I stepped from Plank to Plank
A slow and cautious way
The Stars about my Head I felt
About my feet the Sea.

I knew not but the next
Would be my final inch -
This gave me that precarious Gait
Some call Experience.

Emily Dickinson, c. 1864

Sunday, September 2, 2012

High stress week

Judy and I at Manresa Castle in Port Townsend
Last Sunday, when I wrote my last post, I was not looking forward to this week, but it's been actually much more stressful than I anticipated. For one thing, I am almost five years older than I was the last time I moved, and while my blogging buddies reminded me that it's always a stressful time, I expected that I would breeze right through, the way I have in the past. The new places to live seemed more like an adventure than something to dread. Here's how the week has shaped up:
  • Monday I went on a hard hike that lasted thirteen hours from the time I met my hiking friends until I returned home. It was hot and I found I could not go as far as I had hoped. I had to turn around before reaching the summit.
  • The next day I was tired, but Judy and I had already made plans months ago to attend a Senior Center excursion to Port Townsend. It was brutal, as the bus was late and we waited almost two hours to board, and then two hours after the museum visits, lunch, and shopping to get the 50-person bus aboard the return ferry. I didn't get home until another twelve hours after I had left. I was already tired from the previous day's efforts.
  • Then, the move scheduled to begin Wednesday was delayed as the new apartment was not cleaned, so we had to make do with packing in our old apartment, getting ready but not yet able to get the keys to the new place. It's just on the other side of the same apartment complex, but it's about a football field's length away. Lots of trudging to and fro.
  • Finally we gained access and started the ordeal of taking personal items to the new place. Tomorrow two high school seniors will be here to do the heavy lifting. I've been washing windows and packing, packing. How does someone accumulate so much STUFF in just a few years?
  • The internet stopped working this morning instead of tomorrow. I spent hours on the phone with Comcast trying to restore internet and cable for one more day here. The windows sparkle, but I'm so tired and frazzled that I begin one task and start another before it's finished.
  • I've got one more day before I will turn over the keys to this place and am anxious that everything will work as advertised, and that this move is actually a step up. 
Today is Smart Guy's fiftieth anniversary from his first jump ever. He made a static line jump when he was twenty, from a Piper Cub no less, just him and his jumpmaster who was flying the plane. Fifty years ago today! And on September 3, Labor Day this year, it will be twenty-two years from the day I first made a skydive. Mine was a tandem jump. Our move will be accomplished on the day in between. It's a fortuitous juxtaposition, completely missed until now. My friend Trish would call it a synchronicity, and I guess it is. She said to keep my eyes out for them.

There's change in the air, I can feel the crispness in the mornings, and a few leaves are already beginning to turn and fall from the cherry tree in the front yard. Our view will  be different, but my garden will remain the same, and my apartment friends will also be around to help return some normalcy to my life.

I'm going to schedule this to post tomorrow morning, Sunday, although I'm writing it in the afternoon of Saturday when I have internet. Hopefully by next Sunday my life will be back to a semblance of normal. I wish all of my dear blogging friends a very safe and happy Labor Day, or Labour Day if you're in Canada! 

20 comments:

Rian said...

"My friend Trish would call it a synchronicity, and I guess it is. She said to keep my eyes out for them."

I think she's right. Emotional events tend to trigger this phenomenom... or so I've read.

Hope all is back to normal soon.

Anonymous said...

I admire your fortitude and never say die attitude, DJan. Sure, you're exhausted; who wouldn't be. Take care and God bless!

B. WHITTINGTON said...

Sending you showers of blessings from Ohio, where I'm sitting writing and hoping to never move again in my lifetime.
Moving is stressful for me. Somehow no matter how well planned and greatly anticipated moves really get me down.
So sending energy and goodwill your way. Lots of prayers too for a quick settling in.
Barb

Friko said...

Or just an ordinary day if you are neither in the US nor in Canada.

My Goodness Me, DJan, no wondr you are tired. How did you survive this week? If I face a major task on one day, I leave the two days either side free of stressful activity. We are in the same age group and I couldn't, for the life of me, endeavour to do in one week what you did.

The very best of luck to you and I hope that all is settling down peacefully. Mind you, you still have all the unpacking to do.

Mel said...

You have more energy, patience and wisdom than I can imagine right now.
I hope everything goes well with the move and for goodness sake, be careful lifting things!
I love the synchronicity of the anniversaries and move in date.
Looking forward to news of your new home. Unpacking has always been more fun for me than packing.

Far Side of Fifty said...

I hope never to move again in my lifetime either..but you never know..I have way too much stuff. I hope your Sunday went well..deep breaths:)

Nancy/BLissed-Out Grandma said...

After those two unusually long days, it's not surprising that you were tired! Even in the same building, there is bound to be some stress. Moving OUT is most of the stress, for me at least, and moving IN becomes less about saying goodbye and more about looking forward. I hope your move is going well and you are soon delighted with your new digs.

Gigi said...

Just READING about all that you've done has made me tired! Once you get all the stuff actually moved it will be a breeze - as the others have said, the unpacking (and facing the future) is always the easy part.

Deb Shucka said...

I hope you're settling into your new home with little drama and lots of ease. May this change be the beginning of a wonderful new chapter in your life.

Rita said...

I've moved so many times and it gets harder the older you get, that's true. I don't want to move ever again--LOL!

I hope all has been gong smoothly and the young helpers do a lot of work for their money. How you did all that the week before you move is beyond me. You're amazing!!

Hope to hear from you after you're settled a bit and have internet. :):)

Red said...

Well, it often helps to write about worrisome challenges...good therapy. You've done that and also kept us up on how the move is going. It seems that moves never go as planned.
so I hope everything goes well after this.

Sally Wessely said...

I do hope by now you are beginning to get situated in your place. I can't imagine making the move with just the help of a few teenage boys. Truly, you are remarkable. The hike and then the day trip would do me in for a few days. Take care, DJan.

Trish said...

Good synchro! Fortuitous, too, I think. Hope the move goes well. We're all looking forward to your return to blogging.

Dee said...

Dear DJan, yes, a tiring week and filled with stress also. But you seem to still have your wits about you--witness your being able to work everything out for another day with Comcast.

I hope that once you get the boxes in the new home--with the help of the two strong, young men--you will honor your body and sit for a long while, sipping your favorite beverage and simply relaxing. Please do all that before starting the unpacking. Peace.

Linda Reeder said...

I'll be waiting to hear how it all goes. Good luck with everything.

We are happy to have our floors done, the dirt cleaned up, and our recliners back in place and the TV hooked up. I'm not sure when the rest will get done. We will talk to the flooring gut tomorrow about the schedule for the stairs and the molding. Tom did some primer painting this morning. Tomorrow we'll finishing the little bit of painting we're going to do. Hopefully by this weekend we'll have help moving the furniture back in from the garage. Then we will be on hold until the cabinets arrive.

#1Nana said...

I hope you are now settled in your new home. I am a believer that change is good, but I've found that it usually isn't good until it's all over and everything is back to normal!

CrazyCris said...

I hope it all went well DJan! You should be in your new home sweet home by now... Good luck with the UNpacking! ;o)

Nancy said...

I just went through the same thing. Ghaaa - I really don't like moving, but I hope your new place is everything you hope it will be.

O-town Ramblings said...

Moving is always stressful, and whether just a few blocks away or states away, involve nearly the same amount of effort. I once moved three times in six months, two of those times almost single-handedly. I don't think I could do that now. Moving is back-breaking work.

I hope you're all settled into your new place and able to take some time to rest and relax.

CiCi said...

That is so funny, when I began reading the first sentence in this post, I was reading "ahead" in my mind, that this was actually less stressful, when in fact, you said more stressful. Yuck. So sorry you had so much planned and used up energy the days before your move.