That's it. I've had it. I've done it over and over, and I don't think I can do it again. In fact, I don't want to do it again.

I just moved from 55 acres to a postage stamp. I feel like the country mouse was transformed into the city mouse in the space of several hours.

I should have been more prepared; after all, my property was on the market for two and a half years, so I had plenty of time to anticipate the changes. Mind you, I am not complaining. There are advantages and disadvantages to both lifestyles.

I loved living in the country, out in the boonies of western Orangeburg County. I could sit on my front porch and watch the sun rise and the moon and stars rise. I could commune with nature and watch the grass and cotton grow. I had rescue horses that I rehabilitated and a goat to help eat the weeds (after my neighbor's billy goat got into my pasture, I had three goats). 

I had a rooster named Spanky who was a real character and a great alarm clock. I got up at four o'clock every morning whether I wanted to or not. And, Spanky had a wife, so I collected a little largesse of eggs and treated myself to fresh scrambled eggs every few days. And, the cats kept the rodent population at a decent distance from the house.

I felt comfortable in the small towns and especially enjoyed some of the more unusual advantages, like being able to stop by Healing Springs in Blackville now and then to load up on drinking water.

It was quite an idyllic life for me.

I have moved 19 times in 25 years. Actually, my average for moves per year is getting a lot better. When I moved to my last home, it was the 18th time in less than 20 years. But I managed to stay there for more than five years, so my average is improving.

I was not in the military nor did I have an exciting job, where I got to travel and relocate to exotic places. Life just dragged me around. One reason for so many different locations is that I sometimes had to stay in a temporary location while waiting for what I thought would be a permanent home. On one relocation, the temporary spot turned into about three different temporary spots before I finally got settled.

I'm a natural born organizer, so things get sorted and set up and stashed before too long. But it's sad that so many things end up lost or broken. Often they have sentimental value so they are irreplaceable. When you try to clean out before you move, it seems like it's always in a sort of a hurry and you get rid of things that later you wish you hadn't. Or you try to take everything with you, and it's a major overload when you get where you are going. 

When folks tell me they have lived in the same place their whole life, I can't help but feel a little jealous. Okay, a lot. When you stay put, items stored in the attic don't get lost and countless hours on end are not spent packing, unpacking and organizing. And it seems just when everything gets settled, it's time for another move.

I do like my new spot and look forward to staying put.

T&D Correspondent Loretta Demko can be reached by e-mail at eeshtenem@yahoo.com. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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