More from the Mountains

Dear friends,

The mystery that keeps the lights and power on is playing a game of hide and seek with me as it cuts off and then on again. It’s been doing this for the better part of the last hour. The roaring sounds of the winds crescendo outside and I pull the curtains back to see the telephone and electrical wires dancing like strands of hair at the mercy of the blow dryer.

It’s Saturday night and there’s a snowstorm in Asheville. I learned about the impending calamity from people in the grocery store earlier. The checkout people and customers were discussing the consequences of even a hint of coming snow. I could see it for myself. I wanted to tell everyone I was grocery shopping because I am now chained to a desk through the week and can only do shopping on Saturday mornings. But I didn’t. I just enjoyed the banter and the reminder that this is how it is outside of New York City.

I check the news before the lights go out completely and I get into my warm bed with my trusty pal Ms. Macintosh to write. She has two hours of battery power to offer, but I only have 10 minutes worth. I fall asleep in the total darkness, howling winds and ever cooling air outside my blankets.

I awake this Sunday morning to a “real feel” of minus 12 outside, and a cold 46 degrees inside. I’ve been keeping the heat around 74 so I know there is trouble. I’ve called the landlord and he thinks it’s working now. I am now layered up in bed with my coffee and writing my Sunday morning emails

I checked out the electronic version of the NYTimes and see that some of you are in 18 to 24 inches of snow! From my window it seems we have less than an inch. Of course this brings back some fond memories. I always liked the first day of snow in the City, especially when it came on a weekend. It is as quiet as the city ever gets. The traffic becomes just a trickle and the snow muffles all other sounds. I don’t recall the heat ever going out in my eleven years there, and only once did the electricity go out. That was the big one back in 2003, I think. And that was in summer. I’m reminded that most of the City’s wiring is underground and generally safe from everything except flooding.

My Australian friend Bridget called last evening. She called to invite me to an Aquarian party that she, Elaine and Ann are throwing together since they are all Aquarians. I regretfully declined but am putting the 2006 party on my agenda for next year. It was Sunday morning there and she was describing the heat and humidity they are experiencing. It’s delightful to imagine how we all live on this planet but the conditions are so ever changing. How fortunate that Mother Earth never lets us get bored with our surroundings.

Yesterday my morning started with highlights with Ronnie at Classic Haircuts. Sounds traditional, right? My boss’s wife recommended Ronnie to me. She has hair of similar texture, and, I have to start somewhere. Ronnie was dressed in overalls and flannel shirt.. I really enjoyed his country wisdom and live and let live philosophy. Billy Bob, I mean Ronnie, did a great job. I plan on going back.

The big highlight of the week is that my car wouldn’t run last Tuesday. I was able to start it and get to work but when I got there, the key wouldn’t come out. It started when I got in it for lunch, but wouldn’t continue to run. It turns out that the key became frozen in the lock and it wouldn’t stay in the position to keep the car running. Fortunately, my boss recommended a garage that works on his own vehicles. They towed me in and had it ready the next day. Initially they thought I would be without a car for a week but they were able to get me back in my wheels quicker. I admit I had some moments that day when I just felt overwhelmed with everything that has been happening. Being without wheels here can be a major problem.

I’m trying to get a routine going – yoga on Monday’s and the Buddhist Center of Thursday’s. On Friday evening I met the artist I had met at the networking group last week for dinner at the Laughing Seed – a wonderful vegetarian restaurant. She’s a fascinating woman – originally from NJ, she came south about 15 years ago after a near death experience in which a Native American Shaman appeared to her and directed her to move to the mountains and forest of East Tennessee. She lived in an Adobe she built and has been painting since the Shaman’s appearance. You can see her work at http://www.earthspeakstudio.com/. She has recently moved to Asheville and is opening a gallery near the Blue Moon Café. She should do very well. We had some very interesting conversation. We later went down to Jack in the Woods, a pub featuring live music. It started at 9:30 – a time suitable for an older crowd but attracts a younger crowd too. Ménage was performing – a trio of very talented young women playing a bass fiddle (as it’s called in the mountains) acoustic guitars, snare drum, harmonica and an accordion – at varying times. Their repertoire ranged from soul to bluegrass to yodeling cowgirl songs. A very enjoyable evening! The Saturday before my friend Marcia, who was visiting from Chattanooga with her husband David, and I heard the Firecracker Dixieland Jazz Band. They had us tapping our feet and shaking our groove thangs! The music available in this sparkling little city is phenomenal. The local weekly, The Mountain Express, list several pages of Asheville’s offerings.

The major thing I have to deal with now for the next two weeks is finding another place to live. I rented this my current apartment online, sight unseen, so I was reluctant to commit to more than a month. It turns out to be a nice place (when the heat is on!) and I would have liked to stay longer. But they have someone coming in after my lease is up so I have to find something else. I had planned on spending today searching, but its so cold I don’t want to get out of the covers to get dressed and get outside in the cold to go hunt! FYI, the heat isn’t working after all and the landlord says it will be a few hours before the repairperson can get here. He brought me a small heater that I have beside the bed.

I hope that all of you are doing well and staying warm and dry (or cool and dry, depending on which part of the world you are in!). I really enjoy hearing back from everyone.

All my love!
gwen

Two Weeks Later...

Hi All,

Thanks for the positive response to my last long email. I know we complain about all the junk email we receive and the time it takes to sort through it all, but email truly is a wonderful thing. It is amazing that I can feel so connected to my friends scattered about the world – New York, San Francisco, Connecticut, Seattle, Portland, Mullum NSW, Chattanooga, etc. This, combined with the meeting new people in Asheville (and some old friends nearby too) I haven’t felt even a millisecond of loneliness.

I appreciate all the good support for the “time card” issue. It straightened itself quickly. I think my expression must have said more than my words could have. On Monday, I was told I would be on a salary plus a commission. I’m already having fun figuring up my sales numbers. My boss (Mike) explained something that he had told me before but I had forgotten. Allegra does not do its own payroll. They use an accounting company in Charlotte that handles it along with our benefits, so that’s why they “standardized” everything. But it’s all straightened out now and I continue to report to work.

I am still enjoying the work. It is a little tough to get use to being “on” all day long, especially since there is no place to escape for a few minutes. However, we are scheduled to move into the new building on Jan 28 and I will have my own office and some privacy. I’m looking forward to that.

Life is going well socially. I put an ad on the Craig’s List Charlotte (no Asheville list yet) before I left Manhattan looking for a furnished apartment. I got a call from Mindy – a woman who moved here about 3 months ago. She bought a 3-bedroom house the first day she was here yet she doesn’t have a job. She came from San Francisco and fell in love with Asheville too. She especially loved the price of real estate, but when she began job hunting, the salaries here shocked her. I don’t think she did as much research as I. So now, she is looking for a roommate to help her pay her mortgage. We met and became friends immediately. We have much in common – politics, spirituality, etc. I didn’t move in, but we did dinner last Thursday and attended the Buddhist Center afterwards. She’s very sweet and feels like an old friend already.

I also went to a women’s networking group last Friday night. It’s more of a social group for women who live outside the city (in some cases – way outside!) They call the meeting a “Coffee Clutch.” I realize now that’s its named so because some of them must drive their tractors in from the mountains. They meet at a local coffee shop every couple of weeks. It was truly an interesting mix. There was a woman with more body tattoos than advertising on a NASCAR racer and another who looked like a human pincushion with all her body piercings. The “look” was pulled together with a clean pair of overalls and some bright red strings of hair left over from the closely shaved Mohawk. Now, I’ve been to the Village many a-time, so this is not necessarily new to me. But this woman had to be in her 60’s! Most of these women knew each other and a few were a little loud boisterous. They were all very friendly to the newcomers. I did gravitate to the more “mainstream” women there. It turns out two women I talked with were both there for the first time also. One is an artist who is opening a new gallery in Asheville and the other is a professional intuitive. The artist and I are getting together next week for lunch. When I packed to come down here, as you may know, I only brought what I could get into my car. I had to be very selective – mostly clothes, shoes, a few books, and paper work for upcoming taxes. The one “luxury” I brought was my pencils, sketchpads, and paintbrushes last used about 30 years ago. Since this area attracts so many artists, I thought I might become inspired again (actually, I’ve never not been inspired – just focused elsewhere). She knows some good art instructors in the area she is willing to tell me about so I’m looking forward to getting to know her.

I have discovered that this is a small town. I remember that when I lived in Chattanooga, I rarely left the house unless I was appropriately dressed and in makeup. After living in New York I realized that I couldn’t spend all that time every time I needed to go to the corner bodega (aka my pantry) or to the cleaners. Neither did my neighbors. So, those of us self-employed people tended to only bathe and dress when meeting clients or going out socially. I’m learning here, I must be dressed and well behaved at all time! I ran into one of my upstanding business customers during the Coffee Clutch. I bet she was really impressed with my new social group!

Then on Sunday morning, I ran into the real estate woman I had met back in November at the Bean Street Café. She introduced me to her partner and a client she they were having coffee with. They invited me to join them and I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation. The client is an eco builder – buying houses, then renovating and refitting them to make them “green.” Then, again, last Thursday, I ran into the above-mentioned artist at Greenlife – a fresh market and health food store near work. I best mind my manners here in Asheville (except when I drive – I still have my NYC tags so no one should be expecting me to be courteous).

Everyone here is so friendly and easy to be with. Just this morning, as I sit again at the Bean Street Café, I’ve had conversations in a couple of people at nearby tables. One guy asked my opinion whether his wife looked like the woman in one of the paintings. The conversation went from that to how they had moved here from Vermont a while back and love it. They bought the painting, by the way. A gentleman at a table with two couples stood up and offered to bring coffee to everyone, me included. He wouldn’t allow me to refuse. As I was leaving my apartment one morning last week, my neighbor, who is renovating his new house next door, introduced himself to me. He’s lived here a few years after moving from NYC, and then Sedona. He buys property, repairs them and makes his living that way. He calls Asheville the new Sedona. I admit there is a fever here and it’s highly contagious.

I am off now today to attempt to find a furnished apartment starting February 8 when this one-month is up. There are three advertised in today paper and only one that doesn’t say it will not accept pets. I may have to find a small unfurnished and start buying furniture soon. Oddly, I’m not nervous at all. Everything has been going so well that I just feel confident all will unfold as it should.

Lastly, I’ve been compiling a list of things that I love about Asheville and things that I’m not too crazy about. Here’s what I have so far:

I love –

Meeting people like Don, a Buddhist good ole boy truck driver. He had some beautiful wisdom to share last Thursday night. I guess driving a truck gives him a lot of time to think about the important things in life.

My next-door neighbor offering to let me use the terrace on the house he is renovating. He isn’t living there yet. Doesn’t he know that if I trip and fall I could sue him for every penny he has?

Walking at night in my neighborhood. It’s so calm and peaceful. I enjoy seeing the cats sitting on the porches, guarding their master’s homes, or perhaps looking for a midnight rendezvous with the neighbor’s cat.

The clear night skies, fresh air and that my eyeballs can stretch their sight for miles into the distant mountains.

Interesting comparison:

New Yorkers are crazy drivers and, for the most part, conformist parkers (and who wouldn’t be when it can cost as much at $365 for tickets and towing?) Ashevillians are extremely courteous drivers and crazy parkers. There is a lot of on the street parking in and around the city neighborhoods. The just pull over wherever they want to without regard to which side of the street they should or should not be parking on. There are several one-way streets and it’s terribly confusing to me. However, it hasn’t take me long to join them.

The only thing I can possibly come up with that I didn’t like at first is starting my car every time I need to go somewhere. But I’m becoming more accustomed to that.

I know that my life will eventually become routine but for now, every day brings something interesting. I do love new places and challenges. Except of course, in the grocery stores. They are hugely overwhelming with choices and space. But, I will surely adapt to that soon enough.

Look forward to you all visiting soon (individually, not all at once, please).

All my love,
gwen

Moving to Asheville

Hi All,

I am truly enjoying my new adventure here in Asheville. I’m writing this on Sunday morning at the Bean Street Café. It’s a funky little place I discovered on a previous trip. They have all my Sunday morning needs – inexpensive Southern breakfast complete with red eye gravy, free wireless for my computer, newspapers (local and NYTimes) and a fellow playing acoustic guitar. Does it get any better than this? I can’t imagine how!

I started my new job on Monday. I couldn’t have put myself on a worse possible start yet have such a successful time. On Sunday night I ate some almond butter and crackers before I went to bed. I had just opened the jar in NYC, and put it with some other staples in a grocery bag to bring with me. What I didn’t realize is that it should have been refrigerated. On top of that, I take something to help me sleep (menopausal side effect, but that’s probably TMI – too much information) and without paying too much attention to what I had packed from my medicine cabinet, I just popped the aspirin-looking tablet into my mouth. I didn’t sleep well at all and my tummy was very upset. I assumed it was from new place/new job jitters, although I really didn’t feel that anxious emotionally about any of this. I was up most of the night from the almond butter – which I discovered the cause the next morning when I though about what I had eaten. And then later discovered that instead of taking the right prescription, I had instead taken something my dentist had given me. The entire first day I was wound tighter than a girdle on a Baptist minister's wife at an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast.

However, I must have appeared very calm on the outside. By the end of the week my boss said that I had said all the right things and done all the right things. There are 5 of us packed into a space the size of my Manhattan bedroom and I was practically sitting on my bosses’ lap, with his wife almost sitting on my lap (my desk is actually sandwiched in between them). For some reason (either the stars were in excellent alignment, or perhaps it’s just my maturity and experience) I was given a key to the building on Friday and have a photo session scheduled for a press release photo for Monday. The corporate office is writing the pr piece for us based on my resume. They seem happy to have such a sophisticated New Yorker, who obviously speaks southernese fluently!

But, just as we were all leaving on Friday, the wife boss (the bean counter of the two, he likes to talk to marketing and sales with me, not her) said, “Oh, I forgot to set you up on a time card.” While I was sitting there dumbfounded, the Art Director said (God bless her), “You shouldn’t put her on a time card, she’s a professional.” I did notice earlier in the week that everyone except the owners is on a punch-in time card. I have not worked on a punch card since I worked in a factory while attending community college at the age of 19 – 20. Yikes! I have to tell you, that’s not going to set well with me. If they are really going to insist on that, I may perhaps have to rethink this job situation! It just does something psychologically to me. So, this could possibly turn into a short-term job.

I do like the people, although they are not the healthiest group. I’m a little shocked at the number of people who smoke. There are nine people there and at least half smoke, including the owners. He has a bad case of asthma and coughs horribly during the day. But they are all very friendly, helpful and patient. I have no problems with working with customers, explaining what we can do with printing and why. I have almost mastered the computer programs that prices jobs (and that’s without a computer of my own – I have to borrow others). They hardest thing I am having trouble with is the cash register! I haven’t operated one of those things since, again, back in community college days.

My boss has assured me though, when we get into our new building – in about two weeks - I will not be helping at the front. I’m doing it now to learn the systems. Oh yes, I went with the wife boss and the art director earlier in the week to pick out my furniture for my office. They took me to the new building and it’s going to be very spacious and I have a great office. If they don’t put me on a stupid time card, I think I will like this job.


FYI, I did rent my apt. As soon as the holidays were over, people really started looking. I was able to choose a woman from Chicago, 34, who is doing the same thing in NYC that I am doing in Asheville. I have leased it to her until April 15. At that point we agreed to discuss whether I will sell it, come back or extend renting as it is. I learned a lot while reviewing other people’s credit records and references. She’s a real “put together” sharp woman, according the real estate broker and from my phone conversations. I feel confident she will take great care of my home in NYC.

I am truly enjoying myself here. I stayed in a friend’s apartment last week that is on a ridge overlooking the city nightlights of Asheville. In the mornings, there has been a nice mist through the city and the hills and mountains beyond. He has a beautiful terrace where I’ve been able to sit and just feel peace that I haven’t felt since Australia. I can actually see stars (anyone who’s ever been in Manhattan at night knows the stars are nonexistent against the bright lights of the city that never sleeps). It’s not the same as the Southern Cross Constellation in Mullum, NSW, where the night sky is like a saltshaker gone wild on a black dinette table, but its makes me feel closer to energy of the natural world.

Let me know if you are interested in hearing more. I love writing like this, but I don’t want to bore anyone. I hope each of you is well and having a good life too. I know we all go through changes in our lives and I’m grateful that I have the luxury of sharing some of mine with you. I love to hear about yours. Please write!

Love,
Gwen

Next installment: moving to a more permanent home (a one month lease).