We Three Kings

          Alaric and I roused ourselves, bundled up against the chill in the morning air, and got on the Green Line. Our objective: Help his coworker and wife move all of their belongings from a full-size moving truck into their new home. We rode out to the end of the D Line and were picked up by the wife, and before long we arrived at their nice, domestic little house out in a forested suburb, which made me ache to get out of the city more often. (I love it here but a little green goes a long way. Interpret that in at least five ways.) We threw ourselves into the work, efficiently hustling box after box into the garage or the house, and by lunchtime the length of my arms were quietly smarting. Before long, I was thinking of the day as a paid workout. Alaric's coworker drove us to lunch at a charming farm/market/ice cream stand down the street; we sat, chatted about the ins and outs of college today, and enjoyed amazing sandwiches and refreshing drinks (made all the better by our work-hungry state.) After we ate it was back to work, and we were soon clearing larger furniture out of the truck. The only hitch came near the end, when we pulled out a king-size mattress to find it soaked and moldering; the truck had evidently leaked, and thankfully the mattress was the only item in contact with the stagnant puddle left behind. By day's end, we were bushed and up a few $20s -- not a bad way to spend an off day.