As a good friend
pointed out recently, maybe I should be writing more about being jobless and
less about being a goddess. You know sometimes it’s hard to think of my
situation as fodder for writing but I will give it a whirl and get back to my
roots. And I have to tell you all about recent developments.
Namely, my husband
and I have decided to use joblessness in our favor. That’s right. We took all
we had and bought the equipment he needs to start a business here. Listen, it
was that or the highway. We prefer to think of ourselves as “spunky” not
“crazy.” Never fear, I still don’t get a paycheck and probably never will. In
fact he doesn’t either. We’re just happy to keep the heat on right now. It’s
amazing how the basics can mean so much sometimes.
My husband is a
fantastically gifted upholsterer. It’s a lost art really and there aren’t many
people working at it on an island so our hope is that we’ll be able to stay on
Martha’s Vineyard and keep admiring the view. We’ve been sucked in by the ocean
and the Not Your Sugar Mamas Chocolate bars, which we scour the Island for once
a month. We can’t leave now. I haven’t tried the dark chocolate mint yet.
Just because I
don’t get a paycheck doesn’t mean I’m not working. I’m creating flyers, burning
before and after photos to CDs so we can go cold calling every business we see.
I’m learning how to use a sewing machine and how to cut a pattern. I say things
like, “Now do you want welt or flange on that settee?” And just last week I met
with an accountant to set up a program to keep track of invoices – all three of
them. Unfortunately, the entire time he was talking all I could do was think to
myself, “Is he speaking Spanish or is it Russian? It sounds more Russian to
me…” I knew I should have paid more attention in my high school bookkeeping class.
So we’ll see how
this part of the adventure plays out. I have high hopes. Just think of all
those boats that could use new cushions. All those sun rooms and decks and all
that wicker in need of new indoor/outdoor fabric. This is the stuff dreams are
made of. Hopefully we’ll swim rather than sink, which is a little scary because
I haven’t worn a bathing suit in eight years. I’ll keep you posted.
Methinks it is a token of healthy and gentle
characteristics, when women of high thoughts and accomplishments love to sew;
especially as they are never more at home with their own hearts than while so
occupied. - Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Marble Faun, 1859
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