Back East

Lao Tzu once said “Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes."  Truer words were never spoken, at least for the Lentz family!  If you've kept up with our blog, you know that we put our house on the market in early summer, and since then we've been contemplating some major life changes.  I guess you could call that a natural change. 

In late July on a whim, I applied for a job in a small town in Maine.  Spontaneous, for sure!  Weeks passed with nary a response.  No biggie - this was not our path then.  Fine.  Let's cut and stack fire wood, winterize our home, etc.  But wait...  An unexpected phone call in early September turned into a phone interview, which led to a cross country flight where I met a wonderful group of folks, the chief of whom offered me a full time position at a university in tiny coastal Machias, Maine - about as far from Colville as one can get in the continental U.S.  Lo and behold, 17 short days later the kids and I kissed Jordan goodbye and blearily headed toward the faint glow of sunrise in the eastern sky. 

 

Those frantic few weeks before our journey east are still a weary blur in my mind.  Thankfully, we had already scheduled a big yard sale at our home.  This was the first yard sale I'd ever had.  What a huge amount of work - and reward as it turned out.

We gave ourselves one day to breathe, and then the box collecting, bubble wrapping, packing, unpacking, repacking, errand running, road trip prepping and farewelling began in earnest.  Those chaotic days were a mind-numbing blur, even as I desperately tried to stop time and treasure fleeting moments of snatched conversations with so many of the lovely friends and family we were leaving behind in Colville.  In hindsight, the whirlwind of activity was a blessing - it's hard to process life, let alone loss, when operating in overdrive.

Thus, two weeks flew by and I found myself making my second cross country move in less than six years.  As before, we were lucky enough to spend a day or two with beloved family and friends on the journey.  The kids spent several hours playing in the park in Sheridan, WY, with Grandpa Frank and Gramma Bobi:
 

We had a wonderful visit with GG and the rest of Jordan's family in the suburbs of Minneapolis, MN, where the kids got lots of time to play with their favorite second cousins Mason and Xeni. I took advantage of all of the babysitters to have lunch with dear family friends, Chuck & Dorris Brooks, who traveled more than three hours to have lunch.  (Now THAT's love!)  Thane was also treated to the first of two birthday parties there.

As much as the kids enjoyed the ferry ride across Lake Michigan, I was even more thrilled to shave off a couple hundred miles on this short cut from Wisconsin to Michigan!  (Thane is waving goodbye to the west).


In Michigan, Uncle Larry and Aunt Karen treated the kids with a trip to the zoo, while I got some quiet time to visit with Uncle Randy, Aunt Karen, and Grandpa & Grandma Heydenburg.  We were lavished with love and even more gifts for the kids at a second birthday celebration for Thane.

Two travel-weary days later, we were crossing the bridge over the Piscataqua River which divides Maine and New Hampshire.  There truly is no place like home, no matter how spontaneous the journey may be!