Every new year I try to reflect upon all that's happened over the past 12 months, what's different, what's the same, all that I've done, all that I failed to do, etc. I remember last January the mood of the moment appeared to be complacency. I remember thinking that I had finally reached the plateau of mid-lifeness, where very little would change forever and ever. I could picture myself at sixty living in the same house, with the same job, following the same weekly routine I'd always had. Visiting the same hair dresser I'd gone to for years who might comment from time to time that perhaps I should think about trying a new style, to which I would perpetually reply, 'maybe next time'. Maintaining a tidy wardrobe of classic staples season after season - one black turtleneck, one grey turtle neck, one grey cardigan, five neutral short sleeve dress shirts, black slacks, grey slacks, brown slacks, and so on. Visiting the grocery store every Saturday morning to stock up on the same staple items - boring apples, pasta and tomato sauce that I don't really enjoy eating, brown rice and tofu to mix it up a little.
The scariest part of a static existance is how okay it all seems.
In the spring of 2008 Baasje and I decided, a little out of the blue, to go to Bolivia. A few years had passed since we'd purchased the house, and our bank accounts had recovered sufficiently to make it somewhat practical to assume we could afford a vacation that didn't entail sleeping in a tent every night and cooking all our meals. The decision to go to Bolivia was mainly based upon rumours we'd heard that Machu Picchu (our second choice) was well on it's way to becoming the Niagara Falls of South America, and Baasje's cousin Julia's stories of getting stranded in the Bolivian jungle and having to ford swollen, muddy rivers to reach the nearest village on foot to beg for water and food from the locals. 'It's the hidden gem of South America' she said.
So we flew into La Paz where we spent 2 days recovering from altitude sickness followed by 12 days of being constantly at the mercy of strangers we couldn't communicate with. We had a fabulous time. Since then, Baasje has often remarked how the experience, opened his eyes to the idea that there are many people in the world living an alternate existance - enduring little inconveniences for the payback of seeing the world and experiencing new environments. It was a first time for him, and so many years had passed since I had last experienced it that I had forgotten.
With this newfound/renewed perception of the limitless possibilities life has to offer we returned to Ontario for the summer were I quickly fell back into my old routine while Baasje got shipped off to spend weeks at a time working refractory jobs in the cultural wasteland of Northern Ontario. I was very disappointed when he forgot his camera at the hotel on his last night in Sudbury and so returned home sans pictures to share of his time at INCO. Yes, that's the kind of summer it was.
Insert reflections on very cool trip to Los Angeles here (omitted for the sake of consitency).
Towards the end of the summer, as we braced to bypass autumn and head straight into winter (as has seemed to be the routine in Ontario for the past few years) I was invited to apply for a position at the University of Victoria. With all the fun we'd been having - Inco, turtle necks, apples, etc - it was a bit difficult to decide whether or not we should entertain the prospect of undertaking such drastic change. Once I'd finally made the decison to give it a go and apply, 'just to see what happens' it occured to me that I may as well check around and see what other options might be out there. I discovered there was a position open at Memorial Univesity in Newfoundland working on their website. If you've read my past blog posts you'll know that I LOVE Newfoundland, and Memorial has an awesome website. Unfortunately, the job prospects for Baasje out there are just about zero, so Memorial wasn't really and option. I also noticed there was a web position open at MIT in Boston that I applied for thinking they would never accept and out of country application, which is why I didn't keep an eye out for their response, which is why I missed their invitation to interview.
So a few months later, I flew to Victoria to start a new job at UVic and we decided to sell the house along with most of our belongings to start a new life out west. And here I am in January 2009, hanging out in my comfortable, temporary accomodations drinking a Slipstream cream ale, which is very tasty, fighting off jet lag having just returned from a visit 'back home' for the holidays. It was, by far, one of the most memorable holidays I have had in a while - hectic and wonderful. We cleared out the house, which had been a terrific first home first home for Baasje and I and will be sorely missed (particularly, I suspect, once we reacquaint ourselves with the relatively un-private charms of appartment living), struggled through Christmas colds, and enjoyed too brief and much treasured visits with good old friends and family that I was loathe to part with. The static existance I thought lay before me is now nowhere to be seen and, once again, the universe has proven that I will never, ever have it all figured out.
Thank goodness.
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