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On the way to Minneapolis, our 13th trip, Linda and I detour east, stopping at Country Wood Products in Audubon, where owner Jeff Dugger recognizes the kind of trim we are looking for, and pulls out similar pieces from his vast storage lattice.

Then we meet Marc at Shaughnessy Flooring (Pro Source, in Plymouth) to begin our search for surface materials. Cork would be a fine flooring except that we don’t see a color that works—it all looks like, well, cork! But Linda is fascinated with a cobalt color in small hexagonal tiles for the master bath. She is the alpha for that bathroom and the powder room, while I get to decide for the mudroom and the front entry hall.

In a second burst of stripping activity, Erica Bjelland, Maddie Hyde, and Solvei Stenslie get the varnish off most of the trim and doors.  The doors each are taking quite a while, and I fret at the pace.  A bit of ‘scientific management’ is in order—discerning the most efficient way by trial and error.  The students are receptive to my suggestions about streamlining the scraping, and the labor cost per door drops from $75 (at $15/hour) to under $50.

On the other end of the process, Linda and I settle on ‘Classic Cherry’ for reviving the trim.  On a sample piece of old trim, it comes off as a rich honey color.

At dinner with some colleagues, the talk turned to retirement, and I realized the time had come. At 66, I have enough juice left in me for some interesting and challenging new involvements. And while I love my time in the classroom, I am burned out on the other aspects of teaching. My wife Linda is not yet burned out on teaching, but suddenly we get serious about retiring to the Twin Cities. All from a chance conversation among friends.