Granny Mountain

It's really beginning to look fallish here on Granny Mountain. When I drove into town on Friday, the first colors of the season were showing. It's probably not going to be a very colorful autumn since we had such high temps and no rain. We are finally getting down into the 40's at night now with days in the 70's and 80's, perfect. fall. weather.

I can't imagine living anywhere else, a dangerous mindset if you work for a company that has transferred us many times. A few more years before retirement so it's always in the back of my mind. We have moved often; from the Midwest, to the Gulf coast, to the West coast, to the East coast and then back to the Midwest.

Most of our transfers went well, one did not. A transfer one cold January to North Carolina started off like all the others; Hubby goes on to the new location, list house, go for house buying trip, sell house. The night before the movers came we had an ice storm. They almost cancelled, but they didn't and it was a hard day for everyone getting everything, including a vehicle into the moving van without falling down. We flew onto NC and waited for our furniture and vehicle to arrive a few days later. I wasn't expecting the phone call we got at the motel telling me the moving van was on it's side in Knoxville, TN. The ice storm followed an Easterly course, making the roads dangerous and slippery. Everything we owned was on that van. It's a sickening feeling to realize you may lose possessions that mean so much. Not tv's or refrigerators, I'm talking about the china that my Grandmother has passed along lovingly to me...the pottery that our daughters had made in grade school...the gun cabinet that my Father-In-Law had made for us one Christmas. The van arrived in a few days. Unloading piece by piece we had broken furniture, dinged appliances and of course the vehicle was damaged even though it had been "chocked" with huge wrapped boards. As I unpacked boxes I was surprised that the things wrapped in packing paper amazingly were fine. I did another "Happy Dance" that day when I unpacked Grandma's china, not one piece broken! Insurance paid for all of the loss and like so many times in our life, the things that were the MOST important were just fine.

Possessions are just things. Things can be replaced.
Family is the true wealth, family and good health.
Everything else is just a bonus!