country summer

I've been waiting waiting waiting to find out if I get a job offer from the school I'm currently working at for next year in an elementary classroom but am starting to lose elevated aspirations about that particular version of the future-- it seems to me like if the school really wanted me they would have let me know by now. I've decided to proceed as if it's time to move cities so that there's no room for disappointment later on if I hear back and it's a no-go. It's hard to make decisions about The Future when I feel like it's hinged on the decisions of other people.

What I AM looking forward to is the prospect of getting some alone time in the woods during my upcoming residency with the Saltonstall Foundation. I was sent a document with the names of the other people that will be there at the same time as me, who will include:

Katy Higgins, Photography / Brooklyn, NY
Rone Shavers, Fiction / Albany, NY
Stewart Allen, Non-Fiction / Brooklyn, NY
Yen-Hua Lee, Visual Arts / NYC

OF COURSE I have already googled them and am wondering what they'll be like. It seems like our practices have been curated to overlap-- many of us seem to be interested in plant-life and concepts of home/domesticity. I'm so excited to meet some new folks and be having dialogues about the work I'm making. The residency I did at the Vermont Studio Center was such a large group that it felt difficult to feel cohesive at times-- I wonder how it'll feel to be with such a smaller group in a much more intimate setting (the town of Ithaca is miles away!). I'm looking forward to having more outdoor time and hope to bring a bike out there so I can get around without being dependent on motorized wheels. As far as I'm concerned, summer begins in 2 1/2 weeks!