The (Often Heavy) Stuff Of Life

It’s nice to return to work after a week away. Truth be told, I’ll be working a lot less this week than last, when we were schlepping boxes down 29 stairs at the old house and up nine more at the new place for many days in a row.

Our Thanksgiving was a remarkable thing, in that we hosted the celebration in our new house, literally hours after unpacking dozens of boxes of household stuff. It was a thing to behold, the sight of my spousal unit moving from room to room at blinding speed with a nasty cold, turning a bunch of empty rooms into a lovely and comfortable home. She is a woman of many gifts, and always seems to reveal more as time goes by.

The two of us as individuals have accumulated a lot of stuff in the course of our lives, but it turns out that in the four short years of our marriage, we have accumulated even more. You learn these things when you have to put everything you own into boxes. I have, for instance, several electronic devices that do not appear to have any particular use. I’m sure they do, but I’ve long since forgotten what that would be. I packed them anyway, and brought them along with the hope that my ever-diminishing memory will kick in and remind me why I bought them in the first place.

Clothes are another point of embarrassment for me. I have many, many shirts and pants in my closet, and I hardly wear most of them. Yet, here they are in the new house, taking up the same amount of closet space as they did at the old place. What is the attachment? I’m not sure, but I don’t want to throw out all those clothes and then suddenly remember why I need them.

We won’t even discuss the shoe thing, except to say that I could start an Imelda Marcos chapter here in town.

But the real pain point is the books. I love my books and I’m not ashamed to admit it. I have several very valuable first editions, but mostly I just have normal books. Lots of them. More than half are hardback, because I have a real fondness for that medium. I also have a full set of the Great Books, though I hardly look at those, because there are many other more accurate and reliable translations. But they look nice. And they weigh a ton. Especially going up or down many stairs. In past moves, the books came with me because there was no option. This year, though, I have two Kindles (I received a Kindle Fire for my birthday), and I have to say that there are several hundred pounds of books on each of those devices as well, if they were actual books. With each load of book boxes, I kept remembering that the Kindle is a lightweight device that specializes in saving backs and boxes. If there is a next time, there may be a lot fewer book boxes leaving this house.

But finally, the move is over and the boxes have been broken down, the stuff inside them put away, and a new chapter has begun. We’re in a lovely new neighborhood with a great view of the city, and a landlord we can call if a pipe breaks or something leaks.

Today, I’m back to work and grateful to be here. I’ve missed you all, and hope everyone had a great and grateful Thanksgiving. As we head into the rest of the season, I hope you’ll continue being part of the conversation on Martinez Patch.

Be sure and stop by the Martinez Patch booth at Snow Park on Dec. 2. I’ll be handing out Patch swag (water bottles, tote bags, pens and buttons) and greeting users, as well as covering the festivities. Stop by and say hello, and let me know how we’re doing.