Paradise ponders... Scott and I made a trip down to the PODS storage facility in Salt Lake City this morning, to bring back a load of the stuff my sister Holly and her husband packed up a couple of weeks ago. The pod made the trip in good order; we saw very little damage to the stuff inside (one plastic tub collapsed, and we haven't yet inspected the stuff in it, and one piece of furniture had a corner's finished rubbed off). A couple of the things I was most concerned about made it just fine. We may discover a bit more damage when we unwrap stuff, but I'm not expecting anything serious – it all looks great.
It was really hot down there doing heavy physical work. The pod had been moved out onto the pavement for our access, and it was in the full sun on a day with a forecast for a 99°F high. By the time we were done filling Scott's trailer, we were both hot and thirsty. It's quite a bit warmer in Salt Lake City than in Paradise, and I suspect it's more humid as well. When we got back to Paradise, it felt almost cool by comparison :)
We took about 2/3 of the pod's contents this morning, and it's all going to Scott's basement for further sorting. We're headed back down to Salt Lake City to pick up the rest of the stuff next Tuesday. The next load will head to my barn for sorting and (for some things) shipment back to other people. I suspect it will be two or three weeks before we finally have completed all that work.
On our drive back to Paradise, I got a most unexpected phone call: from Danny Roger, the chaplain for Rocky Mountain Hospice, the folks who cared for mom while she was here in Utah. He was checking up on Scott and I, to make sure we were ok, and whether we needed any support from him or their associated psychologist. It's been almost two weeks since mom died, and nearly every day since then someone from the hospice has reached out to us in one way or another. It almost feels like we're disappointing them when I tell them that we're doing ok, and don't need anything in the way of assistance ... but it sure is comforting to know that if we did need some help, it would be available...
