Northern Winter Migration

Hurray I am a Northern girl again!
About two weeks ago I was packing my things and heading back north with a short term contract. Yet another yo-yo bounce, but at least I get to enjoy a delightful "northern" winter with people who also appreciate all the joys and excitement of snow!!. (I use quotation marks because technically I am not even north of the 49th parallel but to my friends and family down south this is still northern Ontario.)

My first weekend was rather disappointing, nearly all our snow melted. (ahem climate change stinks!!!) But this week has been doing it's best to make up for it with lots of snow in the past few days. People always tell me that the only reason why winter is my favourite season is because I don't have to drive in the winter or shovel a driveway; but I would like to announce that I have shoveled my driveway twice already this week and still love winter!!! There was so much snow this morning that my vehicle had completely warmed up before I finished clearing all the snow off. (For those of you who aren't familiar with the Bumblebee that means it took awhile!!) But my winter joy is not shaken instead I am looking forward to hitting the cross country ski trails this weekend and maybe even spending some time on the outdoor rink. Gotta enjoy the weather while it lasts!!

Right now I am dancing around my basement room and giggling and listening to Taylor Swift. It is surprising how dramatic my mood change has been since I returned to The Soo. Despite a schedule change equivalent to a 4 hour time difference I am bounding out of bed around 6:30 in the morning and still feel like dancing and singing in the evenings. (Although I must admit I am a little stiff because I am not used to long days on my feet in the lab- got to get better shoes!!) Sadly my 12 week contract will go by all too fast and then who knows where I will be. For now I am going to enjoy where I am.

Be it Ever So Humble...

Recent events in my life have made me a semi-nomad. I move so much that when I say, “I am going home,” I don’t really know where I am referring to anymore. Currently I am staying with a friend and looking for a place of my own- it is really hard to find an apartment in this city with only 4 days notice. This means I have some of my stuff at my friend’s place, some stuff at my parent’s place and a lot of my stuff in the back of my car.

I consider myself to be an environmentalist and consider it important to care for the atmosphere and try to use alternative or public transportation. I also believe that it is important to cultivate a sense of place and put down roots in a home and community. That is why I find it ironic that, in the past year, the place I could most truly call my home is my gas-guzzling, 4- wheel drive, bright yellow, Ford Escape. I would consider public transportation however I grew up in a rural area where public transportation is not a viable option, and I tend to find myself living in small cities where public transportation exists, but is impractical. I used to have a more fuel efficient car however it was getting old, and it was not so good with winter driving. This one time it ran over a piece of debris on the highway and it put the car out of commission for a few weeks. I live in Northern Ontario, we get snow- lots of snow, and our roads get icy-very icy. My wallet really misses that car when I am filling up my tank, but my parents feel much better about me driving a more rugged vehicle.

So I am living out of my gas-guzzling SUV which I named “The Bumblebee.” Currently you will find my office located in the backseat next to my lawnchair and snowshoes. In the back you will find my pantry, linen cupboard and miscellaneous kitchen supplies. My cutlery drawer has been relocated to the front passenger seat because I needed some utensils for lunch the other day. I would be very happy to find a place so I can stop living out of my vehicle. I would be even happier if I could stay in that place for more than 6 months- at least two years would be preferred.

One downside to my semi-nomadic lifestyle is that I frequently feel like all my friendships have ticking timers counting down the time until I once again load up my vehicle and move away. I would really like to have the luxury of setting down roots and developing friendships with a sense of permanence and commitment. Modern communication does provide a means to continue friendships after I have moved out of an area, but I am not particularly good at keeping up a long-distance friendship. I have been blessed with a few friends who don’t accept that excuse and stick with me anyway, and a few other friends with who I don’t have as regular of contact, but readily accept me back when we happen to be in the same geographical area. I guess that is all this semi-nomadic girl can ask for- I AM BLESSED!!

It's a Job!

Hurray I have a job again!
I got a phone call on Wednesday- a job offer working for my old boss doing basically the same thing I did last time. (Unfortunately winter is approaching and they don't do any field work in the winter- only office and lab work but a job is a job and I am glad to have one.) Apparently they found some money in the budget to hire me back- it's only a 4 month contract but A Job is a Job!- Hurray!


Honestly, I danced around in circles and jumped around like a little girl after getting the news.

I am excited to be going back to work and moving back to my old city and being near my friends again. However moving has it's challenges- it is really tough to find a place to live in only 3 days. It is also tough to move in that amount of time. (Have I mentioned?- I hate moving!) Fortunately I have friends who are willing to help me out and offer me a place to stay until I can find something more permanent.

The transition is so fast- going from no job and kinda discouraged about the whole situation- to having a job again. It still hasn't really sunk in, and probably won't until my vehicle is packed once more and headed down the laneway, and until I walk into work again on Monday morning.

Packing and Preserving

So the decision has been made and my move-out day is set.
I will be heading back to live with my parents (saving myself the expense of rent) until I can find a job someplace.
So naturally I decided today would be a great day to start.... Preserving.
I hate packing so naturally I won't do that until the last minute. Instead today I decided to enjoy the nice weather by going strawberry picking. I went a little overboard and came back with faaarrr too many berries. I then spent the day making two batches of jam and five pies and still have berries left over. YUM!

Anyhow all this preserving got me thinking about packing-go figure. I have a bad habit that before I leave a place I mentally put up walls and choose to focus on the frustrations and things I don't like about a place. As a survival mechanism it is pretty good, it is easier to leave a place if you can only think of the negatives. However as a general rule it isn't that great- although with some distance I am able to remember the good things and times of a place I have wasted so much time with my morose thoughts and sometimes friendships of memories suffer because of it.

 

I think it is time I change this habit and start something new. My jam making made me realize I should focus on PRESERVING the good memories and good friendships, rather than just rushing on to the new opportunities. Yes new exciting opportunities will come along (hopefully,) but I have had a good time here and made good friends and have many good memories. I don't want to suppress them just to make moving easier. Besides the results of preserving are pretty amazing. So I start/ pretend to start packing with a clear head and fresh mindset choosing to rejoice for the friendships and memories I have had here. I truly am blessed and believe those memories, just like my jam, will definitely sweeten my future adventures.