Termites!

When my landlord who shares a duplex with me informed me that he had seen evidence of termites, I was filled with foreboding. An inspector was called who determined the extent of this invasion by these tiny antagonists. There were two kinds, Subterranean and Dry Wood termites, so everything needed to be treated. Thankfully there was no need to tent the building but, most unfortunately, everything stored in our garages would need to be moved to the center of those spaces. Now in my 10th year of occupancy, the task was daunting. More than that, I realized I was physically unable to accomplish it by myself.

Living alone has its pleasures, but having to move large, heavy objects isn’t one of them, especially when there’s a deadline. Compelled to call for help, I was acutely aware that my options were limited. It wasn’t going to be an easy or quick undertaking. I could only hope that the one person who might be able to make himself available to me would do so. Thankfully my firefighter son-in-law, who certainly did not have spare time on his hands, stepped up to the plate. Bringing my two youngest grandsons with him, we succeeded in stacking everything in the middle of the garage. In the process we filled his pickup with stuff headed for the dump and my Subaru (seats down) with things to donate to Goodwill –an unanticipated head start on sorting through belongings stored since I first moved in.

A few days afterward, termites terminated, my son-in-law arrived to re-hook up my washer and dryer. While there he rolled my four heavily laden storage shelves back against the walls. Out of time to help further, the rest was up to me. Earlier, his oldest son had offered to help me resettle the rest of my stuff into place. The following weekend I took him up on his offer. My intention was to get the heavier stuff moved and things that needed to be stored higher up, up. (At 14, he's already 5’10”.) I’d finish the rest later. He had other ideas.

We worked steadily for a couple hours. When I asked how long he could stay he replied, “until we’re done.” His intention, greater than mine, was for me to be able to get my car back into the garage. And so it came to pass. Pulling my car in we both commented about how much more space there was. “Maybe the termites were a blessing!” he added wisely.

It was true! I had been dreading tackling the garage in my ongoing downsizing process, not knowing where to start, how to start. Straightaway phase one is done! There's still a lot more to accomplish, but I know what to do. First things first are three bins of books, memories, and papers to go through, now neatly gathered in one place. As a familiar saying goes,

Many of our problems are blessings in disguise.~O. Leslie Stone