Only Then

When you finally get to that point
(and by “finally” I mean after all the
plotting and planning and discussing
with anyone who will listen
but then putting it off for one reason or another)
When you finally get to that point
(and by “get to” I mean the actual getting to
and not the saying or praying or thinking you’ve gotten to it
or jotting it down on your to-do list for the fifteenth time)
When you finally get to that point
(and by “that point” I mean the actual point —
the end of one thing and the beginning of another
however good or bad
no going backward
no then
only now
only forward)
When it happens
it will seem like the most natural thing in the world
and you’ll wish you'd done it so much sooner.

Only Then
(inspired by Robert Penn Warren’s “If”)
© 2012 Vanessa Campbell

Moving!

[Please note this post is from 2010.]

Last week was a blissful blur. I had two job interviews, got two job offers, accepted one, celebrated my birthday, and am now moving to Charlotte, NC. Voila! Just like that.

Gotta run. I'm moving Friday, and the job starts Monday.

On the Road: NC and DC

For the past two weeks, I’ve been on an interviewing tour, first to Raleigh, NC, then to Alexandria, VA. A phone interview was in the mix as well. Busy busy.

I was surprised by how much I liked Alexandria. I loved it! At night, King Street glows with string-lit trees and with people having fun amid meticulously restored bars, restaurants, and shops. The city is beautiful, and the people are endearingly nice. Also, just across the Potomac River, National Harbor could be a vacation destination in itself. In fact, that’s not a bad idea...

Braving the "Bad" Part of Town

Before Friday, I'd never gone to the Artistic Perceptions gallery in Augusta. The gallery itself seemed fine, but the nearby nudie bar, gun shop, pawn shop, and tattoo parlor gave me the jeebs.

But my mom and I were out for First Friday, and the band wasn’t yet playing on the Commons, and Pyroteque wasn’t yet spinning fire in the street, and there we were, coughing pollen and ready to head home. “Hey,” I said, “There's this one other thing I was kinda interested in, but it’s kinda in the bad part of town.” “Pfft,” she said, “Whatever. Let’s check it out.”

So off we went. We strutted past that nudie bar like Tony in Saturday Night Fever. Just kidding, but we probably would have if their music had been loud enough. We ended up seeing lovely art, meeting lovely people, and having a fun First Friday.

Photographing Savannah Rapids Park

Despite spending a year in Augusta, there are still places around here I haven’t seen and/or photographed. This week I finally made it out to Savannah Rapids Park, and I wish I’d visited sooner. There are nice walking trails alongside the Augusta Canal and nice views of the Savannah River Fall Line.

One New (Re)Opening

Augusta’s Morris Museum of Art, which is dedicated exclusively to Southern art and artists, closed its doors in January and February for a bit of a spruce-up. Pieces were brought out of storage, displays were rearranged, et voila, the Morris was ready to reopen this past weekend. Of course I was there to see what they’d done with the place, as were lots of other people.

After that, I crossed the Savannah River into downtown North Augusta (shown below). I especially liked Lookaway Hall (shown at right). It's a Beaux-Arts mansion that was built from 1895 to 1898 and is now the lovely Lookaway Inn bed and breakfast.

Getting Ready to Relocate

After nearly a year of staying with wonderfully kind family in Augusta, I’ve decided it’s time to take a chance on moving to where the jobs are — or where more jobs are, at least. March 31 is my self-imposed date to move on, unless I’ve found work before then.

Now that I’ve made the decision to move, I’m excited, and I’m not sure I can wait until the 31st. The lists are made, the research is done, and the apartment and city guides are en route to my mailbox.

I should say, though, that my year in Augusta has been happy, healthy, and pleasant. Plus, I got to do lots of new things! I'm grateful to God for this year and for every year He gives me on this beautiful planet.

Snow in South Carolina?

OK, technically, snow in SC isn't a new thing, but it's rare, and this much snow in one day is reeeally rare. So I took photos:

Letting Go of Then

Remember when I consolidated three old notebooks into one new Word doc? That was such a refreshing experience, I decided to go through all my pre-2000 notebooks, pluck out the best items, and put them into a three-ring binder. I also created Word docs for my favorite quotes (from others) and my favorite fragments/musings (from myself), so the binder is surprisingly thin.

I can remember times when I looked at those old notebooks and thought, What if something happens to them? Fire, flood, tornado? I couldn’t stand to lose them! But when I actually read through them this week, I couldn’t wait to lose them. There was way too much complaining in those journals, which I suppose I thought would make for more dramatic reading later, or maybe I got therapeutic value from. Either way, I needed to grow up and get over myself.

Now that I’ve grown up, gotten over myself, and finished my consolidation project, I have only two notebooks. One is a small journal I began in 2003, and the other is my main notebook. I think every writer needs notebooks, but we don’t necessarily need to keep everything in them for twenty years.

One New (Temp) Job

Yep, I’m working. It’s intermittent temp work, and it doesn't pay a lot, but it’s work. I’m thrilled. Also, it’s in the communication/publishing industry, so I’m even more thrilled.

In fact, intermittent work seems like a good bridge into fulltime work, considering I’ve been out of work for 18 months. Of course I’ve kept my days structured (no daytime TV addictions here), but my structure at home is no match for a 40-hour week in an office... as I discovered this week. I’m tired, but it’s a good kind of tired, and I’m lucky to be working.

Jingle Bell Brrr

On Black Friday, my friend TJ came from Atlanta to visit me and to see Augusta. We'd planned to do the Jingle Bell Jaunt, which was a scavenger hunt of sorts, throughout downtown, but the cold weather changed our minds. We instead drove across town to browse a bookstore, eat lunch, and watch Julie & Julia.

At the movie, one of my favorite parts was when Julia Child tries the food in France for the first time. At the bookstore, TJ bought a DVD and puzzle for her son, and I checked the Personal Growth section to see if my book idea has any competition. I didn’t see any, yay! Oh, wait, shouldn't there be at least one or two similar books?

Anyway, our treasure hunt that day ended up being in a comfy, cozy bookstore instead of in the boreal, brrr-y outdoors — and the treasure was a fun day spent with a friend.

One New Interview

I'd planned to check out the Falling for Fashion event at Sky City on Saturday, but I decided to skip it because, along with fashion, fall also means flu season. From what I’m hearing, this season's flu is no picnic, and I don’t like flu vaccinations, so my anti-flu strategy is mainly to avoid crowds and to avoid touching my face. (Just FYI, it’s wise to avoid touching your face in general, since the eyes, nose, and mouth are primo germ portals.)

Although I spent most of the weekend at home, doing comfy, cozy, homey things, my week was not without new things. On Tuesday, I had an in-person job interview in Charlotte, NC. On my way home from that, I stopped in Rock Hill, SC, and saw the award-winning Glencairn Garden. What a well-designed, well-maintained garden! I also liked their Main Street and downtown area, which is known as Old Town.

Exploring Columbia, SC

This past Sunday, I went to South Carolina's capital city, Columbia.

My self-guided tour began at Finlay Park, where I saw a gorgeous fountain (shown below) with the city skyline as its backdrop (not exactly shown below). Across from the park, I saw the lovely Governor's Mansion and gardens — but through the fence, since the grounds were closed that day.

On my way through the historic district to the Columbia Museum of Art, I saw Blue Sky's Busted Plug Plaza art installation. At forty feet high, it's believed to be the world’s largest fire hydrant (shown at left).

After visiting the museum, I walked around USC’s Horseshoe area, which looked surreal in the late afternoon sun, then enjoyed a snack by the canal at Riverfront Park.

One New Resume

I did see a couple of new exhibits on Sunday at the Morris, but most of my weekend was spent completely redoing my resume. I was in perfectionist mode, laboring over every word, trying to concisely include as much as possible. Not so much that I overwhelm, but enough that I hold interest. I even researched my old performance reviews to get specific achievements and numbers. I'm happy with it now, and relieved to have it polished and posted and, I hope, working for me on various job sites.

First Friday and Fourth Fireworks

Since this was my first Independence Day weekend in Augusta, I got to experience several new things. The fun started with First Friday. Then Saturday brought more fun events, followed by a nighttime fireworks show at the Fifth Street Bridge. My photos of the show were blurry, so that’s why the Cotton Exchange and Imperial Theatre photos are here instead. If you ever catch the show yourself, I think something they include every year is the "waterfall" of white lights cascading into the Savannah River. Definitely look for that — it's spectacular.

Reading by the River

Since I missed First Friday this month, I decided to have my own First Saturday the following afternoon. My celebration was missing a few hundred people, but I did have live music, thanks to an event on the Common that day. (Speaking of outdoor shows, I’m amazed and pleased by how many there are around here.)

I began my First Saturday with a meandering browse of several galleries and shops on Artists’ Row. I saw many treasures during my tour but, being a lover of words, my most delightful discovery was the June issue of Verge, which is a local alt-monthly focused on promoting downtown Augusta. With my new treasure clutched to my chest and my camera, snacks, and water almost as close, I headed over to the Riverwalk to find a comfy, scenic reading spot.

I love to read outside, but it usually happens in my back yard, which is quiet and surrounded by a privacy fence. At Riverwalk, my interest was easily diverted to the band playing, dogs socializing, sun shining, water flowing, people taking touristy photos of the fountain, my wanting to take photos of the fountain... which I of course did.

Back to Aiken County

Remember the driving tour of Aiken I mentioned? Well, I took it this week and, as expected, saw some splendid sights. My favorites were the Aiken Training Track, the Rose Hill Estate, the Willcox, and Hopelands Gardens (shown here). I didn’t see all of Hopelands, but they have free concerts and performances every Monday evening throughout the summer, so I suspect I’ll be returning soon. What a peaceful, pretty place.

My First “First Friday” in Augusta

On the First Friday of every month, hundreds of people gather in downtown Augusta to enjoy live music and to browse the galleries and shops that stay open late for the occasion. Artists, performers, and vendors set up shop too, all along Broad Street, and a themed exhibit is usually displayed on the Common area. (This month’s exhibit, a car show, included the lovely Corvette shown here.)

Looking forward to celebrating May's First Friday, my mom and I arrived fairly early (before 7p), and there were already people feting, neon rope lights flashing, cotton candy scents floating, and music flowing from seemingly every direction. After looking at cars and lingering at the main music stage on the Common, we walked down Broad Street to browse the shops. During that walk, and topping off the night, we discovered an award-winning gospel and bluegrass band, Eryn Eubanks and the Family Fold. What a night!

Exploring Aiken County

Augusta is southwest of the Savannah River, in Georgia, while North Augusta (my new home) is across the river, in South Carolina. After being a resident of this lovely state for nearly a month, I figured it was time to put my new driver’s license and car tag to use, and start exploring South Carolina.

Columbia and Charleston are on my near-future radar, but right now, it’s all about Aiken, which is only fifteen minutes away and is possibly the most beautiful town I’ve ever seen. From the live oak tunnel on South Boundary, to the horse trails in Hitchcock Woods, to the charming cafés and shops downtown, to the houses with whimsical names like Mousetrap and Let’s Pretend, Aiken's quite a town.

There's a self-guided driving tour I plan to take (and photograph), but I’ve already walked a bitty-bit in the Hitchcock Woods, visited the Aiken County Historical Museum, and browsed the gallery at the Aiken Center for the Arts. I hadn't planned to visit the gallery, but I wandered in after photographing Splendor in Glass (shown above), which is right outside the door. Splendid indeed!

Artisans’ Fair at Living History Park

On April 17, the Olde Towne Preservation Association of North Augusta (along with other sponsors) hosted a kickoff party for their annual Olde Towne Artisans’ Fair at the Living History Park. What a fun event. There was good music, good food, and of course arts and crafts. There were drawings, paintings, carvings, metalworks, handmade soaps, and handmade jewelry, among other treasures.