Red Cedar
More apocalypse, less angst
Post #3003: A few notes on returning
Yesterday we met with the packing company for a quote, today it’s the moving company. We’ve got time, it’s true, but I prefer to get the arranging done up front so I can focus on the work of sorting and organizing.
I have the distinct feeling that we are slipping through a narrow window, one that will close as quickly as it opened – but that’s probably not the case at all. Just the sensation of impending change is upon me and I can’t unlatch the shutters to leave quickly enough.
In shifting my attention island-ward I realize how many resources – people and places – are there for us. Family all over the place, an old family friend who owns a mid-island bike shop, union compatriots, co-workers with whom I have long and strong relationships, and dear friends who will now be only a couple of hours away. Even though we are not quite going to the place of my childhood, I have the strong sense of returning – in that I am orienting towards the island of my birth, even if not making home directly on it. Though – in some ways, Gabriola Island is very much like the Saanich I grew up in – rural, agrarian, and close to the sea at all turns.
In this I’m not romanticizing so much as remembering – with our move being in June I think of the driest summers of sharp brown grasses, and the swimmable ocean at Cadboro Bay where we had our class picnic every year before school let out – and I am glad for the time of year we are making this transition (farmers markets, summer swimming, bicycle rides to the marina for late afternoon beers!). While winters won’t be quite so pretty, I’m plotting my new studio as a place to hibernate (amongst creative material and small inspirations).
And as I start to unwind my life in Vancouver, I realize that I was half-turned away from it already. Probably years ago when I told myself that eventually I would leave, as soon as work wasn’t keeping me here anymore. Some small part of me must have known it would be this year, when I choose my key words for 2016 (back in December) – proclaiming “move, mobilize, and motivate” as my theme.
So curious.
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Red Cedar 
My husband and I moved from Fort Lauderdale, FL to San Jose, CA two years ago. I was spending this time that year going through everything we owned to cut down on the amount that would need to be packed / moved across country. I feel for you! It was one of the best moves we’ve ever made 🙂