It's an interesting development in my life at this point that I should find myself at 30, sleeping in my childhood home (actually in my childhood bedroom for that matter). It's hard not to feel at least a little like that nerdy Jewish guy from The Big Bang Theory (Great show by the way).
But onward and upward I always say...well actually, I don't believe I have ever said that...never mind.
Now, some of you may be thinking, "how can he let Julia go off to Paris on her own while he stays in Nova Scotia?" Well let me tell you, it was actually not easy on either end. I found myself asking why I had made that decision on numerous occasions during the month. Don't get me wrong, I definitely enjoyed myself (check out my photo blogs for the soon to be posted pics from the trip), but there was a distinctive pang of guilt that accompanied my enjoyment...curious.
The funny thing is, it was Julia's idea for me to do this in the first place...Well, I guess we'll just have to chalk it up to an interesting dilemma and focus on the other interesting observations I had during the month.
You can never really return home...I know, shocker right?
Obviously, that is something that everyone who has spent time away (and I mean real time, not 2 weeks in Cancun) has faced at some point. Let me be clear first that this is not the first time I realized this, I have been coming home from various levels of afar for over 10 years now. However, being probably the largest single period of time I had spent at home since I moved to Halifax in 2001, this was the most evident occasion of that.
Also, I find that I have entered that strange moment in life when friends are pretty much all done with marrying off, and are now beginning that, "let's make a family" stage of life. It's an interesting progression, and my observation has been that it is the moment when friendships become the most strained and even fail. You can almost see the rift form between those who are ready for this stage and those who are not. Of which I am the latter.
What all of these factors led to is an interesting regrouping of friendships along new parameters. Some very close friends, although still just as close, become harder to access because of their family situations, while like minded non-family types stick together and continue life as it was.
I also noticed that I don't really know my hometown anymore (Chester, NS). The streets, homes and businesses are largely the same, (change doesn't occur fast/ever in rural NS) but the people (mostly me) have all changed.
When I was growing up there, we literally wasted weekends just walking around the handful of streets that made up the town center. Now, not only does that only entertain me for about 15 minutes, but I also would be doing it completely alone, as not a single close friend of mine from high school remains in the town. I've known for a very long time that I could never move back to Chester, but it's a definitely a different level of weird to learn that I am just a tourist there now.
Finally, the other aspect of my visit that frustrated me was that I have changed to the point where certain Maritimey ways of life have started to annoy me. I want to defend this by saying that I love the Maritimes and it's way of life...but at the same time, it frustrates me. It seems I have managed to stay away just long enough to allow me to incorporate different ways into the Maratime paradigm (hey that rhymes)...creating a mutant Maritimey-Calgarian (A Malgarian if you will).
The biggest one is the simple rampant negativity the province seems to have. I guess I never noticed it before being in a province that was so focused on the positive, but I do now and it makes me see most "negative" Maritimers (who are the majority by my observation) as curmudgeons. I am poking a sleeping bear with this one I know, as the majority of my scarce reader base are Maritimers, but I think it needs to be said.
Understandably, the province has been in economic turmoil for as long as I have been alive, but does being negative about every potential opportunity help end that? That was rhetorical, no it doesn't.
All the petty observations aside, I should say that I truly enjoyed my time home with both family and friends and I felt I reconnected with some people that I had long neglected (I tend to do that). Ultimately, the trip was a good send off to my next adventure and I am glad it was possible.
Well there, I truly believe I haven't educated or enlightened anyone with this entry, and I have probably angered my follower (I left out the "s" on purpose...if you like my blog follow it!). But hey, if you have a problem with what I wrote, write and complain.
1 comment:
I won't complain. You are largely correct. You have forgotten one thing though - complaints in the Maritimes usually stem from an excess of alcohol intake. Wine + more wine = Whine. Thus, we all need to be encouraged to drink less and love ourselves more.
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