This weekend has gone by in a blur of cardboard, friends, dust, and heavy lifting.
“Team Garage” kicked ass on a task I have been avoiding for months. Years of accumulated junk in the garage is sorted into piles: dump; burn; keep. The few items we wanted to move are already at 555 thanks to Hitomi and Kengo and their kei truck. The keep pile will stay in the garage until the barn at 555 is renovated; everything else will be cleared away. That is a huge weight off my mind.
“Team Kitchen” stripped the kitchen bare. The cupboards are empty and only a “camping box” of basics, a fridge full of food, and the microwave are with us for the next few days.
A huge shout-out to Megumi, who arrived dressed in a utility apron stocked with essentials: a pen, scissors, tape, string, and rubber gloves. She really took charge of putting things into boxes and made sure we still had some bits and pieces to use for the next few days. Respect!
Saturday was a complicated by minor injuries, accidents, and unexpected stresses. But we made it through, with a great deal of help from our friends.
Two of them came from out to town: Toshiko, a Satoyama Yoga regular; and Will, who works with Tod. They stayed two nights and provided much needed sanity, conversation, and willing hands in every task from lining drawers to cleaning floors to packing ukuleles and finding space for elephants.
Tod managed Saturday lunch using his new Vermicular to cook butakakuni for seven. We went to Mika for a Korean feast after packing and carrying boxes all afternoon.
Today we spent the morning at 555 with Mark and Vickie, Toshiko, Will, and us finding spaces for things in the kitchen and pantry. It’s mostly illogical at this point, but we emptied every box and Vickie relentlessly cleared off the bench space. From here we can start to figure out where things really need to go.
