A Moving Story

By Mark W. Danielson

There are two times when everything you’ve stashed over your lifetime is reviewed.  First, when you are attempting to reduce the clutter when moving to another destination.  Second, when loved ones sort through your items when you’ve departed.  Currently, Lyne and I have been completing the first stage as we prepare to leave Colorado for Texas. 

Six years ago, when we combined our households, we each had volumes of collectables and kid things.  At the time, we both sorted through things, deciding what was important and what we could part with.  Even so, we still had enough to fill every storage area.  Now that we are moving, it was time to re-evaluate everything.  No doubt we still have more than we need, but we both gave up plenty to make our downsizing manageable.

Over the years, I have written numerous novels that I have never attempted to publish.  I knew some of them were in hard copy and it was nice discovering them again.  Perhaps one day I will give them a re-look to decide whether I want to publish them, but for now they will remain locked away.  Thankfully, these manuscripts were still fresh with no mice markings or chewed edges.  I also found manuscripts on a variety of storage devices including gigantic 860 floppy disks, next generation floppy disks, CDs, and flash drives.  The problem is I found so many that I’m not sure which ones were “final” versions.  Thankfully, my cataloging has improved since then.

At times my eyes welled as I came across certain personal effects.  An angel ornament of my former dog, kid photos destroyed by a water spill, old Father’s Day cards, drawings and stories from my daughters all brought vivid memories, and as good as it was to re-live this journey through the past, it’s time to move forward.

On June first, Lyne and I will be moving into a rental house where we will stay until the house we’ve been designing for the past two years is built.  We have owned land near Fort Worth for several years, so it will be nice to finally live on it.  Texas will be a fresh start for us.  We will meet new friends and stay in touch with old ones.  Even so, it won’t be easy watching our Colorado home shrink in our rear-view mirror. 

I was living in Lubbock, Texas, in the late ’70’s when Mac Davis sang, “Happiness is Lubbock Texas in my rear view mirror.”  I shared his sentiments when I left Lubbock for California, and felt the same way when I left Beeville, Texas, for California a second time.  Oddly, I never felt that when I left Arlington, Texas, for Colorado.  I’ve lived all over Texas, and my kids spent their formative years in the Fort Worth area, so for me, moving to Granbury is like coming home.  Lyne has never lived there, but is the most adaptable person I know.  Our new house is surrounded by water and backs up to a runway so when it’s completed, we will be able to drop our boat in the water in minutes, or open the hangar door and take off without having to drive anywhere.  We’ll be surrounded by horses and cattle, yet only be thirty minutes from downtown Fort Worth.  While it can be hotter than hell in the summer, the odds of shoveling snow in the winter are minimal.  Lyne has a variety of projects in work and I will be retiring in three years, so we are both looking forward to this lifestyle change.

My current Maxx Watts detective series is set in Fort Worth for good reason.  Not only does this city suit his character, Fort Worth offers plenty of inspiration.  Like Maxx, Lyne and I look forward to adventure what the area has to offer.  Hopefully, our lives will be quieter than Maxx and his partner.