Out of the Closet

Yesterday I was able to talk to Peter Parolin, the chair of the UW English department where I teach. I told him the secret I've been keeping for a little while: that Ron and I plan to move to Bellevue next summer. After the shock wore off, Peter seemed very happy for me. He seemed even happier when he was able to realize that I didn't mean this summer, that in fact I was giving him a one year notice. And we both seemed happy at the prospect that perhaps I could continue to teach at UW through the Outreach School, even from Iowa. I'm not counting on that happening but I would be very happy if I could keep my job part time but do it from where I want to be next year. The best of all worlds. Anyway, I feel great relief to be out of the closet at work. I didn't feel comfortable revealing plans to friends, either, until I had talked to Peter.

Pretty Bellevue Sunrise

I saw this picture of today's sunrise over the Mississippi River in Bellevue, Iowa on their Facebook page. Can't wait to see it in person.

Photo in summer

Here's a familiar Bellevue scene, a photo from the area above town in Bellevue State Park. This one shows the beauty of summer.
Here's the link where I found it:
Photo-sharing community. Discover the world through photos.
www.panoramio.com/photo/27826965

The waiting is the hardest part

So, it will be more than a year before we move to Bellevue, Iowa. How do I pass the time until then? Lately I've passed time on Youtube, watching Chamber of Commerce awards banquets and videos posted by random people driving through town chasing trains. Here are a few of them, in case you need to soothe your Bellevue jones.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qY1SHcf0og
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qY1SHcf0og
And also, there's a band in Bellevue that apparently is recording all this cool music. Hope to meet them someday. Meantime, here's a sample.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Obnbx2HrN1A&feature=related

New House Colors

Ron has been photoshopping his fingers off creating a new color scheme for the Setzphandt House. We think this is pretty close. What do you think?

Cat climbing out of bag

As proof that secrets don't stay that way for long, word of our planned Iowa move got out in two unexpected ways recently. Maybe secret is too strong a word. What is the word for news that you haven't told many people that is suddenly known by many? "Gossip" sounds negative. "Viral" too internety. Anyway, here are the two examples. Maybe the word to describe them will reveal themselves later.
First, I heard from a woman in Wyoming I've corresponded with once or twice because she is the editor of the newspaper in Kemmerer, and we've both written a piece about the same subject matter. Her name is Sara Millhouse. Because her piece referenced mine, her name came up in my Google news alert. Now she writes to say she's going to Bellevue to run the newspaper there. I knew about that job because of my Google alert set to Bellevue. I contacted the folks who run the paper not to apply for the job, of course, but just to introduce myself to members of the local journalism community. Now I'll have another Wyomingite in Bellevue ahead of me: Sara Millhouse. I'm very happy about this news.
Second, my 91 year old mother lives in a nursing home in Kansas City. She is mentally alert but I didn't want to tell her about the planned move until it was a little closer to reality. The move is more than a year away. Plus, I wanted to tell her in person. Instead, my sister Leslie asked my mother about it, and so of course that made my mother worry and fret about it to my other sister, wondering if I'd already moved, and so forth. I had sent my sister Leslie a photo of the house and invited her to call me on the phone so I could tell her my plans. She did not. Instead she asked my mother. This is what happens when families unravel.
A word for all of this? Not sure. But I guess there's not much reason to put off linking this blog to JulianneCouch.com, now is there!

Our Home Away From Home

We're the proud owners of the Setzephandt House now. But we are jealous of our tenants. They are the ones who actually get to live there. We sit in Laramie, thinking about stairways and kitchens and back decks. And boats and racoons and grocery stores. And internet connections and photographs and public libraries and writing and jobs and range hoods. All of it is on hold while the clock ticks and the calendar pages fall. Trying to rush life ahead isn't good practice. It rushes too fast as it is. The whole experience of owning a home in Bellevue right now is reduced to figuring out how to set up an automatic mortgage payment. Good thing we have healthy imaginations: we'll get through it. I suppose it is the strength of our imaginations that got us here to begin with!