Moving and Unpacking

I have moved, but I have not unpacked the boxes.

After living in St. Paul for the better part of 20 years, my family and I loaded up the truck and moved to Central Minnesota. It's not the end of the world...that would be the next freeway exit.

We are out in the country, kind of, in a house that sits on five acres. That amount of acreage is expansive to me after having a backyard barely big enough to hold three consecutive cartwheels.

So we are here, and I thought I would miss my Grand Avenue: Thomas Liquor, Whole Foods, Coffee News, Dunn Bros...OK, I miss Dunn Bros. That is good coffee. I thought I would miss walking down to the River, jogging to Ford Parkway, driving to Ft. Snelling for a quick nine. But I don't.

I walk the land here almost everyday, and almost everyday I see something new. This past week, the birds have shown themselves for the first time this Spring. Among them are Sand Hill Cranes. They seem to be nesting in the area and come to the neighboring field to feed. I have never seen anything like them before. They are prehistoric in size, flight, and sound. Check 'em out on the Cornell Lab website: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Sandhill_Crane.html
Hauntingly beautiful, and better than cable.

It's good to be on the land, but I will say that the move has taken some getting used to. After spending the first few fitful nights worrying about the sound of the furnace, the sound of the water softener, and the likelihood of a reenactment of In Cold Blood, I am making peace with the place. It is still and that stillness suits me. It is getting in to me. To make room for the quiet, I am trying to discard the worry and paniced pace brought on by a 70 mile commute. I am relearning how to be where I am instead of where I might be next. Whether I'm painting, stripping wallpaper, or grading papers, I am trying to do just that. It's not always easy. I find that I work for a while and then I begin to push, as if forcing tasks forward from the inside out well help. I learned this behavior effectively by practicing it for the past ten years. It will take some time and concentration to unlearn it.

So I have moved, and I have begun to unload. The boxes? They can wait.