Chance = Change

Salagadooola -  Mishagaboola - Bibbity- Bobbity - Boo!!!!

And...just like that, our house at 216 Stonewall is empty, shiny broom-clean (central vacuuming system clean, that is), and here we are...as if someone simply turned a page ...putting the characters of this particular story in:  Jackson, Tennessee!  Home of the Casey Jones Museum, Gift Shop and Restaurant!
(where I intend to go this morning, for our first post-card purchase of the trip...), and the lovely,dog-friendly Econo-Lodge, where collapsing, sleep, and re-packing of suitcases and the back of our car  are afoot.  We were so intent on completing the house-cleaning, car-packing, getting out of Dodge frenzy of yesterday morning , the hours generated their own momentum, and before we knew it, the Ford Escape was indeed packed, but in such a Byzantine way, that Peter is insisting on re-organizing, re-stowing and re-starting our journey, as far as car packing is concerned...after the sleep we were able to get last night,  and true relaxation (cut off from our former life, in the middle of Jackson, Tennessee, on a highway, relaxation seems easier)...we should be able to make more sense of our little laden caravan!

Sally and Cyrano - our two doggie kids - are a bit freaked out by all the change and are sleeping a lot, on our laps in the car, and crashed on the beds here at Econo-Lodge...also, they are not eating. Their canine terror, soothed by sleep, leaves them, strangely, un-hungry, and these are dogs who are always hungry...usually.   It's this lack of appetite that tells us how truly nervous they are in the middle of all this change.  Right now, Cyrano is snuggled warmly on Peter's lap and is, again, sound asleep...Sally, curled in a little snail-shell form, on a suspicious looking motel blanket. Staying at dog-friendly places that cost less than luxury, one takes what one can get...but we slept well last night, nonetheless. And there was bounteous - though unhealthy - feast at breakfast. So why complain?

I'd like to write about the bewildering physics of change....about the magic that takes place in the passing of time (thus, the nod to the spell cast by Disney's Fairy Godmother over Cinderella, in the above title)....about the power of "how-in-the-hell-are-we-ever-going-to-get-this-done turning into "oh-my-god-we-DID-it"....about the odd mix of sadness/joy/fear/ecstasy/curiosity/satisfaction that fills my thinking, as I realize we truly did do it: we made this choice, and we have made our move.....about the extraordinary deluge of gratitude that washes over me like fresh warm salt water every time I realize that at my age, I have more courage, more clarity, and more power in my thinking that I ever had when I was younger...thus, I am able to truly appreciate this immense decision, and the journey of golden moments it has started me on: when I was younger, I wrote in another Journal Volume of how I've decided to dub as "Golden Moments", those times that are so wonderful, so delectable and desired, so perfect, that it feels like a golden light is shining on them and spotlighting them for me to remember...i used it to underline career successes, mostly...as professional things went my way, certain performances, certain moments of recognition, when things went exactly as I wanted them to go...Golden Moments: this time in my life seems to be one long one...and I am deeply glad I can recognize and enjoy that fact.

I'd like to write about all that....and maybe later I will.

But right now? I gotta go to the Casey Jones Gift Shop and buy lots of truly memorable post cards. Be on the look-out for yours, as Day #1/2 turns into our true Day #1 of full journeying to our SF home. Next stop along the way: Conway, Arkansas!

Labels: Cross-Country Journey