8/7/12 - Moving Day and Metaphors (and a poem)



Last Sunday, the church had a brat fry after church.  What a great way to say good-bye to our Wisconsin friends.  It doesn't get any more Wisconsin that a brat fry unless it is anything having to do with beer. 

At least that's Wisconsin's reputation.

Actually, Wisconsin is full of beauty.  It's a different beauty than the west coast.  There are no mountains, no ocean and few stately evergreens.  Twelve years of camping in the forests and lakeshore has taught us to appreciate the gifts of this corner of the Midwest. 

          winter         
          mounds of pristine snow
          sparkling on hills and fields
          blink stars from my eyes

          summer
          the beauty of a thousand greens
          brilliant in clear sunshine
          my heart grows a size bigger

          autumn
          trees turn into rainbows
          wearing red dresses
          yellow and brown cloaks
          eyes brim with wonder

          spring
          first crocus and daffodils
          poke up through snow
          we learned to love
          Wisconsin's beauty



United Van Lines moving van

Now we're leaving.  The movers are here, emptying our apartment of boxes, furniture and odd bits and pieces.  We sign a myriad of forms and watch our belongings march out the door on the feet of strangers.  It is a strange feeling.

I have been thinking about all that we are letting go of.  Our hands have been heaped with blessings, beauty and friendship.  We've been saying good-bye and the words are harder and harder to say.  All that we have gained here feels like it is running through our fingers like hot sand on a sunny beach.

At least we won't have to walk!

But we have to let go of all that so that we can turn our faces west.  Our ancestors did it, mostly by covered wagon or steam trains.  They left loved ones behind, not expecting to ever see them again.  What they wouldn't have given for email and FaceBook! 

What we are doing is much easier.  Many of you who are our Wisconsin friends are joining us for this odyssey via blog.  Glad to have you along for the ride!  All regular readers are hereby excused from camp chores for the duration.

So letting go is hard.  You have to let go of what you are holding tight so that you can open your hands to something new.  As I watch our furniture go out the door, I wonder what we'll have to let go of if anything gets lost in transit!  Takes a lot of faith to hand all your worldly goods to a moving company, no matter how good their reputation.

Letting go of the old and accepting the new.  We do it every day of our lives.  From the time we are infants, the process begins.  We let go of dependence so that we can accept the mobility that comes from walking.  We let go of the safety of home so that we can accept the wide world of learning at school.   We let go of the end of a good dinner to watch the Packers/Seahawks/team of your choice on TV. 

Letting go the old, bringing in the new.  That's my current metaphor for life.  What's yours?