Friday, April 11, 2008

Friday Five: Movin' On Edition

This week's Friday Five is about making a move -- literally.

1.How many times have you moved? When was the last time?
My parents were farmers, living on the old family farmstead, so I never moved as a child -- going away to school was my first experiencing of packing up and going somewhere else to live. Since then, and including my university days, I think I've moved...lessee...about a dozen times.

Although, come to think of it...we manage our dual-home household by alternating houses every couple-three weeks; we pack up some clothes and amusements and the four-leggeds, and take the caravan to the other homestead. Our friends think we're gonzo insane, but it works for us; more so than those hurried let's-go-to-the-cottage weekends where we've barely gotten unpacked and it's time to go home again. Really, the worst part of it, other than paying double utilities costs for a single household, is occasionally forgetting perishable foods in one fridge, then discovering them mutating in the crisper two weeks later. But since we flit back and forth between our houses (which are only about 10 miles away) even as we're bivouaced in one, that doesn't happen very often....at least, not after we got the hang of alternating homes.

2. What do you love and hate about moving?
Well, there's always a sense of new beginnings; of novelty; of learning to live in a new space. What I hate about moving is packing and unpacking, and almost always losing something in the process.

3. Do you do it yourself or hire movers?
Up to this point in my life I've always done my own moving (give or take a few helpers working for beer).

4. Advice for surviving and thriving during a move?
Unpack as soon as possible. Do not live out of boxes, or it will drive you crazy. If you're moving to a new community, take a drive around very early Saturday or Sunday, when there's no traffic, and orient yourself to the place.

5. Are you in the middle of any inner moves, if not outer ones?
I am trying to move -- trying, trying, trying -- to a more self-care-conscious place, mentally and spiritually, instead of letting myself become distracted from these tasks. It's very, very hard for me.

Bonus: Share a piece of music/poetry/film/book that expresses something about what moving means to you.
While I tend to be a homebody, I also tend to have a flexible attitude toward what "home" means; I don't get too terribly sentimentally attached to any one place. My old friend G sang a Tom Paxton song to his beloved at their wedding called "Home is Anywhere You Are" -- I can't remember all the words, but that's pretty much my attitude about moving; as long as it's with my partner, anywhere is "home" to me.

10 comments:

Diane M. Roth said...

like what you say about your song.

Sally said...

well played, enjoyed the song, as for that 2 week moving cycle...wow I'd never have the energy!

Shalom said...

Have had the same "oops, left that lettuce too long" experience with the family lake cabin. And I agree with the advice about unpacking quickly! I become a sort of fiend about that.

Auntie Knickers said...

Holy smoke, I was just thinking of that song and then I opened your blog and there it was! We must be kindred spirits. Good play, amazing house=use schedule! Don't know if I could do it.

LutheranChik said...

I recall an old friend from Iowa expressing disbelief that rural Michiganians so often keep cottages just a few miles from their houses. "Why would you have a cottage in the same community as your house?" she asked me -- considering me an expert in all things Michiganian. "Because life at the lake, at the family cottage, is different than life in the city," I pointed out. "Because this way we don't have to travel six hours one way to go to the cottage." She still didn't get it.

Of course nowadays another factor in this lifestyle choice is the reality that if either of us tried to sell our own home, we either couldn't do it at all or would lose big money. So we're hanging tough,gritting our teeth as we pay our respective property taxes and keeping our fingers crossed for some new economic renaissance.

Elaine (aka...Purple) said...

#4...Great Advice.

Anonymous said...

AMEN to no boxes left hanging around! Can. Not. Stand. It!

Dorcas (aka SingingOwl) said...

I love the idea of alternating homes. I'd like the change of scene, decorating, and so on.

Anonymous said...

wonderful play...loved your song, beautiful.

Processing Counselor said...

We pretty much had alternate homes for 12 years, as BL didn't move in here until 5 years ago. We spent weekends in Nj and weeks mostly in NY where we both worked. Now that we both live here, I long for those days past when we had two houses of storage. Now we have two stuffed in a studio apt. Sigh. Some things are still lost.