Wet Sticky Leaf

Rick tells me that in Japan, a man who is retired is referred to as a nure ochiba. This loosely translates to "wet leaf" or "wet sticky leaf,." depending on your translation.

The man, now with nothing to do after a lengthy career of being in the driven Japanese business world, sticks to his wife's leg like a wet sticky leaf.

I think Rick is getting a little worried that I will turn into a WSL. I say that apart from cruising down to his house on bread baking days to grab a couple of slices for a toasted tomato and basil sandwich, he doesn't have much to worry about.

Friday, September 13 was my last day as a longtime communications manager at WKAR. For 32-plus years, I have been proud to share the word about public television and radio in our community. I've worked with so many amazing people at WKAR, in the community and at the university, I am almost embarrassed by the richness I have experienced in that time. And yet right now my world feels as though it has turned upside down.

When I started working there, fresh out of grad school, we worked in a tin Quonset hut with weeds coming through the floor and asbestos hanging from the ceiling. Now we are in a remarkable building with four studios. I went from Selectric typewriter to computer, "regular" TV to digital. WKAR did a lot of production back in the Quonset days and we do a lot now. I am always impressed by our crew. And for the most part I have loved all the things we've done and I've experienced over time.

We did a ton of events where we'd meet and greet...

Open houses...

Festivals...

Parties. And I got to meet some great people, like Garrison Keillor...

...Julia...

...and Ken Burns.

The list was long -- I wish I could find my photo with Fred Rogers -- truly the real deal. Bill Moyers, Bob Ross (the Happy Painter), Graham Kerr (The Galloping Gourmet), Jim Lehrer, the This Old House guys, Michael Buble... that's only a few!

My favorite was Carrol Spinney, aka Oscar the Grouch and Big Bird, who came to our 50th and was one of the most remarkably generous human beings I've ever met. We still swap holiday cards. Big Bird is Carrol.

I got to travel to conferences and when I did, there was usually a terrific batch of station cohorts with whom to laugh our way through dinner.

Over and over again!

I had many great bosses -- here are two of them. Susi is now our TV station manager and Tim, our  executive producer, pictured here at the NETA conference. Some people have office husbands. I have an office brother -- Tim. We grew up there, Quonsets to current, and have worked on more projects together than I remember. I remember when he met his wife Sara. I danced at their wedding, and I've seen their children grow into wonderful young adults.

My favorite task was doing pledge breaks, which used to be very frequent and less so in recent years, with the pre-packaged PBS breaks.

And the remotes were even more fun -- our crew was terrific -- and we always stopped for popcorn or ice cream when we were done!

I loved meeting colleagues from around the country. A favorite moment was running around Disney World in the rain!

Over the years, the faces changed. The fun was the same.

The NETA conferences were my favorite and I've posted about them here several times. The NETA team -- Gayle, Bob, Maryanne and Lisa and Skip (not pictured) have been wonderful friends and will remain so. NETA meetings also reunited me with an old friend, Joan, and many new, special people.

And, after we merged with the Communication Arts college, I got to work on other events too -- and one led me to meet my one and only athletic hero, Greg Kelser. Twice!

The gang below is one I've spent a lot of time with over the years. Although most of us are in different work groups now, and two are no longer at the station, they are still my core. We've shared so much.

But they are only one group of many. Some good friends have passed on, some have moved on. And yet I feel so privileged to have worked with them all. Now it's my turn.

I was lucky enough to be invited on our radio show, "Current State" for a short "exit interview!" If you want to listen (it's about two minutes), click here!

I'll tell you a bit more about the last few days in another post. But for now Cheers! Let the new life begin!