My neighbors are moving.

The neighbor across the street moved out of state last week leaving an empty house. My husband lent him a dolly to help him move his bigger things. Now the neighbor to the south of him has it for the same purpose. He moved out and his neighbors to the north did too. Three empty houses in a row. Now his neighbor to the south is moving into the house to the north! It’s been a comedy of errors watching it all happen.

Three houses in a row are being cleaned out and refilled. I watched a washer and dryer set move into the house on the south only to watch the washer/dryer set in the south house move north. There really was a purpose in this but to watch it out my window as people, much younger than me, ran up and down the street with appliances trying to beat the darkening evening sky may have been the highlight of my week. There was a purple wagon that was getting a workout as it ran back and forth, or maybe it was the person dragging it that was getting the workout.

Now the neighbors to the south are occupying the house to the north as they run up and down the street with wagons, trailers, and dollies. And they are working like dogs! Just watching them is exhausting. It’s a long weekend and I think they are planning to get it all finished before having to go back to work next week. When it is all done and over with the only house left empty will be the one in the middle—until someone else comes along to fill it. Did you get all that?

So, in keeping with all the work, I am cleaning out years of paperwork from my middle bedroom and finding a shredder. It is past time and I’m not quitting until all that old paperwork is gone. Then I hope to get a grandchild to climb in my attic and hand me down some more. Keeping old papers is crazy. It happened so quickly I didn’t realize what a mess it was. Quickly. After all it was only 29 years.

But the neighbors are encouraging me to move out with the old and in with the new. In my case, just out with the old. Cleanliness is next to Godliness. Right?

What are you reading, writing, moving, or creating this week?