Retirement 2026

 For Fall Quarter 2025 I had a Professional Development Leave (sabbatical), and also got to go out to visit my Mom and Dad in Iowa City in September for their 69th Wedding Anniversary and my Dad's 92nd birthday. 

Rozz came back from Hawaii over Thanksgiving and we got to spend some quality time together. I went back one more time to Iowa City over Christmas and also got to see my sisters, Dawn and Jené, and their families which was awesome.

I had some extra time during the PDL to do some genealogy and discovered that my 8x great grandfather, Simon Pofvelsen Nordset, a parish priest in Øvre Rendal, Hedmark, Norway, had played a part in accusing several people of witchcraft during the 1670 Rendalen witch trials. Jacob B. Bull, a Norwegian historian and author, had written a novel in 1914 about the trials. Since it had not been translated into English, I took it upon myself to do that, and publish it on Amazon.

 

 

Got back to work for Winter Quarter 2026 in January and after a couple of weeks decided that I was ready to retire at the end of the academic year (June 26), and so made that announcement to the college. I was planning to move back to Decorah where I grew up since it was closer to my parents, cheaper to live, and I still knew people there.

Rozz came back again for a short visit over her Spring Break.

My Mom's health then took a turn for the worse near the end of March, and since I had overload, the college allowed me to cancel a face-to-face voice class scheduled for Spring, and teach and work remotely so that I could go back to Iowa City and help my Dad take care of her. 

Sadly she passed on May 4, I stayed with my Dad a few more weeks to help out, and then came back to finish out Spring Quarter. I had found a neat Victorian house in Decorah, and invited Dad to move in with me. There was really no reason for him to stay by himself in Iowa City. Here's a picture of it. I want to paint the front porch sort of in the style one sees for the Victorian Painted Ladies in San Francisco.