Now or Later?

     Runtly, the dog, and I walk the same two blocks everyday.  It is a neighborhood I have known for over fifty years.....half of a century.  As I walk past the homes, there is a memory associated with each one.  

     This two block radius now has six empty houses, that are no longer homes.  Mother always said there was nothing harder on a house than for it to sit empty.  I agree.  A houseful of children can in no way equal the wrath brought about by emptiness.  This is just a small area of town, there are many more empty houses and homes that have been on the market for months.

     This small town, like so many others across this nation, is dwindling.  I remember a time when it supported two grocery stores, a hardware store, three restaurants, a dry cleaner, a movie theater, five & dime store, three gas stations (where they actually pumped the gas for you) and thirteen hairdressers. 

     As I make this several times a day journey, it brings me to something I've been trying to make a decision about.  Downsizing.
Not just downsizing, but getting rid of everything and hitting the road.  Traveling the country in a home on wheels, taking my business and my writing on the road.  Some days it sounds and feels like a grand plan.  Other days.....not so much.

     It's difficult to walk through the house I've lived in for almost my entire life and think of leaving it.  It is equally difficult to walk through the yard, my sanctuary, that I have toiled endless hours over and to realize it will never look like this again.  That there is no one who will love this place like I do.

     I mull this thought over and then shift gears into overdrive and listen to the Voice tell me, "Oh, but what a great adventure lies before you."  I've ignored the Voice many times, but this time I think I should listen and listen well.

     The old church hymn, The Old Rugged Cross, probably says it best with the phrase, "when my trophies at last I lay down".  So, do I lay them down now, or let our kids do it later?  If you have ever had to go through your parents belongings, the answer should be obvious.