And we're off!

Sorting

It has been a busy time getting ready for our new life in northern Canada.  Cancelling utilities, selling vehicles, forwarding the mail.  And many hours spent sorting through "stuff":  what to take, what to pitch, what to sell or give away.  A good exercise, really.  Lessons in detachment from material possessions are always good, in my book.  Some things we just don't want to part with, at least not yet.  So those things went into boxes and got shipped to our new home.  For example, I refuse to go through a northern winter without the down-filled duvet.  And that fantastic little green colander with the handy little pouring spouts - you don't really expect me to make spaghetti without that, do you?  The rather large framed Picasso sketches print that we both like but don't love enough to take - that found a new home in Red Deer.  And so it went.  Item by item, making a judgement call as to its worth, be it in monetary, sentimental, emotional or some other currency.  Too heavy to take; too many memories to leave; too expensive to throw away.  Causes one to think about how we value things, and why.  And in the end, with the clock ticking, a few things found their way unexpectedly into the dumpster as we simply didn't have time left for alternatives.  No decision is, in itself, a decision.

Sending

Today we finished cleaning the apartment; packing up last-minute things and entrusting them to Canada Post to get them safely to Manitoba; saying last-minute goodbyes to friends and former co-workers; purchasing a few more things we felt we just couldn't do without.  Final items were shoved into the bulging luggage (what do you mean I can't take four carry-on pieces?)  and loaded into the far-too-small rented Ford Fiesta.  Phew!  Suddenly it was all done and we were on our way to Edmonton.

On our way!

It has been harder than I expected to leave Red Deer; it has been good to us in many ways.  Our lives have been intersected here by many wonderful people, who I suddenly wish I had taken the time to know better. And that Alberta sky ... I will definitely miss that.  But off we go to new adventures - we catch our plane at 6:15 in the morning for South Indian Lake via Winnipeg and Thompson.  What awaits?  New home, new work ... and hopefully new friends and a feeling that we are making a contribution and have a place in our new community.