Well, it's been a quiet weekend in Canby, Oregon, my hometown.

Over by Maple Park, a swarm of family and friends descended on Kim and Sabino's house to help them move to their new place out by Lone Elder. My brother, Jeff, drove truck for them, and helped coordinate logistics. Jeff's the guy people call when they want help moving. And if Jeff's not available — or people don't know him — then they call me.

Kris and I weren't able to help with Kim and Sabino's move. We were busy preparing for our own move this coming weekend, a move for which Jeff will be driving truck and coordinating logistics. (This morning he handed me a list of things that will make the move easier: blankets, a hand truck, an appliance cart, cardboard, stretch wrap, twine).

Most of our stuff has been packed now. Scores of boxes stand stacked in the living room and the library. The cats love it; they think it's a special cat playground that mom and dad have created just for them. Kris has been busy culling a decade worth of flotch. Do we really need our Christmas cards from 1996? What about this mint jelly from 1999? Why do we have three open bottles of barbecue sauce, all the same brand and flavor? The local thrift store has become a regular stop for me.

I've been packing, too, but more sporadically than Kris' constant effort. I've crammed nearly fifty boxes full of books. Despite the gentle teasing from my friends, I never really think I have too many books. Until I have fifty boxes full of them. And some of those boxes are heavy.

"Do we really want to keep the encyclopedias?" Kris asked.

"Absolutely," I said, thinking of the small fortune we paid for them in 1994, at the dawn of the internet age. "I use those a lot. Well, sometimes anyhow. Remember when we were reading the Hitler books for book group? The information I found in the encyclopedias was more reliable — and easier to find — than anything on the internet." Which is true, though I'm aware that within years (months?) the wikipedia is going to as robust as my paper reference works.

I packed the complete set of encyclopedias into two boxes. When it came time to carry the boxes to the staging area, I frowned to myself. They were, well, very heavy. As per my routine, I grabbed a marker and wrote Encyclopedias on each of the boxes in the upper-right corner. Then I wrote library in the bottom-right corner. Then, after a bit of thought, I added Heavy! Only burly men need apply.

By Sunday morning we were mostly packed, and had settled into a nervous, fidgety waiting state. We signed the loan documents on Friday afternoon, and the title transfer is scheduled to record on Tuesday. According to the sales contract, we take possession of the new house on Thursday. We're not sure what time on Thursday. We need to contact John and Mary Jo. We'd like to be in by 5 p.m. (We've got people ready to help us pull up carpet and peel wallpaper.)

I left Kris to fidget by herself, drove to Portland to watch a soccer match with Rich and Jonathan, former teammates from the Saints. Rich is a good guy, and his wife is sharp. They have a precocious two-and-a-half year daughter named Lucy who seems to love animals. When I arrived, the first thing she did was show me her stuffed turtle. And her live cat (Trixie). And her stuffed cat. And stuffed pigs.

The soccer match &mash; an early Euro 2004 showdown between England and France — was exciting. The teams played fairly even in the first half, but England was able to jump to a 1-0 lead in the 38th minute. That lead held, despite pressure from the French, until the final minute of the game. In the first minute of injury time, the French put home an equalizer off a free kick. The English announcers were obviously disheartened. Imagine how much worse they felt when, in the third minute of injury time, the English gave up a penalty kick and a second French goal. England looked sure to win the match 1-0 at the end of regulation, but instead lost 2-1.

In the evening, we picked up Denise, and then Aimee and Joel, and we headed to Mary and Duane's for book group. I chose this month's book — Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson — because it's one of my favorite science fiction novels. It may not be particularly well-written, but I like its realistic portrayal of Mars colonization, and the ideas that the author chooses to explore: environmentalism as it applies to new worlds, transnational corporations, eco-economics.

After a lively discussion, we came home to a house filled with boxes and cats. Kris spent a few minutes looking at craigslist ("Do you want these old-fashioned typewriters?") while I frittered away the while.

This has been a good house. It's filled with ten years of memories. But we're ready to move on.

On this day at foldedspace.org

2003 — Ashamed   In which I am drunk. In which I hate fags. In which my best friend wants to become a woman. In which I am ashamed.

2002 — Too Darn Hot   It's midnight but I cannot sleep. The termperature is still near eighty degrees outside. It's so hot that Kris asked me to turn on the air conditioner in the bedroom.