No joking when I said my “new job” was watercolor painting and drawing! I’ve been getting daily life stuff done, but somewhen in between, I manage an hour or two a day with paper, pen, and paint. It’s paying off (that’s what jobs are supposed to do, right?) I think. Still a lot of goofs, but some progress, too. Mud is now something I decide to paint more often than not. Below is a gallery of the work I’ve done in the past few weeks – not all of it, just some of it. Click on one picture to begin scrolling through them.
I have been using two different types of paper for the watercolors. One that is inexpensive, 100% cotton is Bee Paper, in 6×9 inch format. The other is Fabriano, in block format. 11×15 inch Artistico; this is a higher quality 100% cotton that is still affordable. Both papers are really good for heavier washes. The Artistico has more tooth than the Bee paper, but the smoother surface of the Bee really lends itself well to ink-and-watercolor drawings.
So many plans with impending retirement, and I am finding I certainly will not be able to do everything I want to do – just not enough time! I used to give myself 30 minutes to paint – now I can give myself whatever time I want. Thus, first loves take over other loves, but the sewing and the photography and knitting and, and, and will get in there. Time will be dedicated!
So, on this rainy Saturday morning, the studio will get cleaned up again, and the fun continue.
With the official retirement date of April Fool’s Day, I have been rethinking a lot of what I do and want to do. Being retired is really like taking on a new job. You have to figure out what is important, what is not important, and instead of someone directing your daily traffic, you are the one who has to make the decisions. Of course, the daily chores of living set up a schedule in a way, but what if you just decide not to pay attention to them? I think – I know – my life would totally fall apart! I like my dishes and laundry done, bills paid, and a clean and ordered living environment – especially my studio – but I also want to have the room to be messy and creative. That is really my new job: what to do with my free time.
And what do I want to do? I am finding my priority is painting and drawing. These are my longest and deepest loves, ever since I can remember. Philosophical battles wasted a lot of my time; rather than just doing things, I thought about their values. These values were really external ones – who will value what I do? In the end, it really doesn’t matter because I am not painting or drawing for an audience other than me. That said, I also want to schedule – yes, schedule! – time for reading, writing, photography, socializing, sewing, spinning, knitting, baking, gardening, some travel. Everyone says my time will be really easy to fill. I had my doubts, but no more.
Having a return-to-work date from medical leave prior to the retirement decision kept these thoughts at bay. Now, the world is wide open. Enjoying retirement is my new job, one to cherish. It’s like being a kid again, really! The summer – however long it is now – without school – lies ahead.
Yesterday’s post had some lies in it. I thought there were not a lot of seals on the beach. It turns out there are literally tons of them, strewn along the sand and on the rocks themselves, disguising themselves as rocks. Check out the picture below. Click on it once, it will fit on your screen. Click on it again and then you can see those sneaky little critters! Sheelah sure has sharp eyes!
Weeks go by and it seems you go nowhere interesting. A trip to the market, and then a walk around the neighborhood. Oh, other things happen, like a phone call or a visit with a friend, but still, life seems uneventful. Not that I want a lot of “events” – they don’t usually bring good news – but I do like a change of scenery. So, when it happens, and the wind is up, the sun is out, the rain is falling on you, rainbows come and go, and you are pounding away on wet sand, head in the wind, life is pretty darn good. Accompanied by the esposo and friends of yore, it makes for a wonderful day. End it with someone’s excellent cooking, how can you complain?
A few weeks ago, our friends Doug and Sheelah, up inCarpinteria, invited us to visit. I’ve been friends with them since before forever, and the town they live in is a small beach community north of us by about 50 miles. I lived there when I was in college, on an avocado ranch where the laborers sang Spanish songs at 5:30 a.m. – a nice way to wake up, along with the clucking of chickens and the crowing of roosters. The beauty of Carpinteria is that it is blessed with a wonderful state park that runs along much of the city itself, moving from wide flat beaches to bluffs which overlook a seal rookery, which is home to mothers, fathers, and newborn babies in the first part of each year.
Sunday afternoon was a windy, blustery day, with remnants of storm clouds gusting in from the north, white caps out to sea, and an occasional wild sprinkling of rain. The sky, though blue, bore thick clouds, and the wind was fierce enough to blow fine sand in rivulets in front of you when your back was to the wind, and fill your eyes and mouth with grit when you were facing it. The cold, too, was biting (for us thin-blooded Californians), and an insulated, windproof jacket, along with hats and hoods made you a lot more comfortable than not. It was so cold, Sheelah went back home and changed from a down jacket to a windbreaker, hat, and long scarf. We waited in the wind for her.
As always, a beach is a treasure chest. Shells, rocks, driftwood, flotsam and jetsam. Sheelah found a beauty of a stone, a jasper veined with white, and a clam shell.
The bluffs host a variety of things. Ranches and small industry, railroad tracks, piers to launch boats for the oil rigs offshore, trails, and seals. Here we began our ascent onto the bluffs.
From here, we continued along the pathways, weaving near the edge of the bluffs and inland, the Pacific on one side, the flat land on the other. Trees vary from native Monterrey cypress (I think that is the correct name) to eucalyptus. The trees at the edge are twisted and tormented by the winds.
A bit away from the shore, sunflowers are already in bloom beneath the old eucalyptus and other coastal trees. The brilliant colors are so welcome after months of drought and brown, dried, dead plants.
The seal rookery, or sanctuary, was not very populated when we looked down at it. The tide was out, so perhaps were the seals; as well, the storms of this season may have discouraged a lot of sex in the sand and babies on the beach.
The Carpinteria Seal Sanctuaryis observable from the bluffs. Pupping season begins in December. Above the sanctuary are benches and paths so the seals may be seen, but left undisturbed (one hopes) by humans. This video shows the seal sanctuary as I have seen it in earlier years.
As our earth changes and populations increase and resources lost, such sites are increasingly more important for wildlife. Below is a view from the cliffs. We saw about 4 or 5 seals, well disguised as rocks. The sanctuary is an important area for wildlife. I’ve been here in other years, and there are mothers and babies everywhere, fat and floppy on the sand.
All along the way, to and fro our 3.5 mile walk, there was much to see, whether on the phone lines or in the camping area of the state park. People were out and about, running, bicycling, and just enjoying a brisk, beautiful day.
Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon! Doug and Sheelah are wonderful people and great friends to spend time with. We feel pretty lucky to live in such a beautiful area and have the blessing of wonderful friends and family nearby.
Since I put in my resignation and applied for my retirement funds, an interesting shift in viewpoint or perspective has occurred. I’ve been out on medical leave since last summer, and always had a return date for work. First it was in January 2019, and then the last day of March 2019. (Nothing fatal, just a health situation that is taking a bit longer to “fix” than originally thought, and as I was planning to retire in July of this year, I just moved things up.)
There were “return to work” dates in my head. Having those dates is very different than having a seemingly infinite time that retirement provides. No schedule, no obligations to a job – just my life.
I feel as if I am standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon – which I have done from different vantage points – and the experience is heady and scary! The bottom of the Grand Canyon is a long way down – and the view to the other rim is miles and miles away. The river is to be traveled. The sky is vast and filled with stars and clouds and songbirds and ravens and raptors. What adventures await? That is up to me to decide as much as is in my power.
The freedom is the most exciting part – the freedom to choose to do something or not do something. The freedom to be lazy, to read, to take a walk, to have lunch with a friend, to chat on the phone, to write, to paint, to draw, to do photography, to dig holes in the yard (that has to wait – too much rain!), to shop, to bake, to cook, to sew, to design, to think, to live, to wait, to plan, to anticipate.
All of this is sprawled out like a puddle of water, an ocean, moving into nooks and crannies that have been ignored in face of the 10-11 hour work day when the only options are get up, drink coffee, have breakfast, get washed and dressed, drive to work, work, shove lunch in my face while I work, work some more, drive home, have dinner, clean up after dinner, go to bed.
Don’t get me wrong – I enjoyed my job, but I was tired of the lack of time for myself, to be with family and friends, tired of feeling every moment in my life belonged to someone or something else (the job, my students, my responsibilities at work) or spent on the daily chores of living (dishes, cleaning, bills, budgeting). To savor anything personal had a pressure on it to do it quickly and efficiently so there would still be time for another activity. Personal relationships were nearly impossible to maintain, even at home. I think my health also suffered because of 5 years of this crazy schedule – so I got to practice for retirement with medical leave and enjoy some time of my own.
And now, I own my time except for what my biological clock and fate has in store for me. It’s something I treasure every day.
Ink, Yarn & Beer 