here.

*

Women soccer team lost to Sweden in shootout. Ref blew call or they would have lost in extra time. No excuses.

Progress

After 90% recycled.

Olympics

WR in 10K! Very exciting! Now women's soccer ... then to work.

Up and at em

Waiting for women's 10k to start, a favorite event. And later men's, with Rupp.

Kitchen work today, downsizing pots and pans.

Major downsize

Broke down our pre-streaming music center, tapes CDs records, an entanglement of wires. One more chore for the day, after lunch with an actress who wants to pick my brain.

Good start to the 13 days.

Track and field starts tomorrow! Women's 10K!

Arrival east

Harriet made it but didn't sleep a wink during her all night flight. Goodnight.

LA Angels #1 fan

My cousin Robin Deemer, a journalist in SoCal, USC grad.

Go Bruins! Go Mariners!

So far, so good

Her plane took off on time. I assume she is on it. Next stop, SLC.

Quotation of the day

"I'm too old for this." HKL

Nightmare

Harriet is too old and forgetful to travel alone. Try telling her that. She is flying Delta, which is still messed up, and her trip, assuming she can get packed and the rest, already has a connection change with a 4 hr midnight layover, the flight from hell, and she is a wreck, and I am a wreck, and this shit has to stop.

Hanging in

Housekeeper helping Harriet downsize upstairs ... in basement, what remains of my office, listening to jazz, watching women's rugby, wow!, gathering strength for 13 chores in 13 days after Harriet flies east. Also money to manage, which gets tricky with our habit of living above our means. Like two cross country trips in two months! Well, you only live once and all that.

Man o man, can't wait to get out of here, have less responsibility. Can't wait!

The list

Have 13 days alone, identified 13 downsizing tasks. 1 a day. Early morning. Loud west coast jazz. Like a party! Begin Thursday. Whoop whoop!

Sorry, tough guys

Just watched some women's rugby at the Olympics. Makes padded American football look like a game for pussies!

Diversions

Olympics, Mariners, cushions against the maddening slow pace of our move. Eager to be here alone and crank it up.

Sketch

Sometimes I think the dog wakes me up because he is lonely. He'll fall asleep on the sofa beside me. Then I try to sneak back to bed without waking him. Like now.

14 days

Harriet goes east on the 10th to visit a son and grandkids. I have two weeks alone to get into high gear and make considerable progress. It will be a challenge. But I look forward to it. Goal, to glimpse a flicker of light that there's something beyond this mess.

Tick tock ...

Lost opportunity

On the American Olympics team is a Muslim woman who competes in her hijab. Imagine the powerful image if they had made her the flag bearer! Phelps needs another honor like he needs a hole in the head. They blew it.

Time

Time in old age changes. The present moment drags; the month sprints past before you see it. Creeping in the small focus, racing away in the large.

Nothing downsized today.

Exhausted

Been at it since 6. Collapse time. Olympics men's soccer today.

European football

It took me a lifetime to realize that European football, or soccer, is a superior game to American football. It requires a better athlete and is more engaging to watch with its continuous play. It has world wide interest. it embraces more interesting rituals.

USA v. New Zealand about to start.

Good day

Large donation to Vietnam vets this morning.

Cooking and Olympics for rest of day.

Here we go

Olympics soccer begins this morning, USA women play this afternoon. Yes!

Transition

Cooler, wetter, taking a day off. End of day, put out boxes for VVA pickup tomorrow.

Looking forward to Olympics.

Not looking forward to continuing Trump phenomenon. Very depressing that political intelligence has reached such a low. Massive failure of education system that this could happen. A lot of the energy comes from a dying clan of white males stuck in American mythology. Media drives it, loving extreme views. Social media nurtures it.

Whatever happens, Nature will level the playing field. Disaster plays no political favorites.

No wonder I'm eager to disappear at Russellville. I don't have many years left. Plan to wallow in great works of art and quiet reflection. Count my blessings.

Slow start

... and afternoon recovery. Another bag of trash, 4 more boxes for vets, 2 to keep. Onward.

Deja vu all over again

Bob Hicks writing recently:

IN THE BEGINNING was Stark Raving Theatre, a little company with the audacious goal of producing nothing but new plays.

Check that. In the beginning was New Rose Theatre, with its long and fruitful sponsorship of new plays set in the Northwest by Charles Deemer.

Check that. In the beginning was Storefront Theatre, which made up new plays like an artisan baker whips up fresh new pastries ...

Check that. New plays have always been a part of the mix on Portland’s theater scene, but never with the frequency and impact of the past 10 years or so, when companies across the city have made it a prime goal to create new work. 

***

Always nice to be remembered!

Significant progress

... on yard work today. Been putting it off.

Spaghetti sauce to celebrate.

We BOTH are eager to get to Russellville. Nice to hear Harriet say it.

Bottom line

Lunch and dinner don't excite me very often any more. But breakfast always excites me. I have come to worship the egg. And the potato. They have spiritual significance.

Ukulele

Listen to Keyportrag by cdeemer #np on #SoundCloud
https://soundcloud.com/cdeemer/keyportrag

Time out

Well, finally I can say we are at the end of a week when progress at downsizing was made. And Harriet joined the team. Now to keep this momentum going. By Sept, when the pros arrive, some of the work already will be done.

Today, yard work.

Brooding about a project to begin at Russellville. My last memoir, WHOLE CLOTH, documented in detail how my life experiences have informed my work. So unusual a presentation, wrote one reader, that it could be used to benefit in university writing classes.

From the life to the work. I'm thinking about going the other way: from the work (of others) to the life. How stories have informed my life.

Russellville has a theater. They show five films a week. A convenient, disciplined way to see a lot of movies and to reflect on how their themes may have informed my life, or not. A book, WATCHING MOVIES AT RUSSELLVILLE PARK: FILM STORIES AND LIFE.

Definitely a live concept.

Slow, slow ...

... but sure downsizing progress. Today I filled 3 trash bags and 2 giveaway boxes. Located computer recycling and guitar shippers. Giving guitar and banjo to musician godsons, keeping ukulele.

Different M.O.'s

A pile of stuff. Hasn't been looked at in several years. Am I missing something that might be there? No. I toss it.

Harriet, on the other hand, looks through the pile item by item. Something important might be there!

I've downsized in less than a minute. The same pile takes Harriet hours, days.

This is why I look forward to her 2 week trip to the east coast.

Junk

Appalling how much I've accumulated! I'm not even the pack rat of the family. We, the consumer culture, ARE the problem.

Overwhelming

The more downsizing I do, the more there is to do. Work for hours and barely make a dent. A monumental task we NEVER could do alone.

Destination

History

Harriet watched DNC last night in tears: "I've waited so long for this."

I have "progressive" friends who demonize Clinton. They don't see Trump as dangerous. Blows me away. Ideologues of any stripe can be their own worst enemy.

Out of print

Found inexpensive used copy of ZEN AND THE COMIC SPIRIT, first recommended to me by the late Ger Moran, friend and poet. Influenced my writing, first THE DEATH OF TENG YIN-FENG, a decade later CHRISTMAS AT THE JUNIPER TAVERN. Recommend it to director of December revival of latter. At the foundation of much.

Breakfast

More than a meal. A ritual. A meditation. An attitude check.

How much does doing it myself play into this? I'll find out at Russellville.

Buttermilk

... at midnight. Comforting.

Disappearing act

I am eager to get to Russellville.

One foot after the other

Continuing work in office.

A sense of progress

Finally. Yard work yesterday. Best, Harriet scheduled specific tasks and if she does them, fantastic.

The downsizing estimate was on house as is. We'll have done much ourselves by Sept. I hope we can get it done with them in two weeks instead of three and get the house on the market sooner.

Also save money.

Today a bit more yard work but I'm focusing on my basement office this week.

Love a sense of progress!

Russellville stock photos

A new book?

Writers never retire, is accepted wisdom. I fight it but it's true.

I started something called FRAGMENTS BEFORE THE FALL, but it is not grabbing me. Feels like a blog.

Russellville inspires another "last act" approach. Unlike Vineyard, they have a theater and show 5 different films a week. Choices I've seen are first rate. So maybe this: WATCHING MOVIES AT RUSSELLVILLE PARK RETIREMENT COMMUNITY: Reflections on film and life.

A jazz musician's approach, using a film's theme to improvise around related personal concerns. Might prove interesting and certainly worth a try. Also gives me an early goal.

Art show in Sept.

Frustration

I feel like I'm working with one hand tied behind me. Harriet slows everything down with her indecision and procrastination. Presumably the downsizing company folks are used to her difficulties but they don't arrive until September after her two east coast trips. Two! Pardon me while I scream.

And to think my idea of retirement was peace and quiet, with a little professional respect thrown in. HA HA HA!

One nice thing I learned: the Starbucks near Russellville is open 24 hours. There's something I can take advantage of.

Revised destination

Russellville Park. Definitely better suited for H. I can live with it: trading my 3rd for 4th choice. More expensive, so taking 1 BR instead of 2. Less rustic, more "Portland." On Max line, easy escape ha ha. Movie theater! In a lively neighborhood. Less institutional feel. I can live with it and H more excited about it. We put earnest money down. I don't want any more changes.

Oops

Harriet changed her mind regarding future home. Stay tuned.

Lunch at Vineyard Place

Would you buy a used car from this man?

Emigration

Moving to Vineyard Place is going to feel like leaving the country, I hope. Dropping out, going underground, a disappearing act. The end of empire is getting unbearable to watch.

But the next 4 months or more, getting out of here, may feel like eternity.

"Surreal"

HC described the Republican convention perfectly.

The question of breakfast

Vineyard Place provides all meals but still, unlike most places, puts full kitchens in the apartments. I will still bake bread and brew buttermilk and daily iced coffee. I expect to eat lunch and dinner in the dining room almost always. Okay, paella or homemade pasta now and again.

Breakfast remains uncertain because mine is first rate. Have to wait and see.

Cracked rye rolls

Cancer update

Stitches on leg out this morning, H given green light. 6 month skin exam to keep ahead of any returning problem.

The world is too much with us ..

... begins a Wordsworth poem. Too true.

The frightening Orwellian reaction of Trump to plagiarism fiasco. Deny problem, accept no responsibility, blame Hillary. This is how he mishandles a crisis, makes everything worse.

The civilized change of power in UK recently, in contrast to our nasty zoo.

Eager to disappear at Vineyard! No news!

After a busy day

Quotation of the day

"I'm too old for this." Harriet, trying to prep for art show.

Yep! She finally is getting it.

Let us begin

I feel like this is the first day of "downsizing in earnest" ... because I am getting ready to trash my PC and take only the netbook and Kindles with me. A huge step! It means abandoning programs only on the PC. I found a 2001 Quicken, which I still use, and for a dime at that, so I will install it on the netbook for banking as usual. I can edit video and write on the netbook.

I hauled out the first bag of trash from the basement. First of dozens, I expect.

When the PC is gone, soon, the desk and bookshelves follow. The Official Downsize, managed by the company, begins in Sept, and I hope to have quite a bit done on my own by then, which also brings down the price, although the existing price is fine by me, less than I anticipated

Harriet isn't with the program yet. The sooner, the better.

Copying essentials from the PC to an external drive this morning, while the housekeeper works upstairs, one of her last visits.

A time to be mellow

As eager as we are to move, now is the time to relax. At best, we sell the house in Oct and close and move in Nov but many obstacles can delay this, including inspection and repairs. With luck, in this seller's market, buyers will bid against one another with advantages going our way. But nothing is certain. At least we are under no deadlines. We can take our time, despite eagerness to move. Let the chips fall our way.

Airbnb app

A great discovery! Short term rentals from rooms to cottages to studios, neighborhood living. We'll use it after we sell the house.

New energy

Yesterday's progress is invigorating! In next two months, should be able to downsize alone until the pros arrive to finish the job. Estimated cost will go down.

If all goes well, we are out of here in Oct or Nov.

Good news

Downsizing and moving estimates work for us. Can't schedule as early as I'd like due to H schedule but should be able to put house on market in October.

Stock photos

Our future home.