Today, we reserved a U-Haul trailer so that we can take our stuff home. It's a little 4' x 8'. We don't have a lot of stuff, but it's more than can be held in an Aerostar. The stuff we have is too bulky for the van, but probably not big enough to fill the trailer. If possible, we'll take out a seat from the van and throw it in the trailer so that we have plenty of room in the van.
Other preparations we are making include informing the apartment manager of our intent to leave, getting our utilities and cable scheduled for disconnection, closing our mailbox, looking for boxes, and the usual stuff when you move. Most of the stuff we have, we bought under the assumption that we would discard it.
There are also preparations back home. My wife has already been in contact with Human Resources to get things underway to return to work. My son is already schmoozing over the phone for his return to his grandparents. In my case, who knows what awaits me back in the RGV. When I left, my prospects weren't so hot, to the point I fell into a minor depression over it.
Other families working at UMOS are also making preparations to go back home. Some of our co-workers are local, so they are preparing to find other work until next season. It's interesting that some of the teachers and other staff for UMOS's Migrant Head Start choose to return year after year.
By this point, many of the migrant families have made a choice to stay in Wisconsin until December. The season has not been so hot for many, so they will tough it out until right before Christmas. There is a company around here that makes Christmas wreaths and other holiday decorations. It's a similar type of monotonous, long-hour labor as working at the green bean plant. Some families with two workers and who have been frugal will be leaving for home. Others, will be going home with small coffers. Whether to stay or go is such a personal decision for everybody. There are so many things that influence such a decision. Such factors include: how much money a family has saved, whether or not they have children and if paying for childcare will be necessary, if there are job prospects back home, whether other family will stay, and so many other things.
In our case, we are heading home because the Rio Grande Valley is just that, home. Our friends and family are at home. Even though we are way out in the woods up here in Wisconsin, we still have friends from back home. They will be leaving too. So, what's left for us here until next season? In summary, we are wrapping up our stay in Rice Lake, WI. This week and next, we'll be counting the days until our departure.
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