It’s been a winter of family again. The first extended time with family since I’ve been to Ottawa really. Ruby and Lee were here when I first arrived. I lived with them a while and then, even when I was in my own space, would pop by for suppers. But they were gone fairly quickly after I came. Spending a winter in the States and then retiring back to Nova Scotia soon after that.
But this winter was my first with mom and dad living in the condo. They came for good in mid November and now will be heading back to Newfoundland within the next couple of weeks. It’s been nice having them close by again. I always felt visits were hectic and rushed. Even in times when I may have gone home and intentionally planned not to do anything, we’d still be running down the checklist of things to do. A trip to Bidgoods. Cape Spear. A bit of shopping downtown. Certain meals to make sure we have before I go back. That kind of thing.
But with them in a condo for months on end, we returned to casual stuff. The occasional pop by. A movie night. A home cooked meal with no planned activity afterwards because laundry awaited back home. A return to daily life with family has been a good thing. And I’m sure the summer will feel strange with me on my own again. Though there likely won’t be a very large continuous time apart. A quick trip back to the condo for them in July. A Newfoundland trip for me sometime in August or September. And then the Fall will come again soon after, and the condo will be a home again. And next Fall won’t be nearly as hectic as this past one. The setting up of the condo took lots of time and energy, but now it has very much become another part of home for mom, dad and me.
One negative of mom and dad living here part of the year… my trips home have really been cut down. Most years, I head home three times (Christmas, late spring, fall). The last time I’ve been home was last September. And that was a fairly short visit as well. It’s a savings on airfare no doubt. And a reduction of my carbon footprint. Perhaps it means I’ll have to book a longer trip home than normal this summer/fall. Combine a trip to central Newfoundland with some time around town without being run off my feet doing it all.
Anyway, it will be strange dropping over to the condo a couple of times a week and not have dad sat in his reading chair or mom calling out from the kitchen while I take off my boots. It’s a space that I’m not used to seeing quiet and still. But it will make the anticipation of Fall greater. With home cooked meals waiting after a long days work and quiet evenings sitting together as the first snows drift outside the living room window.
