photo


10
Jul 23

“What really makes it new is the fact that we are here”

Tomorrow I’ll put four more big plastic bins in the basement because this weekend I prepared two fo them for storage. Also this weekend, and today, I emptied six more bins of books. Tonight I finished placing them on their shelves. First, all of the Gloms are now back in order in their bookcase. (One of the bins of Gloms got dropped when we were moving things into the house. It, of course, was the bin with the 120-year-old books. They seemed to do OK, the ancient books, but that was a stressful moment.)
The Gloms are going to pop back up in a photo capacity in the not-too-distant future.

After that, there also two other bookcases, filled with dozens of books I’ve yet to read. Last night I organized them into two stacks. On my grandfather’s bookcase, right next to my desk, are the books I’ll read first. There are about fifth books placed there, and perhaps about the same amount on the other bookshelf in the far corner.

Tomorrow I’ll set up the audio equipment. After that, it’s just reducing clutter, and then making plans for how I’ll actually use the space.

Anyway, most of the house settling is coming together. I’ve got two other bookcases to fill downstairs, and there are some odds and ends to figure out, but soon we’ll be on the way to trying to figure out where to hang things.

Which is good, because talking about how you’re unpacking for days on end might be the most boring thing on the web, am I right? So, starting tomorrow, back to the other riveting things I usually talk about here.

Here’s the important part. The most delicate things have been removed from balled up newspaper.

First one, then the other.

Phoebe and Poseidon are ridiculous, and they’re doing well. Quite settled, I’d say.

We had a nice little bike ride this weekend, which allows me to use the new bike banner once again. It was a lovely pedal through farmland and close to the lower basin of the Delaware River estuary.

We rode by crops ready to be pulled from the vine, cornstalks ready to soar and over a bit of the marshy river itself.

On this particular route, I think we only passed one church, watching over the fields and the people and the carefully planted trees.

It wasn’t a hard ride, but it was not without its challenges. It wasn’t especially fast, and at one point everything hurt. I am, I reminded myself, recovering from a move, Also, despite my lovely bride’s best efforts, I still got us off to a later-than-desired start, so the sun was ready to bake us in the last few miles. But the scenery was nice, and the company was wonderful.

I’m ready for the next ride, and maybe after a few more I’ll be ready for them to be a bit faster.

We took some time out for gymnastics. Tthe former All-American still has the Focus Face and the fingers and toes do what a gymnast’s fingers and toes do. I doubt she’s even aware of them, but it always amuses me.

She stuck the landing, several times.

Today, there were laps.

I swam some laps as well. I’m easing back into this, having now my second lap swim in just under eight silly years. In a few more pool sessions I’ll be up to a respectable warmup distance.

Also, I really need my shoulder to stop spasming. This is a Memorial Day weekend thing, followed by the stress-of-a-move thing. But, hey, I can still carry things. First, heavy boxes, then books by the armload and finally, when that got old, moving entire bins of heavy books. I’m sure that has in no way contributed to this running issue.

Yes, I am going to get one more week of videos out of the concert we saw last month at The Ryman. I recorded it, you get to hear it. “Shame on You” was a 1997 single from the “Shaming of the Sun” record. Love that album, love this song, love the banjo.

There’s a reference to the year 1694 in the song, fit in as rhetorical rebuttal. Not a lot seemed to happen in colonial America in 1694, but it doesn’t make the point any less valid, but the migration was underway. These sorts of things happen slowly, until you one day look around and everything is different, and new challenges and realities are emerging. I suspect that’s what was happening in the 1970s and 1980s and early 1990s when David Zeiger released his documentary, “Displaced In The New South” which has a theme that inspired the song.

The opening line of the documentary is the title of the post. I suppose it has always been that way, as well.


7
Jul 23

‘How much should I swim today?’

Yeah. It’s about time for this.

I just did a little set. So small you probably shouldn’t even call it a set. But, to be fair to myself, I haven’t done laps since the 17th. Of November. Of 2015.

But, when time and opportunity finally meet, you tri.

Great way to spend a Friday evening.


6
Jul 23

Let’s go ride bikes!

House work continues. It’s slow, but progressive. We have arrived to the point where it feels that it may never be over. Of course it will get finished. The magical sprites of the woods aren’t getting the job done, though. That’s disappointing, but we’ll get it all finished. We’ll hire an excavator if that’s what it takes. Or maybe we could turn this into a reality show or something: The Unpackening.

The garage is more-or-less in order. I’ve turned a bit of attention to my office and learning what all the light switches do.

Today, though, we took our first bike ride at our new home. My first bike ride in two-and-a-half weeks, and boy did it feel like it. But how about that new bike banner, eh? Similar to the old graphic, changed the colors, put in an easter egg and added a cyclist, It was an inspired decision to put her ahead of me in the graphic, since I’m always trying to chase her.

There are a few, but I did not take a lot of photos. I found myself having to get used to the whole process again. Riding a bike is just like riding a bike; it was everything else that felt a tiny bit off.

Out working among the crops.

We are surrounded by beautiful farmlands. (Look out produce stands and farmers’ markets, here we come!)

The Yankee’s form was just fine. It was a warm day, and we’re riding from map cues, but she still looks pro.

My shadow selfie looked pretty decent, much better than I did today.

We made a big circle, which, hey, is the goal. It gets you back to where you started.

Where the boxes and the bins are waiting.


5
Jul 23

My desk is heavy, FYI

Today I had a helper, and he was helpful all afternoon.

So now my desk has been reassembled, and I just have to make my home office space work. But! I have a concept, almost an idea, if you will, in mind.

In my last home office I think I rearranged everything three or four times. I kind of want to get it right from the start this time.

Otherwise, I am still very much in the mode of trying to remember which box I put that one thing into (Nah, I told myself 138 times while packing this up last week. I’ll remember which box and bin those things went in and why. It’s only a few days after all …)

As ever, The Yankee has been a total champ.

By next week I am hopeful we’ll have moved beyond taming chaos and into doing something more productive, or not at all productive.

I vote for the latter.


4
Jul 23

Happy Fourth

We spent the day doing little things around the house, because those little things add up. Eventually. Also, we did a little of this.

The local community had a fireworks show, of course. So we made our way down to the park and sports fields for the show. Took a guess on the spot, pulled out the lawn chairs and settled in for the extravaganza. The appointed time, 9:15 p.m., came and went. We looked in one direction, nothing.

We faced another way, no dice.

In a third direction, and at some distance, you could see some fireworks that were probably an enthusiastic front yard show, but nothing that felt coordinated. And then, after having consulted several websites that promised us pyrotechnics at this time in this place, The Yankee found a Facebook post that had a graphic showing that the Fourth of July fireworks were on … the second of July.

We had a good laugh about that.

And so we headed back to the house to enjoy cheesecake and watched the Philadelphia fireworks on TV, but not before a really flat Demi Lovato concert that seemed to run long. (But her fans liked it.) It was an easy Fourth. Not ideal, but ideal. Not perfect, but perfect. And we saw fireworks exploding above Independence Hall. That was quite something.