The Whale Wall

Good news – the updating and renovating of the condo is almost complete. Unless, of course, I cave and get new floor covering in the LR, DR and hall.

That means taking everything out of the china cabinet, the buffet and the book shelves all over again, but there is far less in the rooms to move than there once was. Some people have said do it; others have suggested offering a “carpet credit” to potential buyers.

The latter makes sense to me, because what if condo shoppers hate what I pick?

I’ve heard more than one story about people who put in new carpeting, sold the house and moved – and then heard from neighbors just days later that the new carpeting was out on the lawn and the new owners were installing new floor coverings. A “carpet credit” would help someone choose what they want, instead of what I want.

What do I want?

I want to move to San Francisco!

I want to move so I can live by the sea – go there every day if I choose. I want to move so I can be in the family circle that waits for me there. I want to move so I can volunteer one day a week for the Oceanic Society, writing for them and helping out on whale-watch boats. I SEE me there, doing this!

Late last night, I pondered my newly painted, posy-colored walls and woodwork. It looks fresh and clean – neutral, so anyone’s stuff will fit right in. It looks fine. After all, it’s all about pleasing the would-be home buyer.

Then I remembered a particularly anti-posy wall in my old house in Shrewsbury. Artist and book author David Peters painted a humpback whale on my bedroom wall, one-fifth the full size of the actual 40-foot-long magnificent mammal.

Every morning when I woke up, before I put on my glasses, I would see a humpback whale swimming across the room. No matter what you think of my Whale Wall -- and I know some may think it is really weird – I SOLD THE HOUSE IN SHREWSBURY WITHOUT PAINTING OVER THAT WHALE.

Did the new owner paint the wall? Probably.

Times have changed. The market has changed. And now my condo has changed. The whales are waiting for me – perhaps I could lure in a buyer with a recording of humpback songs…