Last Day, Last Night, Last Morning

So, I am moving. Today will be my last full day here, tonight my last full night and tomorrow morning---my last morning here.
Knowing that it will be my last is bittersweet.
I made many good friends here and I am leaving behind my 27 year old son and his dog (I think of her as also being *my* dog). My son has a job here and is planning on saving his money to move back east.
I am also leaving behind *stuff*.
Being the frugal pack rat that I am, that also hurts!
I have very limited room in the vehicle for my belongings. Clothes, tactical supplies, kitchen tools, sewing machine-- are ALL a must. BUT, I can only fit in about half my food storage.
So, today I call a friend and ask if they want my food storage. I know they'll say yes and most enthusiastically as they have kids and a good food storage of their own. If they cannot use what I leave behind, I am sure they can find someone who can!
A few people suggested I give my food storage to a food bank. I would, but I have a lot of wheat and such things that require a lot of prep and the proper tools---which, unless you already prep, you probably do not have!
My fella has food storage, so I know I won't be *wanting* when I get down to his place...or over to his place...it is 900 miles westward. I have my grain grinder and flour sifter (which I found out he has NEITHER!! Oh my goodness!), he has a good dehydrator and other kitchen tools. Not as many kitchen tools as I have, but the last few years he has lived the gypsy style life of the Army, being transferred from here to there and back again. Thankfully, that is about to change as retirement is on the horizon.

I will also have, for the first time in many years, two teenagers in the house!
As I told the fella, at least they are potty trained!
Teenagers are fun...it is a delight to see them stretching their wings and getting ready for their *solo flight*.
Big difference is, I didn't raise these two and will just be there for the end of their young adulthood.
I hope I can teach them a bit and that I can learn from them as well.
I have met them online...in future posts, if I refer to them, I will call them *Boy* and *Girl* as there is one of each. 15 and 16 respectively. Boy and Girl both seem rather intelligent and very aware of the issues that concern their father and I. Peak oil, sustainable agriculture, etc.

OH! I will be desert gardening! A new experience for me! The house I will be living in is on about an acre. The Fella has already purchased 3 goats...2 nans and a billy, for breeding and milk production. Chickens will be procured after my arrival as the Fella has never had chickens. There are (currently) 2 pups, both German Shepherds. One is a permanent resident, the other is a temporary one he is caring for until the owner can reclaim it. There is (I am told) a fig tree and a pecan tree. Some neighbors have citrus trees.
The plan is to stay there a year or two until all the retirement issues are worked out, then make the final move to the Northeast United States to be closer to some family members.
And that, dear readers, will be my VERY LAST move!

I have moved a lot in my life.
First because of being an Army brat myself., then after adulthood because of marriage, economic and educational circumstances and situations. Then divorce and remarriage and more moves. Then economics raised it's head again and it was a case of moving to where the work was.Divorce and remarriage again and that husband was afflicted with a wanderlust that kept him looking for that *greener grass*.
That last marriage ended and I returned to a place where I had friends and connections and started over again.
Then I met the Fella and things changed. I moved to where he would be able to come see me. Of course, that didn't last long until the Army decided he needed to be deployed half a world away! Since I had a job here, I stayed here and waited for his return.
Well, he is back and our future is together.
So, another move for me.
All told, I think the last time I counted it up...I have lived in---or traveled extensively through--13 countries and 30 states.
Not too shabby!
I have enjoyed it. I have seen things that other people say they only dream of seeing.
I have watched the moon rise over the Grand Tetons and heard the wolves and coyotes howl.
I have danced in an Alabama rainstorm.
I have swam in the Mississippi, the Little Big Horn, the Missouri, Lake Champlain, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. I have dove into the surf of the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans.
I have heard the crickets chirp and watched fireflies sparkle by in Kentucky.
I have seen the tulip fields in the Netherlands and been to the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Sunrises over the Rocky Mountains. Snowstorms in Germany.Summer days in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.
And much, much more.
But finally, FINALLY, I am going *home*.
*Home* is where my Fella is and where we will dream and plan together for the rest of the journey we will share.
Take care all...I will be offline for a day or two...my next post...will be from *home*.