Back Home and Back To Work!

After 5500 kilometers and temps as high as 40c we are back home in Calgary, and none the worse for wear. The legend of the Jeep Cherokee continues to grow; this time as a mighty puller of heavy U-Haul trailers and one who chuckles at stiff headwinds. As for me, I've had just about enough of these cross-continent labours of love.

Don't get me wrong. I love a good road trip, the operative word being good. Like, for instance, going somewhere fun. With nice scenery, perhaps. Or even pleasant weather. And definitely NOT involving excessive manual labour. Score on this trip: ZERO!

OK, there is maybe an element of satisfaction to factor into the equation. A job well done and all that. Turning a page, finishing a chapter, closing a book. (I think that's the requisite number of literary metaphors for this entry.) Maybe I need to see the bigger picture and look at what's beginning, in the afterglow (and the searing heat) of what's ending.

Tomorrow we will submit our passports to the Canadian government for their issuance of our Landed Immigrant status. All three of us will then be free to work and do most anything here in this great country, save voting or serving in the Canadian Forces. Those privileges are reserved for citizens, and we have a couple years to wait yet. Having Priscilla with us again is a big plus, too. I know we will enjoy having her close by again.

Oh, and one other small detail: I'm going back to work tomorrow. Yes, the nice folks down at Suncor Energy Centre have seen fit to let me resume my previous employment. Fancy that. It will be odd getting up and actually dressing for work again. I'm sure the routine will return quickly, but in some respects I feel like a kid on the first day of school. Hope my new Keds and Toughskin jeans wow the ladies as much as they did back in the day.

So I end today as I started nearly six months ago - embarking on a journey. At present, colour me both contented and determined to face whatever comes next with vigour and a none-too-small dollop of reality. Work is work; important, certainly but not everything. I've picked up a few loose bits of my life that I'd dropped somewhere along the way, and I have no intention of letting them slip away again...