“There’s a feeling I get when I look to the west and my spirit is crying for leaving”  – Led  Zepplin

The next phase of life.  The goal we’ve been working towards for all these years. It’s finally here.  For the past two years it has felt like a mirage, always out there but just out of reach.  Tantalizingly close then disappointingly far away, exciting then frustrating.  

More than anything, it’s been waiting.  Endless, mind-numbing waiting.  Uprooting our lives, leaving two jobs, selling a house, building a new house and moving half way across the country involves working with dozens of people that, although mean well, operate under their own time constraints and there’s not anything you can do to speed that up.  Then COVID-19 decided to crash the party and the whole world went on hold. Didn’t see that one coming.  Do we even want to move during a pandemic? That wasn’t in the plans. Wasn’t in anyone’s plans, I guess.

But as they say, time marches on. You may not be ready but time doesn’t care and suddenly the reality of a thousand decisions sets in.  Why do we have so much crap? And why does it all look so crappy?  Do I really need this finance book from college? Why do I have so many t-shirts?  When was the last time I wore those shoes?  Did you call the movers?  Who is cancelling the cable?  What do we do with the cats?  What about the dogs?  Happy decisions for the most part, but overwhelming in their number, urgency and mundaneness.  

But now the time is finally here and all we have to do is get in the car, point it north and press that pedal on the right.  Onward, to a new state, a new world, a new life.  But maybe that’s too philosophical for this endeavor.   It feels more like:

“It’s a hundred and six miles to Chicago, we’ve got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it’s dark, and we’re wearing sunglasses.”  – Elwood Blues

Or to paraphrase, it’s a 1,000 miles to Colorado, we’ve got 2 dogs, 2 cats, a half full kitty shitter, it’s hot as hell and we’re wearing face masks.

“Put your hand on the wheel.  Let the golden age begin”  – Beck