It took a Wildwood

Wildwood

Moving can be many things: exciting, sad, uneventful, stressful…

Obviously, one hopes for stress-free. Sometimes though, despite meticulous planning, things go terribly awry. Recently, my best friend and Wildwood neighbour moved, and to put it mildly, it was a gong show.

The easiest part was selling the house. Multiple Wildwood friends helped pack. It was moving day when things fell apart.

Given my friend is of a certain age, and thus her friends of a vintage with precarious backs, she rented a van and hired people to load it.

Problem 1: The van wasn’t at the allocated pick-up location.

Solution 1: A Wildwood neighbour drove her to the new location.

Problems 2, 3 and 4: The hired help didn’t arrive on time, came unprepared, and didn’t allocate enough time for the job.

Solution 2 and Insult 1: They offered to return at midnight for two times the agreed upon price.

Problem 5: My friend realized, based on how they had packed, her couch would not fit inside the van.

Solution 3: Friends, family and a back lane neighbour unpacked and repacked the van, negating much of the original purpose of hiring people to load.

Problems 6 and 7 and Insult 2: The recommended van size was too small; a trailer was hired. At pick-up, she was told it couldn’t be used interprovincially. The just-purchased hitch was unreturnable. Need one? It’s appearing soon on Facebook Marketplace.

Solution 4: A neighbour offered her trailer and helped load it.

After 12 hours, van and trailer were packed. The hired help’s midnight job was cancelled. She was not reimbursed.

Everyone was exhausted. A neighbour took my dog overnight, giving me a break. My friend’s dog, however, wanted an adventure. As we sat to relax, the wily pup bolted out the door.

She was tracked running through Wildwood’s Witchy Woods, and only caught when she wore herself ragged, collapsing into a puddle of mud. Two neighbours, who my friend had never met, assisted in getting the pup home.

The day was full of neighbours helping her problem-solve an immensely problematic move.

It took a neighbourhood, it took a Wildwood, to pull off what would have otherwise been a disaster.

She left the next day with a Wildwood send off and escort to the Perimeter. A little worse for wear, but grateful for the support of her Wildwood neighbours. She’s promised to reimburse all chiropractor bills.