Good morning. It’s been weeks since I sat down and looked at my photos and had my mind set on a painting. Like so many others, our days have been preoccupied with what is going on locally, nationally, and globally.
And as nauseating as I felt (and still feel at times) about changing and forward momentum in order to charter a clearer, simpler path and life for our family of six, we just needed to make a change.
Taking your own advice is always harder than it sounds, even for a glass half full individual. Perhaps that’s why change is even more unnerving. Waiting for better times, better circumstances, and better outcomes seems very reasonable and is how patient people seemingly survey current conditions and forecast the future.
But, when you have four children from aged 8-16, and they are isolated, fearful, and possibly depressed from lack of interaction, play, or meaningful activity beyond what two working parents can provide, your heart burns for their relief.
Three years or so ago, we seriously considered moving to Northern Michigan, but my ties to Maryland were tight, and my circle tugged back with such resolve that we ultimately decided to stay put indefinitely. We had built our dream home, loved our work, friends, family, and neighbors. The kids were (mostly) happy at school, and our lives were what I might dare call normal.
But, over the summer, when Covid seemed to be an unending and my father in law in Michigan became ill, our family decided to again explore the possibility of a move again. I can take my work with me and my fella was working remotely most of the month anyhow, and with school having no plans to open (even now), we packed up our pick up like Beverly Hillbillies and started fresh somewhere familiar but still new.
A lovely family acquaintance offered us their cabin on Lake Ann while we were homeless for over a month. It was enough time to get the kiddos situated in their new school (in-person!), and begin to transition to the Fresh Coast, a local nickname for Traverse City, Michigan. It was as if our lives were inherently lighter as soon as we arrived. Normalcy was something we hadn’t experienced in almost seven months and it was so delicious!
We are now in our new (to us) home, on the Leelanau Peninsula. There are sixty wineries within an hour’s drive, and a dozen or more breweries/distilleries. My husband has tried every possible beer by Bell’s and now their Upper Peninsula offerings, “Upper Hand”, a nod to the area of the mitten state that calls Canadians southerners…Of course, they also call Michiganders below the Mackinac Bridge “Trolls”. Tourists are “Fudgies”, and the list of playful Michiganisms goes on.
So, I’m sharing you a little piece of peace this morning. Photos that I’ve taken these last few weeks that will no doubt inspire my art in the coming months.
Stay tuned for some new work while I dig out of my boxes that are stacked to the ceiling. My new studio is 25% as large as my last one, so I’ve downsized for sure. However, I’ve upsized tremendously in my level of sanity, gratefulness, and in family time that was so labored previously.
Santa, if you are reading this, please find me a lease on a studio in the Warehouse District in Traverse City for Christmas!!!
