The wrap-up, many Moons later....

Life has a way of tossing us to and fro, and the past many months have been filled with a wide variety of the “stuff of life”.  Many exciting and stimulating things have occured, along with the garnering of insight, growth and a new out look on many things.  The winter has been a quiet one here, for the most part. All except for that bit about me signing a lease on a Studio and in the bargain getting a new lease on many other aspects of my life.

In September, not too long after arriving home from my journey to Canada, I found the perfect studio right in my home town, and my husband and I took several weeks to get it all cleaned, painted and filled in with my supplies, hardware, furniture, books, and all else I had stored in my own home office and art room.  The space is perfect for me, as it has two halves.  One side was all set to be used as a photo studio, with plenty of room for backdrops, storage and lighting.  There was even already black out material and neutral grey walls.  

The other half of the room is more Salon-like.  Drafting table, shelving, work table and desk, lots of baskets and boxes for storing my goodies on shelves, carpet and more.  My work is all over the room—filling the walls and the easels.  It’s a visual diary of my artistic life, with sweet items I’ve collected, stimulating raw materials, and an homage to my past, my present, and my future.  I feel as home in this room as I do in my real home.  It’s cosy, and inviting, and I love the oohs and ahhs that ensue when friends walk in.  It’s a dream come true, but this was a dream I almost didn’t even dare to remember.  Very grateful!

To complete the arc of my Ontario, Canada journey, I left Toronto and continued up and over Lake Ontario and then headed Northeast to the lovely town of Perth.    The trip took about 6 hours, including rest stops and getting LOST (!!), in a drenching downpour.  One of the few times I have broken down and cried while enroute in the van.  Dark and windy, lost and tired, I drove round in a couple of circles until my Sat Nav, the actual roads, and luck were all aligned.  Just as I arrived, the sun came out, the birds began to sing, and the owner of the camp handed me a cold Canadian beer.  I sat on his porch and grabbed one measly bar of wifi to drop a note home and, of course, check Facebook.

The view from the pub terrace where Monika and I had lunch on my first full day in Perth.  Absolutely picture-perfect weather and views.  Lovely little town!  I met Monika in England at a spring retreat a couple of years ago, and when she saw I was headed to Toronto, she extended an invitation to visit.  I was quite pleased to make the journey.  Loved her family home, and meeting her family.  her parents and I hit if off really (!!!) well and I had a delightful evening in their home.  Fresh caught Atlantic Salmon, grilled, views, laughter—I could have stayed a week!  

Alas, I spent just two nights in Perth, and would have stayed another day or two, as it was lovely there, I had friends, and there was much more to explore.  I spent my last couple of hours in Perth at a cool coffee shop (wifi and AC!) and then headed south to just outside of Montreal for my last eve in Canada.  I didn’t want to drive the rig into Montreal and be a tourist for a day, or deal with transit, etc, so I skipped it. I needed to get to Vermont, and then home.  

Ontario, especially further North,  looks like New England, but on steroids.  Everything is larger, with so much space between “things”, and the terrain is similar, but more epic, and more of it.  There were plenty of fields of corn, soy and all sorts, moving rapidly towards harvest, swaying on the windy, vast plains.  It was an easy drive, but a bit monotonous at points, where it was nothing but agriculture, silos and tractors for dozens of miles at a time.  I enjoyed it, anyway.  I have satellite radio in the rig, and during most of that drive I was listening to the “Chill” station, with great ambient sound that enhanced the journey for me by keeping me happy, mellow but alert, and entertained.  I placed a video cam in the windshield at one point and let it roll. One can hear the engine, the Chill station, and ocassional bits of me exclaiming, or humming.  I loved seeing it again, just a few weeks ago, it really brought me back.

Me, in the rig, enroute to Montreal.  Chill radio, fresh Ontario berries, a cuppa coffee and all the freedom a woman could wish for.  Relaxed, happy, confident.  You can’t buy that, folks, you can only experience it.

Crossing the border back into the States was a bit entertaining.  I wasn’t sure that my rig could make it through their gateway, as the max height was 9’, and my rig is just a few inches shy of that height.  They watched me carefully, and I made it through.  Then they took a perfunctory glance inside the rig, asked if I had any plants or food (my berries made it through!), and did a double-take at my passport photo.  It was taken four years ago, I look completely different.  Billy Idol hair! I was also a bigger gal.  They laughed when I said that, and let me through.  Back in the usa.  

Drove to White River Junction, VT and spent a couple of nights in the rig parked outside of my friend Robina’s home.  Grateful for electricity and the H2O hookup.  Visited her studio, dined out, saw her family a bit, and did lots and lots of chatting.  So good to end a journey in that way.  

I drove home the next day, stopping in Northampton MA in the rain.  Just a quick stop for libation, and a bit of peeking around the shops.  They were have a big sidewalk sale and downtown celebration, but the rain really put a (ahem) damper on the fun.  But I got a terrific deal on a beautiful, richly colored woven wrap, and a big cuppa joe for the final leg.   

There are always mixed emotions on the home stretch.  I love being home, but the liberty and excitement of being on the road is suddenly gone, and it can feel quite mundane in comparison.  But then there is my family, my kitties, my world and my life, there waiting for me, with smiles and a welcome.

I feel very blessed.