SimpleBits ~ Cardboard Carnival

11:53 PM

My wife Kerry and I are moving into a new house this coming monday. Although we’re moving approximately 300 yards away, the process is no less of a disruptive stress-fest. We’ve been living in an absolute mess for the past few weeks as we box up everything and throw out stuff that we haven’t looked at since the last move. It feels good to rid yourself of old stuff. Like shedding a skin.

We’re saying goodbye to the 2nd and 3rd floors of the “Old Frye Building” (pictured right), a mid-nineteenth century gambrel that has treated us well these past two and a half years.

A recent readthrough of the house’s history revealed an interesting little tidbit. According to tax records, there was an occupant: Thomas Collins, Jr. age 19 (navy), that lived here in 1864. The next record for 1869 reads: Thomas Collins Jr. died Nov. 27, 1864. Now, I immediately got to thinking… he was in the Navy at the time of the Civil War, and died right around that same time. Whoa. It’s possible that a young boy — just 19, lived between the same walls that surround the keyboard as I type this, went off to fight the Civil War and never came back. History is incredible. We’ll certainly miss this place.

And now it’s all about new beginnings. New house, unfortunate timing of a job termination means rethinking of where to go next. I know I already talked about this not too long ago, but it’s as if the world is a completely different place then it was just two months ago. And it must be weighing heavily on my mind enough to dedicate two posts in a month to vaguely rambling on about the journey of life.

Anyhow, I’ll be offline for a bit next week, but will emerge from a flattened, cardboard box mountain soon enough. Hopefully unscathed and ready to take on the world of standards-compliant design again.

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10 Comments

David

Congratulations and good luck in your new place! Hope it goes okay.

Lalitree

Congrats, and I can relate—my house is a cardboard jungle right now too. I’m jealous that you only have to go a few hundred yards, as we are moving approximately 1200 miles. Not to take anything away from the hell that is the moving process, of course, no matter what the distance.

We’ve already taken several carloads of stuff to the Goodwill (Salvation Army-type place that benefits the disabled), and you’re right, it feels really good. However, the mess that around here is really depressing. I can’t wait to get to the unpacking stage!

Adam → www.omaal.com

I can certainly relate to the trepidation that comes with a new job search, but there’s always a bright side, right? In the business we’re in, I doubt many of us will be getting gold watches 25 years on down the road from our tride and true employer. But, at least you’re looking in a nice, strong business climate with a portfolio that any of us would give a pinky toe to have. I wouldn’t be too nervous if I were you. Good luck, and congrats on the new place!

Thomas Collins

Hi, I’m the soul of Thomas Collins. Unfortunatelly, you are right: I was wounded in the eye by an artillery shell when I was 19, during the Civil War. Please come visit my grave at Salem Cemetery. Thanks for remembering me.

Mike → phark.typepad.com/

Ohh… am I seeing things or did you do some slight design-changing on the bar to the right?

I like it.

Will → www.jackhoya.com

The history is one of the best things about Salem. I grew up in a house that’s now 170 years old, probably not too far from your new place. At one point around the turn of the century, an American impressionist named Frank Benson lived there. I still have a hardcover of his work sitting on my coffee table …

Congratulations on your new house, though, and good luck with the job search. I just began one myself and I’m hoping that Boston will be good to me.