Ever since surrendering the dog, I’ve been avoiding going for walks around the neighborhood. I’ve been tempted to go many times. I’d come home from work and going for a walk would feel like the natural progression of things. Finally, this past week I took walks after dinner a few different times. It felt awkward. This was the thing that the dog and I did and now it was just me. Then yesterday, two different neighbors stopped and asked where my buddy was. I hate explaining that I gave him up. I didn’t realize what a fixture the two of us had become. Twice a day, every day for two-and-a-half years. I also learned this past week that he’s been adopted. I hope he gets lots of play time, treats, tug-of-war, and car rides. He’s a good dog.
Yesterday, I loaded the storage container. Today, I’m sore. I’ll go through one more pass of the things I’ve kept with me to make sure I need them and can fit them in my car. The container gets picked up and sent to storage on Wednesday. I’ll be living like a barbarian from now on. As a small example of how I’m roughing it, I already hate using the cutlery here in the house. Every chef’s knife is serrated and makes crooked and messy cuts – it’s a minor abomination. I can’t possibly cook under these conditions.
I’m eyeing up the 8th as my last day of work and maybe the 18th for hitting the road. I hope to use the time in between to visit friends and family. This is a later departure date than I had anticipated, but that seems to be the nature of this adventure. The temperatures will be cooler and I may have to rethink some of my camping plans. I recently heard from a friend who lives out in LA. He’s thinking of visiting Nashville in September and said I could crash wherever he’s staying – so I may be adding that into the itinerary. It’s a little surreal to be this close to heading out with no plan or timeline and only a tentative final destination. I’m gonna have to get good at wingin’ it.
Somewhere in the midst of packing and envisioning plans, I’ve been trying to give some consideration to purpose. Aside from traveling around, what do I hope to accomplish? Do I need to accomplish anything? I’m hoping to ensure that I spend some of my time writing (and reading). I’ve packed a few books and I’ve thought about buying a book of poetry from a local poet at each of my stops (or at as many stops as have bookstores that stock local poets). I don’t know if I’ll be able (or have the connectivity) to keep up with the daily fifty-two, and posting may become a bit sporadic. I’ll probably focus my screen time on figuring where I’m going and staying and what I’m doing. Beyond that, I think I want to practice being observant – I mean really being present in whatever it is I’m doing. I’m also thinking I’m going to try to volunteer in a few different cities: shelters, pantries, senior centers. In my current job, I’ve been pretty removed from the front-line work, and I’m hoping some time away and some volunteer work might help me re-calibrate.
I was revising my resume the other day, and I noticed that the last three times I’ve started at a new company (and the last two times I’ve moved) have all been in the month of October. While it’s not looking like I’ll have a new gig lined up by October, I’ll definitely have moved by then. Fall seems to be my season of transition, and with the dog adopted and the storage container loaded, it (whatever this is) is starting to feel very real.