Setting Up & Homecoming

We've been in our new neighbourhood, James Bay, for 19 days now. Blogging hasn't been a priority due to these events...

Written at the base of the Terry Fox Statue at Mile 0 in Beacon Hill Park

Because our 17 ft van was soooo loaded we've been de-cluttering and getting rid of things. After-all, 2 businesses got packed up as well as personal stuff. And it all has to fit into a 2 bedroom apartment as we downsize from a 3 bedroom + garage with full basement all with ample storage.

Ah storage space, the great deceiver, lulled me into thinking that I possessed little. It was just tucked away and forgotten. Though we're not consumers, 27 years has given us plenty of time to accumulate. A little thing here and a little thing there, it all adds up to a sh**load of stuff.

Boxes full of stuff have gone to the Salvation Army; more is yet to follow. Some of Rod's stuff will go to good use when we donate it to Habitat for Humanity. 3 boxes of books await delivery to a second hand bookshop in hopes that they can overlook those that are earmarked, underlined and filled with notes in the margins... pretty much all of them.

I've allotted myself 1 bookcase to house my most treasured books. Though Kindle fulfills much of my desire to own material I still love the look and feel of the printed page!

Lugging this stuff all the way across country wasn't a mistake. Surprisingly, what seemed essential from my Burlington life's vantage point changed the instant we got here confirming that I actually am starting  a new phase of my life. Who knows where it will lead? I only know that I have to be a whole lot less encumbered in order for it to really take off. As things drop away I'm feeling lighter and lighter.

There will be more de-cluttering over the next few weeks: slides and photos need to be consolidated; 3 boxes of letters and cards (down from 4) carted back and forth from B.C. to Ontario over the years are waiting to be re-read, let go or kept; and the 4 boxes of Christmas decorations were too much to get into before we left.

4 boxes of mine - 2 small and 2 huge ones remained unexplored, filled with God knows what unessentials. I got into all but the biggest one today and miracle of miracles it all fits into the cabinet that Rod made me. The rule is if I don't love it, it's gone. Hmm, still loving a fair bit...we've got great storage in this place - yikes!

Exhausted little girl

Flippy and Maya arrived on the Mon the 12th thanks to the efforts to Pam and Morgie (her handsome grey and white longhaired cat) aka Special Air Freight Agent and Crew. Pam picked them up from the Cats' Castle, gave Flippy a shoulder to snuggle and Maya pats to soothe, put them up for the night and arose at some ungodly hour the next morning to chauffeur them to the airport for 6a.m. Via cel phone she gave me a play by play of the events as they unfolded. I slept on our couch in the living room so as not to disturb Rod with her early morning reports.

Upon coming home, the girls slinked around the apartment for a good while. Then Flippy disappeared for 90 minutes. I couldn't find hide nor hair of her and it was freaking me out. To calm and assure myself I kept repeating the mantra, She didn't get out, she's in here somewhere. And just like magic she walked out of a closet I'd checked umpteen times.

Later, out of the corner of my eye, I caught her squeezing herself through an opening, seemingly half of her girth in width, in the kick under the kitchen cupboards. One leg and her tail were all that I had to grab in order to haul her outta there.

It was all too much stimulation for her so I wrapped her up in a blankie, sat on the bathroom floor with her and closed the door. Feeling secure once more she was out for a few hours while I read.

Yin and Yang - Maya finds consolation with Flippy

Maya, intrepid explored that she is, seemed unscathed. But while we watched TV she crashed behind me, laying on the back of the couch for the rest of the night.

The rest of the time we were: visiting and exploring the city and some choice restaurants with Rod's sister and her hubby who were in town for a few days and staying at a nearby hotel, exploring the hood and doing all that needs doing when one changes residence from Ontario to B.C.

Once the B.C. license plates were put on my car it felt official...WE LIVE HERE!

Marathons of sorts

SUITCASE DIARIES
Day 3 Wawa to Dryden and a bit of Day 4 Dryden to Regina - both days took around 10 hours each (including stops)

Sat Day 4

Rod: "We're finally out of Ontario."
Me: "Yea!"
Rod: "How long did that take?"
Me: "About 27 years."

...no seriously we crossed from Ontario into Manitoba at 11:45 Sat morning, so it takes about 3 1/2 days to get to Manitoba from Burlington.

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The last 2 days have been cathartic thanks to the power of music.

Friday Day 3

From the moment I plugged in the i-pod and put it on shuffle the music oracle has worked her magic. Izzy Kamakawiwo'ole's sweet Hawaiian song greeted me on Friday morning, confirming that the road out of Ontario would be winding and rolling. But driving it wasn't as challenging as I expected. The most arduous "road" I've been travelling is the one within.

SINGING IN THE RAIN foretold of the cloudbursts that came and went with such force that the downpour looked white - just like the milk that was used in filming Gene Kelly's production number. Milky white raindrops gave the desired effect on the screen. And, I understand that Kelly was very much under the weather but was able to do the scene in one take. "The show must go on" mirrors KOKUA extra effort is needed this day, so my oracle cards tell me.

After a bite in a restaurant TONIGHT'S GONNA BE A GOOD NIGHT plays through the mall as I make my way to the truck helps me to trust that we will get to Dryden without incident; and we did.

Driving towards Dryden the sky becomes more expansive as the tree topped amethyst rock faces give way to scrubby, stunted trees and more rolling countryside. A dragon cloud breathes fire in the direction from where I've come. A little while later, as we step out from a restaurant across the way from the "super hero" motel a female bagpiper faces west and plays AMAZING GRACE. It is Friday night. In PORT ALBERT on the beach at Lake Huron other pipers are piping down the sun while they walk into the lake. Perhaps Flo and Jack are listening to their piper as I am now.

The sunsets on Lake Huron are spectacular and so it is this night. The sky is streaked with rose and lilac  clouds with a sliver of gold, glowing sky on the horizon. "Red sky at night sailor's delight." Does this apply to the prairies?

Peppered through the day's soundtrack were memory songs: "dancing" with my client Gail to Barry Manilow; singing along to Amanda Martinez in Spanish for my client Evelyn; my sister Candy kissing Peemee Como on the TVscreen; flying with Lucy, Kalani Jane and Karen; love songs that express how I feel about Rod...and so many more.

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Rod and I stop to pay tribute to Terry Fox at the memorial erected in his honour outside Thunder Bay where his Marathon of Hope (begun on April 12/80) ended in on Sept 1 of the same year . Every Canadian was profoundly moved by this young man, saddened by the return of his cancer and mourned his passing. He has inspired millions as you will see...



Steve Fonyo, another cancer sufferer and amputee completed his transcontinental run, the Journey for Lives, in 1985.

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More music oracle from Day 4 in tomorrow's entry...
Pee kit report - I peed by the side of the car today (Sat) in a gully with great success, thanks pee kit!