Things are happening fast around here.

Our home had more visitors today than it has since we moved here.

The morning started with the septic people coming to inspect and pump our septic tank. The buyers had decided to have that done at the time it was inspected. A very good sign they are serious and on the ball.

Next the home inspectors showed up. Shortly after that the buyer (just the husband) made an appearance. Then came the realtor with some papers she forgot to have my wife initial.

We all hung out for a couple hours while the home inspection was completed. It seemed to go smoothly and I don't believe there were any big issues that arose.

Vicki came home around 4 and we called the realtor so she could come back by with the papers that needed Vic's initials. We had a nice time with the realtor and I encouraged her to tell her friends about our furniture and TVs for sale.

We are hoping to move as little as possible this time. While we're not willing to give away our stuff, we are going to make some folks very good deals on things like a bedroom set, a living room set, a couple of TV's and various other things.

When Vicki is home next week we will begin to pack in earnest. Right now we're just doing the obvious and easy. Pictures that have recently come down from our walls, some tools I will no longer need and office supplies and files were the first things attacked. Later comes clothes, dishes, bedding, towels, and the multitudinous other possessions with which modern man and woman surrounds themselves.

If we have good weather this weekend we'll hold the first of two or three moving sales ( according to how much stuff sells) and send as many items down the road that way.

It is just beginning to dawn on us that our time here in Hickory is coming to an end. The house is close to perfect now, (oh, there's still the odd bit of landscaping and painting the new owners will do) so it must be time to go. With us it always works this way; when the house gets just right, then we sell.

And it is all happening at a breakneck pace. Each day sees our home become more and more impersonal. Each day it is less of our home and more of just a nice house. The subtle and pervasive shift from the feeling of pride of ownership to the wish to be gone already is starting to take place. Things I thought about doing no longer matter. They are simply not my problem. This feels mostly good. I am now able to begin to think in a completely new way. The constant thoughts of improvement and maintenance that pervaded my thinking will change to thoughts of travel, adventure, reunions with family and paying homage to my folks graves in my Dad's small town in Alabama.

I guess I'm ready for the shift in thought patterns. Who says old people aren't flexible? I know we all like our routines, but most of us are willing and able adaptors as well. Vicki and I will adapt to our new situation (homeless with a little money) and know it's better than what the eventual alternative here would have been. (Homeowners with too little money)

Events have a way of working out for the best for us. There must be a reason why we're being called back to the desert. Perhaps like Moses we're destined to 40 years there. If that's the case then it means we have at least another 15 years. That would put me at 74. Man does that sound old.

If I'm fortunate enough to last that long I hope it's in good health with my wife at my side. We have many more places to see, friends to make, wines to share and stories to write together. It looks like this is the end of one chapter and the beginning of another.

The Daily Husband