The last four months here in Ohio have exacted a toll on Deb and me. Neither of us thought the process would be easy, but the physical work involved, most of which we’ve accomplished alone, has beaten the hell out of us.
Speaking for myself, it might just be the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
Sure, over the years I’ve met some tough challenges — from enduring football two-a-days to processing firewood, working as a farm hand to riding a motorcycle 1,100 miles in a day. But I was younger then. These days I’m operating within different set of limits, and the same work takes longer, requires more recovery time and, in some cases, simply isn’t possible.
I’m not exactly in denial about that. I’m not happy about it, though.
And then there’s the matter of time — there’s just not enough of it. Work fills ‘most every moment, leaving us unable to accept invitations and say goodbyes and linger with friends. That saddens us, but we have little choice but to stay focused. We hope the people we love will understand.
Yesterday we immersed ourselves in packing up the house. We didn’t quite finish, but we got very close — Deb took care of the kitchen and a couple of other rooms while I took care of the workshop and an adjoining space. The trick, as we separate what we’ll sell from what we’re keeping, is to make it as easy as possible for the auction crew to pull what they’ll take on Saturday.
Later in the day I moved up to the patio (car port) and did more of the same. Deb dove into Ernie, which soon will become our home again, to ready the living space for the next chapter of our American Life. I checked fluid levels and tire pressures and confirmed that the batteries are charged.
Together we pulled the cover off of the Bumper Bunker, the first time it had seen the sun in 21 months. I brought the air compressor over and inflated the tires. We’ll connect it to 30A today and charge the batteries, so it’ll be ready for the auction crew to haul it away Sunday morning.
We’ve left ourselves only one day to deal with the storage unit, and that’s today. If we had to pick a day for working outdoors without the refuge of air conditioning, this is it — the predicted high here is a tolerable 74°F with light rain later.
Today’s high on The Mountain, by the way, will be 102°F. For now we’re glad to be here and not there.
One year ago yesterday, we took Mercy up the hill to check out the progress of our campground hosts’ ambitious expansion. A year ago today, Ernie got new house batteries and Mercy got a set of step bars.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB