“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.”

 Albert Einstein

I’m not sure how I’m feeling these days.  I was thinking maybe the word surreal fit.  So I Googled (it’s a verb right?) the definition of surreal and got this:  having the qualities of surrealism.  Fat lot of good that did me.

Then I Googled the definition of influx, but this definition didn’t fit either:  an arrival or entry of large numbers of people or things.  So I dropped the “in” and found that flux is defined as:  the action or process of flowing or flowing out.  That was getting closer, but not quite hitting the proverbial nail on the head.

Transition was up next:  the process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another.   That came pretty damn close, so I decided I’d take a little bit of flux and a little bit of transition; put them together and label myself as living in a state of transitional flux.  It works.  We are in a state of transitional flux.  I like it.  I’m tired, but I like it.

I calculated today that in 36 years of togetherness, Abi and I have bought, lived in, remodeled and sold six homes.  Abigail’s is/was #6.  She will be the last.  That averages out to a major move every six years in our thirty-six years of togetherness.  I think that ought to do it. Never say never, but I’m saying it’s highly unlikely Abi will ever convince me to buy another home and/or another business.  It’s all been good, but I’m over it.

Selling #6 has been civil and calm and straightforward, but it has also been quite the challenge as we sold six months ago and we are just now nearing the finish line.  Everything happens for a reason, but sometimes I wish the reason would hurry up just a bit.  Did I mention I’m tired?  Selling #6 has also opened the door to probably the biggest transitional flux we’ve ever taken on.  Not to sound overly dramatic, but we are in fact completely changing our lives.  See, transitional flux.  It works. We are changing from one state to the other (literally and figuratively) and we are in the process of flowing out.

We are changing gears.  We’ve done everything we set out to do.  No brag, just fact.  And now we find ourselves at the threshold of a new and different lifestyle.  For the first time in our lives we have no definitive plan. We do not own a home, nor do we own a car(s).  We don’t even own bicycles. We own a bed, a table w/chairs and a grandfather clock; that’s the extent of our furniture holdings.  Like a big giant yellow turtle (is there such a thing?) we will carry – or drive – what we have in a big yellow 12′ truck across this vast country.  We have never before lived on the east coast.  I’m pretty sure the humidity will slay me.  We will once again be living in an apartment.  We will watch our son and daughter-in-law build their life in the their first home.  We will travel.  We will volunteer our time.  We will live simply.  And we will simply live.  I couldn’t be more excited and more eager to begin this new chapter.  It’s transitional flux.

So even though we sold our bicycles, to keep our balance we will keep moving forward… with 2 1/2 weeks of transitional flux left to go.

Fat Tire Bicycle Tour – Paris

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