One of my students drew me!
I’ve been bringing the classroom plants home.
At last summer arrives to Los Angeles and with her we have enough warmth to sit outside and bask. I am summerizing dear old Moss Cottage. Replacing a very old rug in the “library”. That’s the wall of bookshelves near the window by a desk that looks out onto the lane. I sit there almost every evening and write while the occasional passerby walk their hounds up the steep hill. Sometimes they spot me behind the window and I give a wave or nod.
I’m having a difficult time imagining the chains of working life just falling away. I’m ready to embark on a new voyage. The passage is uncertain, there isn’t a map, or even a guide. I think I’m going to need a gap year to sort everything out. I want simple. I want slow.
Visions of France continue dancing in my head. It seems wherever one throws a dart on the map of France there are darling villages to explore. I never considered leaving my beloved state, but the affordability of a new life in France is tempting. For a childless cat lady like myself without family nearby, relocating to the other side of the planet is in the realm of the possible. But first my retreat from working life. I will probably never be able to pull myself away from this place, this California, this Los Angeles, this cottage, but we’ll see. In the meantime I’m making a Google Sheets spreadsheet of villages that fit my criteria of future forever homes.
Tell me what is happening with your one wild and precious life?
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I love the hands on hips, no-nonsense stance your student was able to capture! Ah well, we have to be that authority figure (or just appear to be lol) if we don’t want the classroom to turn into a three-ring-circus, right? I’ll be curious about your potential overseas adventures, an old friend and his wife just left the US for Belize, and seem happy with the decision. Having been gone from CA for seven years now, I’ve realized it’s my true north, and probably always will be. But certainly a year in France could be a lovely adventure and if you like it, well, then you have your answer as to what the rest of your life will look like — French Village living! At least in Oregon, it’s a bad time to try and sell a house though, so definitely hang on to your stateside property until the economy improves.
Dear Mary Ann, You’re getting pretty close to D-Day! I’m very happy for you. I’ve been reading your old blog posts about Paris. I’m thinking of going there next year. There, and Giverny.
I am sorry to say that my mother passed away 11 days ago. She was ill for the past three years. But as I’m sure you know, it’s never easy. Half the time I feel gut punched. She was a French teacher, and always wanted to visit France, and never did. So I want to go on her behalf.
You look very authoritarian in that student sketch!
XOXO
Slowing down was the hardest part of my retirement; the drive to having to being productive was hard to shed. In my case, switching focus and be just as mad/driven about a new thing helped but didn’t solve the uneasiness. You, on the other hand, seem to have good plans, and I know you’ll be successful. And if everything else fails, there is always the ever-changing garden. Best wishes for the next few weeks.
11160. Peyriac-Minervois. PIN IT 😉