Last day of the move

The last load from Springs arrived this morning — a lot of Tracy’s completed paintings, plus the contents of her 10 by 6 by 10 storage locker and a few last things we had missed in our studio. Ruby is shown above making sure everything is off the floor or sitting on thick plastic. In the next room in the basement — there are five in all — a gigantic dehumidifier is humming along. We got one with with a self-pumping mechanism to get rid of the water so I don’t have to go down to the basement every day and carry out a 60 liter bucket. It’s very dry down there.

This room is filled with Tracy’s stretchers — way more than you can see in the photo — plus some with canvas already stretched like the one in the foreground.

We spent the morning with the movers and this afternoon driving down to New Jersey to pick up one last thing we needed. Now all we have to do is put more stuff away, and we’ll be completely moved in. On the positive side of things, we’ve had our first home-cooked meals in the new kitchen. It’s so big, I had to yell across the room to Tracy to turn down the burner under the sliced okra we fried up in a black skillet the other night. It came out perfect: slightly blackened with a wonderful wild nutty flavor. They sell them in the freezer section of the local market already sliced into half-inch bits for two bucks a pound. We’re thrilled.

In other news, French President Emmanuel Macron won a second term, beating fascist Marine Le Pen 58 to 42. Amazingly, Le Pen didn’t immediately try to claim the election had been rigged and she was the real winner. I guess she’ll get around to that the next time she loses.