The Great Hushpuppy Migration

Hushpuppy likes Dave Ramsey.  He recognized the need to live like no one else so that one day he can live like no one else.  Sick of paying too much in utilities he saw the opportunity to move to a house with less utility expenses and keep his kids in the school they preferred.  Expecting to have a month to move, he began slow planning the move, packing and yard sale-ing to clear out some junk.  Suddenly the demand for the house he wanted increased and he was given an option: Move it or lose it!  With 2 weeks to plan the packing began.  The house he was moving to had to be vacated by a bum, and once evicted the cleanup and restoration began.  Landlord replaced carpet, had some cleaning done, and as many improvements as could be done in 5 days while YHC and the M packed and the 2.0’s watched us sell and scrap so much stuff they thought they might be next.  The day before the move was spent cleaning up the bums remaining mess, and the morning of the move we began taking car loads over and put on the finishing touches. A Uhaul was rented and at 1pm Saturday the Minivan Centurions began to arrive and the great Hushpuppy migration began! Rudolph arrived first, loading furniture and disassembling the trampoline, soon Bandit and Goose arrived and the drum kit and dressers were loaded, and the week began to catch up with me.  As the packing commenced I realized, the time had come and passed for a coworker to arrive with a small trailer to help put a piano in storage.  No response to the phone calls, no response to the texts, and an heirloom piano that must be moved. Little did I know he was lounging on the beach for his anniversary with his wife and my piano was the last thing on his mind.  The stuffing of the truck continued, and by 2:30 there was only remaining room for the piano.  By this time Roscoe had arrived and the daunting task of rolling the piano up the ramp was not so scary. With a man on all 4 corners of the piano, it was carried up the ramp and set in place all while YHC watched with great appreciation.  The truck was shut and it was off to the warehouse to store the piano.  The M met another coworker to get the key to the warehouse and it was delivered about 3pm.  As YHC attempted to unlock the warehouse I quickly realized the key did not fit the lock.  It was the wrong key! The coworker apologized profusely on the phone and I scrambled to figure out what to do.  Whoopee arrived for the final push and 6 men stood around wondering what to do.  I gave the order to set it out on the ground outside the door and pray it was still there when the correct key arrived.  The caravan headed off to the new house and by 4pm the trailer was unloaded and bandit was dehydrated.  Most had to go, and declined the offer for pizza and tea.  But great thanks to Rudolph, FI-LO, he stayed for one more trip to gather the remaining belongings and stuff the truck one last time.

Oh, and after dropping off the Uhaul, M and I returned to the warehouse to find the piano safe and sound.  It was rolled inside and stored for the future.  The grandmother who passed it on said “I want it to go your wife, where it is sure to continue to make music for the Lord” thanks to these men, it shall.

Now a week later, I have retrieved my final belongings I forgot; winter and Christmas stuff from the Attic, basketball goal, and my old neighbor gave me a riding lawnmower as a parting gift.  A church brother helped me retrieve this with a truck and trailer.

Thank you to all those who showed up. Many I have known for a decade, people whom I have helped several times were a No-Show, but my brothers in the shield lock showed up strong and I will ever be grateful.