If you were to ask me six months ago about where I would lay my head, never in 100 years would I have said the central Oregon Coast. It was about that time that I was watching the show Port Protection and I was wondering if I could convince my wife to move to coastal Alaska. I didn’t think she would go for the isolation. My dream is more the mountain west with mountains, livestock and cowboy boots not rain gear and rubber boots anyway.

We were coming home last week and my wife said, “it is time”. I said, “what do you mean”? She said the lake house feels more like home then our current home. After sleeping three nights on an air mattress, I was ready to get back to our true home. But a lot of that is only because I have no stuff there, the house is cold and I had a lot of problems with my work computer that I suspect is related to our makeshift internet situation. I am in no hurry to move but I am getting kind of tired of living out of boxes.

As this thing drags on, it is getting more and more real. Each weekend, I spend time boxing, organizing, trashing, donating and recycling. I sold my woodworking pile of wood two weeks ago, now I have next to nothing. As I go through all of my sheet goods off cuts, each one has a story. That one was from my Grandpa’s ice table. That was from the soffit that I replaced. That was the ottoman I built in SC. There was a piece of T-111 that I took off of the house when I fixed some rotten spots prior to residing. It goes on and on but if they are too small, they get cut up and thrown away.

My son and I took my last range trip for my birthday. Not only could I not find ammo to go, but when we got back, I couldn’t find my cleaning supplies either. I have a universal kit that I keep with my hunting bag, but I ran through all of the supplies that it contained. I have a bulk bag of patches somewhere along with other parts that I want, but for the life of me, I don’t know where it is right now and I am surely not going to move all the boxes around to find it.

I guess when I started packing, it didn’t occur to me how long I might be in the situation of getting ready versus actually moving. I can’t afford to sit around and wait for certainty, I will actually be out of time. The thought does cross my mind, what if this falls through? The cabinets I gave away, the shelves I broke down, all of those things in boxes have to get put back? It is kind of overwhelming and motivating at the same time. This can’t all be for nothing.

The picture above is Friday night sunset at our closest beach, about two miles from the house. It has been a beautiful run of weeks at the beach. It is clear and cold with an arctic wind blowing. We felt sorry for the dog being cooped up all day and thought this would be a nice ending to a long week. So did a hundred other people that you can’t see behind me.

I think that there is a metaphor there. I am sunsetting my time at my current home. I couldn’t have been more fortunate to have a warm house, a shop, a nice yard and loving family that has arrived, blossomed and has now left. My memories are like the day this photo was taken, bright and sunny. Even if there is now a freezing wind blowing, this is still is a moment to be savored. If I really boil things down, I am not wishing that it stays twilight forever, it is just inevitable that the night will come. Fortunately, a new dawn will be coming tomorrow.

I will never be ready to call the lake house home, until it happens. There is always something that will need to be done here and I feel like I owe my heart that. But, it will happen and it will happen when we actually complete the move.

End Your Programming Routine: Since we were going to stay into the weekend with a clear forecast, I was going to take my takedown fishing pole. Guess what, I couldn’t find it. It must be boxed up somewhere. Yes, I should just take a regular fishing pole which I know where it is but that is illustrative. While I may not call the lake house home yet, it feels like it is time to get this show on the road.