It has begun. The
dash to the finish just before another PCS has commenced. I have successfully purged the kid’s rooms of
broken toys, annoying battery operated gadgets that I have been searching for
an excuse to lose, and any distasteful items of clothing I have been
unsuccessful at “misplacing” have been removed in an effort to bring our weight
allowance down.
I often
wonder how regular people manage to live out entire lifetimes without
moving. How do they mange all their
crap? It must just pile up in corners
and get stuffed into the recesses of the attic.
To me, that sounds like a nightmare.
I lived in the same town all of my life, with the few exceptions being
my attempts to live in Texas with my mentally unstable mother for several
months. I only remember my Dad and
Stepmother moving once. My grandfather
still lives in the same house I have always known. My Nana and my Aunt Karen moved once — to the
house next door to the one they were already living in.
The concept
of staying put shouldn’t be such a foreign one, but it is as distant a
memory as the seasons (Hawaii has no seasons, unless you count rainy and very
rainy as distinct changes in a climate).
Chris and I sit and daydream about buying a home somewhere (we aren’t
picky anymore after moving six times), and building a chicken coop, and planting
a garden, and dying there, and rotting before our children
realize we are missing.
It all
sounds so very romantic, but whether or not we will be able to stand being in
one place more than three years, remains to be tested. I put my money on change winning over
stability. Some switch gets flipped
after living as a gypsy for as long as we have, and you find yourself antsy for
new experiences.
I love
exploring unfamiliar streets and discovering new restaurants and quaint used
bookstores. I like that no one knows who
I am and that I can recreate myself every time we try out a new location. Of course, my true identity manages to poke
its annoying little head out eventually, but it is always fun trying to be someone interesting while it lasts.
So, if you’ve
never lived somewhere new, good for you.
You will never have that aching boredom that sets in after several years
in one spot. And if you are a wanderer
like us, happy traveling. Send me some
pointers on where to find a good bowl of Tom Kah Gai in Arizona.
