The last box is in...

            Yes I was there and I placed the last box in it resting place.

I can’t say it is the final resting place but it is in place and resting. Speaking of resting, my amigo and I were in our resting places, me in my rocking chair and he in the green grass of our front yard. All was quite when Tejas alerted. Before you ask what “alerted” means, he raised up quickly, standing motionless staring at something. Then he quickly moved toward the object and I got out of my chair to see what he was after. Tejas stopped near our mail box and I saw a little dog that may have weighed 15 pounds running down the street at top speed with his tail tucked between his legs. 

               The funny part was, when this little dog was at a safe distance he stopped and barked at Tejas. He was acting like he was something powerful. 

               I was scheduled to help Dave and Claire on Saturday morning to load their U-Haul truck so they could move their belongings from Dallas to Hewitt.  Even though they had reserved a truck they were told the night before that there was no truck available. 

               My mom and dad moved a lot when I was a kid and I totally disliked moving. I didn’t care that we was in a different house, I did not like the work. Our moved consisted of a pickup truck lots of boxes, lifting, carrying and in general hard work.

               I received a call from Dave Friday night that there was no truck available which was disappointing.  Then Saturday morning about 10:30 I received the call that they had a truck.  I told them I would be there in a couple hours. I quickly got all my necessaries together, bottled water, one diet coke, a change of clothes, peanuts, my star bucks card (just in case) and a sweat band. 

I was almost on my way; I had to stop and get a tea at Bushes. I decided to get some chicken with my unsweetened tea, so I could have a lunch on my way to Dallas. This was the first thing that went awry; the tea was sweetL.

I needed gas so I went past the Wal-Mart gas station but the tanker was there filling their tanks. I do not by gas at a station while the tanker is filling their tanks. Why? I will tell you why; when he fills their tanks it stirs up all the water and other items that is on the bottom of their tanks. I drove to the next Wal-Mart station that is on I-35.

Finally on the road again I was eating and driving my way to Dallas. I like to have my GPS with me even though I know where I am going. I can easily see how much longer I have to drive.  I keep a small towel on the center console to keep my arm off the vinyl.  I had the GPS sitting on the towel and I had just opened a can of peanuts that was also on the towel. 

A few weeks ago I had a can of peanuts sitting in almost the same place when I had to hit the brakes hard and the can went forward causing at least half the peanuts to hit the floor.

As I was driving I was unaware that the GPS was moving off to the side of the console pulling the towel with it. Then it happened when the GPS fell into the next seat the peanuts went to the floor. This time all the peanuts were spilt on the floor. This was the second thing that went wrong.

Arriving at the storage shed I then remember I had not brought a long sleeved shirt with me. Not good as I am supposed to keep my arms out of the sun. This was the third thing that went wrong.

Dave and Claire had most of the boxes out of the shed and Dave was ready for the heavy work. The couch is a hide-a-bed and heavy. It takes two strong Ford men to carry such a couch. We managed to get it loaded and it was time for a short rest for me.

The rest of the loading went well and about 5:00 pm we were through and I was ready to head for home. I put on a dry shirt but decided not to change my blue jean shorts. 

I headed to the store for some peanuts then to McDonalds for a sandwich to go. There is a large parking lot next to the McDonalds so I parked under a tree in the shade to eat. The food, drink and air conditioning felt good. After eating I decided to change my shorts.  Have you ever changed shorts while sitting in your pickup truck in the middle of a parking lot?  It is an odd sensation but is can be done. I started for home. The rest of the trip was uneventful.

Sunday Dave and Claire brought the U-Haul to Hewitt where we unloaded it. The unloading took about two hours which is half the time it took to load. During the unloading process I found a penny on the ground which everyone knows is a sign of good luck.

Yes, I placed the last carton into the storage building.

From the always moving mind of                Don Ford

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