Happy New Year, to everyone that reads this (assuming anyone else does). Wow, it's already half-way through January 2014! How has it treated you so far? Wait, you say, what about Christmas 2013? Christmas 2013 was very quiet, we went out of our way not to celebrate. We didn't put up the tree, we made no formal exchange of gifts (although we did buy things for each other). While not exactly totally into the "Bah, humbug!" camp, we may have set up tent on the outskirts.
The last half of December passed in a blur of work, extreme cold, early darkness and deepening depression. It's the worst attack of seasonal affective disorder I have dealt with since being in Canada. I could not seem to shake a sense of dread as Christmas and the New Year approached, seeing the way 2013 had begun. On days when there was sunshine, I began sitting at the picture window in the living room, eager for light and warmth.
We had a quiet Christmas, entertained by friends of G at their house. We were well-fed, and, being people who enjoy reading, they did not mind one bit when I curled into a corner of their couch and read on my e-reader. I enjoyed not having the stress of preparing the usual elaborate meal that comes with the holiday expectations. On New Year's Eve, I prepared stew peas and dumplings, a very Jamaican dinner which required a bit of time and effort, but turned out as one of my better efforts at that particular dish. We watched a movie together, fell asleep, woke close to the close of the year to kiss the new one into being, then went back to sleep.
2014 started quietly enough, for which I was profoundly glad. I did a workout as scheduled, as I want to maintain the consistency of my efforts at building my best body, regardless of time or space. I then sat down to what used to be an annual task but had fallen by the wayside in 2013: New Year's Resolutions.
Yes, I know that this process has come to be seen as something of a joke, given that all too many people who make resolutions fail at sticking to them. However, I have never been one of those people, I usually make a plan for my year under some broad headings, and use this plan as a framework for carrying on through the year. I am a goal-setter, I like having goals and targets and things to work towards, it gives me purpose and self-direction and a sense of being in control of how my life progresses, rather than being carried will-ye-nil-ye (willy nilly, as we say it now) by whatever happens in life. I enjoy looking back at progress achieved thus far, and plotting a course towards the eventual achievement by making any corrective or evasive maneuvers necessary.
I won't go into detail on what my actual goals are, suffice it to say they cover most of the major areas of life, and this year are written down into what was supposed to be my Game of Thrones book journal but was not necessary for that purpose. It sits on my desk, beside my laptop, ready at hand for consultation, random brain-storming, doodling, updating, and revising. Yes, updates and revisions will be necessary, life has a way of throwing curveballs at you, but one must be prepared to either duck out of the way or swing a bat at it and knock it out of the park. The operative word there is "prepared". If you don't have a plan, you're not very prepared, that's how I roll.
Just over two weeks into 2014 and already we have had more snow, and it is snowing lightly today, with more expected for tomorrow. On the whole, following the "polar vortex" experience of the last half of December, I find myself not minding the snowfall. At least the temperature sits in a tolerable +5 to -10 *C range. Yes, I just wrote that I find up to -10 *C "tolerable". Coming from someone who has spent most of her life in an annual average of about 35 *C, this is quite the tolerance, if you ask me. Once the temperatures descend into the teens below zero, I find it too cold. I cannot seem to get warm inside, no matter how many layers I put on, and I hike the furnace up to 23 *C or ask G to turn on the baseboard heaters. At that point, I am past caring about the gas or hydro bills. I just want to feel warm again.
G is doing all the driving right now. The extremes of cold followed by snow or icy rain have turned the roads into things of dread for me. The roads are either bumpy with new-fallen snow sprinkled with rock salt, or slushy or icy. No, thank you, I will be a passenger again. I realise that I can only become better at handling these conditions by actually attempting to drive in them, but my terror of causing or getting into an accident and the attendant financial nightmare of such a scenario overrides my desire for independence. My risk-aversion is in high gear in winter, and will likely always be that way until I am more accustomed to life in northern Ontario.
In just under an hour, it will be time to head to work. It is Friday, which always makes us happy at work. I am looking forward to unwinding from the week with G, and spending a quiet weekend catching up on the house work.
Friday, January 17, 2014
Saturday, November 30, 2013
"Winter is coming"
I am fairly sure than when he conceived the Starks of Winterfell, George R. R. Martin was thinking of Canadians. Possibly, those dwelling in the Northern Ontario reaches where I find myself making my home. That "Winter is coming" is very much part of the psyche here is unquestionable, this I judge from the year and a half I have been here.
As soon as August this year when the trees began turning, I sensed a change in the mood prevailing, even my own. It was a queer mixture of anticipation and resignation, flavoured with glee in some cases, stark unhappiness in others.
September drifted by, with the leaves in full bloom of colour, but by October they were already on their way to falling off the trees. Still, there were some truly fine days in both months, real autumn days in terms of colour but blessed with temperatures in the low 20s (degrees Celsius). Altogether tolerable, those days that held a lingering whiff of the summer than never quite was.
With the coming of November, the warmth began to recede and the cold stole the march. The daily high temperatures slipped further and further down the scale, even though no snow came. Oh, there were one or two sallies, apologetic snowfalls I called them, because the flakes had hardly hit the ground before they disappeared. There was no accumulation even up to the middle of the month. Not until the final ten days of the month, when talk of American Thanksgiving and Black Friday were everywhere, and Christmas decorations and music were already making their appearance, did the snow finally come.
The first accumulated snow was brought on heavy winds over the course of last weekend. What did follow were almost Arctic temperatures that meant outer layers for me went from tights and sweaters to ski jackets and down coats. The first winter storm showed up today, and shed an even greater accumulation on top of that which had largely been ignored as of little consequence. Not today though, snow plows came out, people are shoveling driveways, and I canceled a possible trip to another library sale. Days like these give me zero incentive to stir beyond the precincts of our house.
Here are some photos I took for both weekends, past and current:
Yes, those last photos were taken out of doors, after dark. I felt somewhat restless, in spite of thoroughly enjoying my day off following a harrowing end to the week at work. So, I bundled up in my snow suit, put on my Caterpillar snow boots with their surefooted tread, and put the little Nipper in his harness and clipped the leash on him, and away we went around the block. I found it rather soothing to be out there in the light snow, thoroughly cocooned from the snow except for my face, but enjoying the gentle bite of the cold against my cheeks and eyelids.
Officially, winter is not for another three weeks, the solstice this year falls on December 21. Clearly, though, winter is coming, and Old Man Winter has stolen the last few weeks of fall for himself.
As soon as August this year when the trees began turning, I sensed a change in the mood prevailing, even my own. It was a queer mixture of anticipation and resignation, flavoured with glee in some cases, stark unhappiness in others.
September drifted by, with the leaves in full bloom of colour, but by October they were already on their way to falling off the trees. Still, there were some truly fine days in both months, real autumn days in terms of colour but blessed with temperatures in the low 20s (degrees Celsius). Altogether tolerable, those days that held a lingering whiff of the summer than never quite was.
With the coming of November, the warmth began to recede and the cold stole the march. The daily high temperatures slipped further and further down the scale, even though no snow came. Oh, there were one or two sallies, apologetic snowfalls I called them, because the flakes had hardly hit the ground before they disappeared. There was no accumulation even up to the middle of the month. Not until the final ten days of the month, when talk of American Thanksgiving and Black Friday were everywhere, and Christmas decorations and music were already making their appearance, did the snow finally come.
The first accumulated snow was brought on heavy winds over the course of last weekend. What did follow were almost Arctic temperatures that meant outer layers for me went from tights and sweaters to ski jackets and down coats. The first winter storm showed up today, and shed an even greater accumulation on top of that which had largely been ignored as of little consequence. Not today though, snow plows came out, people are shoveling driveways, and I canceled a possible trip to another library sale. Days like these give me zero incentive to stir beyond the precincts of our house.
Here are some photos I took for both weekends, past and current:
Yes, those last photos were taken out of doors, after dark. I felt somewhat restless, in spite of thoroughly enjoying my day off following a harrowing end to the week at work. So, I bundled up in my snow suit, put on my Caterpillar snow boots with their surefooted tread, and put the little Nipper in his harness and clipped the leash on him, and away we went around the block. I found it rather soothing to be out there in the light snow, thoroughly cocooned from the snow except for my face, but enjoying the gentle bite of the cold against my cheeks and eyelids.
Officially, winter is not for another three weeks, the solstice this year falls on December 21. Clearly, though, winter is coming, and Old Man Winter has stolen the last few weeks of fall for himself.
Monday, November 4, 2013
Reading projects, and more changes
Yes, I have an agenda now, to schedule things in and remind myself to get things done. It doesn't help if I don't write everything I need to do in there. Like keep up with this blog. I am making a note of my next scheduled post date right now. Honestly!
Two months ago, I was starting out my grandly-titled (in my mind, anyway) "Year End Reading Project". A Song of Ice and Fire (Books 1-4) had been languishing on my TBR (to-be-read) shelf for more than a year since my birthday of 2012, and I decided it was time to give them a go. Or, I should say, another go. I started reading A Game of Thrones in October 2012, but quit within the first hundred pages. I simply couldn't get into the book, and the author's use of character names instead of chapter numbers almost guaranteed I would end up confused and lost about who was whom, much as I was the first time I read The Lord of the Rings.
However, I decided that four months left in the year and four books in my boxed set was serendipitous, so I embarked (again) on the journey into the fantasy of George R. R. Martin. I resolved to read the books on my lunch break at work, and read something else on the weekends. I bought myself a book to use as a book journal, so that I could keep people straight, then discovered that the books had appendices naming the major, and not a few of the minor, characters.
Fast forward two months, and instead of being halfway through, I am very nearly done with all four books. I have been sucked into the Westerosi universe, and leave only reluctantly. As a consequence, I read the second book over the space of 4 days, and the third and fourth in about two weeks each. I only managed to stay true to my original calendar with the first book. The fifth is now on its way, ordered via Amazon.ca, thank goodness.
Since I took over the organization of our home finances, things have been somewhat more orderly. After a mis-communication that saw us over-paying the hydro and under-paying the gas bills, G and I have worked out a system whereby he opens and sorts the mail, hands off all the bills to me, I input them into the spreadsheet I use for tracking, and all bills are sorted into 3 neatly labeled caddies (one for unpaid, two for paid). At any point in time, I can hand him all outstanding bills if needed, or confirm all paid bills. Although I pay everything online, I print the payment confirmations. Computer systems do fail, occasionally.
Another recent contribution of mine to our "home economics", is the use of a menu plan for weeknight meals and grocery shopping. For some many months, one of my main bones of contention with G has been how late we eat on weeknights. Often it is not until he collects me after work that he turns his mind to what we will eat for dinner, and that usually means some amount of waiting for food to be prepared. Jamaicans do not eat dinner at 9:30 p.m. very often, at least not the ones I know. However, that was becoming a normal practice for us, and it began to annoy me to no end. Two weeks ago, I decided to end this practice by using one of the dozen or more cookbooks we have as a basis for menu-planning. Specifically, Betty Crocker's Big Book of Weeknight Dinners.
The results have been encouraging so far. Rather than going to the supermarket every couple weeks and spending $300-400 to buy random items we might like to eat, and still complaining that there's nothing available to make dinner (or lunch for work), we select recipes for each night, plan our shopping list accordingly, and I make weeknight dinners now, with help from G where needed. Leftovers become lunch the following day, and usually there are leftovers. So far we have not spent more than $140 on each week, and it has not been necessary for me to purchase lunch (usually between $5 and $10 per day), or any items specifically for lunch (such as prepared salads). Saturdays and Sundays, meals remain G's sole responsibility.
As of this week, and for the foreseeable future, I will not need a lunch anymore. My hours have been cut at work, the usual "budget cutback" cry has become fashionable in my workplace. It came as a blow, but with many of the major bills out of the way for this year, such as the property tax, I won't complain. For the rest of the year, or until my hours go up again, we will just have to tighten the belt a little further. As a Jamaican, this is nothing new to me. I am new to being a part-time employee, having been employed full-time in salaried positions since I started working at 20, but with a new life comes new things.
Something new is up next tonight: With the end of the Showtime series Dexter, it became necessary for G and I to find a favourite series to spend some of our "couple time" watching. After seeing my enthusiasm over the Game of Thrones book, he agreed to give the HBO series based on the books a try. We are halfway through the first of three seasons, but I can confidently say we have a new favourite series!
Two months ago, I was starting out my grandly-titled (in my mind, anyway) "Year End Reading Project". A Song of Ice and Fire (Books 1-4) had been languishing on my TBR (to-be-read) shelf for more than a year since my birthday of 2012, and I decided it was time to give them a go. Or, I should say, another go. I started reading A Game of Thrones in October 2012, but quit within the first hundred pages. I simply couldn't get into the book, and the author's use of character names instead of chapter numbers almost guaranteed I would end up confused and lost about who was whom, much as I was the first time I read The Lord of the Rings.
However, I decided that four months left in the year and four books in my boxed set was serendipitous, so I embarked (again) on the journey into the fantasy of George R. R. Martin. I resolved to read the books on my lunch break at work, and read something else on the weekends. I bought myself a book to use as a book journal, so that I could keep people straight, then discovered that the books had appendices naming the major, and not a few of the minor, characters.
Fast forward two months, and instead of being halfway through, I am very nearly done with all four books. I have been sucked into the Westerosi universe, and leave only reluctantly. As a consequence, I read the second book over the space of 4 days, and the third and fourth in about two weeks each. I only managed to stay true to my original calendar with the first book. The fifth is now on its way, ordered via Amazon.ca, thank goodness.
Since I took over the organization of our home finances, things have been somewhat more orderly. After a mis-communication that saw us over-paying the hydro and under-paying the gas bills, G and I have worked out a system whereby he opens and sorts the mail, hands off all the bills to me, I input them into the spreadsheet I use for tracking, and all bills are sorted into 3 neatly labeled caddies (one for unpaid, two for paid). At any point in time, I can hand him all outstanding bills if needed, or confirm all paid bills. Although I pay everything online, I print the payment confirmations. Computer systems do fail, occasionally.
Another recent contribution of mine to our "home economics", is the use of a menu plan for weeknight meals and grocery shopping. For some many months, one of my main bones of contention with G has been how late we eat on weeknights. Often it is not until he collects me after work that he turns his mind to what we will eat for dinner, and that usually means some amount of waiting for food to be prepared. Jamaicans do not eat dinner at 9:30 p.m. very often, at least not the ones I know. However, that was becoming a normal practice for us, and it began to annoy me to no end. Two weeks ago, I decided to end this practice by using one of the dozen or more cookbooks we have as a basis for menu-planning. Specifically, Betty Crocker's Big Book of Weeknight Dinners.
The results have been encouraging so far. Rather than going to the supermarket every couple weeks and spending $300-400 to buy random items we might like to eat, and still complaining that there's nothing available to make dinner (or lunch for work), we select recipes for each night, plan our shopping list accordingly, and I make weeknight dinners now, with help from G where needed. Leftovers become lunch the following day, and usually there are leftovers. So far we have not spent more than $140 on each week, and it has not been necessary for me to purchase lunch (usually between $5 and $10 per day), or any items specifically for lunch (such as prepared salads). Saturdays and Sundays, meals remain G's sole responsibility.
As of this week, and for the foreseeable future, I will not need a lunch anymore. My hours have been cut at work, the usual "budget cutback" cry has become fashionable in my workplace. It came as a blow, but with many of the major bills out of the way for this year, such as the property tax, I won't complain. For the rest of the year, or until my hours go up again, we will just have to tighten the belt a little further. As a Jamaican, this is nothing new to me. I am new to being a part-time employee, having been employed full-time in salaried positions since I started working at 20, but with a new life comes new things.
Something new is up next tonight: With the end of the Showtime series Dexter, it became necessary for G and I to find a favourite series to spend some of our "couple time" watching. After seeing my enthusiasm over the Game of Thrones book, he agreed to give the HBO series based on the books a try. We are halfway through the first of three seasons, but I can confidently say we have a new favourite series!
Sunday, September 1, 2013
2013 So much, so little..
My last post focused on fall and the beginning of winter 2012/13, and I expected to update this blog sooner rather than later.
This year did not start well. It started with a call from my mother in tears, and for a moment my heart stopped as I thought something had happened to my much-loved younger brother. However, it was not my younger brother affected, it was hers. My uncle, my mother's younger brother, one of four of my Grandmother's children, died 1 January 2013 of a massive coronary. I left Canada for the first time since arriving in June 2012, not for Jamaica, but for New York State, where my uncle's life would be commemorated, celebrated and mourned.
I flew from Sudbury to Toronto, cleared US Customs in Toronto with minimal trouble (I forgot to fill in my I-94 immigration form, but the officer was gentle, I think he clearly saw my grief when he asked me my purpose of travel), and flew to JFK where I was collected by my cousin. It had been more than a decade since I was in that airport last, nothing seemed the least familiar. Even Yonkers was strangely unfamiliar, as we never went to any of the areas near downtown I had been used to from my time there, we spent all our time in the residential area my uncle now lived in.
Throughout the various events, I stayed well out of the way, did what I could to be helpful, and refused to spend any time in the viewing room of the funeral home. Since childhood I have been afflicted with the inability to remember someone in life once seen in death, and I was determined to cling to the memories of my uncle as I had last seen him, happy and alive on the beach in Negril, Jamaica, offering me a freshly-caught lobster and a slice of lime. I wanted no part of seeing him in the stillness of death, and it was my other uncle who understood that more than anyone else.
I returned to Canada two days after I left it. Clearing Immigration and Customs was much less dramatic than my landing. It was explained to me, although I already knew this, that these two days would be added back to my residency obligation as I had left the country alone. I was still floating in that odd surreal fog that seems to surround a person when their life takes a sudden turn, and felt no particular need to say I was already aware of this.
I went back to work and life has continued in its usual fashion since then. The winter was a long one. As February and March slipped by, I began to feel a restlessness and urgent need for warmer days. I had hopes that April would bring warmer days, and the start of Daylight Saving Time made me feel even more keenly that it had to get warmer, as I lost an hour of sleep in the name of more daylight hours. Still, it did not get warmer, and G and I seemed to argue more often about my need to raise the temperature in the house until I felt more comfortable.
When it snowed on the 12th of May, Mother's Day, I almost broke down in tears. It was quite more than enough, I was feeling a great deal of unhappiness. Everything bothered me, and it seemed as though I had no filters and couldn't keep it from spilling over into my relationship with G. Arguments over little things became even more frequent, and even our impending third anniversary couldn't bring us closer.
Finally, towards the end of May, the temperatures began to rise, and with them my spirits. The snow finally all melted away, the city began cleaning the streets of the rock salt and sand, grass began appearing and trees began filling out with leaves. The family tree in our backyard bloomed, and our anniversary approached.
We celebrated our third anniversary by staying the weekend at a bed and breakfast resort some way up Highway 17, heading west towards Sault Ste Marie. I spent time on a lake in a canoe for the first time in my life, and did not freak out too much. G was quite at home on the water, I saw a new side of him, and though we still had many rocky moments during that week, we came back together in celebration of our love.
The next event of significance was my 37th birthday, and I was treated to dinner by G this year in celebration. I was happy that we could just spend time together, and at work some effort was made to make it a nice day, which I appreciated.
In the beginning of August, I accomplished a goal I set myself as part of my timeline for my first couple of years in Canada: I earned my driver's license. Quite frankly terrified, I went to Thessalon, rather than take the test here in E.L. My driving instructor felt that I would find it less intimidating to do the test where I was unknown and had less chance of feeling like I was making a fool of myself. I made at least major blunder, but only one, as the examiner passed me. I was still in shock on the way home, even as I held the paper in my hands.
I have been growing and progressing in my job. With just under a year in, I have been trained to act in place of the head of my section, and been taken on as a permanent employee with benefits, although still part-time and not full-time/salaried. I think that has been a goodly amount of progress for a year, I have put myself out to learn all I can and gain as much experience as possible, and can see myself continuing to grow. It's not what I did before, but it can form a foundation, I think.
Over the summer we have done some entertaining, so far as we are able. We have had friends to visit for Canada Day weekend in July, and this Labour Day weekend as well. With only 3 weeks to the beginning of the fall, there is almost a sense of mourning in comments I have heard recently, as everyone turns their minds to the upcoming fall and winter. As the trees are already changing colours, and have been since I went to take my drive test (when temperatures plunged in that week to such frankly unseasonable lows that I had to wear a sweater at least once!), many are the comments that winter 2013/14 promises to be a long, cold one.
This time around, I have resigned my mind to the need to wear warmer clothes, even at home, rather than adjusting the temperature in the house. Quite frankly, after seeing our gas bills for the end of the fiscal year (August), I can now understand G's consternation every time I fiddled with the temperature gauge! Now that I am taking a more active role in managing our finances, I find myself constantly on the lookout for various ways to save on our bills.
There are a great many more bills to be concerned with here than I ever had in Jamaica, or know of anyone having. Where before there used to be just light, water, rent/mortgage, cable, telephone, internet and the odd credit card, here you have to add municipal taxes, natural gas and water heater rental. I have actually created a spreadsheet to keep track, and bought myself an agenda, which I used to have but didn't get this year as it seemed unnecessary. No longer do I deem this unnecessary, I need the sense of control being able to track everything daily gives me. I feel more useful to G this way.
Tomorrow is Labour Day, and I will spend the day in my time-honoured fashion: doing nothing much. I laboured long and hard today, as I usually do on Sundays, to make the house ship-shape and presentable. Tomorrow, I hope to start a reading project that should take me the rest of the year. I have been getting back into my reading, and taking time to focus on my need for solitude and reflection, respecting my introvert tendencies.
From here on out, I should be scheduling posts on a weekly basis. Agenda in hand, I shall have the entry looking back at me, waiting to be ticked off as "done", and that should hold me more accountable. With four months left in the first half of my second year in Canada, I hope to be better at recording the events I experience.
This year did not start well. It started with a call from my mother in tears, and for a moment my heart stopped as I thought something had happened to my much-loved younger brother. However, it was not my younger brother affected, it was hers. My uncle, my mother's younger brother, one of four of my Grandmother's children, died 1 January 2013 of a massive coronary. I left Canada for the first time since arriving in June 2012, not for Jamaica, but for New York State, where my uncle's life would be commemorated, celebrated and mourned.
I flew from Sudbury to Toronto, cleared US Customs in Toronto with minimal trouble (I forgot to fill in my I-94 immigration form, but the officer was gentle, I think he clearly saw my grief when he asked me my purpose of travel), and flew to JFK where I was collected by my cousin. It had been more than a decade since I was in that airport last, nothing seemed the least familiar. Even Yonkers was strangely unfamiliar, as we never went to any of the areas near downtown I had been used to from my time there, we spent all our time in the residential area my uncle now lived in.
Throughout the various events, I stayed well out of the way, did what I could to be helpful, and refused to spend any time in the viewing room of the funeral home. Since childhood I have been afflicted with the inability to remember someone in life once seen in death, and I was determined to cling to the memories of my uncle as I had last seen him, happy and alive on the beach in Negril, Jamaica, offering me a freshly-caught lobster and a slice of lime. I wanted no part of seeing him in the stillness of death, and it was my other uncle who understood that more than anyone else.
I returned to Canada two days after I left it. Clearing Immigration and Customs was much less dramatic than my landing. It was explained to me, although I already knew this, that these two days would be added back to my residency obligation as I had left the country alone. I was still floating in that odd surreal fog that seems to surround a person when their life takes a sudden turn, and felt no particular need to say I was already aware of this.
I went back to work and life has continued in its usual fashion since then. The winter was a long one. As February and March slipped by, I began to feel a restlessness and urgent need for warmer days. I had hopes that April would bring warmer days, and the start of Daylight Saving Time made me feel even more keenly that it had to get warmer, as I lost an hour of sleep in the name of more daylight hours. Still, it did not get warmer, and G and I seemed to argue more often about my need to raise the temperature in the house until I felt more comfortable.
When it snowed on the 12th of May, Mother's Day, I almost broke down in tears. It was quite more than enough, I was feeling a great deal of unhappiness. Everything bothered me, and it seemed as though I had no filters and couldn't keep it from spilling over into my relationship with G. Arguments over little things became even more frequent, and even our impending third anniversary couldn't bring us closer.
Finally, towards the end of May, the temperatures began to rise, and with them my spirits. The snow finally all melted away, the city began cleaning the streets of the rock salt and sand, grass began appearing and trees began filling out with leaves. The family tree in our backyard bloomed, and our anniversary approached.
We celebrated our third anniversary by staying the weekend at a bed and breakfast resort some way up Highway 17, heading west towards Sault Ste Marie. I spent time on a lake in a canoe for the first time in my life, and did not freak out too much. G was quite at home on the water, I saw a new side of him, and though we still had many rocky moments during that week, we came back together in celebration of our love.
The next event of significance was my 37th birthday, and I was treated to dinner by G this year in celebration. I was happy that we could just spend time together, and at work some effort was made to make it a nice day, which I appreciated.
In the beginning of August, I accomplished a goal I set myself as part of my timeline for my first couple of years in Canada: I earned my driver's license. Quite frankly terrified, I went to Thessalon, rather than take the test here in E.L. My driving instructor felt that I would find it less intimidating to do the test where I was unknown and had less chance of feeling like I was making a fool of myself. I made at least major blunder, but only one, as the examiner passed me. I was still in shock on the way home, even as I held the paper in my hands.
I have been growing and progressing in my job. With just under a year in, I have been trained to act in place of the head of my section, and been taken on as a permanent employee with benefits, although still part-time and not full-time/salaried. I think that has been a goodly amount of progress for a year, I have put myself out to learn all I can and gain as much experience as possible, and can see myself continuing to grow. It's not what I did before, but it can form a foundation, I think.
Over the summer we have done some entertaining, so far as we are able. We have had friends to visit for Canada Day weekend in July, and this Labour Day weekend as well. With only 3 weeks to the beginning of the fall, there is almost a sense of mourning in comments I have heard recently, as everyone turns their minds to the upcoming fall and winter. As the trees are already changing colours, and have been since I went to take my drive test (when temperatures plunged in that week to such frankly unseasonable lows that I had to wear a sweater at least once!), many are the comments that winter 2013/14 promises to be a long, cold one.
This time around, I have resigned my mind to the need to wear warmer clothes, even at home, rather than adjusting the temperature in the house. Quite frankly, after seeing our gas bills for the end of the fiscal year (August), I can now understand G's consternation every time I fiddled with the temperature gauge! Now that I am taking a more active role in managing our finances, I find myself constantly on the lookout for various ways to save on our bills.
There are a great many more bills to be concerned with here than I ever had in Jamaica, or know of anyone having. Where before there used to be just light, water, rent/mortgage, cable, telephone, internet and the odd credit card, here you have to add municipal taxes, natural gas and water heater rental. I have actually created a spreadsheet to keep track, and bought myself an agenda, which I used to have but didn't get this year as it seemed unnecessary. No longer do I deem this unnecessary, I need the sense of control being able to track everything daily gives me. I feel more useful to G this way.
Tomorrow is Labour Day, and I will spend the day in my time-honoured fashion: doing nothing much. I laboured long and hard today, as I usually do on Sundays, to make the house ship-shape and presentable. Tomorrow, I hope to start a reading project that should take me the rest of the year. I have been getting back into my reading, and taking time to focus on my need for solitude and reflection, respecting my introvert tendencies.
From here on out, I should be scheduling posts on a weekly basis. Agenda in hand, I shall have the entry looking back at me, waiting to be ticked off as "done", and that should hold me more accountable. With four months left in the first half of my second year in Canada, I hope to be better at recording the events I experience.
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Fall and Winter, Part 1.
Yes, I know, it's been forever since I updated this blog. Forgive me, it's been eventful around here since October. Nevertheless, I will share a condensed version.
The fall arrived in spectacular, glorious colours. I took many photos, as I have been fond of this time of year in North America since I was first exposed to it in New York as a teenager. With the fall also came cooler temperatures and the necessity of beginning to dress a lot warmer. Where to G the descent in the temperatures felt gradual, to me it was shockingly sudden. One day it was merely cool, soon I was cold. I soon learned a salutary lesson: as someone new to Canada, it is important to dress to make myself comfortable, not try to dress as I saw others (i.e. Canadians) dressing.
The first snowfall came in October. October! Many people commented that this was much closer to normal for northern ON than previously mild fall trends, and they fully expected a "normal" winter for 2012/2013 than had obtained in previous years. I heard this with some trepidation, but I listened to G's advice when it came to dressing, and stayed comfortable.
Here are some photos from September and October:
Yep, I went from brilliant, beautiful, bold colours to dustings of snow literally overnight. That first snowfall didn't last past the end of the day, but it was a sign of things to come.
Around the end of October, another significant event in the life of any newcomer came to pass for me: I got a job. Finally, at long last after 3 months of searching, of sending out resumes and being resolutely ignored, of attending interviews and being politely dismissed, I finally was accepted into the Canadian workforce. Oh, it's nothing like what I used to do in Jamaica when I left, I'm basically back to square one career-wise, but it's a start. I was once again earning income rather than being totally dependent on G for even my "pin money", and it felt marvelous. I had and still have a lot to learn, I have had to swallow my pride numerous times over being corrected on things I would never have thought anyone would assume I didn't know, but I have learned to accept that what I don't know is more than what I do know, so it is best to listen and take the lessons as they come. Some are easy, because I know them already, others are hard, because things are different here, in some surprising ways very different, and making assumptions is foolish no matter where in the world you are.
November would herald even colder temperatures, and by then I was fully dressing in layers of clothing to stay warm, even as G looked on in tolerant amusement. One rainy afternoon in Sudbury I finally had enough of cold feet in shoes, and purchased a pair of boots rated for -40C temperatures, and put them on as soon as I was out of the store. I have been wearing those shoes very nearly everywhere since I purchased them.
It is important to learn the art of layering, so that by the time fall and winter roll around you are able to dress comfortably. Layers start from the skin out, and the rule of thumb, to my mind, for anyone like me new to these temperatures is that too many layers is better than not enough. You can always shed layers when you have too many, it's when you haven't enough that things can get miserable.
For me, it works like this: I start with my unmentionables (of course) then add the first layer over these of tights (thick woven tights or thermal tights or regular tights, depending on how long I expect to be exposed to the cold and what I expect to be wearing over top of them) and a camisole. I usually tuck my cami into the waistband of my tights to form a continuous layer, thereby leaving less skin exposed. The next layer consists of a thin, long-sleeved t-shirt, again either thermal or simply cotton depending on the temperatures I expect to be exposed to. The next layer is my outer clothing, typically a pair of pants and a sweater (preferably turtleneck or cowl neck). I have acquired quite the sweater collection now, I find them indispensable. My colleagues find it amazing that I can wear sweaters indoors, I find it amazing that they can wear cap sleeved shirts and dresses.
The final layer is outerwear. It is quite important to have suitable outerwear in northern ON, what works in southern ON simply will not do here much of the time. Baffin, Sorel, Choko, The Northern Face and Columbia, those are the brand names most often seen in these parts. A ski parka and a mid to full length down coat are basic, also ski pants, thick socks, good gloves and tall boots. While purchasing these items even on sale can run you into the hundreds of dollars, they are essentials that will be used year after year, so it is important to invest in high quality purchases. I received a number of these items as early Christmas presents, and the weather obliged me with an opportunity to gear up and go outside in them.
Yep, that's me doing a snow angel. Notice G bought me the suspender-type ski pants, rather than the ones secured at the waist. I greatly like this style, as it allows me to form a layer that continues under my ski jacket, and the jacket itself can be cinched in at the waist to minimise air flowing up underneath it. Not too sure how I feel about the balaclava, although I will say from experience that it comes in handy when you are outside trying to shovel snow even while it's still snowing!
To be continued in part 2: Christmas and a New Year.
The fall arrived in spectacular, glorious colours. I took many photos, as I have been fond of this time of year in North America since I was first exposed to it in New York as a teenager. With the fall also came cooler temperatures and the necessity of beginning to dress a lot warmer. Where to G the descent in the temperatures felt gradual, to me it was shockingly sudden. One day it was merely cool, soon I was cold. I soon learned a salutary lesson: as someone new to Canada, it is important to dress to make myself comfortable, not try to dress as I saw others (i.e. Canadians) dressing.
The first snowfall came in October. October! Many people commented that this was much closer to normal for northern ON than previously mild fall trends, and they fully expected a "normal" winter for 2012/2013 than had obtained in previous years. I heard this with some trepidation, but I listened to G's advice when it came to dressing, and stayed comfortable.
Here are some photos from September and October:
Around the end of October, another significant event in the life of any newcomer came to pass for me: I got a job. Finally, at long last after 3 months of searching, of sending out resumes and being resolutely ignored, of attending interviews and being politely dismissed, I finally was accepted into the Canadian workforce. Oh, it's nothing like what I used to do in Jamaica when I left, I'm basically back to square one career-wise, but it's a start. I was once again earning income rather than being totally dependent on G for even my "pin money", and it felt marvelous. I had and still have a lot to learn, I have had to swallow my pride numerous times over being corrected on things I would never have thought anyone would assume I didn't know, but I have learned to accept that what I don't know is more than what I do know, so it is best to listen and take the lessons as they come. Some are easy, because I know them already, others are hard, because things are different here, in some surprising ways very different, and making assumptions is foolish no matter where in the world you are.
November would herald even colder temperatures, and by then I was fully dressing in layers of clothing to stay warm, even as G looked on in tolerant amusement. One rainy afternoon in Sudbury I finally had enough of cold feet in shoes, and purchased a pair of boots rated for -40C temperatures, and put them on as soon as I was out of the store. I have been wearing those shoes very nearly everywhere since I purchased them.
It is important to learn the art of layering, so that by the time fall and winter roll around you are able to dress comfortably. Layers start from the skin out, and the rule of thumb, to my mind, for anyone like me new to these temperatures is that too many layers is better than not enough. You can always shed layers when you have too many, it's when you haven't enough that things can get miserable.
For me, it works like this: I start with my unmentionables (of course) then add the first layer over these of tights (thick woven tights or thermal tights or regular tights, depending on how long I expect to be exposed to the cold and what I expect to be wearing over top of them) and a camisole. I usually tuck my cami into the waistband of my tights to form a continuous layer, thereby leaving less skin exposed. The next layer consists of a thin, long-sleeved t-shirt, again either thermal or simply cotton depending on the temperatures I expect to be exposed to. The next layer is my outer clothing, typically a pair of pants and a sweater (preferably turtleneck or cowl neck). I have acquired quite the sweater collection now, I find them indispensable. My colleagues find it amazing that I can wear sweaters indoors, I find it amazing that they can wear cap sleeved shirts and dresses.
The final layer is outerwear. It is quite important to have suitable outerwear in northern ON, what works in southern ON simply will not do here much of the time. Baffin, Sorel, Choko, The Northern Face and Columbia, those are the brand names most often seen in these parts. A ski parka and a mid to full length down coat are basic, also ski pants, thick socks, good gloves and tall boots. While purchasing these items even on sale can run you into the hundreds of dollars, they are essentials that will be used year after year, so it is important to invest in high quality purchases. I received a number of these items as early Christmas presents, and the weather obliged me with an opportunity to gear up and go outside in them.
To be continued in part 2: Christmas and a New Year.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Road trip! Part 3
Toronto!
After a wonderful weekend with my in-laws, it was time to begin making our way back north. We would spend a night and a full day in Toronto, although originally the plan was 2 nights and 2 days.
Leaving their home around 8 p.m. that evening, we made the journey into the city courtesy of a lift from friends I had made on the immigration forum. They drove the hour from their suburban city to where we were then we all went out to dinner, then instead of our original plan of taking the train into Toronto from their city, they drove us all the way into Toronto itself. We were wonderfully surprised and very grateful for their generosity.
Like any other large city, Toronto is magically-lit up at night. I had forgotten to pack my camera in my handbag, and ended up only having my phone available for taking photos. Still, it was impressively beautiful to drive into and finally see the city I had only managed to "breeze" through the last two times I saw it.
We had booked a hotel downtown, quite close to Nathan Phillips Square. How close would only become apparent the next morning! That is New City Hall towering over the Square, the buildings are as iconic and symbolic of Toronto as the Empire State Building is of New York City.
You might be asking, so if there is a New City Hall, is there an Old one? Actually, yes, there is, and our wanderings would take us right past it.
That marvelous Victorian building is not the only one of its kind in Toronto, many architecturally interesting buildings have been preserved at various points throughout the city, cropping up to surprise you in the midst of the functional glass-and-steel high-rises, like this beauty:
Once we were on Yonge Street (pronounced "young"), we decided to keep walking on it all the way to the waterfront. During my "Canadian immersion" phase last year, I had watched the news on Canadian stations and many times had heard of "Yonge Street". I would often wonder to myself just how long this street was, as it seemed to be just about everywhere. In point of fact, it is. To quote Wikipedia:
Yonge Street (pronounced "young") is a major arterial route connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. It was formerly listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest street in the world at 1,896 km (1,178 mi).[2]The construction of Yonge Street is designated an Event of National Historic Significance in Canada.[3] Yonge Street was fundamental in the original planning and settlement of western Upper Canada in the 1790s, informing the basis of the concession roads in Ontario today. Long the southernmost leg of Highway 11, linking the capital with northern Ontario, Yonge Street has been referred to as "Main Street Ontario". A large part of the route follows an ancient well-established Aboriginal trail that linked the Lake Ontario waterfront to northern parts of the region. It was also the site of Canada's first subway line.
Yonge Street is also the north-south basis point for determining East and West street numbering in Toronto. We would visit a number of points along the street, including the famous Eaton Centre, Yonge-Dundas Square and the Hockey Hall of Fame (naturally, this is in Toronto!). The first point we got to on our journey was the Hockey Hall of Fame, located almost unobtrusively in a former Bank of Montreal building:
I elected to keep walking rather than actually visiting inside the Hall of Fame, hockey not being one of the sports I watch or follow. I know the name Wayne Gretzky, of course, and that there seems to be a great deal of fighting during hockey games that bears no relation to actually achieving the object of the game, but other than that I know little else. Utterly un-Canadian attitude, I know. I might have to work on that!
Continuing further down Yonge Street, some more of the impressive glass-and-steel towers that dominate Toronto's skyline came into view. One of these is the TD Tower, named for the Toronto-Dominion Bank, one of the largest banks in Canada. Formed from the merger of the Bank of Toronto and Dominion Bank back in 1955, TD is one of the best-known symbols of Canadian financial life. According to their website, TD has some 11 million customers nationally in Canada. That means every third Canadian you meet banks with TD. Their financial prowess shows in their rather impressive headquarters building:
As we continued our walk towards the waterfront, at 18 Yonge Street I was pleased and surprised to come across a display of a bronze grouping showing a male and a female with a baby in her arms. Upon closer inspection of the plaque displaying its name, I learned the grouping was titled "Immigrant Family" and done by artist Tom Otterness. Naturally, I couldn't resist having my photo taken with it:
After what seemed like a great deal of walking, we reached the beginning of Yonge Street, the waterfront area of the city that presides over Lake Ontario. At what must surely be a rather prestigious address, 1 Yonge Street, one finds the Toronto Star building, seen here:
From here, G decided we should see something of Lake Ontario, and so we ventured to the ferry terminals. The Centre Island Ferry was our choice, a popular destination if the number of eventual passengers that joined us on the ferry was anything to go by. There were at least three groups of students of early primary ages, all herded along by long-suffering teachers and parents as they purchased tickets and settled their charges in safety aboard the ferry. Approximately fifteen minutes on the water would see us cross the water and arrive at Centre Island. We took a number of photos during the ferry ride. I was especially fond of views of the CN Tower, which only got better as we got further into the water. Just a few of the photos we took:
As you can see, there are a lot of beautiful views. It was lovely out on the waters of Lake Ontario, the day was warm enough that the breeze from being at the front of the ferry was not unpleasant, and yet cool enough that all the walking we did was not unbearable.
From Centre Island, we headed into the Arts/Design and Fashion Districts by walking along to Bathhurst and then Queen Streets. We bought lunch at a suitably arty cafeteria with the rather astonishing name Clafouti. My egg salad on a croissant was nonetheless quite tasty. Enjoyed on a park bench with a bottle of water, it made for a nice respite from all the walking and sightseeing. Being as G had grown up in and around Toronto, we were in his childhood backyard, so to speak, so there was a lot he wanted me to see. A couple of places included a community centre that had once featured a mural of his on the exterior wall and the "halfway house" where he was reintegrated into civilian life following his tour of duty in Afghanistan, while attending classes at George Brown College to earn his millwright certification.
As the afternoon wound on, we decided it was time to do some shopping, so we headed back up Yonge Street to check out the stores in the famous Eaton Centre. My first stop was the restrooms, which turned out to have quite the line-up. It moved efficiently enough, and when I was out we made our way around, looking into various stores. In the end, most were considerably more up-market than we needed, what works in Toronto would not work in E.L., after all, the high fashion looks sported by the store mannequins would be quite out of place for me.
With what shopping we wanted to do out of the way, we ventured into Yonge-Dundas Square for more sightseeing. The views there are instantly recognisable to anyone who watches Canadian morning television, as a number of the channels have studios overlooking the famous square. Here are two views from our time there:
With the afternoon slipping away, G decided on one final treat for me: Marble Slab Creamery. The name is actually quite literal, the ice-cream is worked on marble slabs which have been frozen, this preserves the integrity of the ice-cream while the employees mix up your favourite compositions. I choose chocolate ice-cream liberally sprinkled with M&M's, and we enjoyed it sitting outside the store in deck chairs provided by businesses participating in a promotion to lure pedestrians into relaxing on the street. The lane next to the sidewalk was blocked off by flower planters and chairs were placed outside the stores, allowing weary pedestrians to sit for a few minutes, enjoy traffic cruising by them on the one hand, while surveilling their fellow passersby on the other hand.
Treat done, we made our way back to the hotel for a rest and a change of clothes after a shower. We would cap off the evening with sushi for dinner, at a restaurant on Queen Street, appropriately named Sushi Queen. Service, price and ambience were all excellent, and it was a worthy cap to a beautiful introduction (a proper one) to the city of Toronto!
After dinner, it was time to pack our bags and get ready to back to the Metro Bus Terminal. We boarded our bus shortly after midnight for the 1:00 a.m. departure. It was just after 6:30 a.m. that we arrived back in Sudbury, tired from a long, somewhat cold (to me, anyways) night on the bus. With limited choices for breakfast that early in the morning, we opted to wait until we got home to eat. We were collected in Spragge by the same jocular bus driver who had ferried us there in the school bus five days earlier, and arrived back in E.L. just after 10:00 a.m.
Next time: the arrival of fall and fall fashion survival guide!
After a wonderful weekend with my in-laws, it was time to begin making our way back north. We would spend a night and a full day in Toronto, although originally the plan was 2 nights and 2 days.
Leaving their home around 8 p.m. that evening, we made the journey into the city courtesy of a lift from friends I had made on the immigration forum. They drove the hour from their suburban city to where we were then we all went out to dinner, then instead of our original plan of taking the train into Toronto from their city, they drove us all the way into Toronto itself. We were wonderfully surprised and very grateful for their generosity.
Like any other large city, Toronto is magically-lit up at night. I had forgotten to pack my camera in my handbag, and ended up only having my phone available for taking photos. Still, it was impressively beautiful to drive into and finally see the city I had only managed to "breeze" through the last two times I saw it.
You might be asking, so if there is a New City Hall, is there an Old one? Actually, yes, there is, and our wanderings would take us right past it.
That marvelous Victorian building is not the only one of its kind in Toronto, many architecturally interesting buildings have been preserved at various points throughout the city, cropping up to surprise you in the midst of the functional glass-and-steel high-rises, like this beauty:
Once we were on Yonge Street (pronounced "young"), we decided to keep walking on it all the way to the waterfront. During my "Canadian immersion" phase last year, I had watched the news on Canadian stations and many times had heard of "Yonge Street". I would often wonder to myself just how long this street was, as it seemed to be just about everywhere. In point of fact, it is. To quote Wikipedia:
Yonge Street (pronounced "young") is a major arterial route connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. It was formerly listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest street in the world at 1,896 km (1,178 mi).[2]The construction of Yonge Street is designated an Event of National Historic Significance in Canada.[3] Yonge Street was fundamental in the original planning and settlement of western Upper Canada in the 1790s, informing the basis of the concession roads in Ontario today. Long the southernmost leg of Highway 11, linking the capital with northern Ontario, Yonge Street has been referred to as "Main Street Ontario". A large part of the route follows an ancient well-established Aboriginal trail that linked the Lake Ontario waterfront to northern parts of the region. It was also the site of Canada's first subway line.
Yonge Street is also the north-south basis point for determining East and West street numbering in Toronto. We would visit a number of points along the street, including the famous Eaton Centre, Yonge-Dundas Square and the Hockey Hall of Fame (naturally, this is in Toronto!). The first point we got to on our journey was the Hockey Hall of Fame, located almost unobtrusively in a former Bank of Montreal building:
I elected to keep walking rather than actually visiting inside the Hall of Fame, hockey not being one of the sports I watch or follow. I know the name Wayne Gretzky, of course, and that there seems to be a great deal of fighting during hockey games that bears no relation to actually achieving the object of the game, but other than that I know little else. Utterly un-Canadian attitude, I know. I might have to work on that!
Continuing further down Yonge Street, some more of the impressive glass-and-steel towers that dominate Toronto's skyline came into view. One of these is the TD Tower, named for the Toronto-Dominion Bank, one of the largest banks in Canada. Formed from the merger of the Bank of Toronto and Dominion Bank back in 1955, TD is one of the best-known symbols of Canadian financial life. According to their website, TD has some 11 million customers nationally in Canada. That means every third Canadian you meet banks with TD. Their financial prowess shows in their rather impressive headquarters building:
As we continued our walk towards the waterfront, at 18 Yonge Street I was pleased and surprised to come across a display of a bronze grouping showing a male and a female with a baby in her arms. Upon closer inspection of the plaque displaying its name, I learned the grouping was titled "Immigrant Family" and done by artist Tom Otterness. Naturally, I couldn't resist having my photo taken with it:
After what seemed like a great deal of walking, we reached the beginning of Yonge Street, the waterfront area of the city that presides over Lake Ontario. At what must surely be a rather prestigious address, 1 Yonge Street, one finds the Toronto Star building, seen here:
From here, G decided we should see something of Lake Ontario, and so we ventured to the ferry terminals. The Centre Island Ferry was our choice, a popular destination if the number of eventual passengers that joined us on the ferry was anything to go by. There were at least three groups of students of early primary ages, all herded along by long-suffering teachers and parents as they purchased tickets and settled their charges in safety aboard the ferry. Approximately fifteen minutes on the water would see us cross the water and arrive at Centre Island. We took a number of photos during the ferry ride. I was especially fond of views of the CN Tower, which only got better as we got further into the water. Just a few of the photos we took:
As you can see, there are a lot of beautiful views. It was lovely out on the waters of Lake Ontario, the day was warm enough that the breeze from being at the front of the ferry was not unpleasant, and yet cool enough that all the walking we did was not unbearable.
From Centre Island, we headed into the Arts/Design and Fashion Districts by walking along to Bathhurst and then Queen Streets. We bought lunch at a suitably arty cafeteria with the rather astonishing name Clafouti. My egg salad on a croissant was nonetheless quite tasty. Enjoyed on a park bench with a bottle of water, it made for a nice respite from all the walking and sightseeing. Being as G had grown up in and around Toronto, we were in his childhood backyard, so to speak, so there was a lot he wanted me to see. A couple of places included a community centre that had once featured a mural of his on the exterior wall and the "halfway house" where he was reintegrated into civilian life following his tour of duty in Afghanistan, while attending classes at George Brown College to earn his millwright certification.
As the afternoon wound on, we decided it was time to do some shopping, so we headed back up Yonge Street to check out the stores in the famous Eaton Centre. My first stop was the restrooms, which turned out to have quite the line-up. It moved efficiently enough, and when I was out we made our way around, looking into various stores. In the end, most were considerably more up-market than we needed, what works in Toronto would not work in E.L., after all, the high fashion looks sported by the store mannequins would be quite out of place for me.
With what shopping we wanted to do out of the way, we ventured into Yonge-Dundas Square for more sightseeing. The views there are instantly recognisable to anyone who watches Canadian morning television, as a number of the channels have studios overlooking the famous square. Here are two views from our time there:
With the afternoon slipping away, G decided on one final treat for me: Marble Slab Creamery. The name is actually quite literal, the ice-cream is worked on marble slabs which have been frozen, this preserves the integrity of the ice-cream while the employees mix up your favourite compositions. I choose chocolate ice-cream liberally sprinkled with M&M's, and we enjoyed it sitting outside the store in deck chairs provided by businesses participating in a promotion to lure pedestrians into relaxing on the street. The lane next to the sidewalk was blocked off by flower planters and chairs were placed outside the stores, allowing weary pedestrians to sit for a few minutes, enjoy traffic cruising by them on the one hand, while surveilling their fellow passersby on the other hand.
Treat done, we made our way back to the hotel for a rest and a change of clothes after a shower. We would cap off the evening with sushi for dinner, at a restaurant on Queen Street, appropriately named Sushi Queen. Service, price and ambience were all excellent, and it was a worthy cap to a beautiful introduction (a proper one) to the city of Toronto!
After dinner, it was time to pack our bags and get ready to back to the Metro Bus Terminal. We boarded our bus shortly after midnight for the 1:00 a.m. departure. It was just after 6:30 a.m. that we arrived back in Sudbury, tired from a long, somewhat cold (to me, anyways) night on the bus. With limited choices for breakfast that early in the morning, we opted to wait until we got home to eat. We were collected in Spragge by the same jocular bus driver who had ferried us there in the school bus five days earlier, and arrived back in E.L. just after 10:00 a.m.
Next time: the arrival of fall and fall fashion survival guide!
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