An Adventure

Okay,
so you have to know Bob, to get the joke...
(see sarcasm as related to the title)

So, Bab and I had an adventure last week...
We went on a walk, to enjoy the sunshine, as we fear that winter is fast approaching, and have heard that winter HERE is very different from winter in Sunny Reno... (grins)

Any way, we decided to walk on a path along the river. And of COURSE we played Pooh Sticks on the bridge.
Then we walked along the river, enjoying the scent of damp fallen leaves, rich brown soil, and autumn, along with the sound of the wind in the tree branches, and the river water flowing past rocks. It was mystical. My father would have claimed that the experience "would make a believer of you"... that kind of mystical...

As we walked further we discovered an interesting historical/tourist-y/outdoor sportsman type of attraction. There is an old rail line that is maintained as a hiking trail that can take you from Vancouver to Kaslo (on the upper Kooteney)
You can walk the whole way! We discovered that our new home of Greenwood is on this trail/rail line, and that there is a campground / park and a historic marker letting hikers know that they have arrived here. Wheee... I doubt that Bob or I will walk the whole trail, but perhaps bits and parts of it...

Now, on to the adventure.
We were walking about for over an hour, and Bob realized that we were out of ciggy's. At this point in time, we were on a switchback road on the side of a hill overlooking main street. Bob... (remember, you have to know him) suggested we rock climb down the hill to shortcut to home! THEN preceded to do so!!!

It was SO much fun!

Bob... adventure... who'd believe that?

whee

Culture shock = Garbage ??? who'd a thunk it?

The garbage situation here is weird. They don't have any dumpsters, nor garbage collection the way we are used to thinking of it. Instead, you buy a garbage TAG from the post office (of all places ???) for $1.50, and then you leave your tagged bags by the road on Tuesdays or Fridays, and they are picked up from there.

My understanding is that the purpose is to encourage recycling, as that is free... any thing glass, plastic, metal, paper, cardboard... all free to recycle, so the fee for the bag tag, apparently, encourages folks to recycle as much as possible, leading to less "tagged" bags for the dump.

Makes sense, kind of... with one huge lack... they don't "pick up" recycling... you have to take that to the right place in town... Seems to me, that if one wants to encourage recycling, one would make it simpler, like... free recycling containers, and a free pick up day... If i figure out why that Doesn't happen here, I'll let you know...

weird thing to realize, that my first encounter with Canadian culture shock involves local garbage customs... grins

Furniture

Well,
It's been about a week now. Things are going well here. On Tuesday the managers, Marge and Nelson, told us that one of the apartments was empty and we could have anything left behind that we liked. We now have a couch, chair, coffee table, TV and table for it, kitchen table with 4 chairs, and a BED! Along with a microwave and coffee pot for the kitchen. Life is good.

We've walked around town quite a bit and discovered that there's a lot of potential, but not a lot of actual business here. There's a corner grocer, a hardware store, about 3 or four places that are pretty much ongoing indoor garage sales, a pizza joint - we live above that, a restaurant, a coffee/bakery shoppe, a burger joint and an ice cream place. There are two interesting stores. One is a wood carver's place... yowza he does beautiful work. The other is a knitting store, which could be amazing... if she'd sell stuff she makes... but that is all there as decor and "ideas"... and her sales are patterns, yarn and knitting classes... sigh.

We have discovered a few events... the seniors have a thrift store open 2x a week, the library is open 3 mornings a week, the bar has a weekly karaoke night (gak) and the "legion hall ??? " has a song fest on Saturdays... folks bring guitars, pianos (can you imagine?) drums, and what ever... and its a ginormous jam session with dancing (we hear is mostly country) There is also some kind of art club, but haven't figured out what that means or when/where it is held.

Word on the education front is that the local elementary school has 36 kids total! k-8! Next week I'll be setting up a meeting with the principal to see if I can do some kind of volunteer work there... a few hours a week to keep my feet wet, as it were.

In the surrounding areas, we've explored a bit of both directions out of town. One way is Grand Forks... a Fallon size town with 2 grocery stores and a couple thrift stores and hardware and such... no where with clothes that we can find. Not that we're looking for that... it's just weird to find no sign of Walmart or McDonald's any where.

The mountains here are kind of more like hills, but forested and beautiful. Fall has come and there is a gentle rain and mists on the mountains. The trees are turning a variety of colors, not just yellow and dead.... its pretty to watch.

The town deer are still out and about... there's a sweet family of 3 that we've seen quite often in our 'back yard'... apparently if you plant pumpkins the dear are all over them! Whee!

Greenwood, BC

All is well up here in Canada thus far.
The universe chose Greenwood BC as our new home. The signs were muddled, at first, but quickly became clear. After leaving Nelson, there were 3 possible housing prospects. One was a high priced (way out of our league) home with the additional expense of having to pay someone several hundred dollars each winter to plow from house to highway... unfurnished as well... Then there was a sweet furnished half duplex, but only available until May, when we'd be forced to move at the height of tourist season. Plus I had a hinkey feeling... Then there was a totally trashed 5th wheel, to be moved onto a remote plot of land.... with no possibility of Internet or phone... Things were becoming frustrating...

We were exhausted by this point, and decided to pull into the first motel we saw. It was in Greenwood. In the morning Bob got to chatting with the motel owner, and he mentioned a few places that might be for rent... The first one, a house down the street, wasn't available for viewing until later in the afternoon... so we asked around. We got wind that the man who owns a hardware store, and "the Udder store" might have something for us, as may the folks who own the pizza joint. After walking around, and asking around, both places said they wouldn't have anything until the first, if then. That's quite a few nights at motel rates, so we figured we'd have to pass.

Then this sweet older lady name Bea started chatting with me, and the next thing I know, Bob and I are being dragged down the street to look at her place, as the apartment next to hers is open. When we get there we realize that sweet Bea is a bit confuzzled, as this is a home for senior citizens. She insists that its not "just" for seniors, but for low income folks as well, and convinces us to find the man in charge. He works at the city hall. When we got there, the man was out to lunch, but another worker told us it was his wife, the secretary at the elementary school, who was actually in charge of the apartments. So we went there, and she said she'd phone with an application later that day, if we wanted to check it out.

By now, it was getting pretty late, and feeling fairly hopeless... so Bob and I decided to drive onward. Just as we were leaving town there was a sign for a apartment to rent. So we stopped. There was no apartment still up for rent, but the man we met (Art) runs a B&B as well as a guest house. Well, let me tell you, Art can talk, and talk... eventually he offered to let Bob and I stay in the guest house for a fraction of the cost of a motel, so we could hang around and see if any of the apartments opened up. What the heck? We took him up on it.

Bob went to get some groceries for a few days at The Udder Store, and mentioned that we had a temporary place, so "please let us know if anything becomes available"... The man said that we should come see him in the morning, as he might be able to work something out... ? Minutes later we got a call from the folks who own the pizza place. They had a little 2 bedroom place, available suddenly... right now!

As bob and I went to see it, and get the particulars, the oddest thing happened. This is what let us know that we were meant to be here... A family of deer (a mom and 2 youngsters) were standing in the field / hill behind the apartments. One of them looked right at us, licked its back end, and seemed to say, "It took you long enough!"

Bob and I rented a little 2 bedroom apartment in Greenwood. It's a pretty small place... we even HAD to get a post office box, cuz most places here don't have mail boxes... (the PO box is free if you can't get "delivered" mail... grins)

When you enter the apartment on the left is a kinda big bathroom with a nice soak-y type tub. On the right is a bedroom and closet, where bob and I will sleep once we get a bed. Then It has a little kitchen with a fridge, oven/stove, sink and some wooden cabinets. Just off the Kitchen is a little living room. It's really one biggish room, but the kitchen area has white linoleum, and the living area has a grayish carpet. Past the living room is a closet and a bedroom... we'll be using it as the altar room and guest room probably. The apartment is over the town's only pizza joint! Bob and I are out door smokers only now... there is a nice wood lined and covered stair way up to the apartments (from a side street) that we use for smoking, IF we're not on the main street at the tables outside the pizza shop, gabbing with the owners or other town folk.

The most awesome thing about this town is that they have "town deer"... several deer (I think white tailed deer??? ) just wander around town! Very fun to watch. Of course, Gladness wants to catch one for a pet... lol... they are very skittish if you try to get too close, so no worries on that.

So far Bob and I have unloaded the car, folded clothes, set up 2 computers and Bob's kitchen. We've also gotten a couch and chair, and have a possible line on some other furniture (hopefully a bed and a TV!!!) Bob is also hoping for a kitchen table, and possibly a desk for the puters. Our land lords / pizza people think that some of the other renters may be moving, in which case we get 'dibs' on the furniture they leave... some of the apartments are partially furnished? i think? We've also got a phone and an Internet connection, with the option of cable TV if we get a TV to watch it on. so that way we are pretty set.

More later...

Greenwood

The journey there

So...
We have a home now. Phew!
The trip from Reno was pretty. And fun. And Exhausting... sigh, I'm not in my 20's and this trip proved that beyond any doubt!
The weird thing is, we saw DEER all the way up. The first set (a family of 3) was less than 20 minutes out of town. And we kept seeing more deer every few hours, for the entire drive!


We drove up HWY 395 and into Spokane, where we stayed with Kelly, an old friend from Jr. High. She has a nice mobile home on some forested property with an amazing garden. We spent some time sleeping, as we drove all night, then toured the old home town.

We even went by the home where I grew up. I knocked on the door and got to meet the guy who bought the house from my mom. We chatted a bit, and took a tour of the back yard. It was really sweet to see it again. My dad's flower garden is in great shape, and the rest of the back yard is pretty much the same, with some really nice decorative and maintenance type improvements. My old play house still stands! That almost made me cry, as did seeing the huge old evergreen in the front yard that we used to decorate each Christmas, with the help of a fire truck and extension ladder! It was funny in another way, as we were able to clear up a mystery for the new owner. He couldn't figure out why the basement had been split up into several "walk in closet/storage areas"... When I explained that there were 6 kids growing up in that TINY house (less than 1000 sq. feet including the basement, I'd guess) he realized they were all bedrooms. We had quite a chuckle over that.

We saw my old schools... Loma Vista elementary is now a neighborhood park. Salk Jr. High is the same, but the old fire station is a restaurant now. Shadle Park High is undergoing some renovations, but doesn't look any different from the outside.

Then we toured Kelly and my old haunts, as well as stopping by my parents' grave.

After a night of sleeping, we headed up to my old lake cabin on Bead Lake. It was AMAZING. The owners weren't home, but we wandered around the lots and went down to the dock and beach any way. (It was "mine" first!) They've kept the place up well, and the lake itself is unchanged. Its even still largely un-crowded. A precious jewel as yet undiscovered, and I hope it remains that way for ever. I found a rock to keep, and we drove north.

Bob had been hoping to find a place near Ainsworth Hot Springs... alas, nothing at all was available, so we decided to drive on, and stop at every town to check the rental ads in the local papers. Trusting the universe to find the right spot... whee! That was a bit unnerving, as we went through Kaslo, Nelson, Castlegar, Christina Lake and Grand Forks... nothing, nothing, and nothing... So we drove on... to Greenwood BC... and here we stayed.
That, is a story unto itself...

It Begins

Well,
Really it began in the early 80's while I was in college. One of the things the professors always harped on, in every single class, was that my chosen profession/avocation leads to burn out very quickly, with ugly results for all involved. You see, I had decided to become a special education teacher. High burn out rate... does ugly things to the teacher, and even uglier things to the students.... So, I made a vow with my roommate, who was a future high school history teacher herself, that no matter what my life circumstances were, if I was burned out, I'd stop teaching. Period.

I'm proud to say that I kept that vow. I'm disappointed in myself that it happened during the school year and quite suddenly, leaving my boss and co-workers scrambling for a replacement, and my students no opportunity to say good-bye. I regret that part of my decision... But I would regret much more the damage that might have been done, had I stayed as an exhausted, burnt out teacher, taking no joy from my students' success... That would have done more harm than my sudden departure, I'm certain.

So, I kept my vow.... and I'm glad I did.

The largest cause of my sudden retirement is fibromyalgia. I hate that it's the "disease du jour" but what can you do? When your body is in pain, you don't sleep... when you don't sleep, the fibro gets worse... When you're in pain and exhausted... you cannot give the students what they need and deserve...

I was never one who could accept doing "good enough" or even "better than most"... I was no longer able to give my students my ALL or my BEST... and they both deserve, and need, at LEAST that... so... at 47, I'm retired.

I have two oddly personal accomplishments that I'm proud of in this... One is, I lasted 20 years, not the average 3-5, in special education. That's a biggie! The other is that I managed an entire career in education with out ever succumbing to the purchase of a "teacher cart" OR an Apple Sweater! yea me!!!

My other personal source of pride is that I did notice the burn out, and kept my promise.
sad for me, yea for me... ambivalence abounds... (look it up)