What
can I say about the month of June? Well, best to admit, it was special. During
our time in Munich when Margo and I were attending a conference at which I was
speaking, the idea came to us that perhaps we were doing too much. There was a
shared sense of being overwhelmed where the first thoughts about how best to
simplify our lives were discussed. Central to these thoughts was what could we
do with the Colorado condo we had acquired two years earlier? Was having a
second residence, one that was very close to our grandkids, really meeting all
of our expectations in this regard.
At
this time of year, the heat has been turned up in Florida. When daytime
temperatures touch 90F with humidity hovering around 50% there’s no missing the
news that pool temps are already at 90F without any outside interference. Don’t
need to have the pool heater fired up although, for the spa, there will be a
need to run the spa heater for a short time – we like the spa temp set to 102F.
With this in mind, there’s no thought about leaving Florida. Margo and I are
both summer people who welcome the warmer weather. After three decades living
in Colorado, we have cooled on the thought of temperatures that fall below
zero.
But
what do we do? Before coming back from Munich, we passed the idea of selling
our condo to our children, daughter Anna and her husband, Erich. The idea
wasn’t rejected out of sight but rather, there was a promise to talk more about
the idea of selling once we returned to Colorado. It had always been part of
the plan that following our return from Munich and after spending a week or so
in Florida, we would make that cross-country drive, once again, so as to spend
time with family in Colorado.
However,
for Margo, it was with mixed feelings, indeed a considerable amount of emotion,
as having sold our home in Windsor Colorado in 2024, we had no place to go. Margo’s
melancholic expression sums up her feelings better than any words could
achieve. Buying the condo from Erich’s father seemed like a good idea and it
was. With one residence sorted, it opened the door to opportunities to explore
Florida having no particular priority or need.
More
than one trip was involved, trips that began some time before. We were vaguely
familiar with the Florida peninsular. Coming to terms with the idea of selling
the condo and with the idea that it would return to the Otto family, ensured
those mixed feelings deepened. Ultimately, when the final offer came from Anna
and Erich, our minds had already been made up, we were prepared to close the
deal, and we moved forward on it, quickly.
The immediate impact on Margo and me, once a deal had been done (save for the paperwork that was to take three more weeks), had to do with what we would be packing for a move to Florida, what would stay and what would find its way to Goodwill and even Habitat for Humanity. This move represents finality of the big move that started last year and like most new home owners, hanging on to the past perhaps a little too long, is inevitable. Particularly when there are children and grandchildren involved. Nothing happens where there's no price to be paid.
The first victim of the move would be
Margo’s office. What clinched the sale of the condo to the children is that the
children were about to start a large reno of their home, obligating them moving
for the duration. Occupying our condo came as a relief but moving in with three
children into a condo that had three bedrooms in total, meant space had to be
prioritized and Margo’s office fell as that first victim.
As
Margo had taken over the dining room it was imperative for the kids to reclaim
the area. The furniture however, that is, the desk and shelves, lamps and
chair, were not to stay nor would they make the cut in terms of what we moved
back to Florida. Everything depicted in the photo above we donated to Habitat
for Humanity who sent a truck to pick it up. Whereas the space that had been
Margo’s retreat seeing it, stripped bare, brought more than a few tears to her
eyes as the finality of the move finally sunk home. Unhappy, and yet aware of
the necessity, nevertheless she really didn’t want to watch the dismantling of
her office.
When
you consider all that one accumulates over time and, for Margo and me, that “time”
represented almost thirty years of our shared life experience, there’s a tinge
of sadness that comes with the demise of once-treasured items. And yet,
simplification and consolidation do have a number of upsides. Cleansing as we
knew that, ultimately, it would be, we had to admit that it was probably wiser
to declutter while we were able to do so, objectively.
A
Florida lifestyle is vastly different to what we had experienced in Colorado
and with that insight, we let go of items that didn’t reflect the change to our
lives that this move would bring. Out with the heavy Colorado wood-centric
furniture and on to more modern chrome, glass and metal along with a touch of
art deco in relief.
Margo
and I were never ones for much of Colorado’s finest furniture offerings but
even so, there were a number of pieces that we had held onto for sentimental
reasons that we no longer could remember exactly what those sentiments alluded
to. Oh well:
“Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours to see
Que será, será
What will be, will be."
When it comes to what did make the cut the good news on this front was that the remaining pictures that we had kept in the condo would now be shipped to Florida. These last pictures were all substantial and included an original but there was a place for each of them. Time to call our local handyman, Stan, to schedule time to hang them – a task that is now more routine than a one-off occurrence.
Perhaps
the most difficult decision to make had to do with the wine refrigerators we
had along with the 150 bottles of wine that remained from our days in Windsor
and indeed Niwot. A collection dating back to the late 1990s and simply too
precious to leave behind as many of these bottles came with a story and a
memory. Insulated packing cartons were purchased and 144 bottles made the cut
and this move would be something we handled ourselves, loading all 12 cartons
into the Land Rover Defender for the three-day drive back to Florida. These
bottles are now with us, sitting idly by, waiting for the wine refrigerators to
be unpacked later this week.
The
art deco cocktail cabinet that was behind Margo in the photo closer to the
beginning of this post, was going to join the wine cabinets in the move to
Florida. All 300 plus pounds of it. Along one wall in our home we have deployed
a number of art deco objects so the arrival of this piece will fit right into
the style we have chosen. The only other items of note making the cut have been
the office table I used along with an office sideboard we both liked. Again,
now we are back in the Florida home, we have prepared the space required of
each piece.
When
you see your life being boxed and when the number of boxes so required is a lot
smaller than you anticipated, you know that this is part of a process that
began when we moved in together. Married life was quite revealing in one sense,
Margo and I both like the same things and there was more than one instance
where each of us had bought items from the same collection be that chinaware,
glassware or cutlery. However, there was still much that didn’t represent a
shared selection and for those items, this move turned out to be the end of the
road.
What
was once a hot item or something heavily promoted as a must-have, now seemed to
have been an odd choice and with nothing to connect these items to the lives we
now live, parting with them was an easy decision. Perhaps, as the advertisers
say, the easiest decision in the history of decisions! Just as we are now enjoying the heat of
Florida – a late afternoon swim today is highly likely – it looks like we
aren’t the only family that is in the midst of moving.
Returning
home, we were taken aback by the scope of the home constructions bordering our
property. Running along the side of the shared pond we love so much, we are
watching cautiously as to just how much an impact these new homes will have on
our vista and indeed on our lifestyle. Time will tell, obviously, but this was
a situation we knew would eventuate and hopefully, each of these homes will become
enclosed within traditional Florida mesh birdcages.
Our
preparation for the final instalment of our move out of Colorado is coming to
an end. We will likely be entertaining friends in the future so having
everything sorted in time will be beneficial to them as it will be for us. When
it’s all said and done, simplifying one’s life through consolidation,
decluttering and making hard choices, is never for the faint of heart.
Looking
back on this post it’s hard to miss the number of cliches that appear but even
so, there’s one more than I can’t resist including. Suffice to say, cocktail
hour is not far away and with that, I hear a pool’s Siren Call and I
cannot resist! Just as I couldn’t resist the temptation of scones, jam, true
English clotted cream and a pot of tea before we began the long drive home.
That
being said, the most appropriate cliche of all I must admit might be to add,
“all’s well that ends well!” Not to be confused, that is, with the almost as
famous quote from Rocky and Bullwinkle, “all’s well that ends in a well!”
Suffice to say, cocktail hour is not far away and with that, as hot as it
remains, I hear our pool’s Siren Call and I cannot resist!
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