Stuff Has Arrived!

The moving van arrived at my house about 1:15 on Saturday.  Rain was in the forecast, but happily it held off until Dave, Jon and I got the two palates unpacked.  I had tried to arrange for some help with the unloading, but the guys didn't show.  Dave did much of the heaviest lifting, and he clearly has had more experience in that department than either Jon or I.

The packing done in 1981 was remarkable.  My belongings were placed into these large boxes like pieces in a puzzle.  For example, if a piece of furniture created a void, it was filled with a cardboard box of appropriate size.  Unpacking meant disassembling that puzzle in reverse order.

Dave starts unpacking palate no. 1...

...and later starts unloading palate no. 2.

Some items went to the basement, but I decided to put the books and my grandfather's material in the ground floor bedroom.  This room will again serve as Sift-and-Sort Central.  I was quickly reminded that books and papers kept for 30 years in unheated storage take on a strong musty odor.  As I go through the boxes I'll have to deal with this problem, probably through liberal use of dryer sheets.

Boxes are again the decorative motif in the bedroom.

One "old friend" I was glad to see again was my pie safe — a 19th century cabinet for keeping pies and other foods out of reach of flies.  This is a country antique my mother found in Ohio in the 1960s.  It has the original pierced tin panels in its doors which facilitate air circulation.  I intended to use it for dinnerware storage.  However, time has proved the pie safe's enemy: it's literally coming apart at the seams.  The glue has dried and the constituent parts on one side are separating.  In addition, a couple legs seem weak.  To make it serviceable I may have to disassemble the whole piece and re-glue it.  Jon reminded me that I have a large, warm basement suitable for such projects.  This winter I may have to try my hand at cabinetmaking!

The pie safe is in the dining area, but not yet usable.

Assessing my grandfather's material will prove a complicated task.  Much of this consists of jumbled papers, photos, maps, etc., all largely untouched since he died in 1925.  I'll have to go through it item-by-item, probably starting with an inventory.  I'll be at this for months!

This varnished cardboard box seems to have traveled with my
grandfather across at least two continents...

...or three, if you count North America.

In just an hour and a half the truck was empty, save for remnants of the palates and packing material.  Dave had me sign the inventory, and then he took off on his return trip to Lansing.  He was very kind to help with (in fact, to do most of) the unloading.

Dave backed the truck out of my drive way without mishap!

In a way, this marks the end of an era.  After dropping off my belongings at B and J Storage in Lansing on September 1, 1981, I set off for New York City to enter seminary and begin a new chapter in my life.  The firm and I have been in relationship for three decades, and they have treated me most generously.  I hope that James (with his brother, the company's owner), Dave, and I will cross paths again. •••