17 December 2007

Still Moving

Eighty mile per hour winds are whipping through the streets of town and through my mind. I feel discombobulated. There are so many things to do all at once and the deadlines loom fast and permanent. I'm having trouble focusing on where to start. My thoughts jumble around the way various blown objects are jumbled against more fast objects, such as the chicken wire that came from no where and somehow wedged itself under my truck in a way that would seem impossible.

This weekend was exhausting but a lot got accomplished and I am very grateful to helping hands. I had one good friend show up and help me with the marathon packing nights. Another good friend rode with me to Los Anchorage to get the U-haul, then back to Small Town, then packing, then back to Los Anchorage, then unpacking, then back to Small Town. Two other friends showed up to help pack the U-haul in Small Town and they also took the Disreputable Dog out for a romp while I was driving it. Two other friends are letting me store stuff in Los Anchorage in their shed, another one showed up to help us unpack. Everything went to Los Anchorage this weekend.

My house is totally empty except for me, the Disreputables, their respective crates, and the couch which I am selling. We sit there in exhaustion...me on the couch, they in their crates, all of us half dozing. There is still all of the little stuff to get rid of and the cleaning to do and the wrap up of the things at work. I am back to where I started when I moved here...sleeping on a cot in my sleeping bag. I've spent more nights in that sleeping bag then any bed I've ever had to lie in. And it is a thing of comfort for reasons I cannot possibly explain. Like everyone else in town the wind makes it hard for me to sleep. It's not so much that it's cold but that it's terribly noisy and you find yourself trying to scrunch beneath the bedding (in my current case burrow into my sleeping bag) with the idea of cold. It is bloody cold out there. When I took the Disreputable Dog out for his evening walk I thought I might just possibly blow away, leaning backwards against the wind to try and create some ballast. Fifteen degrees Fahrenheit (approx. -10C) and 80 mph winds. The feel of one's nose freezing and the skin cracking.

I leave Thursday, the day before the winter solstice, for the Western Lower 48 and family and holiday celebrations. I will be stepping off into mid-air, not knowing yet where I will land but I will not worry about it for now.

17 comments:

  1. I loved the descriptions here. and it puts perspective to the complaints round this way when it gets to minus 1C or 2C (not me, I enjoy it).

    Just make sure the Disreputables stay warm - especially the cat, but that's just my bias :)

    I look forward to your subsequent posts, wherever they may be from.

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  2. sending strength for the journey, friend.....

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  3. I wish you had a better bed, but that is somehow part of moving; sleeping on a thin mattress on the floor for a few weeks.

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  4. Seems you got yourself a *blowey* send-off, (nyuk, nyuk). I wish you warm and gentle Holidays and a Brilliant New Year--wherever you are.

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  5. Best to you, WS. And even if you are stepping off into mid-air, you seem the resourceful type that lands on her feet.

    I am thankful that there is no wind here tonight, but it IS fairly cold - 19 degrees.

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  6. Comfort doesn't require explanation. It is what it is wherever it is depending upon the individual. ENjoy as it comes wherever it may lie.

    I'm glad you had reinforcements to help pack.

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  7. i love this post. there's a poetry about it. i like how it captures your motion. safe travels, sister girl.

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  8. I so look forward to seeing where this journey takes you. There is something special about starting afresh in a new year. {{hugs}} to you and if I don't pop by before then, have a wonderful Christmas.

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  9. Lovely, descriptive post. There's something very comforting about the notion of being warm and cozy in bed (or a sleeping bag) and hearing the wind howling outside.

    Have a great Christmas/New Year, and enjoy pondering your options.

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  10. It's Thursday which means you're leaving (or have left): safe journey, and best wishes!

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  11. I can't imagine that kind of wind and cold. But I can imagine that odd sense of being in your emptied out house. Good luck on your next step.

    Julie
    Using My Words

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  12. you are travelling as i type. be well, sister, travel safe.

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  13. There is a fatigue that comes from packing and moving that I've never felt in any other capacity, so I'm feeling for you. You have a good attitude about this "where am I going" business; as my husband points out when I fret, "What can you do about it?" It is what it is, and the next thing will happen.

    Or not. And then something else will happen.

    The winds...I always think of those pioneer women who went a bit crazy from the wind. Whenever I've been surrounded by relentless wind, I've realized how fragile my sanity could be.

    All the best in this move, friend.

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  14. Wishing you a safe journey and happy holidays.

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  15. Happy holidays, and safe adventures.

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  16. May your home coming be as warm and familiar as your sleeping bag.

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  17. trousers, indeed I will. You can be sure that the Disreputables, both cat & dog will be kept warm.

    orangeblossoms, thank you my friend.

    hypoglycemiagirl, indeed it does.

    doris rose, LOL! Thanks.

    qt, thank you! And indeed, that too is cold. I hope you have a warm place to be. :)

    ms chica, I am absolutely grateful to the re-enforcements...I can't imagine having done it without them. But all the cheering here also helped...often it's the moral packing support that counts most.

    liv, thank you, on both fronts.

    gill, thanks and happy holidays to you too!

    but why, I think the very fact of being one being warm and comfortable when you hear that howling wind and know how bitterly it bites makes it comforting. Happy holidays to you too!

    trousers, Thank you!

    julie, thank you!

    jen, I saw this when I was delayed in the airport and it made me feel so cared for. Thank you!

    jocelyn, thank you! I too have thought about those pioneer women when I have lived in isolated remote places...some of them with wind, others without...and I always think how brave they were staying there, sitting there, not knowing what was over the horizon or having a way out. Amazing that any of them kept their sanity.

    dj kirkby, thanks! Back to you!

    chuck, hi! Nice to meet you! And thanks for the good wishes. Wishing you the best too. I appreciate you delurking.

    hele, ah, and perhaps it shall be. Thanks hel...and if it isn't we shall go walking :)

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