We are at the tail end of our wrap up here in Manitoba. The end of this ending is starting to blur into the beginning of the new beginning. It’s definitely a bittersweet, wistful goodbye. We haven’t been able to connect with everyone we wanted to, that’s for sure.
This past weekend some buddies helped me load the pod, and it was a big project. We started at 10 AM, stopped for lunch, and worked until 4 PM. I’m super thankful for the help, and wouldn’t have been able to do it without them. Thank you Rodney, Rob and Matt for showing up!
Arthur has been saying some hard goodbyes as well. In our last blog post, we celebrated the ending of his super positive relationship with Cheryl. He’s said goodbyes to his room, his friend Leo and others as well. He understands that things are changing and that he will be moving onto a farm with lots of other people. He’s been spending time with his grandparents in Gimli for the past week and a half. Julia and I are really missing Arthur and he’s really missing us.
Last Wednesday Julia and I sat down at Smitty’s with friends for some beer and wings. Yesterday, on Sunday we were at the Starbucks at Corydon and Cockburn at 2 PM to say goodbye to whoever else wanted to show up.
Amidst all these goodbyes, we are also very aware that it is a new beginning with many different possibilities and probabilities. We’re also aware that it is 2018, and there’s no such thing as a ‘Goodbye forever’ like there used to be. When I moved from Henderson, Nebraska to Winnipeg twenty-four years ago, it was before the internet was big, and leaving was like moving to a different planet. Since then I’ve reconnected with people via Facebook and email. We are able to stay rudimently aware of each other’s lives.
We are encouraging Arthur to continue to see friends and family with Skype. We don’t want him to feel completely disconnected from the relationships that he’s built here. That would only make this transition more difficult for him.
This past Friday was my last day of work, and it’s a little hard to believe. In less than a week I will be 1500 kilometers away, closing in on Whole Village with a sore back and probably low in my yoga discipline.
It’s really incredible to think we’re here at this point in time. Julia and I have been thinking and dreaming of this for many years, and now it nears manifestation. It’s exhilarating, exciting, anxiety-inducing and just plain fun. This is a new volume in the stories this family shares, and we look forwards to staying present in this adventure as it begins to unfold. We have lots to learn, lots of listening and–hopefully–lots of roots to set down in this ecovillage.