When I got divorced, I lost custody of my dog Tiger.  With apologies to Miley, Tiger was the best dog I’ve ever owned.  He was very mild mannered and I could walk him pretty much anywhere without a leash.  When we picked him out at the kennel, he was the only dog not barking his head off at us.  He sat in the back of the cage with a “What the hell do you want? You’re not going to pick me.” look on his face.

Because of this look, we decided to take him out for a walk.  Even in a light rain, he immediately laid down on the ground and asked for us to scratch his belly.  At that moment, we knew we were going home with him.  He knew how to sell us and his plan worked to perfection.

When I was planning my cross-country drive, I made arrangements with my ex-wife to grab Tiger for an afternoon.  My plan was to take him to the same park we always went to.  It was Harbin Park, the park right near my mother’s old house.  Even after all her hard work in getting rid of that house (and cleaning it, preparing it for sale – all by herself), we would still take him there for walks.  After all, it was his park no matter where we lived.

I picked him up yesterday and of course he recognized me.  He was really happy to see me and whimpered more than usual.  As I walked him to the car, I noticed that the old boy didn’t move as well has he used to.  Twelve years and a case of arthritis had caused my once quick and nimble puppy to become an old and slow dog.  His spirit remains, but his aged body just can’t keep up with his mind anymore.

He struggled to get into my car and when we arrived at the park, he knew exactly where we were going.  He headed for the familiar clearing in the bushes where we had walked many times before.  He knew the route, but his age and the humidity slowed his pace.  Noticing his struggle, I directed him over to a shady area under a big tree.

Under that tree is where we had our final walk.  He used to rule that park and I’d get worn out chasing all over the place.  Yesterday, he was content just to sit there while I petted him and caught him up on everything going on in my life.  A few people walked by and Tiger didn’t seem interested in them at all.  He was happy just to be sitting in the shade with his ex-owner.

Just like always, Tiger was sure to roll over on to his back and ask for a belly rub.  It was the same move he pulled over eleven years ago and once again it worked.  It was tough leaving him because I knew it was probably the last time I would ever see him.

Tiger, I’m sorry to have broken up our home.  Even your current owner would admit that I did it the “right” way, which is very important to me.  I hope you know that it was the best thing for everyone involved.

Thanks for being such a great dog.

I am wicked tired, so this entry will be four very short blurbs:

1) If you aren’t on Facebook, you can see my photos from the trip here.

2) The Pro Football Hall of Fame was very cool.  I loved it because I am a football nut, but it definitely needs to be updated.

3) I was able to get inside Ohio Stadium today!  Pictures are in the link above.

4) I am in Cincinnati visiting family and friends until Thursday night.  I am going to get to see my ex-dog later today and I’m really excited about that.

Good night!

Thanks to Erwin, Jeanine and the kids for hosting me last night in New Jersey. So great to see them.

I made it to Columbus today and I couldnt be happier that I will probably never have to drive the state of Pennsylvania again. Yesterdays leg was a sobering reminder of how long this trip really is.

So far, Ive travelled about 636 miles. This is only about 20% of my journey. Miles to go before I sleep indeed….

I was also thinking about something my brother mentioned. He thought it was fitting that my high school friends Flah and Cal were the last ones to leave my going away party on Friday night. Hes 100% right in saying that.

Tonight, my friend Heep and I went to the Thurman Cafe in the German Village in Columbus. We both took down this obscene burger called The Thurmanator and it almost made Heep puke. Unfortunately, I dont know how to post a picture (or apostrophes) from this Wordpress iPhone app.

(I tweeted a picture of it. If you really want to see a picture, click on the Mikes Twitter Updates link on the right hand side of the page)

As far as driving goes, the rest of the week is pretty easy. I am spending tonight at Heeps house in Columbus and the next two nights in Cincinnati. Were headed to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton tomorrow. Im so excited to finally check it out after all these years.

After that, the most anticipated part of the trip awaits: Three nights in Paris (IL) to see my college friend Kevin (a.k.a. The Prince of Edgar County).

Im also looking forward to the days ahead and getting to see some new parts of the country.

This is the first blog entry I am typing from my iPhone. These entries from the road are probably going to be shorter than my normal entries.

The first leg of the drive went off without a hitch today. I planned a short first leg because I knew Id be exhausted from the closing and trying to see everyone before I left.

Leaving home was much easier than I thought it would be. It was almost as if I was more excited about what lies ahead than sad about what is left behind. Hopefully, this reaction will ultimately prove to be a harbinger that this was a great decision for me. Only time will tell for sure on that front.

Tomorrow, the plan is to drive across Pennsylvania and end up at my friend Heeps house in Columbus, OH.

I am already cursing Pennsylvania and the width of that state.

Later today, I start my cross-country trek to find a new place to live. The past two weeks have been amazing. They have been a whirlwind of emotion with a frantic house closing mixed in. Surprisingly, I have been more excited than sad. I cannot wait to get behind the wheel.

I started this two-week extrication from Boston with a lunch with my friend Steve. As Steve and I were parting, he said something that stopped me in my tracks. He said, “I hope you find what you are looking for.”

This has been going around and around in my head since he said it. I’ve been trying to figure out what I’m looking for by doing something like this. You dont move 3,135 miles from home during the worst economic period of your lifetime to one of the country’s most expensive cities if you aren’t looking for something. You definitely don’t do it without a job.

Maybe that passage from the Erin McCarley song I love answers the question:

Ive gotta figure it out
I need a story to tell
Wheres the feeling I long for
Ive gotta figure it out
…

Big city streets are calling me loud
The busy keeps me high
Well this quiet town is wearing me down tonight

Lastly, the only other thing that keeps running through my head are the last few sentences from a Bill Simmons column after he moved from Boston to LA.

Per usual, Simmons says it better than I ever could:

Suddenly I’m the frustrated transplant, relying on DirecTV, Internet coverage, message boards and phone calls to follow my teams. It wont be the same. I left my heart in Boston, along that stretch of Memorial Drive.

Some day, Ill go back to get it.

Hopefully, I will have found what I am looking for before I return home.

Goodbye Boston.

(for now)

Yup, I am literally homeless.

While I was driving home Tuesday night, I was at the height of my stress level for the entire moving process.  Almost on cue, the song (see #3) came on the radio about four minutes before I got home.  At that point, I knew that things were going to be ok.  It was like (insert your preferred religious diety here) was watching over me and knew just the remedy to put me in the right state of mind.  For me, God knew what I needed.  I heard “the song” again on my way into Boston last night as well.

After getting to bed at 3:30am Tuesday night, I was up at 7am to complete the cleaning process.  I finished up just a few minutes before the buyers arrived for their final walk through and I am so mad at myself for procrastinating again.  I had more than enough time to get everything done without having to cram it all at the end.  As you can imagine, my focus wasn’t all there during the closing.  My attorney had to repeat things to me several times.

One thing I didn’t forget to do: I left the new owners a bottle of wine along with two wine glasses and a corkscrew on the kitchen counter.  I also wrote them a short note welcoming them home and wishing that they enjoy the house as much as I did.  When they saw me at the closing, they gushed about how nice of a touch that was.  Their realtor remarked, “In my 15 years in this business, that is the classiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

(Little did they know that I only did it so I could have three less things to pack.)

The closing went really smoothly.  I phased out a lot of the lawyer psycho-babble and my tired mind wandered aimlessly.  I thought of all the happy days I spent there and how much I would miss the house.  My gaze kept shifting to the new buyer’s kids who were playing in the corner of the room.  My sadness in leaving that house was quickly forgotten when I started imagining all of the happy times those kids would have in my their new house.

If I haven’t mentioned it already to you: I’m having a goodbye party tonight on the roof deck of the Baseball Tavern tonight.  The roof of the Baseball Tavern narrowly beats out Tavern on the Water for my favorite place to drink a beer in the city.  The view is gorgeous and of course it overlooks Fenway Park.  If you are a regular reader of this blog, you are more than welcome to stop by.  We’ll be there from about 7pm until my brother drags me out of there and drives me to safety.

Lastly, I am dropping Miley off at the kennel at 4pm today.  I am certainly not looking forward to being apart from my puppy for who knows how long.

And so it begins…

NOTE TO SELF: The next time I move, I am NOT saving the kitchen for last. Especially when seven years of kitchen etc. has built up in the cabinets.

Here I sit at 3:20am.  In less than nine hours, I will sign this house over to some new owners.  I am writing this at 3:20am because I procrastinated and didn’t finish clearing the house until a minute ago.  In my quest to balance goodbyes and moving, I did go out tonight with my friends Jen and Emily.  They both said I was acting stressed and my mind seemed elsewhere.  I now know that the reason for this was that I had exactly five hours of work remaining at the house.  I feel much better now and I am wicked less stressed.

I have mixed emotions about leaving this house.  This house is the manifestation of my desire to “go home again.”  I think now that I have done that, I am free.  Free to go wherever I desire.  I also learned that Thomas Wolfe was wrong.

You can go home again.

Now, I embark on a journey for a new home.  As I stated in an earlier entry, over these two weeks each day I am spending some time with someone who has meaningfully impacted my life here.  The goodbyes have been easier than I thought they would be.  I thought leaving Phil on Sunday would be hard, but it wasn’t.  These days we are connected like never before and our paths will cross again before we know it.

I am overtired, so sorry to ramble.  I just wanted to jot some quick feelings down before I hit the pillow.

The next time I write here I will be no longer be a resident of Burlington.

A new chapter in my life begins….

now.

Thanks to everyone for their input regarding that last blog entry.  It really means a lot to me.  I’ve decided that it is going to be business as usual around here.  I’ll be back tomorrow with your regularly scheduled bloggery.

In other news, the closing of my house has been pushed back a few days.  I will now be closing on Wednesday, as opposed to later today.  No matter what happens on that front, after the 12:00 mass at St. Margaret’s mass on Sunday, I’m outta here.

Less than a week to go…

is password protected.

I am sorry, but something has happened to cause me to do this.  Please email/text/tweet/facebook/SoSH PM/smoke signal me for the password.  Trust me, it will be worth it.  I will pretty much give it to anyone but one person.  He knows who he is and he knows why.

After I give you the password (and I will), please do not share it with anyone.  I leave this blog open for anyone to read.  I share my most intimate thoughts on here without asking for anything in return.

Through Wordpress, I can only see how many people click on the blog each day.  Unless if you leave a comment or mention it to me, I have no idea who is reading this drivel.

This one time, I want to know who is reading.

Thanks.

truthaboutmike (at) gmail (dot) com