Most of my worldly goods are riding in the back of a big, orange Allied Van Lines van heading for Tropical Storm Arlene. Actually, I believe the driver is going to do whatever he can to avoid the storm–something about tractor-trailer rigs not liking driving through that stuff. My laptop and I are sitting on the floor in an empty house hoping everything arrives safely in Montgomery. After the worst packing experience in 25 years, truck loading seemed to go very well. I’ll be cleaning and scrubbing this weekend, getting this place all shipshape for whomever moves in next.

For some reason the packers seemed to think I needed to hand-carry an old Northgate keyboard (but the cables are packed), my cookie cutters, a one-gallon cooler, and two books (“Stevenson’s Poems” and William Dean Howells’ “A Hazard of New Fortune”). Have I mentioned this was the worst packing experience in 25 years? I did? OK. I’ll try not to mention it again–but it may come back to haunt you in a couple weeks when I update you on what came out at the other end of the sausage factory known as the “Permanent Change of Station” move. For the initiated, it’s known as the PCS move. Consider yourself initiated.