A Huge Event in our lives...
March, 2002
It’s been the biggest thing we’ve done in over 20 years, but no sign of it appeared in this webspace for the longest while, because we were just too busy!.
Heather and I have moved.
After 21 years, including the bringing up and launching of four offspring, we left our big old country-style home, and have moved into a comparatively tiny inner-city apartment.
And we’re happier than two peas in a pod!
Look at the picture. Can you see Heather waving from our balcony? Okay, so you needed the arrow!
The apartment is on the eighth floor (just over the treetops). It has two bedrooms (one is my den); 1 1/2 bathrooms; a nice size dining room, separated by a railing from a ‘sunken’ living room; and enclosed kitchen; exercise room in the basement; indoor parking available (we’re on the waiting list, meanwhile our outdoor parking spaces are quite acceptable). Three minutes away from the church; and three minutes, in the other direction, to Heather’s office.
There is no downside to this for us, with one exception: we knew our old, blind, arthritic dog, Socrates, would not be able in the slightest to cope with the move, so he was “put down.” It was bound to happen this year anyway, as he was becoming so miserable, uncomfortable, and incontinent, but the actual decision to bring his life to an end was still very sad. When we think of him in his young, energetic, optimistic and loving years, we mourn; but when we think of his last twelve months, we’re glad he is out of his misery. I’ve put a little memorial to him at the bottom of this page.
The picture on the left is the night view from our balcony. We’ve found we just love a cityscape! Maybe it’s because we were both born and bred in Montreal, but a view overlooking Manitoba’s densest urban population is deeply pleasurable for us. Okay, it’s not New York - it’s a small prairie city - but we like what we see!
The next picture on this page is a view of our dining area, and the ‘sunken’ livingroom. A mirror is on the floor by the kitchen entrance, and there is a small artwork (a taoist monk walking by a tree) on the antique table in the foreground. Just outside camera range is a wall-high pile of unopened boxes - my entire library. There are boxes in other rooms too, because we’re in the process of acquiring dressers, a buffet, and other furniture in which to stow our stuff. Most of the furniture we had in our old house has been given away or sold, and we’re starting from ‘scratch.’
Bookshelves arrive next week, and the part of the livingroom which you can see behind the lamp will become a library. We’re sleeping on an air mattress in the master bedroom until we can agree on the type of furniture we want in there. Slowly items will arrive, get placed, and pictures will go up on walls, and the settling-in will evolve.
Do we miss the old home? Not even slightly! We were beyond ready to begin this phase in our lives.
Raise your glass to the ‘adult’ lifestyle! It’s great!
p.s. If you’ve never seen our former home, I’ve got pictures on the web. The complete tour has been taken down, but three photos of the exterior remain on the web. Click here.
