Josh, Anne-Marie, and Aylia Colwell’s Gazette

One of the reasons we picked the house we did is its proximity to UCF. Traffic here can be a mess, and while there is a bus system, it is not as extensive or frequent as RTD in Denver, nor is it free for UCF faculty (or students). So I planned to bike to work. Yesterday and today were my first two days biking to work. Most of the ride is on a sidewalk along University Avenue, a six-lane divided road with a speed limit of 50. The sidewalk means the ride is reasonably safe, but it’s not a scenic ride by any stretch of the imagination. Still, door to door is 15-18 minutes, depending on traffic lights (which are two minutes for a red light). Yesterday, though, I rode home in the rain. It was a strange sensation being in the rain and not being cold at all. Today the rain was replaced by a constant cloud of gnats that required me to ride with my mouth shut the whole way in order to stay on my diet.

We drive from Paul’s to the airport to return the minivan, and Paul gives us a ride to the house. When we arrive we realize that we have left the garage door remote in the minivan. I try without success to reach Budget on the phone, so Paul decides to make it his mission to retrieve the remote. He leaves for the airport. Todd arrives with the truck and three helpers a little after 7:30 a.m. There is some discussion about which boxes should go in the house and which should be staged in the garage. We decide to bring master bedroom boxes into the house along with all the furniture, but to leave most of the other boxes in the garage. They finish unloading at about 1:00. We have arrived.

We start the day back at Bank of America, open again for business. It seems to me that everyone working there is under 25, but the young woman who opens our account is very helpful and efficient. There is a whirlwind of numbers and we walk out with new bank account numbers. One item checked off the to-do list. Anne-Marie drops me off at UCF. I spend the better part of the day dealing with several different paperwork emergencies, as well as some office furniture issues. I have two half-offices at the moment, but I manage to get some work done. Anne-Marie manages to get professional carpet cleaners to the house on the same day, so although we’re pretty beat at 5:00 when the daily thunderstorm rolls through, we’re feeling pretty good about what we’ve done.

Anne-Marie has placed the inflatable mattress that has been our bed since we moved out of our old house (hereafter to be known as “Daisy’s Corner”) in the family room to let the carpet in the bedroom dry. As we recline on the bed to contemplate what to do for dinner, Anne-Marie’s suspicions of a leak in the mattress are confirmed. Soon she is lying on the floor instead of a cushion of air.

The doorbell rings. It is our next door neighbor, Barbara, whom we met just this morning while walking Dusty. She has come bearing a delicious hot dinner: stuffed chicken, potatoes, and broccoli. It warms our hearts and makes our day. After dinner we call Paul and Steven and invite ourselves to spend the night. I take Anne-Marie there and come back to the house to do some work. I get Dusty and take her to Paul and Steven’s for the night and leave Mr. Darcy, apparently unperturbed, at the house.

Day Eleven (Thursday, July 12):

It is arrival day. We are impatient to get there, but again don’t get on the road until about 8:00. Anne-Marie starts out behind the wheel and makes me nervous by driving faster than I comfortable with (from a law enforcement standpoint rather than safety). But she is not the fastest on the road, and there are no problems even though we see several speed traps. We stop somewhere in the middle of north Florida on I-75 to fill the car’s tank and empty ours and swap drivers. Although it is a relatively short day of driving, it seems interminable. We skirt by Gainseville, so we don’t actually see or go through any cities until we arrive in Orlando.

When we arrive at the house, it is hot and smelly. Three bags of garbage have been fermenting in the garage and the odor has permeated the place. Two of the three toilets are broken. The pool is a lovely shade of algal green. Old pet stains on the carpet seem worse than I remembered. We turn the thermostat down to start cooling the place off, put the garbage out (we’ve apparently missed the collection by an hour or two), install our trusty inflatable mattress and start cleaning the pool. Nate, who has taken care of the place in our absence (until the previous week) comes over and reminds me how to operate everything. Our DSL modem has arrived, so I set about hooking it up. Amazingly, though we don’t have a phone to plug in, I’m able to get us on line in just a few minutes. Within an hour a thunderstorm rolls through and lightning apparently fries the modem. No more internet.

There is a flurry of phone calls associated with the billing and payment of the moving company. We go to the grocery store and get some paper bowls and some basic food items for breakfast. Next we go to Bank of America to open a local bank account. The bank is surrounded by crime scene tape when we get there and there are several police cars in the parking lot. Through the windows we see police officers interviewing bank employees. We try the nearest branch (”at 50 and Econ” we are told by a policewoman), but it has just closed.

We are invited to Dan and Judith Britt’s for dinner and are treated to a wonderful evening. They loan us a card table and folding chairs and a lamp so we have a place to sit and some light (there are no light fixtures in any of the bedrooms, though this is easily fixed). We begin compiling our shopping list of things we need for the house.

Day 10 (Wednesday July 11):

I get up early thinking it might be possible to make it to Orlando tonight.
After taking the dog for a walk we have breakfast at the hotel. Since they
provide a breakfast buffet, we eat there instead of the car like yesterday,
so we don’t get going until 8:00. Mr. Darcy is much more his normal self,
exploring the car as we drive and perching on the dashboard for a while. He
seems very interested at getting at the gas pedal which creates some work
for me while Anne-Marie drives the first stretch.

We don’t do anything in particular to pass the time, it merely passes. I think
about Daisy in her prime and try not to think too much of her sad decline.
We call friends and family on the cell phone. Anne-Marie talks to Aylia while
I drive, then repeats the conversation to me. Later I talk to Mom and repeat
it for Anne-Marie. The miles roll by.

We encounter rain and light morning rush hour traffic at Nashville. We switch
drivers at a nice rest area somewhere or other near some water. Dusty, as
usual, takes care of essential business. The cat has settled back into
hideout mode underneath a seat in the car. Atlanta and its associated traffic
loom ahead. It starts to pour just as we get to the Atlanta beltway. Traffic
is very heavy, and the drive is tense and slow. We want to get through it
before stopping for lunch. When we finally get back on I-75 south of Atlanta
we go a few miles and take an exit with a few promising restaurants.
The traffic light at the exit is not working, so we go to the closest
restaurant: Waffle House. There appears to be a Waffle House at literally
every exit along I-75. Even when there are exits every mile. The Waffle House,
like the traffic light, is without power. We need gas too, but it is also
without power due to the rainstorm. We go a couple of more exits down the
interstate and get off and again go to Waffle House. This one is open and
we go in for a sit-down lunch. Yummy! Actually, the waffle we shared was
good. My turkey sandwich tasted kind of like grease.

We pile back in the car, weary, and as soon as we get back on the interstate
realize we forgot to get gas. At the next exit the gas station is a mile
from the interstate. This is literally the furthest we’ve been from the
interstate since we got on it in Denver. By the time we are back on the road
with full tanks it is clear that we will not make it to Orlando tonight
unless we want to keep driving until 10:00 p.m. Since there is no furniture
there, the prospect of arriving in a barren house exhausted is not exactly
appealing. We stop in Valdosta and collapse. I watch South Park with closed
captioning while Anne-Marie wisely sleeps. We have about 220 miles remaining.

Day 9 (Tuesday July 10):

In the morning I take Dusty for a walk around the hotel. A friendly man
stops his pickup truck to ask if she is a poodle. We have a nice chat about
how great poodles are. When I tell him we’re on our way to Orlando I brace
for a repeat of last night’s cold splash of water, but he just says, “nice.”

We hit the road at 8:30 with our egg mcmuffins in hand. It is a guilty
pleasure. We hit our first metropolitan area since Denver at Kansas City.
Dealing with traffic is a bit of a shock. At some point along the road
we stop for gas and sandwiches at an unpleasantly loud truck stop with
major construction underway. We make reasonably good time until we reach
St. Louis where we are hit with both bad traffic and heavy rain. This slows
us down considerably, and we stop to take a break and let the rain pass.

The animals continue to be real troopers, though Dusty gets very antsy
every time the car stops. She really does not want to be left out of anything.
For dinner we make another gas-and-fast-food stop, this time for Wendy’s.
It is the classic American interstate experience: McDonald’s, Subway, Wendy’s,
and 660 miles traveled. The traffic and weather reduce our average speed for
the day to 55 miles per hour, compared with about 70 miles per hour
yesterday. We stop for the night in Clarksville Tennessee, about 40 miles
before Nashville. We have about 750 miles remaining, so it looks unlikely
we will make it tomorrow. Still, if the traffic isn’t bad and we get an
early start it is possible.

Day 8 (Monday, July 9):

We plan a lunchtime departure primarily to avoid the stress associated with
the feeling that we have to get an early start. By leaving today, we can take
four days to make the trip without any major problems. This also gives us a
chance to take care of some last-minunte errands. There is a lot of trash
still at the house, so I call a hauler to pick that up. I need to leave a
check for him at the house. Aylia comes with me to get new name tags for
Dusty and Mr. Darcy with our Orlando contact information. First we go to
Panera to check e-mail over a hot chocolate. While we’re there a bird crashes
into the window and is stunned, but recovers. Next we go to PetSmart.
While the tags are being engraved I get a call from the dermatologist:
two more mole biopsies come back abnormal. I’m glad I got a new hat, and
decide to pick up some sunscreen at Walgreen’s where Aylia has to get some
things as well. When we finish running errands and pick up lunch to take back
to Brad’s, Anne-Marie has nearly finished packing the van.

Our first departure doesn’t go very far: we have each forgotten something
so we make a U-turn after only a mile. Finally, at 12:10, we hit the road
for good. Dusty and Mr. Darcy are both much calmer than I expected them to
be. Both are also very interested in sitting in my lap. With Anne-Marie
driving I manage to get both animals comfortable on me, where they stay for
the first hour of the trip. Eventually Mr. Darcy moves into a hidden corner
of the van where he camps out. Several attempts to get Dusty comfortable in
a chair of her own or on the floor fail, and she spends most of the day
seated with me or Anne-Marie. The drive is long, straight, flat, and
uneventful. At a rest area 230 miles out, Dusty takes care of business
immediately, while Mr. Darcy wants nothing whatsoever to do with getting out
of the van.

We pass a number of road signs extolling the virtues of adoption and of
Jesus. We think about pushing on to Topeka or maybe even Kansas City, but
decide to stop in Abilene, birthplace of Dwight Eisenhower. We find a nice
and inexpensive hotel. We have covered 460 miles. Mr. Darcy immediately
seeks refuge under the bed. Dusty is delighted. I go to the attached
Mexican restaurant to get some take out for dinner. While waiting, the
proprietor asks where I’m from. “We’re moving from Boulder Colorado to
Orlando,” I explain. “Why?” he asks. I joke that I’ve heard that question a
lot and am still working on a good answer. He mentions that he lived in Denver
for four years and that he liked it a lot. I agree that it is a great place
to live. He continues that he spent some time in Orlando. “I put it on the
same level as Fresno,” he says disapprovingly. Noncommittally, I answer that
I have never been to Fresno. “Orlando is not nice,” he says, to clear up any
confusion. I raise my eyebrows. “I didn’t like it,” he continues. I decide
not to press for details.

Day 7 (Sunday, July 8 )

The morning walk just with Dusty is difficult. I drop Aylia at 10:30, after
a Panera internet breakfast, at a friend’s house where a group gathers to
watch the first four Harry Potter movies in anticipation of the fifth
one coming out this week. As an employee of the theater, Aylia anticipates
seeing the print screening after work Monday night. Anne-Marie and I meet
Eric for lunch at Bloom at the Flatiron Village and join him for some
shopping. I am interested in getting a broad-rimmed hat to supplement my
collection of baseball caps that I have been wearing since my natural
head protection took leave of me at a very young age. Biopsy results of
pre-cancerous lesions a few weeks ago are making me take Sun protection more
seriously. The Flatiron Crossing mall has a store dedicated to baseball
caps, and a few scattered berets, but nothing that offers protection from the
Sun for the next and face. Eric insists REI is the place to go. With our
house clean and our belongings en route to Florida and Aylia with friends
and no incontinent dogs at home, Anne-Marie and I have a relaxed schedule for
the first time in weeks. We go to REI where I find the perfect hat. We say
our farewells to Eric. Things start to feel empty.

The last chore before leaving is to mow the lawn at our house. I borrow
Rob’s mower (ours is in the truck). Unfortunately he and Mary our out, so I
don’t see them again. It is a quiet evening at Brad’s house. We pick Aylia
up at 9:00 that night and watch some TV episodes on DVD. Departure is planned
for lunchtime tomorrow.

Day 6 (Saturday, July 7):

Originally this was planned to be the day of our departure. Instead it is
the last day for Daisy. I get up early and as usual she is there waiting to
go for the morning walk. She makes some noises of excitement (increasingly
rare since she went deaf a couple of years ago) and feebly tries to jump.
On the walk she is slow. I let her stop anywhere she wants for as long as
she wants, but she finds little that interests her. We trudge along slowly.
Back at the house she soon settles in for a nap, and we let her sleep.

Dr. Brandenburg-Schroeder calls a bit before 11:30 to say she will get there
around noon. John shows up, wondering if we’re still in town. We visit with
him until the vet arrives. Daisy wakes up and meets the vet. She takes the
treat the vet offers her and walks around with it in her mouth for a while
before letting it fall to the floor. As we handle paperwork, Daisy settles
in at the central point of the house. This has always been her favorite
location in every house - a place where she will be aware of any comings
or goings. Dr. Brandenburg-Schroeder explains the procedure. She first gives
Daisy a painkiller in a small shot just under the skin. Daisy shows no signs
of noticing the injection, but the medicine has a calming effect on her.
Soon she settles back down for another nap.

Her death is completely painless. She does not go through any fear or stress
that she has for her usual visits to the vet. For this we are grateful. We
miss our dog.

Later, in search of distraction, Aylia and I go to see the movie
Transformers. This is an odd movie that has the style of a young adult
action movie with the content of a movie aimed at boys under ten. It is
distracting for about an hour, then becomes painful for me. But we sit it
out. We meet John for dinner and say our farewells. Back at Brad’s house,
in search of more distraction, Aylia and I watch Die Hard (we saw the fourth
installment at the theater earlier in the week). She falls asleep. A sad
day ends.

Day 5 (Friday July 6):

The packing was finished last night, and the contents of my office were
loaded on Todd’s semi. Today the activities on that front are to load
everything else in the house into the semi. There are a number of items
that cannot be loaded: candles, spray cans, soaps. We discover that
even after all of our preparations and cleaning there is a large amount of
junk at the house. We start accumulating this in a pile by the garage.

I realize that I have not had my computer backed up yet, and there may be
some paperwork that needs to be signed before I take it to Orlando. After
stopping by our house I head to LASP where I luckily find Melanie McKinney
who quickly takes care of the paperwork for the laptop. I leave the computer
with Phil to run a last backup on it before the trip. On the way home I stop
at the vet we have always used to find about vets who will make a house call
for euthanasia. They give me a card for Dr. Ann Brandenburg-Schroeder
(www.besidestillwater.net) who specializes in providing a stress-free and
peaceful euthanasia for pets. I call and make an appointment for tomorrow
at 11:30 a.m. It feels surreal. I cannot believe I am scheduling the death
of my dog.

Back at Brad’s house I try again unsuccessfully to get Daisy to eat. She drinks
a tiny amount. Aylia works all day. We go back to our house and see the house
emptied around 3:00 in the afternoon. Professional cleaners are scheduled for
the next day. There is not much else to do. There are many tears.