Today we’re extremely busy—lots to do, most of it last-minute, all of it no doubt slightly frantic. When it’s all said and done, Aly and I will be “orphaned.” We’re breaking up the team once again.
The second leg of my sister-in-law’s move to Washington DC begins today, and this time Michelle will be going with her. With two vehicles to move, someone needs to drive the second one. They’ll go south to Bellingham, Washington on the ferry. There, my sister-in-law’s father will meet them and take over co-driver duty on the way east. Michelle will stay in Bellingham, with her parents, then they’ll fly her home. That means that from today until February 21, Aly and I will be on our own on the homestead.
I’m looking forward to some one-on-one time with Aly. With everything that’s been happening, and my leg of the trip, we haven’t seen a lot of each other. Now we’ll have time to talk, work, and play together. We’ll pull out the “Aly/Daddy” movies, the titles that give Michelle a headache (read: lots of explosions and/or digitally animated creatures, generally) and watch them some evenings.
It’s not an ideal time for Michelle to be gone, though. We’ll be apart on Valentine’s Day, which isn’t a real big deal, but the night before, on the 13th, I’ll be reading a piece from my short story collection, Shy Ghosts Dancing: Dark Tales from Southeast Alaska, for the Haines Arts Council’s annual Northern Lights Showcase. I really would have liked her to be here for that! But, it’s been a long time since she’s seen her folks, and Aly and I will certainly get by for a while without her. We’ll make the best of it, as always.