Baby, one more time

We have been packing for a move for weeks. We must cross over the Continental Divide once again to get to our ‘old homeland’ that is Ohio. It is as if there is a comfy nest awaiting, and yet anyone who has ever moved before knows that it isn’t easy packing up and starting over.

I often ponder what my fifth great grandfather, Henry George, must have thought when he decided to leave Talgarth, Wales for a destination unknown in the Northwest Territory of the new America? He and greatest grandmother, Mary Bevan, must have had to do much planning and undertake much risk. They had their family and community to support them. They also had several young children to care for. Before their travels were finished, they would move twice through Pennsylvania before becoming early pioneers in Ohio.

Henry and Mary literally had to start from scratch.

That is not the case with Maureen and me. We now have possessions in large volume. Things that were purchased are not so valuable as things that were handmade.  That is, the couch that Maureen and Mary designed and had built by a craftsman in Hermosa Beach, California is a fine sculpture. The Stickley mission library table and bookshelf are an antique from her family. There are other items that have received the artist’s treatment too.

Mostly, we have nearly 100 boxes that are marked as framed art. While much is Maureen’s, some are mine, and many others are my daughter’s and other artist friends. The collection may be historic someday. My Grandsons will inherit it.

For now, ‘The George Collection’ is ready and waiting for a trek through the rain, sleet, and snow back to Ohio, over the rivers and through the woods.

So long.

Departing tomorrow.

Haunted by heirlooms

We are wrapping up, now. Reflecting on the fact that we have moved over 10 times in our life together. There are certain items that keep popping up from move to move. They are identified as being treasures that are packed for safekeeping and then tucked away into some remote space, and not to be seen again until the next move. Why?

Maureen and Mary made the move from San Francisco to Arlington, Virginia. Mary was just moving some prized possessions to ‘Mom and Dad’s’ before her trip to England. She loaded the Toyota Tacoma pickup truck, her college graduation present, and the two of them drove through the winter on the southern route from the west to the east. I was back in Arlington, working and worried about the ladies. 

They decided to stay in a place that I had warned them not to go. It was desolate, but a snow storm forced them to check-in to the hotel in nowhere USA. They slept with their boots on.

Anyway, all of that stuff in the truck landed in our extra storage locker where it remained undisturbed for about 5 years. It got shuffled around to a new locker. Mary moved to London, UK.

In the meantime, while driving the truck through mountains in West Virginia on a business trip, the universal joint broke at Friendsville. I was on the downslope and coasted off of an exit right into a service station as the power was no longer engaged. In the rear view mirror, I could see parts and spark flying behind me. The u-joint broke probably from the overload and that long trip. I had the truck towed home by AAA. It was 110 miles.

Anyway, here I am looking at aunt Mary’s Waterford crystal tea service items, wondering why we had them locked away so long. We are now having tea every day. 

I see many other heirlooms, some silver trays and pots and such. Maybe we can use them.

I digitized all of my old business publications and such, for the record. That is weight removed from our trip. 

I am a little relieved that Mary decided not make more concrete sculptures. We have enough right now. She advanced to large lumber projects, and fortunately left them installed in the fields of England, sort of like Stonehenge. 

Disco Tree, Mary George