Musings & Thoughts for Thursday, November 9, 2023, or: Movin’ Out: The Saga Continues….

Late Morning, Thursday, November 9, 2023, Lithia, Florida

Hi, there, folks.

Well, here we are, on the second Thursday of November 2023 and the next-to-last day of the regular workweek. As I begin this, the 1,136^th post in A Certain Point of View, Too, it is a mild – for Florida – late autumn day. The current temperature outside is 78°F/25°C under sunny skies. Today’s forecast for my corner of the Tampa Bay area calls for mostly sunny skies and a high of 86°F/30°C.

In sharp contrast, my future hometown of Madison, New Hampshire is – literally – freezing. The current temperature there is 32°F/0°C with light snow falling. The forecast for the rest of the day calls for rain and snow, with a high of 36°F/2°C.

Ah, well. At least there aren’t any Wampa Ice Creatures in the Live Free or Die state….

Movin’ Out: The Saga Continues

I hate moving.

I haven’t moved many times since I was nine and we moved back to Miami after nearly six years of living near Mom’s family in Bogota, Colombia. As far as I can remember, not including the temporary stint as guests of the Valbuena family in the neighborhood of Village Green in the spring of 1972, here is a complete list of my moves (with Mom and without):

• Summer of 1972, from a small apartment in Sweetwater, Florida to the house in Coral Estates Park that Mom bought in late July of that year
• Summer of 1977, from the house in Coral Estates Park to another apartment in the same complex in Sweetwater (El Portal Apartments), which was temporarily our “home” while the house Mom bought in the summer of 1977 (at my grandmother’s insistence) was being built
• February of 1978, when the townhouse in East Wind Lake Village was completed and Mom signed all of the paperwork (mortgage contract, ownership contract, etc.)
• April-November 2016, when I moved – in several phases – from Miami to Lithia

If I’d had my way in 1977 – my first anno horriblis – and Mom had never sold the house in Coral Estates Park, there’s a slim chance that I might have been able to stay there.  Of all my post-1972 homes, the 1001 SW 102nd Avenue house was my favorite. It wasn’t, unlike the townhouse in East Wind Lake Village, part of a homeowners’ association, and as I understand it, I might have gotten a break on property taxes due to my age – 60 – and status as a disabled person. Hell, I might have even rented out one of the three bedrooms to be able to afford living there.

But, alas, my grandmother’s influence in 1977 was far weightier than mine (I was 14 then, you know), so….

Regardless of how I feel about moving (right now I’m half-enthusiastic, half-unhappy), the packing of my things continues apace. As of this writing, all of my history books (save for two) are packed. All of my Stephen King/Tom Clancy/Star Wars books are in boxes, and there’s only one more bookshelf to empty– the one that also serves as the stand for my TV/Blu-ray combination. Most of the books there consist of Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden series, but there are also a few writing-related books that need to be packed.

We’ve also packed most of my Star Wars Blu-rays and DVDs, including the 4K UHD and limited edition steelbooks. I left one set of 4K UHD Star Wars Blu-rays in my room to watch until it is time to pack every single DVD and Blu-ray in my media towers.

I know it’s necessary, and I’m trying to see the positives in this situation – like, I’ll be able to date again, and I’ll be able to cook meals again – but I still hate moving.

On Writing & Storytelling: Action This Day

Because of the preparations for M-Day (December 12) and my turbulent mindset – one minute, I’ll be an optimist and eager to get going, and then the next minute I’ll be apprehensive and melancholic – I have given up on finishing Reunion: Coda before I leave Florida. It’s hard to sit at my desk and immerse myself in the world of my narrator/protagonist and his experiences in two periods of his life – as a high school kid in the early 1980s, and a history professor/author in the year 2000 – when I’m also thinking about the Big Move to the Ice Planet Hoth and leaving Florida behind.

This does not mean I’ll stop working on the manuscript for a month, of course. I will write – or try to write – new material for the last few chapters on regular working days and on weekends if I feel capable. But I don’t believe Reunion: Coda will be ready for publication by Christmas, which was my goal before I learned that the Madison option was the only one available in the short term.  

Yesterday I edited the simulated email in Chapter 12 that I wasn’t thrilled with. It was a relatively easy “fix,” but because of my worries about the move and all that stuff, it took me forever to be able to focus and rewrite the copy that I didn’t think was working.

As for today, I’ll know if I’ll be able to add any new email exchanges between Jim and his new love, Maddie, who is in London on a work-related gig, after my midday break. If I can do it, great. If I cannot…well, not so great.

Meg Learner

5.0 out of 5 stars Great story, well written

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 22, 2018

Verified Purchase

A lovely lyrical book and excellently written. It makes use of flashbacks, yet these are expertly woven into the story so that you always know where you are and how they contribute to the tale.This is quite a short read (I downloaded it to my Kindle and read it on my train journey) but it certainly packs a lot into the story and the idea is fresh and novel. I have not read a story like this before. It’s not my normal type of reading material, as most of my reading these days is factual or business related but I really enjoyed it and was sorry when it was finished.

The book basically makes the point that it is better to be sorry for sins of commission, rather than regret sins of omission, yet it also shows how the angst of high school and teen fears get in the way of true love. One point I would make – I would LOVE to see a sequel to this, written from Marty’s point of view. PLEASE?

Well, that’s all I have to say, aside from asking those of you who have not already bought a copy of Reunion: A Story to order one, either for yourself, or a loved one, or even to donate to your local library.  Or at least, consider it.

So, until next time, stay safe, stay healthy, and I’ll catch you on the sunny side of things.