Leaving full of HOPE

SUITCASE DIARIES
DAY 7
Tues Aug 6

Hope to Victoria via TCH to Tsawwassen ferry terminal to Swatrz Bay #17 Pat Bay Hwy, TCH into Victoria and we're home in James Bay.

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I went for a one hour snooze at 9:30 p.m. last night and work up at 7:30 this morning.With the pressure of long drives behind us I "crashed". Today is an easy day. 2 hours to the ferry from here, 90 min ferry ride and then we intend to find a place in Sidney for the night. (As you can see by the itinerary we decided to motor on.)

Brekkie today at the Kan Yon Restaurant in downtown Hope is a little slice of small town life. I can't help but over hear conversation between 3 local people, casually sitting a few seats apart from each other at the snack bar, talking about: stem cell "beef", service providers Shaw vs Telus, local festivals and accomplished children (a psychologist and a photographer amongst the bunch). Maybe they know each other; maybe they don't. It's a typical Chinese Canadian establishment that you find in many a small towns on the road providing very satisfying homey fare.

Complimentary fortune cookies accompany our bill, as he cracks open his cookie Rod says, "Let's see what is has to say to us about the rest of our trip." He's been hanging around me too long. "Listening, not imitation, is the highest form of flattery."

Grinning from ear to ear I nod my approval. "I couldn't agree with that more!"

And mine reads, "The less one has to do, the less time one finds to do it in". Providing a little nod to the relativity of time in my quest for a slower pace.

Goin' down the road I glance back in the rear view mirror at the snow capped mountains fading in the distance as we head off to the delta plains and the Tsawwassen Bay ferry to Swatrz Bay on Vancouver Island. I smile knowing that these mountains will be our playground for the next few years.

Feeling upbeat on this sun filled day I choose to skip music selections that are beginning to repeat on my i-pod as well as: Spanish instruction, most new age and instrumental selections. Tony Bennett and Elvis Costello chime in on Are You Havin' Any Fun? followed by Blue Rodeo's Til I Am Myself Again. I laugh waiting in line for the ferry as Bill Cosby spins a tale of a "typical" visit to The Dentist and am awed by the multi-talented, story teller extraordinaire, Shel Silverstein weaving tales of mischievous delight and singing his composition of Silvia's Mother. I mimic the vocal stylings of: Nat King Cole, Mel "the velvet fog" Tormé, Frank Sinatra and Kenny Rankin. I wail along with Janis, Melissa Etheridge and Amanda Marshall, sounding just like them in my mind's ear. The Canadian contingent that appears today are: The Boomers, Rufus Wainright, Prairie Oyster, Paul Langille, Ladybird Sideshow and Sarah McLaughlin.

The ferry is the most appropriate ending for our epic journey. I'm returning to the island, this time with my little family. It's been heart warming to see the U-haul in the centre of every image along the way knowing that Rod's there and he's on a long awaited adventure of his own. He says he can't take it all in yet; it feels surreal. There's been too much to do and more yet to be done. But me, I'm already home. As we sit one the deck we decide that the day is young so why not head down to our apartment and settle in with sleeping bags and padding for bedding tonight to get a jump on the movers who will arrive tomorrow afternoon.

While Rod catches some zzz's inside I walk the decks for some needed exercise, soaking in the sun, salt sea air and reacquainting myself with the islands we pass along the way. I really feel I'm returning home; the passion I feel for this part of the country stirs me.

On one of my passes a man on the foredeck points to a small school of dolphins passing through the channel. I and a few others are fortunate to witness their presence.

"I like your feathers," he says. I'm wearing the feather earrings Marisa gifted to me and of course there's the feathers in the tattoo on my arm. He opens his shirt collar to reveal a small feather pendant. I express my appreciation for the beauty of this land and tell him that, "I'm moving from southern Ontario where there is little respect for the land to this place and people that honour it."

His manner of speech, subject of conversation and perspective lend him the air of a native elder as he speaks of the need not only to respect the land but to replace criticism and judgment with prayer that our leaders may have wisdom and be supported in their work and do better by the energy we send them. He speaks of liking, not liking and indifference. How challenging, but necessary, it is to send to one and all alike, healing positive energy.

What is there to learn from this situation? Today the card - Kahuna/expert - asked me to consider this and here it is.

The call to return to our cars to prepare for departure ends our conversation and I wish him well. He says as he presses his hand to mine, "You are a healer and will bring the energy here to what you do." I had told him nothing about myself. Time will tell.

As we disembark from the ferry and head down the road to Victoria, a bald eagle flies overhead leading  the way.

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We gave away all of our plants and then found Prickly Penis left alone in the corner so we had to bring him with us.
He was a real trouper. We gave him breaks now and again to catch some rays.
Let's hope he finds Victoria to his liking.

Our little place is perfect and Paul, the super welcomes us and orients us to our new digs in James Bay. At 8 p.m. Rod and I enjoy the freshest Pacific Halibut fish and chip dinner down at the wharf only a hop, skip and jump from our new "home".

...and exhale everybody!

A-a-a-a-h-h-h-h, that's the relieving sound of a big exhaled breath.

I haven't posted since May 6th because, I've been doing my version of goin' holoholo around the sale of our home and move to Victoria. Rod and I have talked about living on Vancouver Island for years, saying that, "In 3 years we'll move out there." 

Guess what? 3 years is up.

I've returned to the island 4 times since I moved back to Burlington in '86. I was anxious that the first visit would leave me pining for Victoria and surrounds and was totally surprised to discover that in my heart I knew that Ontario was exactly where I was supposed to be. Not only supposed to be but wanted to be. I was totally content to come back after that visit and after the second one but, in 2010 things changed. I was getting stirrings. I found myself perusing the want ads for homes for sale. I wandered the streets under the guise of going for a walk but in reality I was checking out what was available. 

So, when we attended our niece's wedding in Aug last year we both knew the time was right. This was confirmed when Rod returned home to Burlington while I stayed on for another few weeks. We both came to the same conclusion, during our time apart. We need to move now while we have many years to explore the island and use it as a home base from which to venture to areas on the west coast of Canada and the U.S., Hawaii, Asia, New Zealand and Australia. 

To say I'm excited is an understatement. 

But, once the decision was made I strangely felt the need to keep it kinda hush, hush. I didn't want to jinx it (taking the holoholo casual approach). I waited til January to tell my clients we were leaving as I imagined them all bailing on me in a mad rush to find another therapist. This didn't happen. In fact I've been busier than ever as many are wanting that, "one last treatment". And, I couldn't dare write about it because that for sure would mess things up, and since that's been the A#1 thing on my mind; the thing I'd most likely blab about, I had to avoid my blog like the plague.

But now, not only has our place sold but we, just yesterday, landed our apartment, the place that will be home for the first year at least, if not longer.

A-a-a-a-h-h-h-h!

So this is what you'll see on our lawn until Sat when, having fulfilled COMFREE's request to put it up for 2 weeks, we can take it down.

Flippy's in shock and later takes to my bed for the day

On July 31st Rod and I, having closed up shop, will leave family and friends, and embark on, the subject of the iconic Canadian movie, a road trip across the country to fulfill our dreams for the future.

The day before I put the sign up waves of nausea washed over me. After we hammered it into the lawn Flippy stayed away from her usual post in front of the door as neighbourhood watch, she ate very little choosing to lay on my bed most of the day; she was in a funk. 

I told Rod, "Flippy's really bummed by the sign."

"I didn't know she could read," he replied.

I laughed, "No, that sign isn't supposed to be there. It's just not how her front yard is supposed to look." But secretly I wonder...  

And, Maya our other spayed female kitty, has taken up spraying in her spare time earning her a new nick name...Squirt. 

I don't know what they're so worried about. They're going to stay in a kittie retreat centre, be flown out in high style, met at the airport and chauffeured to their home where they'll continue to be spoiled rotten.

To say we're all a little anxious would also be an understatement.