Thursday Tidbits

Posted on February 6, 2020 under Thursday Tidbits with no comments yet

Yet another moving experience

 

“There are places I’ll remember, all my life though some have changed,
Some forever not for better, some have gone, and some remain,
All these places had their moments…”
In My Life. The Beatles

“Len. How is it possible to write 747 words about nothing? You have been writing these posts for nine years. Today is the 1080 th. Not only that but your readers must be awfully bored to keep reading stories about the most mundane things humanly possible. Surely everyone doesn’t live dull, uninteresting lives.”

This quote is not attributable to anyone in particular. Actually, I ask myself the same question over and over as I did on my early morning walk the other day.

If you are really bored, keep reading. Otherwise, you might want to go and do something meaningful like feed your cat or empty the compost bucket.

Yes. After three months, I have finally figured out how to get back to my early morning strolls. The solution was quite simple. Instead of going to the school at 6:30 every day to plan my day, I have decided to spend a good chunk of Sundays at school planning a week’s worth of lessons. I still must confine my walks to the town. The mornings remain dark and it is simply not safe to go wandering on the frozen lakes and the tundra alone. If you suffered a medical emergency, especially in these cold temperatures, you would be in big trouble. Recent polar bear sightings have also garnered my attention.

I’m on the move again. When I signed on for this teaching assignment, I was told that I would be living in a spanking new fourplex adjacent to the school. However, I was also told that it would not be completed until the new year, hence my temporary stay in my current apartment.
Well, I got the news last weekend that the building had been completed and was ready for occupancy so I will move into my new digs this weekend.

It seems like my life has been one giant moving experience. Maybe this is what attracted me to the Inuit people, long known for their nomadic way of life.

How many times in your life have you changed addresses and key chains?

I started to make a list and got quite embarrassed and stopped at 15.

Fifteen. Seriously?

My epic journey through life started with the two houses I occupied as a child on Hillcrest Street. Now, I am about to move into my second apartment in three months. I know you’re not bored enough to read about all fifteen (actually the number is now 17 with the two apartments in Kangiqsujuaq) but a few stand out. Back in the early 70s, I lived in a very old, rundown apartment complex in Victoria, B.C. I can clearly recall that the rent was $85 a month. If you had seen the apartment you might think that I got ripped off. Here’s a recap of life in the “Bongo Pad”. https://www.week45.com/the-bongo-pad/

I have lived in houses, Co-op apartments and one winter, a chalet down by the ocean. I have lived alone, and I have lived with others. I have lived in the hottest places imaginable (can you say India?) ,and now one of the coldest – the arctic. I’ve lived with cats and dogs, and in some of the less refined places, mice! Every house or apartment has a story.

However, I feel I’m not quite done yet. While I still feel young most days, the aches and pains accumulate over time and the synapses aren’t firing quite as quickly as they once did. There’s a pretty good chance that the second last home I’ll occupy will be a nursing home. There was a time that the thought of a nursing home would make me recoil but having seen the care my mother received in her final days and my own experience doing music in a nursing home, I no longer feel this way. I also have dear friends who work in these homes. They are simply among the finest people you can imagine.

In my hometown, the largest nursing home is strategically located between two funeral homes. When my time comes, I won’t have to go far to reach my last stop of the journey.

At least I won’t have to pack!

Have a great weekend.

P.S. By the time some of you late risers read this, I will be “out on the land”. A few classes in the school, including mine, are going out on a seal hunt today. My next Monday Morning Musings could prove to be interesting. I hope it will get your seal of approval.