That is not my dog. My dog is cuter. His name is Herman and he’s also a Dachshund.
Isn’t he cute? He’s also a nervous little guy and moving makes him even more nervous.
I’ve started packing, none to soon. We leave Atlanta for Seattle in less than 3 weeks, in 19 days. But something is going on with Herman. He’s been throwing up. Everything else is fine. He plays, eats, pees, poops, sleeps. I think it’s the stress of moving. In his short 3 1/2 years, he’s moved across country 3 times, from Kansas to Connecticut to Santa Cruz California area to Atlanta.
I packed most of my books, left three out that I’m actively working with. But of course, in one of the books, Nabokov’s Speak, Memory was mentioned and I wanted to have a look. But the boxes are packed and taped and I don’t know which one it’s in. It’ll keep. I have 5 small boxes of books - that’s it. At one point in time, I had 40 oversized boxes of books, approximately 4,000 books. Downsizing from 3000 sq ft house to 650 sq ft apartment and then to a 37’ sailboat will cull a book collection. I miss many of them. Thank goodness for Kindle.
This is a big move, but I’ve moved so many times, I know what I’m doing now. I didn’t think I would someone who moved a lot. My family wasn’t in the military. My parents had stable jobs. I went to a single school district - one elementary school, one junior high school, one high school. In fact, I spent my first 23 years in one house. After that, I’ve taken up moving like a migrating butterfly, or considering my growing paunch, a blue whale. One residence.
From that first house in the San Fernando Valley, I moved to San Diego to finish college. I lived in a house with 5 of us for a year, and then an apartment with 3 of us for 6 months. Then I moved back home for 6 months awaiting the start of grad school. Two residences in San Diego. (1984-1985)
I moved from the Valley to Albuquerque, New Mexico with a brand new Toyota pick-up (I had that truck 19 years and it only had 93,000 miles on it when I sold it for $200.00) towing a 5’ x '8’ trailer. I left many boxes at my parents’ house of keepsakes, but I took all my furniture and books and such. In Albuquerque, I lived in an apartment for a year, in a sublet room in a house for a summer, in a shared apartment for 6 months, in another shared apartment crawling with roaches for 6 months, and in a duplex for 3 years. Five residences in Albuquerque. (1986-1991)
I moved from Albuquerque to Lawrence, Kansas. In Lawrence, I lived in an apartment complex for 1 1/2 years, a townhouse at the foot of campus in view of the football stadium at KU, temporarily on a couch with friends in a house during a break-up, in an apartment, in a shittier apartment with a sliding glass door as a front door and small little window in the bedroom too high up and too small to crawl out of - a firetrap, an apartment in a quad complex, a rented house on Ohio street for several years at the foot of the other side of campus, and a house my ex- and I bought in Ozawkie, 30 miles north of Lawrence in the country on a lake. Seven residences in Lawrence and Ozawkie (1991 - 2005). We were in the Ozawkie house for 3 1/2 years.
I moved from Kansas back to San Diego. Initially we lived in a small one bedroom apartment for 5 years, paying off debt and saving money. Then we moved onto a boat, a 37’ Hans Christian Mark II blue water cruiser. Six months later, during out split, I moved into an apartment for 6 months, and then back onto the boat, and then moved in with my poly family, and then that exploded, and I moved in with a friend to get on my feet, then I moved into a condo. Seven residences in San Diego area (2005 - 2018).
I moved from San Diego to New Haven, Connecticut, stayed two years in an apartment complex within sniffing distance of Yale, in an old building with an old draw gate elevator that kept breaking down - only 4 people allowed in at one time and no freight. We were on the 6th floor. And it got hot! One residence in Connecticut (2018 - 2020).
We were awaiting job opportunities just as the pandemic hit, so moving played out this way. We boxed up our belongings in a UBox and left it in Connecticut, to be shipped to wherever we would end up. We drove cross country with a loaded car and a dog on the floor between our feet. We lived in a condo in Aptos. One residence in California July 2020 to November 2020).
We moved from Aptos to Atlanta in November 2020, and we lived in a brand new apartment complex. Nobody else’s dirt. One residence from December 2020 to August 2022).
Back across the country again, from Atlanta to Seattle, traveling end of August to arrive on September 1. (One residence started Sept, 2022 in Seattle).
This will be my 26th residence. Leaving off the first one where I spent 23 years - 25 residences in 35 years.
How many places have you lived in?
I’m tired of moving. And we haven’t even moved yet. Oh I’m always excited for the new experience. This will mark the last region of the U.S. (not counting Alaska and Hawaii) where I will live. I’ve lived near the 4 corners of the continental United States and only a couple of hours away from the exact center - the geodetic center - of North America. X marks the spot.
Since we’re moving to wet Seattle, I’ll be testing that theory, “a rolling stone gathers no moss.” I’m better against it. I’m betting on moss, webbed fingers and toes, and roots shooting into the damp earth.
One thing that really helped is that the gf took up “minimalism” and decluttering recently, pre-move. Oh wow that really helps! I did my share of scanning docs and getting rid of items, too. We’re not one backpack on the shoulder lean, but are now on the lean side of owning things. The book and guitar collection, however, seem to be growing. Get rid of a wonky fork, get a guitar - sounds like a fair trade to me.
After the heat of the Northeast and the South, I’m ready for some temperatre west coast weather again.
Hey, tell your friends about this newsletter. I appreciate it!
I’ll be back next week with more thoughts on Eliot, mental illness, and memoir.
Have a safe and pleasant weekend, y’all.
For me, I’ll . . .
Just keep writing!