What is it?

I am going to double ask this question because the people who are confirmed as my friends haven't been able to give me an answer, and I'm hoping maybe the greater Google searchable virtual inter connection of everyone can help me out.

Clues:
- they are Korean
- it is the patriarch who is working on this project.
- its a dried plant of some kind, like tea leaves
- I didn't notice anything that used to be growing (outside) and is now gone - ie they grew a lot of oregano and now they are drying it.
- its one consistency; no twigs, blooms, buds, and its very fine.

What the ! is this?!

The Late Colonel John Carlyle

Last night I went to my first funeral.

It was the reenactment of the funeral of Col John Carlyle.
John Carlyle was a respected trader (of slaves and guns) and helped establish the town of Alexandria, VA.

We paid our respects to the family, and learned of the ghosts that still live at the house.



Apparently, there are energy orbs that show up in photographs of the front yard.
I took a bunch of pictures, but didn't see any light that came from something that was not a lamp.







After our tour of some haunted Alexandria spots, we went back to the house to join behind the coffin, family, militia, bagpipes and drummer to form a procession down Fairfax from the house to the cemetery. There the coffin was placed on top of the actual gravesite of John Carlyle. The paster read the same words, and the militia set off a three-musket salute.

What an incredible evening.

Act 2: On The Road

We are in the middle of day 3 on the road. Spent night 1 in AZ and night 2 in NM as planned. Have been arriving at the KOA's just at sunset. After a couple days of taking things from the car/trailer to the cabins, the system is becoming honed.

The animals seem to be doing ok in the car. They have all chosen a spot, and even after looking around every morning for another one, they end up in the same spot as the day before. Max in his crate, Molly behind the passenger seat with her head buried, and the 2 dogs on the passenger seat. The extra person is in the back with the cats.

The trip has been uneventful so far. Only two instances of a dog getting a slap from the aggressive male cat! My theory is that he feels threatened by the dogs, and so slaps them when they get too close. He does not hiss or meow, just the smackdown! Of course, the dogs yelp and cry out, probably more out of fear and surprise than pain. I've had my fair share of those slaps, so I know they are not too bad.

The other reaction worth noting is Mr Puppy. This is a 10-year-old dog. He usually whines and shakes in the car, so the vet suggested Xanax to remove the anxiety. Well, he's not anxious. Instead, he behaves like a two-year-old child.

"I want I want"; and when you say "no", you get a temper tantrum in the form of whining.
He is also running around jumping, wagging his tail so hard his whole back-end swishes, and acting like he's been at the fair all day eating ice-cream and cotton candy.

The two female animals just sleep and stay out of the way.

The humans are being entertained by podcasts, music, and an old MINI Takes the States journal; and being attentive to the needs of the zoo.

Such is the journey so far.
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Act 1 Scene 3: Last Night

Empty Apartment
















Empty Storage

One more night, and then its onto the road!

Act 1 Scene 2: Packed

So, the movers came and packed all the stuff, the loaded everything onto the truck and drove it away. I cannot believe the efficiency. Two people packed up all my stuff and took it away in about 8 hours.

Then a man came and loaded up my car :-(
That was hard.
It is good for my car not to gain all the miles, but its really hard to watch it being taken away.

Now, sleeping on camping gear on the floor, looking at emptiness, the cats are looking and sniffing...

Just gotta get through tomorrow and then can start the big drive!

Act 1 Scene 1: Packing

The cats are isolated in the bathroom while movers pack stuff.

They are on edge.

This is a dark photo, but you can still see their expressions of concern.

Act I: Preparation

At the request of a lot of people, I'm going to give you a daily blow-by-blow of my adventure across the country.

(If you see this post as Notes on my Facebook page, click through on the "view original post" link to get here for the full stories)

A friend of mine happens to be moving too, and so we decided to pool our "accommodation allowance" and get a place together. We have also timed our trip so that we can take the drive together. He has 2 dogs and I have 2 cats, so we figure that having two people will make the odds of success better.

The movers arrive to pack and load tomorrow. They are also taking my car. They were very clear that there are some things they shouldn't take - open bottles of oil, things that might explode, and things that cannot be replaced.

I am running around right now, going through everything one last time to make sure that the things I am taking are separate from everything else. To keep the animals secure during pack and load, they are going to have to spend some QT in the bathroom (I'm not looking forward to this, nor will they, but they don't know about it yet! mwah ha ha ha... the alternative is crates, think they would choice the bathroom too with those options?). After the movers leave, there will be NOTHING in this space. It will be a big empty box again. Good thing I won't have to stay very long before the drive starts.

So that you can follow along, here's the itinerary:

Sat: Williams, AZ
Sun: Tucumcari, NM
Mon: Chetocah, OK
Tues: Nashville, TN
Wed: Natural Bridge, VA

Thursday Night.... NEW HOUSE!

I hope you enjoy the ride with us.

Changes, transitions, the future

Do you know this?
I went to college in the Hudson Valley of New York. I loved it. I was very sad to leave and after a few months in my new state of Arizona, desperately wanted to go back.

Over the years in Arizona, I was jealous of people who got to leave. I had a minor opportunity to move to Washington DC at one point, but the opportunities weren't enough to motivate Greg to consider leaving too.

Well, I'm not tied to those string anymore.

A couple months ago, my boss made a joke at a meeting that I should take the lead on an opportunity in DC. At the time I said no - I'm not impulsive.
After some time went by, I started thinking, "why not?"
After many months of meetings, travels, trips, discussions, negotiations...

I am moving!

After the first domino was knocked over, the others are falling in line...
Accomodations in the DC Metro area have been obtained, movers have been secured, packing has begun, and driving dates determined.

The next couple of weeks are going to be NUTS!
I'm headed to Toronto to visit with my cousins, completing paperwork on new living arrangements, and then coordinating for the packing and moving of my personal goods across the country. The month will end with a direct journey mostly on I-40 to start living in my new home in Virginia on October 1.

How exciting is that?