Moving rain

May 8, 2013

It’s Carol’s birthday!

Moving like the Clampetts with a barn-red horse trailer towed majestically behind a truck. The majority of furnishings are actually my daughter’s so I grumble in despair as the rain begins to pour down on our heads soaking us and potentially damaging the cushy yet handle-less mattress (there outta be a law!) holy-cow-this-is-heavy dresser, prudent desk, 70’s couch, colorful and practical must-be-Finnish design director chairs with matching end tables, and a gigantic black desk chair I could use as a vehicle around the house when I can’t walk!

I had already driven the hour plus each way in the early morning to meet the landlord with his newish baby in a carrier and stubborn enough not to tell me her age (3 to 4?) year old girl. We cased the spacious joint from top to bottom to discover the numerous items needing to be removed from the premises, concurred regarding thorough cleaning reimbursement, touch-up and kitchen painting, debris-filled lot clearing and extensive lease agreement details (no guns allowed-darn it!) The landlord seemed pretty amenable to my suggestions then grandiosely turned over the keys.

So, later in the competitively longest day of my life, we bear down on the duplex from Princeton to Isanti to traffic-ridden St Paul to West St Paul, taking wrong turns (oops, my bad!) and getting stuck in the middle of a long slope since a shredder service truck stalled dead center. Pull up to the right house (finally!) only to discover I left the keys behind way back at point A! Oh god. Fortunately the sun porch fit everything like a puzzle and I begrudgingly made the trek back at the crack this morning to schlep it all into the house, save the darned sofa. Arms quaking with exhaustion I couldn’t budge the lengthy monster in through the double doorway. Tyrus was certainly no help at all, he meandered around in the yard and scared the upstairs neighbor to death by just glancing her way. Thought I made enough shocking post-dawn noise to wake the block so I unloaded a few boxes of treasures to find a spot later and made our way back home (Princeton for the moment) in the rain.