Packed and Ready to Go... Soon.

Well. Everything is packed. Everything has been put into storage, or into the trunk and the back seat of my car. Last night I slept barely four hours, waking myself with the fear that I would somehow oversleep my alarm and miss the truck pick up. Of course, this was not the case, and I made two car loads to storage, as well as a much needed coffee run before I underwent the tortuous experience of being rented a truck by someone who was "sorry, but I've never done this before".

The truck was filled without incident, and unloaded in the same manner; my friend Kevin had to head home for a computer problem for twenty minutes, and I was left alone to organize the mess of belongings that we had thus far stuffed into my 10x15 space. As I sorted the boxes, chairs, and paintings, I had a sudden moment of clarity; What the hell am I doing??

Suddenly the past few weeks of preparation were snapped into focus, and I realized that I was going to exist for the next several months with only the things that I could carry (or, as is more accurate, the things that fit into my car). Also suddenly obvious was the realization that these things that seemed so, so, minimal also constituted a large amount of stuff. The idea of being footloose and fancy free is a terribly romantic notion that I have bought into wholeheartedly, but really? I thought that it would all fit comfortably into my trunk. Not so, as I learned this evening. Close, but not so much.

Still though, as it stands presently, my keys are limited to the car key, the key to the storage lock, and, for the next two days, a shared key to my friend Becky's apartment. Inspiring? Yes. Overwhelming? Most definitely. Regardless, even if this is only for the short term, I hope to learn and gain so, so much more than were I to stay through another grey winter. As it is tonight, the fog has crept in, you can barely see past half a block on Queen Anne hill, and I am remarkably cozy. In three days though? Seventy five degrees and beaches. In three months? Who knows, though I am open to receive it, whatever it is.

RIP Nicodemous

As some may recall from the post regarding the super rats that have chosen my backyard as their homestead, there are some large and frightening rats in residence a little too close for comfort. They are also, as has been mentioned, so large that they fear no man, and openly travel through the trees and the ramble (and sometimes along the top of the fence!) in broad daylight.

This evening, while grilling in the backyard with friends (a completely civilized affair: swordfish steaks, caprese' salad, corn, hydrangeas on the table, cloth napkins, whole nine yards, etc.) we heard a sound from the direction of the wall. We turned to see what was agreed to be The Biggest Rat That I Have Ever Seen sitting placidly at the top of the wall. He disappeared into the bushes with what could only be described as a "sauntering bound" and, just as I was turning to head into the house.... there was a great rustling in the brush, shaking the branches -- reminiscent of a riveting and horrifying New Yorker article on Tigers-- and then a piercing scream. Followed by absolute silence. From silence death springs, receding back into silence; the air as still and charged as after a lightning strike

My friend Heather took a drag from her cigarette, and, nonplussed said "Yep. A Cat. They're lethal." All I could manage was a "That was awesome; thank God!" happy to see that not only were the neighborhood police on the job, but that the Natural Order Of Things was being restored. As I sit typing, I hear rustles and squeals from the other side of the fence, and I know that I can sleep a little easier tonight knowing that the first stone has been cast in a continuation of an age old war.