It has been several weeks since I have had the time or inclination to write a post for this site. We have been preoccupied with downsizing, as in selling our house and moving into a recreational vehicle. Most of the fall of 2020 was spent researching RVs, weighing the pros and cons of motorhomes vs. travel trailers and fifth wheels. Plus rounding up thirty plus years of accumulated stuff and trying to sell what we could and justify storing the rest. Of course, we were able to donate a lot of items, although much of those donations were to the landfill.
Then came the task of actually listing the house with a realtor and getting it ready to present. That turned out to be the relatively easy part, as we found it is true what they say about it being a seller’s market. Our house was on the market all of about 36 hours before we had a strong offer, and we were off. Now I am playing catch-up with all of the other tasks I normally try to get done.
So, I have decided that I had better incorporate multiple topics into my first blog post in several weeks, so here goes. Today’s first topic is, how to properly winterize an RV: take it to Arizona.
Today’s second topic is, how to lighten your load. This one is a bit more involved, and to be honest, I’m not sure we are there yet. We managed to fill two fairly large storage units with various furnishings, tools, household items and knickknacks that we couldn’t manage to get anyone to buy at our rummage sales. That probably should have told us something, but we were not thinking rationally. Consequently, our storage units are reminiscent of the last scene in the movie “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” So, we could probably describe our efforts and lightening the load as an epic fail. Not only did we end up with multiples of several items, most notable trash cans and various household cleaning agents, but we labored under the delusion that we had both the space and the towing capacity for all of it. Needless to say, we have a much better idea of how little we knew about packing for a downsized environment. I’m sure there will be many more donations to follow. Which brings me to the final topic of the day, which could be summed up as: stop and smell the roses. Merlin the cat has probably done the best job of that as he likes to sit and look out the screen door without actually going outside. He is not quite ready to venture out in this location yet, but he is content to take it easy and avoid any place there might be a dog. It has been a long and arduous process, but we got it done and can now officially call ourselves snowbirds. I’m sure many interesting adventures are ahead of us, and I will try to keep you updated as we go. So my main purpose in getting this message out is to that those of you who follow this blog on a regular basis (both of you) can be aware of what we have been up to and where we go from here. And yes, I do plan on getting back to work on my next book and hope to have that back on track soon. Stay tuned for updates.
