A Lost & A Last Posting From Our Ranch

So. We have two appointments with

Read the above line and weep. It’s all that’s left of a post I wrote and populated with pictures, and which Google Goblins swallowed without chewing. Since I haven’t posted in over a month, this might have been a just punishment for neglecting my blog and thus my readers. I hereby apologize to goblins and readers alike and promise to keep the ink stains on my fingertips wet and dripping.

During these last few weeks of frantic activities related to our move from Texas to France, any attempt to compose a coherent sentence for a post proved to be an impossible task. The sale of El Rancho Leon, now Larry’s Ranch, as the capital L carved into the Austin limestone cladding of our former ranch house has passed to its new owners, was all-absorbing and exhausting. Aside from the usual issues associated with a property sale, we also had to deal with considerable unexpected expenses, because the pressure tank at the well and the pump in the aerobic septic system decided to die on us. We had to replace both them during our last month of ownership! And speaking of dying, legal considerations, like making wills and deciding on the eventual disposal of ineludible remains had to be ticked off our lengthy to-do list, as was contacting the Consulat Général de France in Houston to resolve matters of importation of household goods and residency.

As our moving day dawned, actually a few hours earlier, just after midnight, I surveyed the choreographed chaos of what used to be our great room.

f5a71-france-move-2014-001-4851 — From assorted graphic art & Cherokee baskets …

be153-france-move-2014-003-4859 — … to Tibetan chest, Moose head puppet, Indonesian gong …

88c75-france-move-2014-004-4870 — … and Wilbur, especially Wilbur, our longtime dragon friend,
it was all stacked, layered and piled, ready for the movers.

Since we were planning an international move, for which we, alas, have to pay ourselves (gone forever those carefree days, when a company moved us as part of a relocation), we had to carefully cull both our possessions and a long list of possible shippers. Neither was easy, but there we were finally, shipping company hired and running shoes, Calvin Klein’s and our Brazilian village, all ready to go.

After a pretty restless and short night, we were ready for the movers to arrive, which they didn’t. The appointed time came and went and then some – still no sign of the mover’s truck. Eventually, we got a phone call and learned that their GPS had decided on the scenic route to the ranch, adding almost four (4!!) hours to their journey.

Once on the job though, Charles, Keith, and Russell dove into their work with a vengeance, wrapping and boxing our belongings with gusto.