I have unreasonable amounts of gratitude for the good people we know here.
We moved most of our stuff into storage today with the help of eight gracious friends. These are not all bosom buddy friends — some of them are people we don’t even know all that well — but when we asked for help, they offered, and I am extremely thankful for it. And the thing is, there were more people who would have helped if we’d needed more for some reason. These are good people.
The apartment is almost empty of furniture now, although there’s still a considerable amount of stuff left. We’ll be living here for another few days, so the kitchen is still ready for anything, and there’s a desk for me to work at, and drums of course. But one room is entirely empty, and started the day entirely full of boxes and furniture, and the rest of the rooms don’t contain much. It’s really boomy and ringy in this place now.
We’ll be in flux for a while, but it makes me feel very, very good to know that there’s help when we need it.
And, of course, should anyone we know move themselves and ask for help, we’ll be there to sweat and carry.
Last night we experienced the loudest thunderstorm I can remember. It scared the bejesus out of the dog, woke me twice, and generally was awesome, in the real meaning of the word. The rains were steady; we went through the whole summer without much rain, so it’s nice to start catching up. There was more rain today, and more is coming in the next several days. I hope it holds off long enough on Sunday for us to get stuff into and out of the truck.
Moreover, I hope Rita backs off more. I read it’s down to a category 4, and I hope it loses even more power before it touches land.
That is my commentary on the weather. You may now resume watching the grass grow.
The weather is starting to get colder again. I say this, of course, realizing that it’s still summer, and we could have another ninety degree day like we did earlier this week. Today it feels like autumn, and that makes me happy despite the gloom.
I’m freakishly busy lately, between two bands and a whole lot of web design work, and with us moving at the end of the month. We’re hoping that we won’t be far from Chicago for long; even in the interim arrangement we have worked out with a friend, we’re only in Evanston. It will be nice to get somewhat settled again, and hopefully before spring.
I’ve been thinking it’s time I started working on writing music. It’s a thought I’ve had repeatedly, but since I’ve been tinkering with music production for practically two years now, I feel like I’m at the point where if I don’t get some stuff started and finished, I’ll go crazy. The fact that it’s autumn, a time for change and possibly renewal (the way spring is usually referred to), probably feeds this feeling.
I just finished reading Roy Blount Jr’s book on New Orleans. I enjoyed it greatly, lots of good storytelling, and it helps make the disaster feel less distant, which is a good thing. I just hope everyone who wants to go back home will be able to do that. My grandparents are helping refugees in Tennessee right now. There’s certainly a part of me that wants to volunteer for the Red Cross, but now just isn’t the time. Part of me says, “if not now, when?”, but I think the answer to that is probably “later, when I don’t have responsibilities that can’t be left for a month”. I’d like to structure my life so I can do that. The things that I do are beneficial to people on a small scale, I think, but I would like to do something bigger. I’m not ready for it yet, but I think I will be.
I miss our friends who have moved recently (B, K, J, and C) and am not looking forward to those who are moving soon (L and T), but I am looking forward to seeing a couple other friends tonight, and taking a short trip with Lisa to see some midwestern autumn color.