Marko's move to New Hampshire

Me: "So how's the move going?"

Marko: "We just closed on the house about 15 minutes ago, and..."

Me: "Congratulations!"

Marko: "Yah, thanks. I've got the keys in my pocket. Now we have to bed down for the night before finishing the last 90 miles, because of the ice storm. I'm en route right now to the the motel..."

Me: "You're driving right now? I'd better hang up and let you concentrate on the road, shouldn't I?"

Marko: "Oh yah, sure, but it's all coming back to me, now, how to drive in snow and ice. No sudden steering, no sudden braking, and..."

Me: "And keep a following distance sufficient to land a small Cessna."

Marko: "Right. You know what's fun? Suddenly yell 'Oh my Gawd!' and hang up the phone."

Me: "And that's mean. Besides, anyone who knows you knows that those wouldn't be your last words."

Marko: "Heh."

Me: "But you've got another day to get there before you unload and finish moving."

Marko: "Yep. Then I can finally sleep. I've had about 4 hours since we started."

Me: "Okay, now you're scaring me: driving on icy roads while talking on the cell phone, with almost no sleep..."

Marko: "Oh, it's fine, as long as I make it to a gaeis station; the light just came on."

Me: "Great. That's just great. You're going to either wreck out or run out of gas, now. So you're trying on a New Englander accent, now? That was pretty good."

Marko: "Yeah, I first lived up here when I came over [from Germany, where he grew up]. I'll pick it up in no time; I'm a linguistic chameleon."

Me (chuckling): "Exactly. Just like you picked up the Tennessee accent." [I hush my guffaws when I realize that Marko really does think he has a Tennessee accent. His German accent is really faint, but, he don't pre'zactly sound like he grew up with a Volunteers poster on his wall.]

- - - -

I admire Marko for many things. He possesses a razor-sharp wit. He's a superb writer, and his logical equations balance out. He's a devoted father and husband [he's moving to a house that his (beautiful) wife Robin picked out, which he's never laid eyes on, to rear the children while his wife plies her trade for the household income. Far from being a bum, he's simply recognizing their independent strengths, and not letting ego get in the way.] . He's a proud American, who grew up as a German, served his nation there, and then came here and legally naturalized as a U.S. Citizen. He has an eye for humor, and he has good friends. He has a developed knowledge of firearms and general aviation. The bastard's even better looking than I am.

I'm a little sorry to see Marko move to New England. Stupid, isn't it? The man lived 900 miles away from me, and I'm sorry that he's more than doubled that. Never met him personally, though we've talked online for years and years, and on the phone some recently.

But he'll get to build a range behind his new place, and he met the old owners today whom he said are nice, and that stuff matters when you're installing your family. "I'm just so glad to move out of suburbia," he said before we hung up.

Godspeed, buddy.


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(All photos shamelessly hotlinked from lensmaster extraordinaire Oleg Volk.)