A Visit to our Things

I planned to take a break from non-family obligations this summer, to reconnect with my kids, my husband, the daily news, and life in the Western Hemisphere. But after a relaxing European vacation, and a week with Uncle Bern and old friends in Colorado, I'm feeling the urge to get back blogging. Go figure.

What sent me back into the blogosphere was a trip to the dusty self-store, where the bulk of our worldly belongings (two 20 x 20 storage units to be precise), now resides. We left our things there almost a year ago, re-planted ourselves in the middle east, and used my modest faculty furnture allowance to re-acquire family essentials, including beds, dining table, tv, sofa, rugs, lamps, toys and cheap local art. Funny thing is, we thought we were living light, acquiring only what we needed, and patted ourselves on the back for changing our lifestyle for the better. But when the end of the academic year came, the first of my three-year contract, we realized we were just kidding ourselves. As the movers packed us up to move to a better Dubai location, and they had to send for a second and then a third truck, I posted the disappointing news to facebook, where my brother quickly replied:

"Wow, now you have too much stuff in 2 countries."

So we rolled up to the self-store in a borrowed car, for a quick visit with our stuff, with the intention of extracting the following: kids books, camping gear, and photos. But now we know you cannot expect to simply show up, unlock, locate stuff, and head out again. At the sight of our things, boxed and labeled and stacked to the cieling, I was stricken speechless and sad, impressed and overwhelmed. It seems almost absurd, that we would choose this lifestyle, where you lovingly acquire books, bedspreads and art, and then pack them up for safe-keeping, only to decamp, relocate and start all over again. I can't really describe the turning-stomach feeling I had as I half-heartedly handled our boxes of stuff while our kids frolicked among their sleds, stuffed animals and outgrown carseats.

But eventually I got busy, shook off the dust, rifled through to find the target items, locked back up, and carried a trunk full of treasured objects back to our temporary digs here in Colorado. The kids are thrilled to have their old books, I've got plans to camp in the famous Oman Oasise and Billy can hold those childhood pictures near to his heart as we traipse into our second year abroad.