Summer                                                            Summer Moon

William Morris has proved helpful as I make decisions about what to move to Colorado and what we want to sell or donate. His principle, have nothing in your home which is not beautiful or useful, sound on its own in my opinion (and one I’ve honored in the breach for the most part), makes wonderful sense when sorting through, say, crystal.

If it’s elegant, graceful, clean, it goes in a box with green tape. If it was bought in a momentary enthusiasm or received as a well intended gift, red tape. Or, yellow, if we keep it for a possible garage sale. Prints, photographs, paintings will get sorted in the same way. DVD’s and books, too, for that matter. Furniture? Yes. Kitchenware? You bet. Gardening tools? Yep. Beautiful? Green tape. Nice? Red tape.

There is a category, though, that Morris doesn’t address that also has its green tape items. That groundhog headpiece that belonged to Dad? Beautiful? No. Useful? No. Memorable? Outta the park. Yes, sentimentalism will have its own share of boxes, though they will be far fewer than in times past. And, if it were possible, even the sentimental things would be either beautiful or useful, too.

Beltane                                                            Summer Moon

One bookshelf of DVD’s sorted into red (go), green (move). Boxes piling up. We’ll need the Sort Toss Pack folks next Friday or we’ll need a second house for the contents of this one. Hey, Warren! (a friend known for the number of homes he either wholly or partially owned)

The process of getting ready to move, living the move as I think of it, has been good for our relationship and it was already excellent. The process of unstripping one identity and its physical trappings and creating a new identity in a new place has a surprising amount of vulnerability attached. The familiar no longer soothes in quite the same way as it used to. The ease of doing our banking, visiting a pharmacy and going out for  lunch, all of which we did today, will require thought and planning a year from now. A little thing, yes, but add up the little things and they become big.

But, we are doing this together, removing our Minnesota identities while getting ready to put on Colorado ones. Of course there will be continuities, even Minnesota constants, but all will be changed. In the process our relationship is the main constant, the stable spot, yet even it will change, is changing, has been changed. This is what brings us closer together, the journey, one of our own choosing. We have made this decision and bear the consequences as well as the potentials.

Beltane                                                                    Summer Moon

Third realtor interview today. A guy from Ramsey (another ‘burb connected to us to the northwest) who left large real estate companies to found his own. A thoughtful guy with a sound approach and a 5.5% fee. A possibility. It will be a while before he gets back to us, week after next due to a vacation that starts tomorrow. I’m especially interested in his valuation since he understands this market and has sold real estate for 28 years.

Not sure why but I find this process enervating. It doesn’t feel productive to me, even though it’s very important to the success of our move. Or, maybe, it’s just today. Once we’ve selected a realtor things will start moving, though still at a pace we can maintain since next March remains the date for putting the place on the market.

Beltane                                                                    Summer Moon

We have actual red tape. It goes on stuff that’s leaving the house before we do. Boxes, right now, of DVDs and books. Other things will follow. So in this case red tape means freeing up room for the green tape. That’s the stuff that will leave with us for Colorado. And the yellow tape means we’re not sure quite yet.

Surprised myself today when sorting DVDs at how many I want to keep. Probably not rational since most movies are available somewhere for streaming. Movies by favorite directors like Weir, Wender, Anderson, Bergman and movie houses like Hammer, classics from Criterion or other art house companies, plus the stuff of my youth like the Mummy, Frankenstein and Dracula are all in the green tape box. A weird comfort, as with many of my book categories, knowing I can reach for one whenever I need it.

There will be many decisions like these. We have asked the SortTossPack folks to come the last week of June to move things out of the garage, take the furniture to the consignment shop and a first load of books and dvds to half-price books.

Beltane                                                                     Summer Moon

Boxes have begun to pile up. Some with yellow tape. Not sure yet. Most right now with red tape. Sell. A few with green tape. Move. As the months progress the green boxes will out number the red ones as we “edit” our belongings. Edit is a real estate term for cleaning all the junk out of the house before you try to sell it.

We’ll have SortTossPack come the last week of June to help clear out the garage, take our bedroom furniture except for the bed, the furniture in the guest room, again with the exception of the bed. By then we’ll also have numerous boxes of books and curios, dvds and such. I’m hopeful sometime in that time frame the Vectra, the leg press, the long arm quilter and the riding lawnmower have gone on to other homes where they will be used.

We meet with the last realtor to interview next Tuesday, the day after we meet with our financial consultant. On Tuesday Anne, Kate’s sister, helped us begin what will be a larger editing of our landscape. Mostly pruning, but some new plantings as well. On that day, too, I cut away the yew over the boulder wall.

All this work, small chunks at a time, has taken the edge off the move for me, made it something now, rather than later. We are, so far, making the move a pleasant experience, one with enough time to accomplish. May it be so going forward, too.

Beltane                                                                    Summer Moon

Blue sky smiling at me. Dewpoint floating below 50. A temperature in the high 70’s. Northern summer day with white cumulus tumbling through the sky, looking for a tip to queue.

Jon sent us some information about St. Mary’s Glacier, Colorado, population 200+. It has its own glacier and most of the area is at 11,500 feet. The property prices look good and it’s only 30 minutes from Denver in Clear Creek County, north of I-70 around Idaho Springs. Just did a broadband map lookup and it has broadband.

A main draw of Colorado is the chance for extended time in the mountains and living among them would be wonderful. Can you imagine having a glacier in your town? How cool would that be?

Beltane                                                                 Summer Moon

The Parade of Realtors is two thirds finished. The one today offered a much better number than our first one, while at the same time being more professional and believable. That’s a winning combination for me. She’s a friend of Kate’s and mother to a long time friend of Jon’s. We have one more Realtor to meet, then we’ll choose and begin to do what they think we need to do to sell our house next spring at the best possible price.

Of course, between here and there is a path lined with a lot of cardboard and sweat equity, not to mention real estate perusal in Colorado. Next Monday we meet with our financial planner and will discuss with him how much if any capital it might make sense to withdraw to support our purchase. That and a number we anticipate from the sale of this house will define the parameters of our search.

Since making the decision a little over a month ago, we’ve made concrete step after concrete step, each one headed west toward the Rockies. And each one makes a bit more excited. Living in the move, instead of Minnesota or Colorado, has let me go with the process as it flows, allowing my daily actions to flow with it, rather than struggling against difficulties. So far that seems to be working fine.