A Moving Story

We have been scavenging boxes and packing for weeks. By last Friday our garage was full of packed boxes. The disconcerting thing was that if you walked into our house it didn't really look any different. That was just all the stuff that had been hidden in closets and drawers. We still had a long way to go...

Saturday noon we picked up the 24-foot moving truck from Kuehn Rental. When we saw how massive and long it was, both Rog and I were a bit intimidated by it. I was the lucky one who ended up driving it. Actually, it felt pretty safe (for me!) being up so high and protected by so much truck, but I was a bit worried about inadvertantly taking out other traffic. The biggest challenge was refueling at SuperAmerica--navigating through the lanes of pumps and around cars- twice, because this truck has tanks on both sides.


We hired Power Movers to move part of our stuff, a small company we learned of through the postcard they send to people whose houses are listed for sale. Over the course of three hours, four strapping young men moved the big, heavy and awkward furniture, the piano and dozens of boxes of books--helping to save our middle-aged backs. They packed the truck tightly to the roof. Then I drove it to the farm and they unpacked everything into the assigned rooms of our new house.

In the meanwhile, our friend Bob Sanborn brought his horse trailer and he and Rog moved the contents of our storage shed (where all the objects of our decluttering while selling our house were tucked away) and our friends Cindy and Jim Uhl carefully hauled all my paintings in their van.

We had additional help Sunday- my buddy Anne Morse and her family's German exchange student, Felix, helped us move a second truckload. And tonight, our wonderful neighbors Chris and Mara moved most of our plants in their van. We cannot thank all these kind friends enough for so generously helping us move!

But the person to whom we owe the most gratitude is our daughter Cadence. Without her muscle power and organizational skills we would still be muddling through this move, and I am sure we would not be in nearly such good humor. Thanks, sweetie.
Here are Cadence and Rog, taking a breather from hauling boxes in the hot sun.

Now we are rattling around our empty house. We are camped out with the bare necessities: a mattress, couple of changes of clothes, computer and guitar, until the closing at 10 a.m. Friday, when our life as farmers begins.