Hello World!
November 4th, 2007 - Still moving. Still breathing.
The phase in my life as a “semi-migrant” is a few months shy of 3 years - I’ve been moving a lot since 2004 but I’m working on the “stopping” part. It has meant new adventures for me some of which were really enjoyable, others not. Since 2004, I’ve met some ‘new’ cousins and made new friends. And, in reflection of the experience, I have thought a great deal about other people’s migrations and re-settlement. I wondered how people in the 18th and 19th centuries coped with facing the necessity of moving in order to survive, or not, the world over. In my teens, I read Ole Edvart Rölvaag’s ‘Giants of the Earth’ , a book that recalled the aniexty of leaving somewhere behind. At the time I found it painful to read but I didn’t really understand it. Even though he wrote about the 1890’s South Dakota, I now know from experience that he had captured the essence of such changes in peoples’ lives.
I woke up this morning to see snow flurries outside my window. I’ve been watching the changes of the forest. We recently moved from southern England which is very different. No snow to speak of. When it does snow people react with anxiety at the smallest quantity. The countryside is beautiful. I drove west today toward Winnipeg. So nice to see the subtle contrasts between the browns and greys of the grasses, the white poplars and the deep green evergreens. So beautiful. I wish that I’d had my camera. Anyway, I think that I like the snow - at least the best snows of my childhood, where we were snuggled in a warm log house. I would sit by the window and draw. On the other hand, having enough firewood nearby to fuel the cook-stove for when the temperature drops is sufficient to cause some concern. How many times did my dad say to me that he was ‘carving’ stove wood instead of ‘carving birds’?