I realized today, as I was addressing several details related to our upcoming move that it will be almost 12 years to the day since we last lived in an apartment when we move into our new apartment home in Bradenton. We used us-mailing-change-of-address.com/blog/usps-change-of-address-form/ to change our address. We rented a house in Muncie when we moved back in June of ’98, then bought the house on Glenwood, then built the house here in Kokomo. In some ways, I’m dreading the idea of apartment living again, and paring our possessions barely contained in this 2200 square foot house down to something appropriate for a 900 square foot apartment is proving to be a difficult feat. But, there is a certain freedom that comes with throwing away, giving away, donating, and selling mounds of your “stuff”. I just hope we reach all of our downsizing goals by next weekend when we pack this stuff up.
July 4th weekend, cross-country moves. It’s a sort of tradition for us. We moved to Lubbock (from Muncie) over the July 4th weekend. We’d been married for six months, just landed our first jobs, just bought our first new car…Now we are up to 14 and a half years of marriage, trying to sell off our newest car to reduce costs, and on our (gulp!) sixth move (and our third state!).
No offense to the people here in Kokomo that we like (and there are many of you) but every time we turn around, we are reminded why we are ready to leave…
Today’s Moving Experience: Cami and I discussed buying a couple of those “wardrobe boxes” from the U-Haul place here in Kokomo. Easier to move the hanging clothes, helps us limit (even more) the things we are going to pack, etc. So Cami stops by the U-Haul place today. She’s there for a while. She can hear the workers talking in the back, but no one sticks their head out to see if there is a customer, no one asks if they can help, no one says “boo!” So, Cami starts sorting through the racks of boxes, trying to figure out what is what. After a while, of course, the “manager/owner” comes out to ask what she’s doing. He’s generally unhelpful, gives off the Kokomo shop keeper’s vibe (which is, to paraphrase, “Your presence in my store is an inconvenience to me”), and generally sighs and puts up with this interruption in his daily plan. Never once does this “manager/owner” say, “So, where ya moving to? Do you need a truck? Can I have the opportunity to match any other offers you might have? Love to have your business!” Nope. In fact, the $35 worth of boxes Cami bought was a hassle for him.
There are a million reasons to leave, and it is good to be reminded of them.
This Over the Rhine song (from the Good Dog Bad Dog album) was on my mind yesterday, while packing and trying to work out the logistic of a move…
Say farewell to the confines of my own back yard. Weeds growin’ ’round the flowers. Sometimes the only way to break the curse is to leave it all behind.Find the slow curve of a back road, one hand on the wheel. Drive till I remember how it feels. So this is how it feels. Oh.
If you own that song, play it and think of us…if you don’t, go buy it and let Karin’s voice tell you a story or two…
In other news…for the first time since posting my blog on Dorothy Parker’s story, You Were Perfectly Fine, something OTHER THAN DOROTHY PARKER has been the most visited post on my blog…barely. I am amazed at how important a Google placement can be. If you Google “DOROTHY PARKER YOU WERE PERFECTLY FINE” my humble little blog is the third link that comes up. That placement is good for dozens of hits every week…