This time this year in 2009, I am driving from Atlanta to Ft Lauderdale. It’s been a roller coaster year for me with ups and downs, and before I knew it, I have to pack up and go again. It seems that this happens again and again not knowing when the next one will happen even if I never planned for one.
It’s the same process again. Since I have always been living in a half-packed status, packing up isn’t that big of a deal. Seeing the room get emptier and emptier by the hour as I remove the things from the room and load them onto the truck is quite a depressing process especially when I enjoyed living in Atlanta so much. There have been make good byes in my life, and this wasn’t an easy one. Plus, I caught a cold just days before the move, and had to load the truck by myself in the cold rain. How much worse could it be?
5am sharp, I was ready to go. I planned to head to Orlando first to meet up with Franklin, which was a good idea since I was feeling really bad due to the cold. However, Orlando was still 7 hours away and driving a loaded truck with a car towed wasn’t going to be that fun. This isn’t really a road trip. I just wanted to get there asap.
The drive was quite boring to say the least. It wasn’t that long before I crossed the Florida border. Since I wasn’t feeling well, I could not take advantage of the free Florida orange juice they have at the rest stops. Mom always tells me no citrus when I have a cold. Mom knows best.
Hauling my ass at 7omph!!!
Orlando is quite a weird place. It’s like the Vegas that was built on a swamp. There will be miles and miles of very nicely built roads but you don’t see anything else around you. Then BAM! There’s a huge shopping mall in the middle of no where. Every thing looked new but fake, like as if there’s something hiding in the back. Nothing’s more suspicious than a random bottle of fresh water in the middle of the desert… right?
Really strange sight. There is this animal trap just outside where Franklin's rented house was. There are some grains used as bait, but I have no clue who's trying to catch what.
So Franklin was there for vacation and his family rented out a house to stay for a week or so. Again, it was a community in the middle of no where. The only time it felt this weird was when Franklin and I drove to Providence in Rhode Island when the downtown was empty but all the shops and malls were well lit, which also reminded me of the scene in Spirited Away when the family ventured into this ghost town where there was delicious food everywhere but no one to be found anywhere.
Any ways, I planned to head to Ft Lauderdale and come back to meet Franklin after I have unloaded my stuff at the new place, so there will be plenty of time to explore Orlando.
The next morning, I left Orlando early to buy myself more daytime to unload the truck once I arrive at Ft Lauderdale. It was hot, definitely reminded me of Singapore, which is a huge contrast now because it was 2C yesterday, close to beating the record for the coldest day in South Florida. Any ways, it was me and myself. The one-man moving crew. I am surprised how efficient I’ve gotten at moving. I live a lifestyle where I am constantly conscious about what I buy, because I am always considering “what if I need to move…?” This pretty much limits me to only owning the things that I can move by myself with the exception of my small couch, which I can dismantle and still move it by myself. I look at the Uhaul truck and thought,” Man, I really should just get one of these instead of renting.” Very intriguing thought… or may be, I should just get a RV and forget about renting apartment altogether!
So it’s all over again. I walked into an empty room and begin to fill it up with boxes. Soon, this will be my room and it will look just like the old one, and the one before, and the one before the one before. I realize that no matter where I move to, as long as the layout of the room isn’t too unique, I will always end up placing my stuffs and furniture somewhat the same as the last place. May be it’s just a way humans try to create home, a sense of familiarity or a logic that is too hard to give up. I guess this is why there are Chinatowns all over the world.
Here I am at my new place. Who knows when I will be on the move again? Who cares? I will when that day comes again.
Phat cat in da house....
No comments:
Post a Comment