07/01/2025
Today marks the third anniversary of the beginning of the current chapter of my life. It was on July 1, 2022 that I moved to Upper Black Eddy, PD. Even then, I knew that relocating was merely the first step in the process of building an entirely new life. It was both scary and exhilarating. I was a stranger in a place very different from where I had been. I’d lived my entire life in the suburbs, but now I had to get use to a very rural lifestyle. My two best friends for 40+ years were now my roommates, but aside from them I knew no one. Even the closest members of my family were a 90-minute drive away, so visits weren’t going to be as frequent as I’d grown accustom to. This sucked, as nothing is as important to me as family. I also left behind a substantial territory peppered with scores of satisfied clients whose referrals kept me in business. I needed to establish a new territory. This meant finding and satisfying new clients from amongst a population of people who’d never heard of me. I decided that to make this change work I would need to become part of this community and draw some attention to myself.
Those of you that know me are probably thinking; “That shouldn’t be a problem for you, Mike. You’ve always been the life-of-the-party type.” Well, that was true once upon a time, but the previous 2 chapters of my life had dashed that part of my psyche on the rocks and left behind someone quite comfortable living the life of a hermit. Yeah, I could leave the house for work and visits with family, but if you didn’t live within line of sight of my house, you probably didn’t know that I’d returned to Keyport in 2011! Looking back at that made me realize that my new life was going to require that I change on the inside, too.
The first 5 months in PA were occupied with the construction of my new bedroom, a home theater and my office. During this time I began exploring ways to use the Internet to grow my business. I also joined Facebook as a means to make new connections. It shouldn’t have, but it surprised me to realize that Facebook also allowed me to reconnect with friends and colleagues from earlier chapters of my life. This filled me with joy, but it also caused me to regret my choice to live as a hermit. That regret fueled my resolve to become part of the community, and a part that got noticed.
The construction was done just in time for Thanksgiving, it was time to get out there and join my community.
On December 15, 2022, upon the advice of a local Facebook friend, I ventured out to volunteer at Open Door Community Pantry in Frenchtown, run by Anna Mantel. (We miss you Anna.) What began almost by happenstance, instantly became a weekly ritual. Not only do I get to help feed my neighbors, but also I’ve made some amazing new friends. The Cooking Club, as Anna called us, includes some brilliant cooks that are so much fun to be around. I enjoy every moment with them and I’ve learned so much. (They make me want to bake a better ham.) Tuesdays are my favorite day of the week because of it, and I never miss it.
One way that I took advantage of being in the company of such accomplished chefs was to prepare snacks and treats for them. Initially, this was done under the guise that I needed their advice to perfect one recipe or another, which I did, but soon I found I was doing it because I loved it. I must have baked a million cookies by now just to make my friends smile. In the meantime, I’ve actually gotten pretty good at baking. So far, the toughest lesson has been how to deliberately burn that last tray of chocolate chip cookies, because that’s how Peter Mantel likes them. The key is to rotate the tray every 4 minutes until you’ve forgotten how many times you’ve rotated them.
While the members of the Cooking Club are my newest bestest friends, I soon realized that helping at the pantry wasn’t going to help me and the larger community get acquainted with one another. I needed another outlet. In May of 2023 a local Artist group called for pieces for an exhibit. I was reminded of some origami sculptures I had laying around. These pieces were uniquely mine and for a long time I had wanted to put them on public display. I joined the group, submitted my pieces for their exhibition and just like that, I’m an artist.
One of the “duties” of membership is this thing called “gallery sitting” which entails hanging out at the exhibit and smoozing with the visitors and talking up the artwork. In short, it involves meeting and talking to people. So I began gallery sitting as often as my schedule would allow. Of course, I started bringing treats for my fellow gallery sitters and visitors. Soon, this also became a tradition. Even if I don’t have art for the exhibit, my friends know that I’ll always be happy mark an opening with a tray of baklava.
Making new friends amongst the artist community was fun, but it wasn’t quite what I needed. I’m not an artist. Those of you who knew me between 1977 and 2002 might be agree that one of my defining characteristics was my membership in the Keyport Fire Department. Now THAT’S how you become part of a community. Upper Black Eddy, PA has a Volunteer Fire Department, and in June of 2022 I submitted my application for membership. Can you believe it? This 60-something-old fart joined the fire department! Don’t fret, I shan’t attempt the labors better left to younger, stronger men. It has been agreed that I can be most useful serving as a Fire Police Officer.
These 3 years have flown by at breakneck speed, but I at least I can say that I have taken the rudder and steered my life in a good direction. I am part of my community once again and enriched because of it.
