A Gradual Move

Now It Begins to Accelerate!

Looking from front patio up to the street, our new house in Fredericksburg — photo by bright MLS

Each day, it’s becoming more real, a slow morphing of the reality of what has been home for 23 years into what’s becoming home. I’ve never done a move quite like this before. It’s actually kind of cool — a bit chaotic as hell, but mostly in a fun way.

It began with the loading of the Pod, which was at least a month ago. I filled a 16’ by 8’ by 8’ Pod with boxes and other stuff, wall-to-wall and floor to ceiling, and sent it off to storage.

Now, for the past week or so, I’ve begun packing up what’s left, in anticipation of the actual move. The more we pack, the less we’ll have to pay the movers to pack, when they come on Thursday. We picked up 4 big boxes of packing material for free (advertised on Craig’s list) a few weeks ago, along with a bunch of free gently used moving boxes.

The Pod all loaded up — photo by me

All the family pictures came off the wall last week. We found someone to buy our big swim-spa out back — that got yanked out of the ground today. All that’s left is a big hole. The money they paid for it will come in handy as we make our move later this week. We closed on our new place on Friday, so now we own it. We went down today to set up a bed to sleep on Thursday night, after they’ve packed our old place all up, and to be there for delivery on Friday.

Where the swim-spa once was — you can see it in the background, ready for its journey to the Chesapeake Bay — where the buyer will enjoy many years looking at the bay from it — photo by me

After closing on Friday, and today, we got to drive around the area and begin discovering how much we really like it. What once was just a fond idea, with no real hands-on knowledge of the area, is now an excitement that it’s real, and even better than the words describing it conveyed. Now we know what the area is like.

Each time we come back up here, it feels more and more crowded up here. We haven’t even moved yet, and we’re already making the comparison. I have a few really busy days at work, Monday through Wednesday this week — then, the move begins.

I told my story at a meeting tonight, after we got back from Fredericksburg — probably my last “lead” here in Vienna. The feedback I got from my friends there was overwhelming. I’ve made such great friends here — it truly is hard to be leaving. Tomorrow night, they’re giving me a send-off, with dinner and a celebration meeting.

Swim-spa ready to hit the road — photo by Kathy Bridgeman

I suspect this week is going to be a whirlwind. In many ways, I feel like we’re just being carried by this whirlwind into our new life. There’s an energy that is just lifting me up and drawing me forward into this new life. I’m just letting it.

Did I mention that I love adventure? Let it begin!