Chapter 4

I awakened early. After a bowl of cereal and cold milk, which would soon be non-existent, I drove one of the box trucks to the new house. The early morning air was cool and I felt a sense of wonder watching the sunrise as I drove south on Highway 27.

To get anywhere around Central Florida, I had to pass the exits for Disney World, Sea World and Universal Studios. Anytime I passed those places, I expected a long traffic tie up. How grateful I would have been to have seen traffic on this day.

At the new house, I imagined seeing someone standing outside wondering where the trucks and gear came from. But I was still alone. The house seemed forlorn or lonely or something as I unpacked the truck and trailer.

It was my hope that I could be content here. With that in mind, I set things up the most convenient way.

Of the five bedrooms, I decided to use two of them for storage. The closest one to the kitchen became the water and bottled juice room, along with powdered milk and other dried additives. I erected some portable shelving that I had liberated and stocked the new shelves with all the non-perishables I could fit, moving the rest into the garage.

The second bedroom became the storage room for surplus clothing, bedding, linens and household items that would need replaced fairly often. I had picked up some can openers, plastic dishes, tableware and the like stored and it in that room.

The third bedroom became a place to keep my DVD, music and computer goods. That left two bedrooms as bedrooms, hoping someone might sleep there someday, soon. In each room I left the bed and dresser but removed most everything else to make space for storage.