A Big Day
Today I went up and got the last of the small things out of storage. The only thing left is the Jag, which if S. doesn't want it back I will be putting some energy into find a new home for.
Here are some notes from the day:
9:30 am Sunady 24 Sept 2006. Waiting in the waiting area of Thrifty rent-a-car while the busy staff serve two other customers and answer three phone calls - the morning rush. One woman is Australian and has probably been nearby all her life. The other one, the grumpy, pretty one, might be from Indonesia or the Phillipines or India. And I think, how did I get here? How is it that I'm standing in a Thrifty car rental office in Sydney Australia (the customer just before me was a tourist looking for a car for the morning), picking up a car to get get the last forgotten, dust-encrusted thngs from the storage garage where they've been for five years?
Not just how did I end up in Sydney, Australia, but how did I end up here long enough to be winding up a dust-encrusted past?
***
Hot and very windy. If rain at the beginning of a journey is good luck, what does wind at the end of a journey mean?
***
I had been worried about my ability to do this by myself, but on the road down alongside Brisbane Waters, with it all in, I realised that the worst thing that could happen is I might get hurt, a muscle strain or something, and in time it would heal. Very good metaphor, that.
***
Killy (Killcare, where we lived before I put the stuff in storage, and where I drove to today for lunch) is just the same. And it still warms my heart and makes me smile - not like Newcastle which felt like it really was in my past, last time I was there. This place is just beautiful and quaint and easy to be in, and warms my heart and makes me smile.
***
I managed to get everything inside my front gate, but not quite inside my front door (I did get one cabinet in later in the night, cleaned and positioned, but everything else is still out there). The unloading was harder than the loading, because I was tired by then, and also had to carry things further and up some steps. But I did it. I'll be sore tomorrow, no doubt! But I managed the whole excursion and all the heavy lifting all by myself. I felt very empowered on the drive back, but when it was all over felt grumpy and sad. The drive from here to the Thrifty place was nearly as long as getting to Hornsby, because Crown Street was blocked off -- I thought because of a fire but actually because of a fallen tree. The SMH reported many fires and fallen trees, one person killed, lots of power outages. Not very good luck, the hot wind, not for all of them.
***
I had been holding off contact, well, for all the right reasons but one thing that kept me going the last week or two -- through the Sept 11 anniversary, through the Knights semi-finals, through the romantic movies -- was that I could call him when everything was out of storage, to let him know. And I called him tonight, but he wasn't home, and I didn't want to call the mobile in case he's o.s. with ho-bag, and so I sent an email, which was much better for the no-contact healing process but then also quite unsatisfying. No one who understands the magnitude of what I did today (finish clearing out the storage place! going back to Killcare!) is around to talk to, and to congratulate me. So I'm glad I have y'all, cybercitizens!
Good on me, anyway.
Here are some notes from the day:
9:30 am Sunady 24 Sept 2006. Waiting in the waiting area of Thrifty rent-a-car while the busy staff serve two other customers and answer three phone calls - the morning rush. One woman is Australian and has probably been nearby all her life. The other one, the grumpy, pretty one, might be from Indonesia or the Phillipines or India. And I think, how did I get here? How is it that I'm standing in a Thrifty car rental office in Sydney Australia (the customer just before me was a tourist looking for a car for the morning), picking up a car to get get the last forgotten, dust-encrusted thngs from the storage garage where they've been for five years?
Not just how did I end up in Sydney, Australia, but how did I end up here long enough to be winding up a dust-encrusted past?
***
Hot and very windy. If rain at the beginning of a journey is good luck, what does wind at the end of a journey mean?
***
I had been worried about my ability to do this by myself, but on the road down alongside Brisbane Waters, with it all in, I realised that the worst thing that could happen is I might get hurt, a muscle strain or something, and in time it would heal. Very good metaphor, that.
***
Killy (Killcare, where we lived before I put the stuff in storage, and where I drove to today for lunch) is just the same. And it still warms my heart and makes me smile - not like Newcastle which felt like it really was in my past, last time I was there. This place is just beautiful and quaint and easy to be in, and warms my heart and makes me smile.
***
I managed to get everything inside my front gate, but not quite inside my front door (I did get one cabinet in later in the night, cleaned and positioned, but everything else is still out there). The unloading was harder than the loading, because I was tired by then, and also had to carry things further and up some steps. But I did it. I'll be sore tomorrow, no doubt! But I managed the whole excursion and all the heavy lifting all by myself. I felt very empowered on the drive back, but when it was all over felt grumpy and sad. The drive from here to the Thrifty place was nearly as long as getting to Hornsby, because Crown Street was blocked off -- I thought because of a fire but actually because of a fallen tree. The SMH reported many fires and fallen trees, one person killed, lots of power outages. Not very good luck, the hot wind, not for all of them.
***
I had been holding off contact, well, for all the right reasons but one thing that kept me going the last week or two -- through the Sept 11 anniversary, through the Knights semi-finals, through the romantic movies -- was that I could call him when everything was out of storage, to let him know. And I called him tonight, but he wasn't home, and I didn't want to call the mobile in case he's o.s. with ho-bag, and so I sent an email, which was much better for the no-contact healing process but then also quite unsatisfying. No one who understands the magnitude of what I did today (finish clearing out the storage place! going back to Killcare!) is around to talk to, and to congratulate me. So I'm glad I have y'all, cybercitizens!
Good on me, anyway.
posted by Ellen at 11:17 pm
1 Comments:
I think a hot, destructive wind is a perfect companion to what you had to do. It will topple trees and scoarch the earth behind you. Harsh . . . but appropriate somehow.
I am very proud of you doing all that yourself! You are a brave champion! And I could just picture beautiful Killcare . . . with the birdies and the water and the yummy turkey and cranberry sandwhiches.
You are very lucky.
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