Trampin'

My marriage vows evidently clearly stated move after move somewhere in the fine print. I missed it that day.

We were married in Butte County and resided there for a few months before our first move to Billings, MT. We were excited. It was a small U-Haul.

After the wool market ceased to exist due to open trade, the mining world called us to Gardiner, MT via U-Haul again in a snow storm. Another wonderful adventure at the gate to Yellowstone National Park. Then the mine stability began to falter.

Back to Whitewood, SD in a horse trailer where Ron worked for a stint as a Diamond Driller at Homestake Mining Co., where I also worked in payroll until Nikela was born. Again...mine reductions.

Out to Big Timber, MT to a new mine, we moved our mobile home accompanied by my brother's horse trailer. Then a transitional time in which a call from Minneapolis, MN enticed us away again for a tunnel job in a bigger U-Haul. As it neared completion, we returned to Big Timber via Dad's semi where we resided for 4 1/2 years--a record for us!

Then off to Pittsburgh compliments of Mayflower and my cousin Greg. Now San Francisco via United (the rep was here yesteday). Big truck. The next move will be smaller. Our oldest daughter will graduate in California...and maybe the next. Bittersweet.

My eighth adventure in almost eighteen years. A few things have changed through the years. Exhaustion sets in whenever the word "move" is uttered. The household has grown...significantly. Extensive research precedes every move to ensure all needs are met. Ron finds the new house. My superstitions are extensive. I don't unpack the last box(es) (though may be trying the reverse psychology of this soon...). Last, but not least, be very careful what you wish for...

In the mining world the wanderlust for a hot ore vein is called trampin'. It also refers to the volatile world of mining in which one is tramped when the mine closes. "Tramped again," my husband says. It is like the gold rush--the rush of a new adventure with high hopes and dreams. Admittedly, I have even become victim to this rush for adventure. It is the life of a miner's wife. It is a humble life filled with uncertainty...but the oh, the stories I will be able to tell when I grow old! Though I wonder where that will be...