A SEA OF MOUNTAINS

Well I know I vowed/threatened/prematurely promised to keep up with the blogging even though we would no longer be on the west coast. I have therefore decided to re-title my blog "A Fish Out of Water" Chronicle of a West Coast transplant.

I hear people back "home" talking about frost on the road and it being, "cold."  Frost, ppht.  While Calgary/Cochrane does not seem to get hit with the intense winter storms that Edmonton or other parts of Alberta do, rest assured, everything here is white, frozen and about as cold as your spouse after you forgot to mention you wouldn't be coming home for the night.

The greatest surprise so far has been that I do not long for the coast nearly as much as I thought I would. Perhaps it is because between getting settled and starting new jobs, schools, etc, etc. there seems to be little time for sitting in corners and pining away for the sea.  Don't get me wrong, I miss our friends and family terribly, but as far as the landscape goes, I was somewhat concerned that I would long for the ocean and miss it every day, and every time I'd go outside I'd cry and bang my fists on my dash and scream, "Good Lord, what have we done!!!"   Yet, I have not done any of these things (thank goodness, as doing so may have scared the new neighbours).  And as it turns out......its insanely beautiful here.  In Cochrane you can see the stunning Rocky Mountains, and the Bow River that runs through town.  Everybody is wonderfuly outdoorsly, always talking about skiing and sledding and heading for the hills.  And although the commute often leaves me feeling a little bit like a zombie (as we train catching drones, and plus 15 walkers slowly amble forward in mass populous) I am loving working in the city and meeting new people, and experiencing something completely new.

It definitely helps that it is the holidays, therefore all of the cold and snow and cold makes sense - we call it "festive" instead of "F*%$ing  FREEZING!!!"

So what has this fish learned so far?

Well mainly, that like the first sea creatures and the dawn of land walkers, sometimes you have to have this will to crawl away from the sea, to let that intense will to survive and evolve, force you out of your comfort zone. If we do not move, we do not grow.  The movement can be small, like embracing a new food, or a new friend, or it can be massive, such as leaving a province and a community you love, jobs, friends, family and all the things that make you feel warm and fuzzy and safe and comfortable, and moving on to an alien planet where people only have one license plate, don't eat weekly at White Spot, have free health care, cheap fuel, a shitty hockey team (refuse to root for the Flames), and are the spawn of old man winter himself.  Whatever move you make, whatever change you make, the point is just to make it; you might be pleasantly surprised by what you find, and what you find out about yourself.

Cheers to all my West Coasters.  Alberta may have found it's way into my heart, but rest assured Texada, and the Sea are still in my bones!
 

Comments

  1. Great read Jennessa,I am from there,so I know what you are feeling,in reverse.

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