There is something about living here that takes all the guess work out of getting to know people.
Some people I have only known for months, weeks or even days, feel as though they have been contributing to my spirit for far longer.
There are so many hellos and good-bye’s that it’s easy to skip to the meaningful part of a relationship - forgo the distance, and settle into comfort within five minutes.
Maybe it’s essential to mental survival to have this ability. It would be too easy to disappear into isolation if it were difficult to connect.
Fortunately, we have far too much in common. A shared experience not many have. Away from home, family, friends and familiarity. To some degree, culture shock. The price of produce and the degree of dust on the streets. The perpetual day light and soon, the constant night. The importance of community seeping into our concrete jungle mentality.
So bring on the pot lucks, games nights, emails and coffee dates, evenings spent on the couch drinking wine and solving world issues while the snow swirls outside, Christmas lights, bread baking, impromptu visits and gym buddies.
No man is an island in the Arctic. Lasting requires connecting. And connecting means joy.
Apparently teak candles smell like a freshly showered man.
Now you know.
Jen: OH so you need a recipe for … um… guacamole? …
Becky: No…pesto.
Jen: That’s what I meant.
Courtney: HEY look, this looks like a xylophone!
Becky: You mean an accordian?
Courtney: Ya that’s what I meant…
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It worries me that these are our paramedics…
At around 3 this morning, I was sitting on my roley chair behind the emergency desk with my feet up on a stool reading the last of a series by CS Lewis. All was quiet and calm, no patients, no phone calls, just me and my book. Out of the corner of my eye I could see something big and black scurrying on the floor beside me. I put the book down on my lap and watched a tiny mouse run by me. Perhaps things take longer to compute on night shifts, so it took me ten seconds or so to get out of my chair and search for the mouse (it wouldn’t do if a patient with a bad heart came upon this uninvited winter guest). I followed it down the hall with an empty garbage pail and a clipboard. Once I caught it, we went for a midnight walk outside and the mousey was free. Yes, more effort than killing it, but no one wants to hear tiny bones crusing under one’s foot any more than the next person. Plus, he was probably just searching for the door out anyway. Too many big needles and scary-looking equipment around to make it a homey place to get comfortable… Good luck mousie, hope you find a warm place to hang out for the winter.
YA I’m not tough. It’s true, I admit it. At least physically. At the gym, every time I stop using a piece of equipment I have a moment where I think ’should I take the pin out of the 25 pound weight and put it into the 100 pound weight so that the next person who uses this doesn’t know I’m a wimp?’. In the end, I never do, but I think it’s funny that the thought occurs to me. I’m a dork, I admit it. More so, I’ve seen girls bring magazines to read while they’re on the treadmill, elliptical or bike so today I gave it a shot. What magazine do I bring? Canadian Nurse. Ya - it don’t get cooler than that. And I couldn’t focus on the writing because I was bouncing on the machine. I had to slow down my work-out to read it - which makes me think that it’s not such a hot idea in the first place. Next time I have a hankering to do some reading while I’m on the elliptical, the Berenstain Bears will be my material of choice. At least the printing is big and you can tell what’s happening by the pictures alone.
In other news, today there is snow on the ground. It’s still September. And there’s snow on the ground. I can’t be in denial that summer is over now.
My Southern Ontario heart is broken.
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