Southward Home?!
Somehow, more than six years has zoomed by since I began this blog. I haven't even written for more than two years! (In fact, I think it has been more than three years!) Where did the time go? What happened?
Since I last wrote, I gave up a job that I loved in the hopes that a new offer was going to lead to a place I never found. That has left me spinning and searching. So much so that I am about to embark on a whole new adventure. Here I am, Mamma of Three, heading back to school. Yes, you read that correctly. I'm going to be a student come September.
With all that has been going on and shifting over the last few months to years, I feel it is fitting to begin a new blog that tracks that adventure.
When I began Southward Bound, it was because we were coming--sniff--to the end of our glorious life as Northerners. We'd made the decision to leave with very mixed emotions and with no idea how long it would take to find we lived in our home Down South and not just in a house. From my own experience and what I've heard friends say, I think it's fair to say Southerners who have lived in the North, loved it, and then returned to the South, find the latter adjustment far more baffling. Too often the assumption by non-South-to-North-to-Southerners is that life is so hard up North, that you're always wanting and missing mainstream living, that you were dying to get back.
It just ain't so.
Yep, living in the North presents its challenges. But here's a news flash: Living anywhere has its Challenges! It's true!!
So, we have trodden along. There have been amazing things about our new life down here. At the same time, there have been disappointments and struggles. The biggest loss was that of proximity. When we were home up North, everything was close--and not just in physical proximity. The friendships we formed up North will live in our hearts for forever.
My students will always be there, too. I know I was a bit different from any other teacher they had ever encountered. I know, too, that I was in no way a perfect teacher. My intention was to show my students respect. I wanted my classroom to be a place where students felt engaged in their learning. Recently, I met up with two former students, Malaya and Courtney. They had a good laugh letting me know that they loved sidetracking me and getting me to tell stories instead of teaching English. (I took comfort listening to Frank McCourt's recording of "Teacher Man". Apparently his students did the same thing!)
Yes, I experienced losses when I was up North. George, John, Lindsay, Jessica, Kevin, Jimmy, Daniel, Jennifer...this list is not complete. This list is too long.
Of the things to celebrate, I believe the landscape is at the top of my list. Words escape me. Photos, too, do not completely grasp the immensity and absolute beauty of Northern landscape. This is something one must breathe in. I am so thankful for friends on Facebook who post their photos and briefly carry me back to a place that holds some of my roots.
Perhaps I'm jumping a bit.
I am still in a state of disbelief that six years could have passed so quickly and been so full. We are here now. And, bit by bit, we have made this place our home. I say bit by bit because building a home takes time. It is more than the house in which we live. It is bumping into a friend--at the grocery store, the park, at a hockey game, at yoga--and enjoying a chat. It is not needing to make a long distance call when you want to tell one of your friends a piece of news. (Yes, we still make our long distance calls to very important folks! These friends and family are now complemented with the friendships of here--enlarging our picture.) It's when your kids stop asking to move back up North. (This went on for years for my oldest. In fact, I think he would still move back.) It's making plans to renovate our house--the three-bedroom one we bought before our going away gift--Child Number Three--was revealed. Popping in on my folks, who live down the road. Going to Christine's for breakfast and recognizing half the faces of the other customers at the local eatery. It's seeing my kids' growing old enough to plaster their bedroom walls with posters of what they embrace and find trendy. Yep, we've arrived. We've grown into our space. We're home...down South.
I'm not sure if I'll still post here. I can tell you the name of the new blog. It aptly describes what I believe has been unfolding quietly and is about to become more obvious as I return to school and head in a new direction. Eh voila! The new blog is to be called: Metamorphosis of a Midlife Mamma.
Perhaps the following quote complements:
I took this picture at a Quilt & Textile Show at a local museum. I'm afraid I do not have the artist's name.
Since I last wrote, I gave up a job that I loved in the hopes that a new offer was going to lead to a place I never found. That has left me spinning and searching. So much so that I am about to embark on a whole new adventure. Here I am, Mamma of Three, heading back to school. Yes, you read that correctly. I'm going to be a student come September.
With all that has been going on and shifting over the last few months to years, I feel it is fitting to begin a new blog that tracks that adventure.
When I began Southward Bound, it was because we were coming--sniff--to the end of our glorious life as Northerners. We'd made the decision to leave with very mixed emotions and with no idea how long it would take to find we lived in our home Down South and not just in a house. From my own experience and what I've heard friends say, I think it's fair to say Southerners who have lived in the North, loved it, and then returned to the South, find the latter adjustment far more baffling. Too often the assumption by non-South-to-North-to-Southerners is that life is so hard up North, that you're always wanting and missing mainstream living, that you were dying to get back.
It just ain't so.
Yep, living in the North presents its challenges. But here's a news flash: Living anywhere has its Challenges! It's true!!
So, we have trodden along. There have been amazing things about our new life down here. At the same time, there have been disappointments and struggles. The biggest loss was that of proximity. When we were home up North, everything was close--and not just in physical proximity. The friendships we formed up North will live in our hearts for forever.
My students will always be there, too. I know I was a bit different from any other teacher they had ever encountered. I know, too, that I was in no way a perfect teacher. My intention was to show my students respect. I wanted my classroom to be a place where students felt engaged in their learning. Recently, I met up with two former students, Malaya and Courtney. They had a good laugh letting me know that they loved sidetracking me and getting me to tell stories instead of teaching English. (I took comfort listening to Frank McCourt's recording of "Teacher Man". Apparently his students did the same thing!)
Yes, I experienced losses when I was up North. George, John, Lindsay, Jessica, Kevin, Jimmy, Daniel, Jennifer...this list is not complete. This list is too long.
Of the things to celebrate, I believe the landscape is at the top of my list. Words escape me. Photos, too, do not completely grasp the immensity and absolute beauty of Northern landscape. This is something one must breathe in. I am so thankful for friends on Facebook who post their photos and briefly carry me back to a place that holds some of my roots.
Perhaps I'm jumping a bit.
I am still in a state of disbelief that six years could have passed so quickly and been so full. We are here now. And, bit by bit, we have made this place our home. I say bit by bit because building a home takes time. It is more than the house in which we live. It is bumping into a friend--at the grocery store, the park, at a hockey game, at yoga--and enjoying a chat. It is not needing to make a long distance call when you want to tell one of your friends a piece of news. (Yes, we still make our long distance calls to very important folks! These friends and family are now complemented with the friendships of here--enlarging our picture.) It's when your kids stop asking to move back up North. (This went on for years for my oldest. In fact, I think he would still move back.) It's making plans to renovate our house--the three-bedroom one we bought before our going away gift--Child Number Three--was revealed. Popping in on my folks, who live down the road. Going to Christine's for breakfast and recognizing half the faces of the other customers at the local eatery. It's seeing my kids' growing old enough to plaster their bedroom walls with posters of what they embrace and find trendy. Yep, we've arrived. We've grown into our space. We're home...down South.
I'm not sure if I'll still post here. I can tell you the name of the new blog. It aptly describes what I believe has been unfolding quietly and is about to become more obvious as I return to school and head in a new direction. Eh voila! The new blog is to be called: Metamorphosis of a Midlife Mamma.
Perhaps the following quote complements:
Any transition serious enough to alter your definition of self will require not just small adjustments in your way of living and thinking but a full-on metamorphosis.
~ Martha Beck
http://www.cafe-philosophy.com/?q=quotes/Metamorphosis
Au revoir
I took this picture at a Quilt & Textile Show at a local museum. I'm afraid I do not have the artist's name.
posted by Gabrielle @ 4:13 p.m.
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