Fri. July 24, 2020
I got up early the next morning to finalize my packing to find that Fran had been up most of the night doing the same. She headed off to her visit with Francine as planned with the confidence that we had until 13:00 to get ready for the movers.
Just before 11:00 Arthur arrived with his equipment to move the piano. He figured that he, along with his wife and daughter could manage to get it out of the house, down our front steps, and into his truck to transport it to their place down the road from us.
I figured this was unrealistic, so called up our neighbour Hans to see if he could give them a hand with the task. Fortunately, he was available and even offered to include his two teenage sons. With Arthur’s straps, ramps, and other moving apparatus, this seemed well in hand, so I turned back to the packing task.
Just after 11:00, however, the moving van and a smaller group of crew turned up. Yikes!! We weren’t ready for that–and just to make matters worse, the car buyer turned up with his buddies and papers for the transfer–two hours before our agreed time.
Back to panic mode! Packing became a matter of getting things in boxes without any curating, directing the movers in their choices, and stalling with the car buyer to give us more time for the movers.
Fortunately, Hans’ wife had also joined us and was quickly put to work as part of the packing crew and the movers were preoccupied with packing the delicate items as agreed in our contract. Rosemarie arrived to help with the cleaning left behind from our packing.
Meanwhile, the piano moving crew had decided that the best route for the piano was cross-country. Aided by a couple of Arthur’s dolly’s they struck out across the lawn and down the hill to the road. I expected they would get stuck in the soft earth and we would have a piano as a permanent fixture of our front yard. I was wrong. Struggling and adapting as they moved, the piano made the treck and was soon sitting on the edge of the road waiting to be loaded on the truck.
Even this was not to be. They decided it would be quicker and easier to roll the piano all the way to Arthur’s house rather than try it lift and unlift in using the truck. Off they went down the road with the piano teetering on the dolly’s and threatening to run away on the hills.
By about 16:00 the final vault was closed, the transaction for the purchase of the car was completed, and we were left with an empty house except for the articles destined for transport to the “welfare” outlet, recycling, or garbage. We even had a short time to get ready for the “cinq-á-sept” organized by Dianne and Chandon on our behalf.
Cinq-á-sept
Although Covid-19 meant we were not able to throw a departure party, our clever neighbours came up with a wonderful alternative. Several of them organized small events for us–6 or 7 people for lunch, supper, or other short meetings. They were delightful events and had the advantage of allowing more inclusive discussions than one can have in a larger party context. We are very thankful for these events and the supportive and thoughtful neighbours we have had over these years. It’s no wonder that we are in a state of mourning for our Ile-Bigras home!