On the move is harder than we thought

Have you ever tried downsizing. Older folks generally have trouble parting with things that have been a part of their home and life for decades. Pictures of the kids returning home from their first day of kindergarten get a “we can’t part with that.”

Or a number of Terry Redlin prints that once were considered collectibles. The kids don’t want either their kindergarten photo or Redlin’s print of a quaint Victorian home framed in a brilliant wintertime sunset.

Well, the same thing is happening at the DCI office. We’re in the process of sorting through “treasures” that haven’t seen the light of day since the Carlsen’s owned the DCI.

Even Mitch and Julie Kempf pitched in by cleaning out thousands of outdated copies of the ADvantage, DCI and Steele County Times. (Kempfs use the old issues for shipping motorcycle parts around the nation and the world.) Kempf’s use the old newspapers to wrap motorcycle parts. (So, the DCI or ADvantage may end up in Great Britain, New York, California or anywhere on the planet where motorcycle parts are delivered.)

A gentleman stopped by last week to buy our shop’s kitchen refrigerator. (A willing buyer agreed to haul it off when the movers show up on February 25.)

We still have to find a place for our 12-foot conference table and 12 chairs.

Kasson-Mantorville Lions Club point man Mark Packard was in to ask for a reprieve in removing the hefty cast iron-steel paper trimmer and the Heidelberg press that will be removed and sold for scrap. (Funds from the sale of these antiques will be given to the Dodge County Food Shelf.)

Mark contacted our building’s owners Ed and Tina Butler and received permission to remove the monster old press equipment when global warming returns after the Polar Express runs its course. (Mark argued that removing this equipment when it’s 20-25 below zero is insane.) Of course he’s right and we’re hoping for a significant warm-up in March. We are hoping that Punxsutawney Phil is wrong, and we will not experience six more weeks of winter.

Yep, moving, and leaving some of the items that have been treasured by this 155- year-old newspaper isn’t much different than grandma and grandpa moving to Prairie Meadows after living in the same farm house for the past 50 years. Letting go is difficult.

No one is holding onto these frigid polar temps. (If we all look on the bright side the recent Polar Express…baseball Spring Training…both in the Grapefruit and Cactus leagues…has begun!)

Yogisms

“When you come to a fork in the road, take it…You can observe a lot by just watching…It’s like déja vu all over again…Baseball is 90% mental and the other half is physical.”

Yogi Berra

An 18-time All-Star, Berra appeared in 14 World Series as a member of the Yankees and won 10 of them.