moving 20 comments
Sage helping out with packing up for our move
Just a short post. I’m doing okay at getting the place ready to list for sale. At times, it seems like I’ll never get finished, but I’ve made a terrific amount of progress considering that I’ve only been here at the farm for a little over a month. On other fronts, I’m managing okay, but finding it very difficult and weird to be here at the farm without Don. Packing our belongings is often a challenge. I left our clothing until almost last as I knew I would find that very hard, and it was. Although I packed a good percentage of Don’s clothes to send off to a local charitable organization, I kept quite a few things too — his favourite coats, jackets, jeans, t-shirts and hiking boots. The grocery lists, notes, pens, and other objects that were in the jacket pockets, will remain there, archived for me to revisit from time to time in the future. I am not, and may never be, ready to part with any of this stuff, and that seems okay.
Meanwhile, Sabrina is well and Sage continues to grow like a weed. I’ll try to post some photos and/or video sometime very soon.
Well, back to work here!
20 Responses to 'moving'
Subscribe to comments with RSS or TrackBack to 'moving'.
-
Wayne – Sage likes to be in the middle of everything — which is sometimes less than helpful. However, I don’t discourage that too much as that’s a very normal “collie thing” and one of the traits that makes them so appealing to me.
Yes, for sure, the blog problem really rots my socks and I wish there was more time available to fix things properly, but there just isn’t.
Interesting that you would mention the power of the sense of smell. I almost wrote about that with regards to sorting clothing. Certain clothes items — most notably wool melton or leather jackets and heavy, pure wool sweaters — retain a person’s scent — enough so that they are a very vivid reminder of that person. In fact, that’s one of the several criteria that I used for choosing which of Don’s clothing items to keep. -
Well, the feed for the old blog updated In Google Reader, but I couldn’t click through: “Firefox has detected that the server is redirecting the request for this address in a way that will never complete.” Weird.
-
Dave – Thanks for posting the message you’re receiving. When I’ve tried to navigate around my blog, I get a similar message about how there is a redirect that is impossible to complete. I’ve looked through quite a bit of the code in the files to see if I could find some evidence of hacking or insertion of redirects, and so far, nada. For now, I’ve given up on the effort — just too stressed and pressed for time to try to sort it out.
-
Glad to hear that the blog is back up and running (but what a pain). The photo of Sage has a very high cuteness coefficient. Your tasks must feel very challenging right now. Thinking good thoughts for you.
-
Bev – When I first saw this pic of Sage, it immediately made me smile. There is nothing quite like the propensity of certain dogs (I had one, too) to get into the thick of things. But there was something very amusing about the shot, too, and it took me a moment to figure it out: check out Home Depot’s tag line, “You can do it; we can help,” on the bag on the counter above Sage’s head!
-
Doug – Oh, Sage is a very cute and photogenic dog – and I think she knows it. Yes, everything seems so challenging now, but I just try to push onwards. As I was sorting through my kitchen stuff, I came across some of my cheese-making molds and a couple of related books. I was actually thinking of trying to send them to you, but ended up tossing them into a box. I’ll try to send them to you whenever I get around to unpacking (where and whenever that is — don’t hold your breath too long!).
–
Beth – Ha! I hadn’t noticed the words on the bag, but how appropriate! (-: -
It looks like Sage likes to help out there. it’s always good to have such a cute little helper.
I have noticed that haloscan sometimes loses comments on our blog. It will report a number of comments, and then some time later, the number will change to a lower number and those comments disappear. They do reappear later, but it is a drag.
I am glad that Wayne brought up the sense of smell — it would be one of the factors I would also use in choosing which clothing I would save. To have that essential smell that was Don is something to be held on to and cherished.
-
I just brought up JthC on my bloglines newsreader and clicked through – no problems, no redirect message, went straight to the site.
As you know, I can’t smell, but I’ve always loved Glenn’s observations of how powerfully a wiff of a certain odor can impact him. He most often brings up his grandmother. The items of Don’s that you mentioned keeping sounded to me like they might have smells remaining. It’s very nice to think about.
-
Sage looks ripe for a good ear-ruffling.
I was also going to mention the power of smell. I have read that it is perhaps the most powerful sense for stimulating memories. But there is also something powerful about the personal effects of a person. Those things a person handled every day are like an echo of that person’s existence.
-
robin – I’ve noticed the problem that you’ve described on haloscan, and have seen it happen with my WordPress blogs as well. Usually, it’s a temporary thing. This time, I don’t know what could be wrong as I guess the comments “disappeared” around May 6. Crazy. The only clue I have as to what might have happened is that a couple of other people posted “help” questions about this very problem around May 6th. They said that their wordpress version had been changed and their blogs weren’t working right ever since (comments not working, etc…). I suspect they might be using the same web host as me. Anyhow, really an annoying problem!
–
Wayne – I was thinking that it was interesting that you mentioned the sense of smell as you don’t have that sense. I’m very aware of scents and how one thing or another will remind me of place, time, or person. I’ve noticed that other people have mentioned the scent of their partner on sweaters and other garments and how that makes them feel closer — which is one reason for why it is that many people do not discard clothing items.
–
Mark – I would definitely agree that certain garments, belongings, etc.. bring on a very strong sense of the person that wore or owned them. I used to notice that a lot when I used my dad’s tools. One of the things that I’ve found very poignant for me is seeing Don’s handwriting and I’ve kept every note that he wrote, however small it is. He had a very distinctive way of writing — clear, smooth, strong, and even — a lot like his personality. I could always recognize his writing from a mile off. When I see his writing, it feels as though he must be very near. I’ve also left his recording on our voice mail as I like to hear his message — very brief as it is — whenever I check the messages. -
Bev, so glad the blog is up and running again – I was unable to visit you for a few days and really missed doing that.
Sage has certainly grown since her last photo session, and she looks just a tad mischievous!
I still have things given to me by my dear friend Aloha who died last summer and a few of my dad’s things too. When I pick up his old tweed jacket, I can still smell the Cavendish No.2 pipe tobacco he favored. Holding their “stuff” is comforting.
-
Bev, after all I’ve read about your farm and all the photos I’ve seen, it’s almost as though it’s home…maybe I should put in an offer! And you’d always be welcome back! Sage looks completely in charge of the situation…no question at all!
-
You and Sabrina and Sage have been in my thoughts. I’ve been quiet lately but was concerned when all the comments disappeared.
Yes, there are some things that we don’t need to part with. Appreciated your mention of handwritten notes and how they continue to speak to us in a voice we remember so well
-
Of all the aggravations you don’t need is a misbehaving blog site. Sorry for that trouble.
I must say–if I had Sage around I would be permanently distracted–tempted to play at every second.
Oh, the going through things. . .so difficult. I have done this twice with parents–I learned things I didn’t know. I did not know my mother balled up kleenex and stuck them in every pocket! Many things brought simultaneous smiles & tears.
Blessings on you in this part of the journey. -
What a cute picture! I can tell that Sage takes a lot of pride in her work!
I just wanted to stop in and let you know that I have a blog award (2 actually) for you over at my blog. I understand if you’re not into the whole meme aspect of it, but I just wanted to let you know it was there. I don’t comment often, but I always enjoy seeing your pictures.
-
Good luck with all things on your move Bev.
If you need any help around ‘the farm’ (some heavy lifting perhaps!) to get things ready just let me know.
-
Cate – You’re right. Holding certain pieces of clothing is quite comforting. Favourite coats and jackets are particularly nice.
–
John – What I’m very much looking forward to, is finding a new place to call home, and then inviting friends like you to visit me there!
–
am – I love handwritten notes and have kept everything of Don’s that I have come upon while sorting things for this move. There’s a kind of immediacy about a note — it feels like it could have been written just a moment ago. I like that.
–
KGMom – Sorting and packing Don’s things has been quite hard … nice in some ways, but also difficult in others. I’m glad that I waited until now as it made it easier to decide which things I didn’t mind giving away (certain clothes) and which I really wanted to keep. For now, I’ve just given away the things I was sure of. Better to err on the side of what feels comfortable to me.
–
Peter – Thanks! I will definitely keep your offer in mind. From a strategic point of view, one thing I’ve done for this move is to try to take only those things I can manage pretty much on my own, or with a handcart. I feel good about that — I want to learn to travel light. I’m not entirely happy with how much stuff I have packed for the move — I wasn’t in the right frame of mind at the beginning of sorting and packing, so I just packed everything. Later on, I realized that I should have been sorting out what I didn’t want to keep right from the start so I wouldn’t have to do that at the other end. Oh well, live and learn! I try not to beat myself up too much over these kinds of things as I figure I’m doing well just to be doing what I’m doing. (-: -
You know it all sounds perfectly normal to me. The weekend after Chris died I gave my son-in-law his suits, and a load of jeans, t-shirts, etc, since they were close to the same size.
But there is the grey flannel shirt I bought him that he wore on the plane during our trip out east for my son’s graduation, and the jacket that he wore when showing dogs, etc. that I can’t give up. My sister-in-law almost had a fit when she saw Chris’ jacket hanging on the back of the passenger seat in the cargo van where he left it after the last show he went to. Its been there ever since, and will remain there.
Its funny that some things have no emotional importance at all, and certain small things will need to remain a while longer. When people call me they sometimes comment that I should change the message on the phone, since it is Chris’ voice….but I like having it there, so they can just deal with it.
Do what is important for YOU, and to h*** with the rest of the world…you are the one that needs it 🙂
-
Shelley – The voice messaging on my phone is still in Don’s voice and I intend to leave it that way until the phone is disconnected when I move. I like hearing it when I’m checking messages, so see no need to change it. Yes, as you’ve said, other people can just deal with it. I agree about how some articles are loaded with meaning or importance to us, while others are not. That has been the thing that has slowed me down a bit while sorting through which things to take with us on our move. I decided to do this now at this end rather than the other, so I’ve slowly gone through everything while packing and have kept quite a lot of stuff that would probably make no sense to others — meanwhile, I’ve given away all kinds of things that some would say I’m nuts not to keep. That’s okay though — as you have said, it’s what is important to me that matters. (-:
Bev – Sage looks like a real helper there. Or at least protector of the art supplies. Good to hear that Sabrina is doing well.
That’s a real rot socker about the blog problems, but at least you’ve been able to find a fix of sorts. I added it to bloglines and it appeared just fine, FYI.
A lot of work and hard in many ways. I wonder at the power of the sense of smell.